General links on bedbugs

[conuly]

(Sometimes I really fucking hate my life, just so you know.)

http://www.thebedbugresource.com/bedbugtreatment1.htm
http://bedbugger.com/2007/01/20/faq-think-you-have-bed-bugs-some-dos-and-donts/
http://bedbugger.com/faqs
http://www.bed-bug.org/
http://www.mappost.org/bedbugcity.php
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/bedbugger/message/3555
http://www.bed-bug.org/insectisides-for-bed-bugs/

Help?

Edit: No, really - I need help and advice here!

Comments

[rhicat.livejournal.com]

I wish I had some to give you but I don't. In our last house I had bedbugs in my bedroom. My solution (since we were moving) was to throw out my old mattress, buy a new one (that never entered the old house) and wash all my bedding and curtains in hot water with borax.

Maybe sprinkle the top of the mattress with borax the cover it with a waterproof mattress pad?

[conuly]

No, bedbugs eat blood, not borax. And they're not just on top of the mattress, they're in the bedframe and the baseboards and the walls, and my *drawers* (which are built into my bed), and in the bedding (which will have to be washed and dried at a high temperature)....

[feebeeglee.livejournal.com]

Try some diatomaceous earth? Cuts fleas and ticks to shreds just because they wander through it, but it's just mildly abrasive to humans. Freshwater DE, I mean.

Just a thought - you have my sympathies!

[conuly]

That might not be a bad idea, esp. between first and second fumigation (like lice - once to kill the bugs, once to kill the eggs).

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

Some things. One, we obviously need to have a good ol' house-wide meeting tonight. Two, love the DE idea. Three, matress-wise, what if we carefully encase in plastic? Would that do it? (As mattresses are so expensive). Btw, the crib mattress should be ok since it is plastic encased to begin with. Four, check care2.com and see if they have any info. Five, is there any way to ID where they may have spread to (i.e., just because they *can* spread somewhere does not mean they have, so is there some way to see them etc.? - this comes to mind for me particularly with regards to my storage closet with in-between clothes boxes). Six...we could not have a house. We could have lost the roof in the tornado. A giant snake could have eaten the garden. You know...it could be worse.

[conuly]

Yes, if we encase it in tight plastic, no uncovered spots, for 18 months (and preferably let it sit outside in under 25F temperatures for a few hours in the winter).

It could be worse, but that does not mean I should not complain when it is bad! There are definitely ways to ID where they are, but I don't know them. And the worst part is, if we start fumigating just part of the house, they will spread, they will scatter. Maybe for the second fumigation (to get the eggs), 10 days to 2 weeks later, we can just hit the bedrooms (especially if we've been very thorough with the DE in the meantime), but if we do that the first time we'll virtually guarantee that they'll leave the two or three places they are now and go everywhere else.

It's like fleas on a cat. If you just treat the body, you'll end up with dozens of fleas clustered together on the head.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

Oh I know (about the spreading). I am just a bit overwhelmed right now.

Btw, I fully believe our best approach re: Sylvester is to spray, and then just tell him it's totally dealt with. In other words, lie. I feel he is using this as just another excuse - especially since I am sure they have been there the whoel time and HELLO the house is much better than it was so why freak out NOW? Are you cool with that?

Also, did you see the emails btwn Michele and myself? I felt rather stongly she was kind of jumping in cowboy style without talking to anyone else. I think she picked up on that and toned it down - esp. since I pointed out we already planned to have a house-wide meeting tonight.

[conuly]

Fine by me. I think after the first fumigation, it won't be especially contagious anyway. I just really don't want to be responsible for it going to his house, y'know?

[conuly]

(And re: Michelle - you tend to do that too, you know! But you're getting better. I gotta go, we're starting quiet time now.)

[rhicat.livejournal.com]

My bedframe has drawers as well. I washed all the clothing in them, vaccumed the drawers and sprayed all the wood with a bleach/water mix.

[rhicat.livejournal.com]

I wish I had some to give you but I don't. In our last house I had bedbugs in my bedroom. My solution (since we were moving) was to throw out my old mattress, buy a new one (that never entered the old house) and wash all my bedding and curtains in hot water with borax.

Maybe sprinkle the top of the mattress with borax the cover it with a waterproof mattress pad?

[conuly]

No, bedbugs eat blood, not borax. And they're not just on top of the mattress, they're in the bedframe and the baseboards and the walls, and my *drawers* (which are built into my bed), and in the bedding (which will have to be washed and dried at a high temperature)....

[feebeeglee.livejournal.com]

Try some diatomaceous earth? Cuts fleas and ticks to shreds just because they wander through it, but it's just mildly abrasive to humans. Freshwater DE, I mean.

Just a thought - you have my sympathies!

[conuly]

That might not be a bad idea, esp. between first and second fumigation (like lice - once to kill the bugs, once to kill the eggs).

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

Some things. One, we obviously need to have a good ol' house-wide meeting tonight. Two, love the DE idea. Three, matress-wise, what if we carefully encase in plastic? Would that do it? (As mattresses are so expensive). Btw, the crib mattress should be ok since it is plastic encased to begin with. Four, check care2.com and see if they have any info. Five, is there any way to ID where they may have spread to (i.e., just because they *can* spread somewhere does not mean they have, so is there some way to see them etc.? - this comes to mind for me particularly with regards to my storage closet with in-between clothes boxes). Six...we could not have a house. We could have lost the roof in the tornado. A giant snake could have eaten the garden. You know...it could be worse.

[conuly]

Yes, if we encase it in tight plastic, no uncovered spots, for 18 months (and preferably let it sit outside in under 25F temperatures for a few hours in the winter).

It could be worse, but that does not mean I should not complain when it is bad! There are definitely ways to ID where they are, but I don't know them. And the worst part is, if we start fumigating just part of the house, they will spread, they will scatter. Maybe for the second fumigation (to get the eggs), 10 days to 2 weeks later, we can just hit the bedrooms (especially if we've been very thorough with the DE in the meantime), but if we do that the first time we'll virtually guarantee that they'll leave the two or three places they are now and go everywhere else.

It's like fleas on a cat. If you just treat the body, you'll end up with dozens of fleas clustered together on the head.

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

Oh I know (about the spreading). I am just a bit overwhelmed right now.

Btw, I fully believe our best approach re: Sylvester is to spray, and then just tell him it's totally dealt with. In other words, lie. I feel he is using this as just another excuse - especially since I am sure they have been there the whoel time and HELLO the house is much better than it was so why freak out NOW? Are you cool with that?

Also, did you see the emails btwn Michele and myself? I felt rather stongly she was kind of jumping in cowboy style without talking to anyone else. I think she picked up on that and toned it down - esp. since I pointed out we already planned to have a house-wide meeting tonight.

[conuly]

Fine by me. I think after the first fumigation, it won't be especially contagious anyway. I just really don't want to be responsible for it going to his house, y'know?

[conuly]

(And re: Michelle - you tend to do that too, you know! But you're getting better. I gotta go, we're starting quiet time now.)

[rhicat.livejournal.com]

My bedframe has drawers as well. I washed all the clothing in them, vaccumed the drawers and sprayed all the wood with a bleach/water mix.