Question by chifladachiflada:
Are we killing the bed bugs?
We recently found out that we have bed bugs, we thought they were ticks from the woods in our backyard. Anyway we bagged all material items washed what is needed for now, broke all bedrooms down, sprayed all hard surfaces(table joints, and chairs, etc.), everyday we spray baseboards, matresses, and carpet with 91% isopropyl alcohol. When I say spray, we are useing a continuous sprayer which puts out a continuous heavy stream. So we are actually saturating everything in alcohol. we have set up camp in our living room( its just nasty to sleep w/them) I need to know are we affecting them at all or just wasting time and money. By the way we cannot afford for the exterminator to do it, he said it was going to start at $ 600. So for you pros out there are we getting the job done?
Best answer:
Answer by what’s with that
I don’t know if isopropanol will kill them unless you actually hit them with it. From what I understand, they are very hard to kill, and usually exterminators use heavy duty insecticides. Quite frankly, I would move out before I allowed those chemicals in my home. But what are you gonna do? One insecticide that is not too dangerous is boric acid. The bed bugs hide behind the baseboards and other woodwork during the day. So I would recommend getting a pry bar and removing the woodwork. Then spray in all cracks and crevises with dry boric acid. Make sure you have an applicator that will *spray* the dry powder. Then replace woodwork. You may not want to nail the woodwork because you may have to repeat. Maybe you should rip up the carpet too? They’re probably hiding out in there. What’s underneith? If it’s hardwood floors, I would definitely rip up and dispose of properly so nobody takes it from the curb thinking they got some nice, free carpet. How do you know they are not in the rest of your house? They can come from the attic if you live in an old house that ever had bats. in which case they could be in the whole house. Or you might have brought them in from a hotel stay, or from an old piece of furniture. You kinda need to know how you got them, to try to figure out if the are throughout the house. But you should assume that they are. And are you absolutely certain that they are bed bugs? It’s kinda hard to confuse ticks and bed bugs. So maybe you’re confusing bed bugs with something else. You can usually take a sample to the county extension of your state university for an accurate identification.
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