Question by Zayka:
Is there any way besides fumigation to get rid of bed bugs?
I’m just wondering before I hire an exterminator.
Best answer:
Answer by Stephanie F
Here is a website you can try on your own:
http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/bed-bugs.htm
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Look it up on Youtube. There are serious videos on there that address bedbugs & HUD even uses them as training videos.
Mattress Covers for Bedbugs
One of the first things anyone who finds out they have a bed bug infestation should get is a mattress encasement. This is just a little bit different from the standard cover you would get that just keeps the top from getting stains on it. Rather than just going over it, it actually zips around it entirely and seals up the inside – meaning no bugs are getting in or out. The ones that still live inside will die off, because they’ve got no chance to get out and get any food. That will take at least six months or so and up to eighteen in extreme cases (they can live a long time without feeding). However, there really isn’t anything wrong with having them in there as long as they can’t bite you.
You’ve got two basic choices: fabric or vinyl. Fabric is generally more comfortable to sleep on and is less likely to rip. However, it costs more and can get stained. If a bed bug gets squashed, sometimes you’ll get little blood spots on it and will need to wash it. Vinyl encasements are usually easier to wash, aren’t going to stain, and cheaper. On the other hand, vinyl tears pretty easily, can smell weird, and isn’t as comfortable to sleep on. Generally, I’d go with fabric if you can afford it. Many encasements are treated with insecticides, which will help kill them off.
wash
Yes, but only if you’re careful.
It involves a few steps, but as long as you don’t miss anything, it is foolproof. It can however be very challenging, as you have to keep it up a while.
First, you need to get a spray that will kill bed bugs on contact. Strip the sheets and everything off the bed. Those need to be washed in hot water and dried hot. *DON’T* take them out of the dryer and set them on the floor in your room.
Second, get some help, and spray every last bed bug you find on your mattress, both sides and along all seams. This won’t kill all of them, just enough to get the population down. Do the same with the bedspring *and* the whole bed frame.
Third: If your bedframe is attached to a headboard, you need to disconnect it from that headboard, and you need to move it at least 3 inches away from any wall or any other piece of furniture that touches the floor. Bedbugs can’t jump. If you can prevent them from crawling up the bedframe, they can’t get into the bed. They can crawl up walls, dressers, anything that touches the bed, so you need to move your bed away from anything that touches the ground.
Next, put all the legs of the bedframe inside clean plastic tupperware containers (or something like that) and fill them with water. This will prevent bedbugs from crawling up the legs, as they can’t swim. Especially effective if you can get containers with curved edges that would be impossible for them to crawl over.
Third, get a bed-bug proof mattress cover for the mattress and the bedspring both. Make sure they’re sealed, and make absolutely certain no bedbugs got onto the cover from the floor while you were putting the cover on, or from inside the mattress if there’s a hole or something. The covers will prevent any bedbugs from getting into the mattresses, and if any are inside the covers, they will eventually starve and die, because they can’t get out, and can’t bite through the covers.
You’ve now isolated the bed, so no bedbugs can get up onto it, and you’ve trapped any bugs in the mattress and boxspring. The first night, don’t put a sheet on top of the mattress cover. It’s white… and if there are any bedbugs you somehow missed (there shouldn’t be!), hopefully you’ll know, as you’ll see blood spots on the clean white cover.
The biggest problem with this method, is that bedbugs can live for months without eating. If they’re in the room (and they will be) then you either need to be vigilant, for months, about setting *ANYTHING* at all on the bed that came from the floor in the room, or that you haven’t inspected. You should also be sure to shower before going to bed if you have any reason to believe you may be taking them into bed with you (like if they’re in your clothes because you left them on the floor or in a hamper by an infested dresser, etc.)
The real answer though, is that with a bad infestation, sometimes an exterminator can even have trouble getting rid of them (and fumigation may be the only option.)
To remove bed bugs, have sex with a lot of ugly, fat men/women. This will scare the hell out of the bed bugs, and they’ll pack up their s**t and leave.
Putting some boric acid powder,made to kill roaches, some is called roach poof, from places like Walmart, Lowes and Ace Hardware along the base boards will let you know if they come out of the walls at night. And in the closets.
They are in the carpet. Some salt and baking powder, work in with a broom, for several hours should kill these. Vacuum a lot including the ones that hide in the cracks and edges of the carpet.
Vacuum the rest of the bed real good.
Washing everything under the mattress, the whole bed with alcohol will kill them.
Zip up mattress cover s, The bugs can live for a year with out food,
could be put on the mattress until you decide what to do with them.
Washing things with rubbing alcohol can kill them. Good for the bites.
Putting baking soda and a little less soap in the wash and a cup of vinegar in the rinse should kill the bugs.
Then the clothes and things can be put in sealed plastic bags or covered plastic boxes.The eggs are hard to kill. They might hatch after this.
If they are in the walls and real bad, you will have to get help. And still the eggs can hatch and you have to do it again. This is like trying to get rid of flea eggs.
yes buy another bed
I have a crazy idea, which is good for a laugh only. Last night while sleeping, I asked my dreams to “show me a simple cure for bedbugs”. I made a painting of it this morning, and titled it.
“Taxidermied Bat Displayed Flat as Cure for Bed Bugs (asking dream for simple bed bugs cure to help mankind not me)”
Here is the paintings if you would like to see it.
http://www.epicdewfall.ca/paintings/0700/720taxid.jpg