Question by sweetsandy:
does anyone have any experience in getting rid of bedbugs?
We have been having a problem for a while now and I know an exterminator is the best option, but I cannot afford one. I have taken everything from the room, washed everything in hot water and dried high heat, vacuumed, and steam cleaned very,very well in corners and whole room. It is my daughter’s room, and we did see one a while back, but lately see little white specks on her sheet, which I’m thinking is eggs. We also got a mattress cover for her mattress, which says on it to protect from all kinds of bugs(bedbugs included).I have been searching her room since the cleaning,and havent seen anything, she was away for a couple days, and slept in her room 2 nights ago.Then last night came out and slept on couch saying that she didn’t see anything but feels very itchy. Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel like I am losing it, trying to get rid of this, very,very frustrustrating and would greatly appreciate any help.
Thank you.
Best answer:
Answer by pelican
Right now I am in the middle of helping someone sort out this exact problem. Here are a few things that will help.
First of all you want to find out how bad it is. Close the windows in her room, close the blinds or curtains, turn the heat as high as it will go, close the door, and leave it like that for a couple of hours. Then open the door and you wlll see them if they are there. They will most likely be on the walls. (This is what you need to do every time you stay at a hotel before bringing anything into the room – you walk in, do this, walk out and go for a meal or something while you wait.)
Also check in the dresser drawers. If you do not see any in the dresser drawers, the infestation is not as bad as it might be.
Put good quality double sided sticky tape around the legs of her bed, on any wooden parts of her bed, around the perimeter of her room, around the legs of any other furniture in the room, at the edges of the baseboards, along the window ledges, insde the switch plates and plug in plates. You could also put vaseline on the legs of her bed and other furniture. Bed bugs like to hide out behind those switch plates and in other places like that and the sticky tape will catch them. Also check inside ceiling light fixtures – take it down – and inside any smoke detector – take it down – that is in her room.
You have to dry all the bedclothes and other clothes in HIGH heat for at least 30 minutes. You have to do the same thing with all stuffed toys. You should do this with all possible fabric in your house. Then SEAL everything in plastic bags for at least three days, which will kill them. Nothing should go back into the room until you have taken care of the problem. Check every closet and dresser in your house for the bugs or eggs and if you find any, you have to do the whole process everywhere. Check behind picture frames, curtains, mirrors, etc. If you find sticky yellowish white balls of the size of a dust particle then use a hard brush to dislodge them and collect them in plastic bags. These are bed bug eggs! You can use the sticky tape again to pick up any live bugs or even the eggs.
Vacuum her room several times a day and immediately empty the vacuum cleaner OUTSIDE, not inside. If you cannot do that, empty it inside a plastic garbage bag and immediately put the bag outside. Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. I would actually remove any carpet and when you can, replace it with hardwood or a vinyl or something easier to deal with.
You have to carefully steam clean her mattress, particularly the edges and seams, anything like luggage, camera cases, laptop cases, and so on. Thoroughly steam clean every piece of fabric furniture in your house.
Kill every bed bug that you see. Go on a bug hunt.
Block all their easiest routes. Caulk along baseboards and everywhere you see any possible opening they might use. Caulk around the switch plates too so that the whole area is sealed. This really will help.
Consider replacing her box spring and mattress – after you have done all these things, and put the new mattress AND BOX SPRING inside an approved mattress cover before you even bring it into her room. If there are bed bugs in her old spring or mattress it is incredibly difficult to get rid of them, even with chemicals. The only thing you can do about that is to put each of them inside a cover, seal the cover, and do not open it for at least a YEAR. That is the length of the life cycle of bed bugs, so you have to make sure nothing can get out for at least that long. Keep the bed away from the wall, not right up against it. Make sure sheets and blankets do not touch the floor, Put the legs of the bed inside a slippery sided container to make it even more difficult for them to get to the bed.
Throw away the pillows. Buy new ones. It is not worth trying to clean them.
If she has a wooden bed, consider getting rid of that and replacing it with just a metal bed frame to support the box spring and mattress.
There is no point in using a fogger – they don’t get bed bugs.
There is a product called Kleen Free Naturally, made specifically to clean insect-infested places, it’s natural and it’s biodegradable, so not harmful to you, your children or your pets. Make sure you clean every surface, behind every piece of furniture, inside every cupboard and drawer, along the baseboards, light fixtures, wall sockets – basically everything in your room or house. If you can’t find that product, ask at the hardware store for something similar.
Do everything on this list again in 10 days, and again in another 10 days. If you are scrupulous about doing this, you should get rid of them in about 30 days. I hope this helps. Good luck with it.
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