Want to know how to get rid of bed bugs without reading this entire site or without spending a fortune on pest control? Im going to explain how you can do this yourself using natural products found at most stores.
How to get rid of bed bugs is as simple as spreading around a powder called Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth (also know as Silica Dioxide, Silicone Dioxide or Bed Bug Dust). This is non toxic, can be purchased at just about any feed and supply store and as you can read from visitor comments, works great!
Some people have had luck with flea and tick powder which is suppose to do what diatomaceous earth does; that is, dehydrate the bugs and causes them to die.
You spread this around your room (create a perimeter) and when the bed bugs cross the dust / powder, they coat themselves and become dehydrated.
That is exactly how to get rid of bed bugs and prevent them from entering your rooms, etc.
Just this week I read a report where a team of scientists have found a way to scare bed bugs.
Bed bugs usually dont come out to feed until humans are in a deep sleep which seems to be around 4am. They dont usually appear in the day and can be very hard to spot (they are good at hiding!).
By spraying an area with a synthetic version of a bed bugs alarm pheromones, bed bugs were found to start moving within five minutes after the application regardless of the time of day!
Diatomaceous Earth works great as long as the bed bugs walk through the powder; with this new discovery, the bed bugs become so agitated, its almost guaranteed theyll cover themselves with dust (provided its applied in the right locations).
There needs to be more testing before youll be able to buy Diatomaceous Earth mixed with these alarm pheromones, but if all goes well, you should start seeing products very soon.
For now, the best way to kill bed bugs is by applying Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth in the right locations. There are a ton of comments from visitors from around the world explaining how they got rid of bed bugs using this natural powder found on our bed bug treatment page.
Warning! Make sure its FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth if it isnt, its dangerously unhealthy!
Diatomaceous Earth (aka Fossil Shell Flour) is sometimes found in amorphous form, which can cause silicosis; it should NEVER be mentioned without a safety warning near enough so it cant be missed. On the other hand, food-grade DE is considered a safe additive in foods and feed, and regularly used to prevent digestive infestations in livestock.
A visitor, Tom 1303, has taken the time to write everyone on how to get rid of bed bugs which Ive included below Thanks Tom 1303!
I moved into my new home on June of 2010. By end of September I noticed my feet was itching and little bites on them. The home has a pool and I been spending a lot of time outside so I dismissed them as chigger and mosquito bites. My mom drove cross country to see our new home. She even was worried about stopping at hotels in fear of bed bugs. I remembering laughing. So my mom gets here. We finally got our 8 grand for buying our new house and went and bought 2 new living room sets and my wife and I insist she takes the bed and we will sleep on the sofa pull out.
After a few days my mom starts getting what looks like a rash on her arm and its driving her crazy. We chalked it up to chiggers as we had been doing some yard work. Well time came and went and she left. My wife and I went back into the room and switched sheets my wife found the Bed Bugs that I laughed about weeks ago. I called my mom right away to warned her to check her bed wash all her clothes she brought with her. We got lucky she didnt take any home with her.
My wife and I panicked which is the first thing you should not do. We threw out our mattress. Went to war with em. Cleaned everything just like I am sure you all have. We even waited like a month before buying a new bed to be sure and slept on an air mattress. All appeared well we bought a new mattress and box spring even bought a mattress cover but it ripped. I also bought glue pads and placed under the 4 post of my bed. Then my son started showing bites. They moved to his room. We panicked threw out his mattress.
Did all we mentioned above, but this time we hired a exterminator. He came out treated the 2 rooms. All once again seemed well. Then my daughter and my grandson was getting bit. So we repeated the above called the exterminator back out this time he retreated my son room and ours also did my daughters room. All once again seemed well. We then noticed our backs were getting bites. We looked all over the room and nothing. Turned out the little bugs had made it into our brand new furniture. Well I cant afford to replace the furniture. So I checked on a bed bug heat treatment and was going to cost about $3,500. So that was out. I called terminx Who said would be $1,200 and they would finance it but would only offer a 30 day guarantee. The way the bugs been coming and going we didnt want to pay monthly for something and still have the bugs. So we declined.
I did a lot of research on line watched you tube videos and realized our infestation wasnt near as bad as it could be. I went to my local do it yourself pest control. She told me to buy a insecticide called phantom it was $100.00 and you mix 4 ounces with 1 gallon of water. She told me a local exterminator that has a trained bed bug dog buys that stuff from her. So i figured why not. I also went online and bought a Steam cleaner for 90 bucks at walmart. (be sure it gets over 140 degrees).
We lifted the couches sprayed the Phantom bed bug spray all over the underneath of the couches. all over the box springs all along the floor boards even bought a special sprayer that would spray the phantom mix into the cracks. We formed a moat of the spray around all our beds. It dries dont worry. Bought Harris bed bug spray at Ace hardware and sprayed the mattresss and top of couches. We let everything dry.
We then bought some Diatomaceous Earth from Ace hardware and spread it underneath the bed between the mattress and box spring. In the cracks of the bed frames. (I seen this via online videos on how to apply) PLEASE BE CAREFUL DO NOT GET POOL GRADE Diatomaceous Earth!. Anyway about a week later our steam cleaner arrived. I went into action and steam cleaned the couches and mattresses . Burnt my hand doing so but I didnt care I was getting steam in every crack and fold of the couches. A week later I found more bugs but they were dead. (The phantom takes 7 to 10 days to work) I then vacuumed up the Diatomaceous Earth steamed cleaned all the floor boards all cracks, bed and couches.
Once all was dried placed Diatomaceous Earth in the electrical outlets (took off the face plate and placed it in the hole of the wall around the outlet) * (Be careful) * Also retreated the beds with Diatomaceous Earth as noted above. I resprayed phantom as noted above. I am not seeing any live bugs now. I steam my couches twice a week and respray phantom once every 3 weeks now.
I am not saying I am bed bug free as adults can hide for a year but I am saying My family is bite free and sleeping good as well as able to sit on my new furniture. I think of it as a war and I feel the phantom spray and steam cleaner are helping me win this war one battle at a time. I will never laugh when I hear someone say they are afraid of bed bugs ever again. I had the same fears as all of you have had. I was afraid someone would see a bug crawl on me at work or I would bring them to work and infest the office.
There for a while every little thing I felt I would jump and make sure it wasnt a bed bug. I have had to stop family from coming into town and visit me as well as cancel get-togethers at my house this summer. I have spent lots of money in drying my cloths over and over.
I know it feels like you will not make it through but trust me if you keep at it and be persistent you will.
In short:
1) Bed Bug Dust (Diatomaceous Earth)
2) Bed bug spray
3) Bed Bug Steam Cleaner
Seems to really be helping me.
I wish you all the best of luck!
Another visitor dealing with an infestation spent over a year styuding methods used to get rid of bedbugs and shares his views below.
Getting rid of furniture is hardly ever a sensible part of eliminating bedbugs. The only two cases that can make sense is if:
- the item has become so discolored by extrusions of remnants of past feedings that the item is no longer suitable for use AND it cant be covered (such as with a mattress cover) some pieces of furniture might be too discolored with only a several spots on them, others might have huge quantities of spots where they cant be seen, so they dont really matter; OR
- the item cannot be reliably treated, because its so terribly infested and/or its shape and materials inhibit all reasonable and practical forms of treatment (which is very rare). Of course if you genuinely dont need an item anymore, then sure; discard it.
Throwing out items (mattresses or anything else):
- is wasteful if not necessary
- will probably spread them within your dwelling
- is likely to spread them within your community, such as if somebody else comes along and takes your discarded item (which makes it all the more likely youll get them again)
- will not solve a problem except in the very rare cases that all bedbugs are in ONLY that specific item at that particular time. Thats just SO terribly unlikely.
IF you discard any furniture you need to break and/or slash it thoroughly enough that nobody will pick it up and take it to their dwelling.
Washing fabrics has nothing to do with controlling bedbugs. They can survive without oxygen for a LONG time. When putting fabrics in a dryer to control bedbugs; the fabrics MUST be completely dry. Once theyre completely dry, THEN they need to remain in the dryer at the highest temperature for at least 30 mins. They need to be put into a bag DIFFERENT from the one they were brought in, and sealed up. If your home is still infested and you unseal the bag there, consider the whole bag infested again.
A steamer that only gets to 140F will be of little use in controlling bedbugs. I dont recommend a steamer. Its VERY time consuming to get any benefit (you have to move it VERY slowly), you get very LOW return from it at best (only bugs heated to the proper temperature for the proper time will be affected), and it risks blowing bedbugs (especially the terribly hard to see babies) around and spreading them even more in your dwelling. But if you think you want to use one anyway; it should get to at least 180F (which is a rather dangerous temperature to be wielding). Be sure to put a towel or something around the end so theres minimal pressure and water coming out; its ONLY the heat you really want.
Its very unlikely you will vacuum up many eggs. When laid deliberately, theyre stuck with a very effective cement in place. However sometimes a female will lay eggs instinctively out of distress and in these cases theyre not necessarily stuck in place. If you go vacuuming, you should stick the foot end of a stocking hose into the vacuum to catch everything going in. This way you can minimize the risk of your vacuum becoming a haven for bedbugs. If you dont do this, you risk a female laying viable eggs inside your vacuum after getting sucked in.
People who say they did something or other then 1 week later undid it too bad you didnt wait! The eggs can take more than a week to hatch (the outside figure seems to be 14 days, with 8 to 11 days being typical). Ideally, you should leave any treatment in place for TWO MONTHS. The likelihood that you dont have bedbugs anymore is very very low.
For those of you whove deluded yourselves into thinking youre going to force 100% of them to starve to death .. Dont, that is a pipe dream.
Bedbugs are repulsed by light NOT attracted to it .. wow if you want the heat from a light to be an attractant, you need to get the temperature of the filament down to about 100F permanently good luck with that!
WHATEVER you do, do NOT try to spray repellent on yourself, nor all over your house. Thats not going to do a thing except waste money.
You will NOT force bedbugs to starve to death no matter WHAT you do!
A lot of people here claim they no longer have bedbugs, but they give NO information HOW they came to that conclusion. Most likely they came to the conclusion as a matter of the logical fallacy of hasty generalization; I dont see bites therefore I dont have bedbugs. As logical fallacies usually are; thats a false conclusion. You may very well simply no longer react to the specific protein that causes the allergic reaction, but still be getting bit regularly. Various studies indicate wildly different #s, but its reasonable to say that most people dont react to getting bitten by bedbugs.
Even if you do kill EVERY bedbug and egg in your residence, theres always some risk you can get them again. If you got them once, perhaps your household is exposed to more than nominal risks (your households school, office, church, visitors, etc). Dont be too surprised about getting re-infested. Got rid of them a year ago and have them again now? Yes; thats likely to happen. Go start getting good information on the Internet somewhere.
So until we can get them under control throughout our civilization (and I have high hopes we eventually will); learn to not freak out about them, and most importantly learn to not over-react.
At first it was a few little unobvious bites, but not much. After being bitten thousands of times I guess the allergic reaction started, and i had trails of hives all over my body every time a bug bit. I finally did a bit of research and I realized what i had was a severe bed bug infestation!
There were soo many of them that they didnt physically have room to hide. My mattress was literally coveredif you moved a poster on my wall, there were literally thousands in behind. They were all over the corners of the room and on the floor piled up on top of each other under the bed, and all around the radiators. So I up and moved. Sadly I did not do enough research because they followed me, and of course my new roommates didnt like it very much.
They tried to treat the problem with spray. But the damn bugs were literally crawling away from the spray! They seemed to know their impending doom. I did my homework this time, and I washed all my clothes and dried them on hot, and I moved myself with just a few garbage bags of clothes to a new apartment. No furniture or anything came with me. Finally I was free and have remained bed bug free for a few more years. By this time though I was completely traumatized by the damn things, especially now that I quit drinking and couldnt drink away the fears. Then I moved back to Toronto with a roommate for a while. Afterwards I moved into my first apartment on my own without roommates. I furnished it all from scratch, went into debt over it.the apartment was beautiful!
Two weeks after living there, I saw a familiar bug crawling on my computer table. Panicking, I looked around and found where they were inhabiting a crack in the wall in the corner and also in my closet. There were signs of feces all around the walls too. I did tons and tons of research, and because of the fact that they werent that hard to find, it lead me to believe the infestation was quite severe. Usually you can barely find the damn things, especially in the case of a small infestation. Later that same day I saw a bed bug-infested mattress just lying in the hallway of my apartment building near the elevator..and it clicked.
I was in a 300 unit highrise.the bed bug prison from Hell! I reported it immediately and my landlords sent this exterminating company to come along and spray around the room a few times. I did enough homework to know that this was shit. I went around and polled a bunch of neighbors on my floor.they all had the same story
1) they all had bed bugs, 2) they had had their apartments sprayed numerous times, and 3) the bugs always came back.
Oh i felt so sick. I knew what my landlords would do would never work. I knew what had to be done to get rid of them was practically impossible, especially in a building so friggin large. I only made $15 an hour, so its not like I could afford $thousands either. And frankly I figured a multi-dwelling highrise full of poor people was was doomed. I got very stressed and depressed quite quickly, and frankly it took me to a very dark place. I did not start drinking again, but started fantasizing on how I could just off the balcony and end my torture.
After another week and 2 spraying attempts, I broke my lease, through everything out (except for my clothes which I washed on hot), and I moved into a furnished room for rent. The only things that I didnt wash were a couple duffel bags, which i left outside on the balcony for a couple weeks in the winter..but I guess it wasnt cold enough. A couple months later I saw bites, and looked around, and I realized I had brought them with me to the new room for rent. I was planning to leave town in a month anyway, so I just quit my job on the spot and left.only with my clothes this time.no duffel bags.
I spent a month at my parents house in the middle of winter in mantioba before moving to Calgary. Here I started fresh, and lived in three different apartments..no bed bugs! About a year and a half ago I discovered a bed bug infested mattress in the dumpster behind my building. I freaked out and immediately called my landlords, but no one had reported it, so I posted a memo under everyones door in the building. I also did a lot of research and by this time diamotaceous earth was now on the internet and a few of comments about it. I am still questioning the authenticity of the comments because a lot of them seem to be on sites plugging the product.
I put DE all around my apartment, and did it every couple of months, and I was very careful not to vacuum right up to the walls. Anyways I did this for about 6 months and never saw any signs of bed bugs. Life in dirt, though no glamorous, really wasnt so bad! I also bought an emergency tent that remains unopened in my storage room just in case. About a year ago I started getting lazy with the DE routineI didnt apply any fresh coats. I still didnt vacuum right up to the edge of the walls, but I think it was gradually disappearing over time.
I hadnt seen any bites or any other bed-buggy mattresses around, or any signs at allso i didnt really worry. A couple weeks ago I got these itchy bumps all over my butt and on upper thighs. it struck we as weird, especially being in such a localized area. At first I thought Great..genital warts. So I went to the doctor and he said no definitely not.looks like an allergic reaction to bug bites. I didnt have a good handheld mirror so I hadnt really had the chance to inspect myself previously. I immediately got really nervous. Could it have been mosquitoes? How could mosquitoes even get to an area I had covered so well as my butt? Especially in Calgary in the rainiest summer everand I knew I had not worn shorts And the bites were lasting for two weeks now and only mildly itchy.
Now Im paranoid. its hard to tell if there are bug bites on my thigh areas now or if its just small pimples mixed in with the hairs. I might have a bite on my mid-cheek, but its hard to tell and not itchy. I have not been one to react extremely to the bites in the past. Gradually over time I know the reaction gets worse. I am not 100% sure i have bed bugs, but pretty darn sure ifs not fire ants or spiders or mosquitoes. So I am now about to put DE all over once again and going to say a few prayers. Gosh I hope this works.
One thing I would love to know is to hear more DE success stories. I saw so many on other sites, but it always seemed like a plug for the product. I asked an exterminator if DE was good, but he told me it wasnt. But can I really trust them anyways? I cant really expect exterminators to sell me on cheap DE as it will result in me not spending $ thousands on spraying, now can I. Please I would love some advice. Somebody please tell me that DE works!
Does DE really help get rid of bed bugs?
In response to Ethans story / question, yes, DE really works to help get rid of bed bugs and in fact, youve proved it to yourself. You can also read the testimonials on my bed bug dust section the only reason they came back was that the place you were living in had infested rooms right next to yours.
You can treat your unit all day long, but unless the management takes action, youll just be keeping them at bay; when you stop your applications, they will be waiting to enter and bite. Moral of that story you can get rid of bed bug with DE, but you have to be diligent as does the landlord if living in a multi unit complex.
Dawn M.::
Thank you Jim. You are so kind. I will try the Diatomaceous Earth and let you know how it goes.
jen::
I dunno about DEnot a lasting treatment, unless youre willing to live with white dust everywhere. I spread a ton of it in every nook & cranny of my room & furniture, plus Borax. Made a huge mess, but I lived with it for a week before vacuuming. As soon as I cleaned, the bugs were back with a vengeance. Just had Terminix come & spray, but not sure the guy spent enough time spraying every creviceGot rid of bed (even though no visible signs of bugs) Afraid to sleep back in room. I am so drained, I hate the previous tenant (I know I didnt bring it from anywhere) & the dufus landlord.
Dawn M.::
Jen, Im willing to live with white dust over bed bugs any day. I live in the city and am having a VERY hard time finding Diatomaceous Earth or any of the spays with it in it. I went to a place today and they told me of a place not to far away that should have DE and I am going there today. I dont have much money as Im a disabled veteran and single mom to a disabled child so I dont have the money to have an exterminator so Im just going to put the DE everywhere til the bugs are dead and gone dust and all.
I did get the tea tree oil that was recommended and I put it on my son and myself every night; I think it works ok. better then nothing at all. I think I have gotten one bite on my forearm and my son on his thigh since I have started using the tea tree oil. Actually, Ive been up all night lately as
I cant sleep thinking of these bugs crawling on my son and myself at night. I kill approx 5-10 bugs a night (those lil buggers are fast), all different sizes. I check my son through the night too with a flash light but havent seen any on or around him. I do have a mattress cover on his mattress and box spring that I clean and vaccum every 3-4 days. I kill my back doing it but I cant have these vermin crawling on my baby.
I will write back after I get the Diatomaceous Earth and spread it around. Oh and just to be 100% sure, does anybody know for sure that this stuff is NOT piousness? I have an 8 year old son with autism and 2 cats; I dont want to get anything that will hurt them in any way.
Jennifer::
The Diatomaceous Earth works! It didnt cost much and the dust isnt harmful to people or pets because its all natural. I treated my apartment for bed bugs but i covered my mattress after that because i wanted to prevent future bed bugs. You can get it at your local pet store.
Dawn M.::
Jennifer, how long does it take to work? Knock on wood, Im 99.9% sure that they bugs are out of my sons room as I have the mattress and boxspring double covered(long story). I got the DE, I vaccumed everything then put the DE around the corners of his room, under his whole bed, around all four legs of his bed, along the rails where you fit in the box spring, and between the boxspring and mattress. Anyway, the bugs seem to be in the couch where I sleep.
I only figured it out when I was waking up with bites, this was before I got the DE. Anyway, as I said before, Im disabled and cant pull the couch out from the wall to vaccum behind there. I pulled out all the cousins, inspected them, saw nothing but still vaccumed the heck out of each cushion and all parts of the couch I could see.
I put the DE under the cushions, as much under the couch I could get, under my entertainment center as much as I could. I also put it in every doorway in my apt. I then covered my couch with sheets as I thought it would keep the bugs in and make them go through the DE but NOOOO. Every night I try and fall asleep around 9 or 10 then wake up around 2-2:30 as the bugs seem to come out around 3-4. Although, after 4 one morning, I had fallen back asleep and woke around 5 as something was itching around my cheek.
I lifted my head to 3 yes THREE bed bugs running around on my pillow. :o( Everyday I seem to add more DE and another sheet, blanket, or comfoter over freshly laid DE on my couch over the last thing that covered it. I know I read the bag and it says that it takes the bugs 2 days to dehydrate after coming in contact with the DE so I thought that by now, they would be mostly gone but daily, even during the middle of the day, I find new baby ones. Every one I find, I kill and put down the toilet.
I did remember yesterday that I forgot a major thing that I was supposed to get and do. I forgot to get the steamer thing. I dont have the money right now but will get one when I get paid my disability on the 1st. Im gonna try and get the couch away from the wall best I can and stick the steamer behind the couch and hopefully can get a small enough one that I can steam under my couch too.
I just cant wait to be rid of these darn things. :*o( :*o( :*o( I NEED SLEEP!
Dawn M.::
BIG Bravo Zulu for Diatomaceous Earth(DE for short)! There is more info on this short post located at the bottom of this page, theres two posts written by me on todays date, 8-14-09.
http://www.badbedbugs.com/bed-bug-faq/
Heres the short and sweet of it..as I said, if you want to read more, click the link above..
I know a lot of people have been having problems with finding DE since we have been told here that it is found in feed stores. I even had quite a bit of trouble #1 finding a feed store since I live in the city then #2 when I would find a feed store, they didnt carry DE. Well in mentioning the DE to my mom, my dad said that they is what he uses in the pool filer system. I havent looked at it but make 100% sure that somewhere on the containor that it says that it is NOT TOXIC and if you have a pet/s that it says PET FRIENDLY or PET APPROVED. That bag I got at the feed store says Pet Approved. It also says ORGANIC, so that would be something else to look for if you buy the DE used for the pool filter. Since the DE my dad uses is for the pool filter is for the pool and not used as an organic bug killer for plants as the ones in the feed stores are, not sure if it is safe for humans and or pets to breath. So if you cant find DE where you live, go to a POOL STORE and check out their DE. Read the containor and make sure that it is DE only with nothing else added. I just thought that this would be interesting info for those of you having trouble finding DE. :o)
Dawn M.::
Bad news. I just found this info about the DE made for swimming pools. make sure you dont get the stuff thats designed to be used in swimming pools. That isnt appropriate for your bedroom even though its called the same thing. You also shouldnt breathe it in directly if you can avoid it (the pool kind is bad for that, but food grade has a lower silica quantity and isnt as big a risk).
Not sure if Im even allowed to offer this but will put it out there, I feel so bad so I will put this out there, they can delete this part of my post if its now allowed. if anybody needs DE and cant find it, Im willing to have you mail me a money order for the DE plus shipping only and I will mail you how ever many bags you need. I can get 4.4 pound bags for $10.99 plus 6% sales tax. Im in Mass and the tax just went up from 5% to 6%. :o( And here I was, soooo excited to find out that they use DE in pool filters, an easy find. Pool places everywhere. Sigh. Im very honest and will mail you the receipt for the DE and for the mailing so you can see you paid for ONLY that, not even my time and gas. We got to get rid of these darn things and Im willing to do my part.
Randall C::
You may want to have autisic son checked by Infectious disease doctor. It is evolving thought that Lymes or lymes like diseases can cause autism. The increasing presence of these bugs could herald a return of some old diseases in a younger population set. While not lethal something chronically disabling may be there. For autism they speak of mitochondrial dysfunction when they should give greater consideration to infection by intracellular organisms.
EG Rickettsia, coxiella, just to name a few
Its more than the bite its whats in the bite. Good luck!
Dawn M.::
Thank you Randall. Do I just ask his doc to do a blood draw? Is what hes looking for EG Rickettsa and coxiella? Youve got my brain wondering and I think Ill do a little google searching.
chris B::
Honestly without using DE I would recommend a qualified professional to spray for them.. I work out of Phoenix for an pest control company, and unlike other pests, bedbugs have been more of a pandemic throughout the U.S. And like someone mentioned earlier even though DE is safe for pets and humans, dont breath it in.. 100% organic DE is fossilized animals and can affect people who have breathing problems.
deedee::
gosh, i slept at my brothers apartment on Friday, he was telling me that there was this one lady who had bed bugs at her apartment and then asked my mom if they could spread to apartment to apartment. so then my mom said i dont know. then i was itchy all night, and today is Sunday. I have red spots on my face, arms, and feet. makes me look awful. I hate it because they are red, itchy and they feel hot. but then I washed myself with Nix. Head lice shampoo & I also washed my clothes twice with hot water and Nix. But idk can bed bugs live in your head too?
Michele C.::
My 3 yr old daughter woke up with welts all over one side of her body. It looks like a mosquito went crazy. I gave her benadryl and put hydrocortizone on the welts. I sell used stuffed animal toys on the internet and I bring them home all the time from the Goodwill and other thrift shops. I never thought about bedbugs until today. It may be too late. I use the income from the sale of the toys to get nice things for my kids. I dont want to stop selling. Any ideas on how to treat the stuffed animals so I can still sell them?
marissa g::
Okay, so i noticed a few months back waking up to a small bug on me but never knew what it was. this morning i had woke up and went to brush my teeth and there was a bug crawling straight across my white t-shirt. i asked my fiance if he knew what it was before we killed it he had no clue either. so we picked up the mattresses and found about three of them on the corner of the mattress. so he killed them and now have googled pictures of bed bugs out of curiosity (thank god for internet by the way) and YUP there it was the same bug that was on me this morning.
I have been on line all day and noticed that the NIX lice spray says kills bed bugs too. just curious if anyone else used it or not before on them to see if it really works or if Im wasting my time on it? since i had some left over from when a friend needed a place to stay but her daughter had lice i went to the store to buy it immediately. so just didnt want to waste more money if i had the cure here at home?
Daniel::
I found that applying selsun blue shampoo to my bedbug bites, it will relieve the burning and itching; simply put a drop on the areas bitten.
Another great home remedy is mixing a bit of tidy cats litter to create a paste, then apply it to your bug bites to get rid of the sting. The trick is in the clay once it drys on the skin.
You can also reduce the itching by mixing a Rolaids tablet with water to form a paste. Put the paste on the bite and relief should be instant.
And last but not least, the most popular, baking soda and water to make a paste that is placed on the bite to let dry.
Bitten and sleepless in Brooklyn::
Can I put DE on y body not to get bit? And WHAT IS the hard beige substance BB leave behind? It looks like a sliver of a broken peanut or potato chip crumbs. I have DE I dusted a bowl and put a BB inside (that I caught BTWN my top sheet and comforter) covered w/ many breathing holes and the BB died in Approx 2 days and 4 hrs. I caught 1 that looked kinda gray/dusty put it in a separate bowl w/o DE. I was thinking it must have walked through the DE thats why its Gray! and it died also. SO this was 2 days after putting it down.But I noticed after putting it down thats when I saw them. Ive never C N them just walk out like that . Im picking up some Bayer Advanced Home Pest Plus Germ Killer I have a friend who used it and claimed that + mattress covers and (BORIC ACID) did the trick. I know BB wont willingly just eat BA but may not have a choice if its cleaning itself or just its face being buried. So has any 1else tried the Bayer Advanced Home Pest Plus Germ Killer? I think Ill continue w/ DE and the Bayer. Thanx 4 ur help.
ursula::
OMG i just moved in to this wonderful house with my 3 boys and there are bats in the attic crawl space that gave us all bat bugs just about the same as bed bugs but they prefer bats says pest control expert my baby started to get a few bites then my other son. The landlords are putting me up in another place until taken care of but this is awlful! i cant eat or sleep. I am an ICU nurse and very use to high stress situations but this is WOW a mother. I found 2 in my mattress and i made them come and take it out. they put it in a garage behind the house I am obsesed im on the computer all night looking up more info i feel like i cant take it anymore!!!!! I put duct tape around the beds and caught a whole bunch ewwww. i think am bout to lose it raising 3 boys on my own without any support is hard enough this is so off the hook i think iam going loose it!!!
favor::
Man, I never thought I would see the day that I would be eaten by anything. At first when I would see these bed bugs I didnt think nothing of it that was in Aug 2009. I would just switch them away, thinking they was little lady bugs that would eventually go away. Then one day my grandson was laying in my bed I said what are these little bugs n where r they coming from? He said r they little I said yes, he said that a bed bugs.
I still thought he just heard the saying about bed bugs. Because he is nine n he shouldnt have known what a bed bugs was I sure didnt and Im 49. Anyway, time went on and one night I thought i kept feeling something crawling on me. I get up turn on the light and pull me sheet back these things get to running crazy probably 3 of them.
This time I kill them nothing but at the time i didnt know what it was, but it the blood most likely mine n my grandkids. Still not being aware they were a problem I thought that was no big deal. I finally looked under my mattress one day n there they was that when my maddness began.
My boyfriend said that I was crazy every night around 2 or 3 in the morning I would call him, he trying to slept get mad because im waking him up yo kill bugs n then wouldnt go back in the room. He didnt believe it was bed bugs either, like me as old as we are we have never once seen a bed bugs.
Then I start googling how to get rid of bed bugs n find out that where all my bites been coming from. They was tearing me up. I got rid of everything in my room the bed, boxspring dresser,clothing everything. I thought I was bb free, got me a new bed everything change out couldnt afford exterminator.
I really thought I got rid of them. Nope 9 month later I start to see one havent been getting bitten,or it just wasnt bad as the first case. I knew what it was I had my boyfriend to tackle that little guys and crush him n throw it in the stool. Im tearing my bed up now. didnt see any bugs. Im pleased!
In for a rude awakening, start itching seeing little bites, Im in denial now I didnt see anything so they are not there wrong end up seeing babies not that many, start killing them, thinking ok i got them in time, im on top of this not da. The bed bugs are bad, I didnt get rid of them!!
This time Im going to get them for they get me Call exterminator, told me to keep spraying alcohol in holes n everywhere I might think they are at. Going to Walmart tomorrow and get DE also I pray to God it work this is terrible!!!!!!
favor::
I went to get some DE didnt find that, I found the organic crawling insect blocker, It said to use out side, I have put all around my bed and in all of my crack. This is my second go around with annoying little bugs, the first time I had no ideal what they was.
My grandson told me and I thought is was just saying because he heard the say of dont let the bed bugs bit. Noooo it was, out all my 49 yrs. I have never experience anything like this. It actually scary to know that these bed bugs can take up to 120 degrees in heat or 32 below before they die!
All I do is worry about bugs now, I dont want to be there meal. think the government or politic should have a grant for people who cant afford to have them kill, really there is going to be a epidemic around the world and people losing their minds like me.
Sandy Johnson::
My husband brought bed bugs home in his luggage from a Comfort Inn hotel. He was bitten but got hives instead of bug bite marks, so it took us some time to realize they were bed bugs.
We hired an exterminator to treat our furniture, carpets, outlets, etc. We were instructed to remove everything but furniture from the second floor of our home, bag it tightly, wash all clothing in hot water and dry on high heat. The extermination was $700 for 3 treatments one week apart. We have had second treatment and are still being bitten.
We take our bed apart every morning and find them in the wooden slats where the bed side rails connect. Turned our furniture on its side and found them in the legs and small spaces under the furniture.
Harris Bed Bug killer from Ace Hdwe. works on contact, but not to eliminate completely. Purchased a Shark steamer to steam edges of carpet, blinds and bed mattresses / boxsprings. Definitely worth purchasing ($80 at Walmart) because it gets in small spaces and kills them instantly. Purchased carpet steamer to clean carpets which killed some also. Purchased sealed mattress/boxspring covers.
Most effective was this weekend when we sealed off our bedroom, turned on the heat, and placed many heaters in room to temp. of 115 for 2 hours. Monitored heaters every 15 min. for fear of fire. Found dead bed bug nymphs and adults and this temperature which also kill eggs. Didnt get bitten that night.
We are now doing same to all bedrooms and bathrooms on 2nd floor. Good luck to all this has been a nightmare for our family.
Ann W::
Last Sunday I started itching on my chest, arms, legs, stomach, pretty much all over my body. I had changed by bath soap and thought maybe that was it. I was also taking Cipro for an infection and thought maybe that was it. So on Monday the Cipro ended and I went back to my old soap. The itching continued.
On Thursday I woke up with these spots / bites all over my upper chest.. Ive notice more mostly on my chest, stomach area. I thought maybe it was a spider bug bite, Then I was wondering if it might be bed bugs. I was freakin out. I tore my bed apart didnt find anything. I called Terminix and thank God they had someone who came out yesterday. He couldnt find anything and said most likely it was spider bites (see BadSpiderBites.com)
Oh I forgot to mention last weekend I took down some wallpaper in my bedroom and he said maybe that disturbed them. He asked me if I had been anywhere lately and I told him no. He said I didnt have bedbugs. Then after he left I got to thinking I did stay at a Courtyard Marriott the 4&5 th May. That would have been a month ago. Would it take that long for the bedbugs to bite me. I didnt get any bites at the Marriott.
Last night I put the tape around my mattress like some people had said and nothing was on it this morning. I again tore my bed apart and nothing. I have one of those Select Comfort beds so there is no typical box spring/mattress. Needless to say I didnt sleep much. I had the TV on most of the night until around 4 this morning. I dosed on and off and kept checking for bugs through out the night and nothing. This morning when I got up around 5:30 I was itching like crazy on my upper chest. Rubbing my Tshirt over the area. Then a short time later I looked in the mirror and there was bright red blood splotches on my Tshirt. It was fresh not dried blood. I took it off and there was nothing nor nothing on my bed. I dont know if it was from rubbing my self raw or a bed bug????
I dont know what to do? Im going to be gone for a week on vacation and Im concerned now about staying with family. If I have bedbugs (even though Terminix says I dont) could I bring them to them?
Also, I just thought of. A couple of weeks ago I purchased a new bedspread. It was in a sealed zipped plastic bag. It didnt look like it had been openedcould bed bugs had been on that.
Will your body itch or only where your are bitten? Also if the blood spatter on my Tshirt was a bedbug wouldnt I have seen the squashed bedbug? If I do have an infestation, how do I get rid of the bed bugs?
Any suggestions would be appreciatedor comments. Do you think I have bedbugs???
Im the only person in the house. If I dont know where they are what can I do. I dont care what it costs Ill do it. Please what is the BEST recommendation? heat, steam, fog, spray. HELP PLEASE!
Jim::
Hi Ann,
You cant bring the bed bugs with you if wash the cloths youll be traveling with in hot water (see our bed bug treatment page) and make sure that your luggage is free of any bed bugs (you would see them). The eggs are hard to spot, but most likely they are not in your luggage (wipe it clean).
Did you check to see if the hotel you stayed at has had bed bugs in the past? If not, visit our page on hotel bedbugs and leave a comment with the address of the hotel and your request.
Youre not going to like this, but a single bedbug can produce 5 eggs a day up to about 300 eggs. These little guys hatch in about 6 days and are very hungry. Once the nymphs feast on your blood, they can then start molting and grow into adulthood (takes about a month). Once the adult bed bug has had a good meal, they can live up to a year without feeding again if they have to!
So, yes, you could have brought a female bedbug home with you and ended up with a whole family. But, lets hope this is not the case and its something like seafood (let me explain : )
From time to time I get the same red blotches, about 11:00pm, they cover my chest and shoulders and like yours, they itch like crazy! A long hot shower does the trick, and its not bed bugs at all, its seafood that is not cooked well. I love calamari and found that if its not fried enough, Ill have a reaction later that night.
In your case, you mentioned red splotches, did you mean red splotches of blood? If so, then something is biting you and my case would not apply.
Ann W::
Thank you Jim! I am having another company come out tomorrow to check for bedbugs. The guy from Terminix said I didnt have them, but something is biting me. Orkin supposedly trains other companies on how to treat bedbugs so they are coming in the morning. If I do have them what treatment would you recommend. I dont want to say money is no object, but I am willing to pay more for whatever works best. From what Ive read heat seems to be one of the best and I dont have to go through the process of washing everything, because the heat kills it. Do you agree?
If I do have them what about the clothes that Ive been wearing to work and to my friends homes. Could I have carried them there? I have visited my grandchildren and my grandson has spent the night. He usually sleeps on the floor in my room in a sleeping bag. He hasnt been bitten, but could he have taken them home on his clothing that he is wearing? Im just a wreck about this. Hopefully tomorrow Ill have some answers. Im also going to see my dermatologist.
God Bless you for this website!!
kiki::
i got diatomaceous earth (bed bug dust) and put it all around and me and my famliy are still getting bit sombody help me. I need to find somthing that works i have seven kidsand im on a fixed income and im tired of seeing the bites/and bugs. does any one have a solution.
tina::
Hello,
It has been day 4 since my daughters have been waking up in the morning with a trail of bites in their arms n legs..first thing came in my head was bed bug. After seeing the bites again i moved my bed and back spring and vacuumed around. I found 3 bugs..does that mean there are more?, should i throw away my mattress? Please give any advice..thx
Jennifer S::
We have been suffering with Bed Bugs for quite a while now.weve tried practically EVERYTHING short of a professional exterminator (which they will be coming out early next week). Unfortunately, everyone BUT me in my family is getting bit, or as I read somewhere, Im not having an allergic reaction to the bites, I have no bit marks or red spots, so Im a little hesitant to believe that, but whatever.
My husband and 2 children are practically getting eaten alive.We used diatomaceaous earth and as much as I would LOVE to say it worked, it didntit did not get rid of them completely, but I will say that I think it helped for a while.
We put carpenters tape (double sided tape) and wrapped it around a plastic container and put the legs of our bed into them and then poured DE into the containers. We also poured the DE around the perimeters of our room and parts of our apartment and then put mattress covers on. This helped for a while, but drove the bugs into our other room and into our sofa looking for blood..
Ive never encountered bed bugs before and I wouldnt wish this on my worst enemy! I did read that putting your bed legs in cups of mineral oil would help.Im going to try that next!
Oh and by the way, with the exterminator.we have to clear out our ENTIRE apartment and just leave the furniture..the sprays will be every 10 days! Good luck to EVERYONE who encounters these little devils!
Richard B.::
Hi, I have living with bed bugs for over a year. I have tried everything to get rid of them. They are in my scalp, my hair, they created a hole in my left leg. Jim, Im telling you that bed bugs can come out during the day, not just at night. I have seen them biting me during the day, and I have to pull them off me!
The diatomaceous earth stops working after 2 weeks. You need to vacuum and re apply. This is an epidemic that needs to be addressed. I am tired of them living on me. I will continue to fight to kill these pieces of scum that serve no purpose. THEY CAN GO BACK WHERE THEY CAME FROM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The people that have bed bugs you are being tormented by the devil. Need to read the bible. Me too. God will deliver me from this !!!!!!!!! Trust in God
Cathy::
My daughter brought home bed bugs when she spent the night at her friends house. We had Orkin Pest Control spray 4 times. It did not get rid of the bed bugs. We threw out mattresses, clothes, books, etc Nothing worked until we found the right pest control company.
They sell an Insect Killer (food grade Diatomaceous Earth) which kills bed bugs. You must carefully follow the directions. We dusted our carpet with the product then vacuumed it up hours later. We encased our new mattresses and box springs with mattress protectors and pulled our beds away from the wall. Make sure blankets dont touch the floor. Make sure bed frames are bed bug free. We purchased steel frames and threw out our wooden ones. Put the powder around the legs of the bed. When the bugs crawl up to bite you, they have to go through the powder to get you. The powder kills them. Keep applying the powder once a week for 5 weeks. Eggs hatch. The insects will then want to feed. It took 4 weeks to completely rid our house of the bed bugs. The product really works. Nothing else worked. We have been bed bug free for 3 years now.
Warning the powder is hard on the vacuum cleaner. We eventually bought a shop vac from Sears to vacuum the power.
Good Luck.
Scaredd::
Ive been waking up with litte red bumps all over my feet legs and arms and i think its bed bugs. I stayed @ a hotel in goldboro, north carolina and didnt seem to be getting bit when i was there. i bought the hot shot bed bug and flea fogger will it work?
I am also very scared of going back 2 new york this weekend bc Im staying at a family members house and dont want 2 bring them back with me! I have an exterminator coming Thursday and i already sprayed my luggage down with insect killer and left it outside in the sun. and i have been sleeping in tha living room until the exterinaters come.
Is there any thing else i can do? please write back with question comments and advice. thankss
sandy::
I have used foggers, not a good idea, also have used countless sprays with no avail. i just got DE put it all over room hope this works i am so tired of cleaning am a clean freak nyway. will post again if this works will say this it makes a huge mess hopefully it is worth it.
Oh just so ppl know I got Diatomaceous Earth from Lowes, went to home depot they only had pool grade. hopes this helps ny1 looking for it!!!!
Kelly L.::
Hi everyone Im new to this and here is my story.
I moved into a new apartment about month ago. I used to live in Public Housing. So as everyone knows or should know they have exterminators that come every 3 months and do inspections for any and all bugs. So for 4 years we have never had a problem with any bugs (ever). Now after being here the first 2 weeks we started getting bites.
We first thought it was fleas. Then a week later a little bed bug crawls out on my couch and I had no idea what it was. I had to google it just to find out what kind of bug it was. I called my landlord who called the owner of the house. He came yesterday and he bought Hot shots bed bug and flea foggers. He told us that we had to have brought them and that before we moved in there was an inspection of the apartment.
I know for a fact I have never had them before I think i would have noticed them. He also stated that the if the foggers didnt work that we would have to just move and make sure we take all of our furniture.
What can I do to kill the bbs I have 3 kids and they are all getting bites as well as myself and my fiance. Can the LL just ignore this problem and what else can I do to get rid of them that isnt very pricey as we dont have a lot of money to spare.
Thank you to all who read this and have any information or advice.
Sandy::
Its me again, still not sure if i killed all of my bed bugs i put the DE down left it for 2 days and then vacuumed it up i also washed all of my clothes in my closet although i dont think they were in there just a precaution it has been 3 days no bites, but i have also gone 6 days with no bites before. i am not getting to excited yet.
It took me 2 days to fully clean up from the mess that the DE made which will be worth it if it did the trick. i am so hoping this has been a nightmare. it all started about a month ago i started being bite had no clue what it was just like everyone else i passed it off as a mosquito or spider bite. i guess about a week later my dad told me that he had an infestation where he lives he had spent the weekend at my house and right after that weekend i started being bite, i freaked when he told me, thats when i started bombing like crazy, cleaning washing, burned my mattress, bought mattress covers bought hot shot bed bug spray, sprayed every inch of everything.
Still this did not work all the while never seeing a bed bug just going on what my dad had told me. then after i would say the third week i woke at 4 in the morning itching like crazy, looked at my sheet didnt see anything, went to the bathroom came back said let me look 1 more time and there were two bed bugs about the size of periods at the end of a sentence crawling. i woke my boyfriend up told him to kill them, and was a little relieved bcuz this whole time him and my son was telling me that i was crazy bcuz they were not being bitten. so now i had the proof.
I then taped my bed legs, bought lots of 91% alcohol kills on contact, got the DE put it everywhere . now i spray my sofas, beds pillows everything w alcohol 2 or 3 times a day. hoping i win this battle i am told only after going 55 days without a bite that i can assume that they are gone. i really just want to get a good nights rest again.
LittleMama::
My dad said as a child growing up he remembers his mom used to put a mayo lid full of Karosene under the bed to keep the bedbugs away. There is also Bedlam Professional Bed Bug Insecticide Eliminates the Pest as well as their Eggs. Aerosol-17 Oz. and it will kill the bedbugs, lice, any type of insect it comes in contact with. But you have to spray it on everything and then let it dry before you let your kids, animals or yourself on it.
A friend of mine gave me a can of it and it really works on the lice, havent had the bedbugs. But with school age children who are forever and always sharing hats, brushes and other things weve had the lice. Bedbugs and/or lice are not just attracted to nasty filthy people either, they are attracted to all people who have blood in their bodies, the bugs feed on the blood. So whether you are the cleanest or the dirtiest doesnt matter they are not after anything but the blood. And besides it is not a shame to get them it is a shame to get them and do nothing about them, whether it be bedbugs, lice, or whatever there is treatment and you should do whatever it takes to get rid of them.
If bedbugs are anything like lice you have to retreat every 7 days until they are completely gone, it is aggravating and very time consuming but they be exterminated with persistence.
SteveDenver::
HEAT kills bed bugs. In the summer or on sunny days, put your belongings in your car, roll up all the windows, and leave your car in the sun. Get a thermometer to check, but you want the temperature to rise over 120-degrees for a couple of hours.
Also, take all your clothes and dry them the clothes you cant dry (spandex, coolmax, silk, wool), put in a hot car for a couple of hours or have it dry-cleaned.
JOY::
I saw a bedbug on the internet because a few ppl in class were talking about it and thought ugh!!! then a few days later saw a bug that look like it on something i borrowed from someone then saw one on my curtain i went to walmart bought some the 20 mule borax detergent spread it all over the room took the curtains down washed them about 3 or 4 times put in dryer about 3 or 4 times and then but in plastic bag and sealed it up began washing everything up several times.
Got dawn dish-washing liquid in a spray bottle with water and began spraying everything got some food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) from the feed store and put it everywhere my apt looks like a white palace of dust and i mean every where i set off 3 bengal foggers says it kills up to 20 types of insects including bed bugs on the back of the box i spent over $10 on 3lbs of DE and spent about $15 on the foggers, i bought black flag bug spray to kill any eggs laid, i bought disinfectant spray to kill germs, i bought dawn dishwashing detergent mixed with water in a spray bottle (heard that it works) and spray it in the crevices and hard to reach places.
I will bomb again after the exterminator leaves on Monday i will reapply the DE and leave it down for 3 days and do this every week for 6 weeks i have a mattress pad on my bed but it does not encase the mattress Im going to go buy me one that zips the mattress up and still use my mattress pad to soften up the encased mattress cover.
I have not been bit and only saw the bugs i saw then thank you Jesus with in hours of having the item in my apt Im just so stressed about this and feel that this is horrible as all of my things are brand new from my bedding to my curtains and my bed and my headboard and footboard of my bed everything is new couch and all and the thought of having bed bugs is a nightmare!
I i saw one on my body lord help me!!! Jesus, in the name of the lord. i bind them in Jesus name!!! amen.. hope something i said helps someone Im serious about killing them i dont ever want on to survive in her or live to bite me or anyone else Im not bringing anything in my house again from others house that have had a bed bug problem these pests can live in anything! i mean even a vinyl or plastic case and can live for up to a year without ever biting anyone so be aware of buying used things! if you do wash in hottest water and dry then for over 30 minutes i am washing up all my bedding but Im washing them 3 x and drying them for 3 hrs Im just not taking any chances id rather have a high electric and water bill for a month or two than to have an infestation of bugs that live on human blood!!!
Tamara::
Hello,
Im doing an article on bed bugs for my newspaper class at school. If any of you guys could help me out and answer a few of my questions that would be amazing. If you had bed bugs that would be even better.
What did you do when you had bed bugs?
Why do you think bed bugs are making a come back?
What do bed bugs do to your skin?
Whats the best way to get rid of bed bugs?
I know it seems like a repeat of some of the things in the article. I just need quotes. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Tiara::
I can personally testify that DE (Diatomaceous Earth) works like no other chemical can. Has worked on both fleas and bedbugs. I had spent $$$ prior to trying it and nothing worked because these critters develop resistance to chemicals.
I buy the St. Gabriels brand from either Meijers or Ace Hardware for around $8.00 for a 4.4lb bag. You can also buy it online from St. Gabriels organic company. Tell the kids to go to a friends for a few hours, don a face mask, and sprinkle it all over using a kitchen strainer. Then, take a broom and sweep it gently over every inch of flooring.
This is messy dusty job but it does work. Leave it on the surfaces for three days. It spreads everywhere AND WORKS. Vacuem up and repeat if necessary. You can even sprinkle it on your mattress before sealing the mattress with a plastic cover.
I swear by it.
Good luck.
Bed Bug Girl::
Hello Tiara,
Thanks for sharing and glad to hear DE does the job!
Diama::
Had bed bugs dont know how i got them but I did god bless DE it works let me tell u I spread it all around the bass boards and would vacuum and reapply every 5-6 days vacuum vacuum vacuum I have not been bit or seen a bed bug in 6 weeks .dont get frustrated it takes alot of patience but the end reSult is worth it I can say Im bed bug free thanks to DE!
Chuck::
Heres what you need: Portable steam cleaner, mattress & box springs cover, Food Grade DE, bed bug spray, and four cups.
Note: vacuum everything prior to starting these steps!
- Steam clean every inch of every side of your mattress, box springs, bed frame, and head board
- Sprinkle DE on the bed frame and on the mattress & box springs
- Place the mattress and box springs in the mattress cover
- Put each leg of your bed frame into a cup and then fill the cup with water (bedbugs cant swim)
- Make your bed after washing all the blankets and sheets and putting the pillows in the dryer on hot setting
- Keep blankets from touching the floor and have the bed away from the wall
- Steam clean baseboards, carpets and crevices
- Spray baseboards, carpets, and crevices with bug spray
- Dust floors, carpets, and baseboards with Food Grade DE (I used a paint brush to dust it around, it takes a small fine coating)
- Repeat as needed until they are gone I did it about every 7 to 14 daysand the more I did it the longer I went between bites until they were gone.
It takes persistence, but you can beat them. The traps on the bed posts will at least allow you to sleep well without getting bit provided you cleaned the bed and frame well enough. Also every time you do this run all your clothes in the closet and towels etc through the dryer. It took me about 7 weeks to eradicate.
One additional note: Once you place the mattress and box springs into the cover, do not open it up on subsequent cleanings, just steam clean it and wash and dry your bed linens and dry your pillows etc.
nichole::
how can i get rid of these pesty bed bugs. went to the emergency room they gave us a cream but seems like its getting worse.. what can i do??? PLEASE HELP
bugged::
to anne w.consider scabies. hard to diagnose, you should see a infectious disease doctor. important not to be treated with steroids which can make it worse.
Yawniss::
I have been getting bit for about a month and seem to be the only one affected in my family of seven. Bits started on my shoulder in a horizontal and vertical pattern, on the elbow, and each thigh which all were over looked because the itchy sensation started while working around the house or doing other activities outside of being in bed.
In addition, my husband and five year old son who likes to jump in with us has not had any bits appear on them. It just seemed that I was stressed out and maybe breaking out in hives so I went to the dermatologist who said the marks were bits. She couldnt classify the type of bits but prescribed a topical cream and benadryl.
I went out of town for a week but still broke out in itchy bumps while shopping and cite seeing. Could these have been breakouts from bites received at home? After returning home and getting the kids settled for the nights I sat up watching some DVR program past midnight when to my dismay I noticed a small round shaped bug crawl on my brown comforter which was laid across my lap as I sat in bed with only the light from the TV. What in the World! how can this be? we purchased a new Beautyrest mattress just this spring! All I could do was gently get out of bed with hopes of catching it but as I call for my son I just had a breakdown and began crying.
My husband is tending to family out of town and doesnt believe that it could be bed bugs because he hasnt been bit. This is so frustrating and stolen my peace to the point that I dont want to come home. Im so worried that my kids will be attached next and both of my ankles are surrounded with bits that have left scars that will probably take years to clear up.
This morning I set off five Bed Bug Foggers in my house and evacuated my pets, God knows I need some relief in this problem. I keep searching for the evidence of dead bed bugs but cant find much. Please pray for those inflicted with this problem as it is extremely disturbing.
I will definitely be purchasing the food grade diatomaceous earth to see if the bits will stop.
Thanks.
Diama::
@yawness, two letters, DE (Diatomaceous Earth [food grade])
I had them and they were biting me, but not my family! I washed all linen and put everything in hot dryers, also all my clothes were washed and put in bags. I lived out bags for 6 weeks vacuum, vacuum, vacuum and throw the vac bags away! DE all around the edges of rooms put DE in containers and place under the legs of bed.
My friends, it takes work and a lot of patience but I havent been bit by bed bugs in 2 months now!
Good luck
Nate::
So i work at a shelter and weve also had a problem with bedbugs here. We used to have an exterminator come in and spray each room which has literally cost us thousands upon thousands of dollars. It also took us a year to get rid of completely (might have been from ppl continually bringing them in).
Also recently i found out that i have bed bugs in my home. I dont have the money to get an exterminator and found out about Diatomaceous Earth. Im not sure how much youre supposed to use (i went overboard with it) the stuff works though!
It has to be FOOD GRADE as the other type for pools is hazardous to breath in, Id also recommend using a mask even for the food grade. You need to put DE literally every were. Electrical sockets must be taken apart and sprayed or put in too (turn of power of course). You also might want to take apart your base boards if you cant sprinkle some in between.
Do your carpets ( If your going to vacuum you need to put Diatomaceous Earth inside the vacuum also if you dont put it on the carpet) paintings, books, dressers, everything. They can even be in the wallpaper. If you have anything thats card board you mine as well throw it away. If your blessed enough to live in New England or somewhere cold (below 32) in winter you can put your furniture outside although it has to be for weeks if not longer, Away from the sun, it really needs to be consistently cold.
You also need to buy bed bug covers for your pillows and mattresses. All clothing and things that can be put in a dryer at high for 30 mins will kill them. To get rid of this problem you need to be very vigilant, its going to probably take months to get rid of this. Either that or hire a professional (make sure their a professional) and it might still take months because you need follow ups too.
Bed bugs can live up to a year and a half without feeding p.s. Lysol spray also offers some temporary relief on your bed if you cant do this right away
Tee::
If I use Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE) will it harm my puppy?
Bedbugslaya::
Double sided carpet tape works well around where your bed meets the floor. Also enables some time for payback.
lana::
my father in law had a bad case of bedbugs and he used an exterminator and bought all new furniture .. but my father-in-law asked the exterminator who did the job what chemical or spray he was using and the man told him SUSPEND SC insecticide .. so my father-in-law ordered it off the computer and uses it every now and then jus as a prevention .. well my family just moved into a new home and after 4 months being here we realized we had the same problem .. well we started using this suspend sc and it hasnt worked one bit .. so i came on here hoping to get some advise and im glad to see that so many people have agreed that this food grade diatomaceous earth is the best for the job .. so im going to try that n hopefully its true cause i cant stand this .. its so hard to fall asleep knowin once u do some little bloodsucker is comin for ya .. thanx everyone n wish me luck
Itchy and Scratchy::
I just wanted to add to all of the wonderful comments here that the bites may look different on different people. My family (myself, husband, and two sons) have been suffering through this for awhile. (I would like to say that its over but I am extremely paranoid and after getting bit after extensive home and professional treatment I finally threw my couches and mattresses into the unattached, unheated garage to allow the Nebraska winter finish the job.)
My husband and older son would break out in large hives when bit, but the baby and I get pink dots on our skin. I took the baby to the doctor in the beginning, thinking it may be an allergic reaction to something. It was, but the doctor had no idea that it was bedbugs. I have battled them for three months and have still seen less than ten bugs in total.
They are very sneaky little monsters and I wish anyone who has need of this site the best of luck. I appreciate the commentary on here. It is very alienating to go through this and it is nice to know that there are still more solutions for me to try and many kind people who understand what my family and I have gone through.
Sincerely,
Itchy and Scratchy.
Slkrg::
I live in Alaska and ended up with a bed bug infestation. For 2 years I thought I had allergies because I would wake up with hives on my body. I would end up missing activities because the whole side of my face would be swollen. The way I found out that it was bed bugs is that in the winter in Alaska you NEVER see bugs inside in the winter. About 1 am I woke up and saw what looked like a beetle on the wall, I thought Hhhmmmm, thats weird. I had the though cross my mind that maybe it was a bed bug, looked it up sure enough it was. I think I got them from the neighbors who had returned from overseas and my dog would visit and bring them back.
This is how I got rid of them100% orange oil which is a natural insecticide, it can be found in the hardware or automotive store. I sprayed my mattresses and encased them in a vinyl cover, I sprayed all along the wooden baseboard crack, window trim, tv inlets any place I thought they could hide. I then boxed up all the small stuff in plastic containers and sprayed orange oil on a paper towel and then sealed the containers with tape. The couch we pulled outside, sprayed with orange oil and left it outside for two weeks at below freezing weather. Then two weeks later I sprayed again to make sure that we got any eggs that may have been left behind.
I am more than happy to say that we have been bug free for 4 years. Orange oil when sprayed can be overwhelming so you may want to make alternative sleeping arrangements when you treat.
ms wrench::
I live in a building that is infested with them. Sadly, my mother is also a tenant and had them in 06 she is blind and has diabetes needless to say the bites turned septic and she had tissue the size of a lemon removed from her chest! At the time the Manager refused to spray and I contacted our board of supervisors and they put the pressure on and she had her place sprayed after throwing away her bed and going into debt having to buy a new one-luckily the infestation stayed in her bed!
Over the years I have heard of other tenants in our 10 floor building getting them and finally nearly 5 years after my Mom I got them!
Lucky me I knew the signs and found them before the infestation spread past my bed and there werent many. The management is now versed on protocol after being reported to the Dep of Public Health and I have had 2 sprayings over he last 20 days but I did throw out my mattress. I am going to buy diatomaceous earth asap to prevent the suckers from coming back. They dont like heat this is true but the heat has to be over 150 degrees in a house or car people keep that in mind-I really feel for all of you this is a terrible infestation in the West!
janelle::
try using a blow dryer on the mattress. Use it every day. It helps alot. Also Tea Tree oil seems to repel them.. It worked for me.
Amanda::
Am new to the bed bugs. Live in town houses that have been battling them for over a year. And have now crept into my place. As soon as I saw the first one I started making arrangements to move. And have bought all new furniture that will be directly delivered from store to new home.
You may say say that is drastic but I have seen for the past year all the families around me have to throw everything away. Move them selves. Exterminator after exterminator come in to try and get rid of them. It is truly. An infestation. Chemicals wont work on eggs. Heat however will kill eggs and adults. So with new furniture and every thing washed and dried at high heat problem solved.
For those who cant afford all new stuff HEAT HEAT HEAT 120 degrees HEAT. What I spent to get rid of these nasty vampires is minimal compared to what the landlords are spending on exterminators that are not working.
Monica::
Plz to all those who used diatomaceous earth Does it trigger asthma my son has asthma and i am just so much scared of using it..However want to get rid of bedbugs.. once you clean up white powder do they come back?
thanks
monica
Kay::
Thank God for this site! It is helping me tremendously but I think Im slightly obsessed. My landlord is coming out Friday to spray the entire building. How effective is spraying???
Im going to buy some of that food grade DE tonight to sprinkle around my room since Friday seems so far away. (I just found out last night that I have them, and I didnt hardly sleep at all!) So I read to form a perimeter around the edges of my room. Should I also sprinkle some of it onto my mattress? Is that even safe? Any help would be appreciated.
Kay::
A lot of people are saying that if you put infested furniture outside in the cold, that it will finish the job. I dont think this is necessarily true, and the reason for that being the girl who originally brought the bugs here laid her infested baby crib beside the back of the building next to the dumpsters. Less than a foot away from my bedroom window. She also laid her queen size mattress against the side of the building next to another bedroom window of mine.
At first, I thought they traveled down the dozen stairs that lead from that girls unit to mine. Or I thought that by her dragging the mattress down the stairs may have given the bugs a free ride down to my floor. But my landlord insists that he treated her apartment twice and was completely rid of them, and also there are two other tenants in the building who dont have the bugs. (yet) One of them live below her, and the other lives directly across the hall. Thats why Im wondering if they came in through my bedroom window. Its winter here too.. (midwest) but I wouldnt bet on the cold making much of a difference.
Helen::
Hi, DE??
I bought Food Grade DE and put it all around my house. I am still geting bit and my poor cat and dog are just as miserable even with Frontline, that I was trying to avoid using?? What am I doing wrong? Oh my house is completely white since I dusted. Are these super bugs I have?
Please advise. Thank you.
H..
eddy::
i need help im 12 and i went to a motel in oshawa came back to my house and woke up with bites and i showed them to my older sis and so i looked up bed bug bites on google and they look the same as the ones i have.how can i be sure thst they are bed bugs and how can i get rid of them
sundrina::
Man i have been reading the stories and i feel a little better knowing that Im not alone! I have used orange citrus spray, boric acid, 99per cent alcohol, dryer sheets,bed bug spray,bed bug foggers, and known of these have worked did the dryer didnt work,real hot water Im trying now i will let u know. Also the DE (Bed Bug Dust) IM TRYING.
I understand those people who dont sleep you try and you feel them crawling even when there not there! I hate this! please feel free to contact me
Karen White::
I picked up a couch from a thrift store and it had bed bugs never knew anything about them before. Tried everything sprays, bombs, powders, dryer, etc nothing worked for long.
Got heat treatment after a month they were back 2nd heat treatment took care of them for 3 mos now finding them again they are coming to do last heat treatment dont know how well get rid of bugs if this doesnt take care of them very expensive ($1400) and we are on social security only.
This is horrible you cant talk to anyone about it because of shame factor-I wouldnt wish this on my worst enemy.
Bed Bug Girl::
Sorry to hear this Karen! I hope the last treatment does it!
Are you treating a house, apartment or room and does that $1,400 cover all three treatments? Did they move you out of your place and for how long?
Thanks!
meesh::
I have moved from apartments to town-homes to homes and some had roaches and the last home I thought I had bedbugs and roaches. My husband is Native American and he went out an caught these little tiny creatures that looked like gila monsters, but they are not. He brought two inside my home and released them. I do not see them to this day but thank goodness all the unwanted bugs are gone too, including the roaches, spiders, and the bedbugs. He has told me about these little creatures, but I do not remember the name. He says they are safe among babies and pets but not chickens.
Hope this helps some of you that dont mind living with a looking like a monster.
m
riri::
Hi everyone,
I dont know if I have bed bugs yet, but they are ruining my life. I saw a trail of tree bites and blotches from my ankle down the tops of my foot. (Not the part you walk on). they have around 3 fangs marks each in there and the bumps were slightly raised. I cant find any on my bed. Yet again, I havent slept in my bed in 2 days nor have I slept in 2 days.
Everywhere I go I see bed bugs. An extermination is just way to expensive for me to pay for, as Im a student in so much debt already. I also have an indoor cat but he never goes outside so that eliminates fleas. Every black or red thing I see anywhere I instantly start screaming. I itch for no reason, I cant get my work done.
In a few Im about to throw out all my stuffed animals, card board boxes, pictures on the walls even magazines that I dont want anymore. Putting all my clothes into garbage bags for them to be washed and dried a billion times on high high. Cleaning out all my closets emptying drawers, gonna vacuum the bed and wash the curtains. Then Im gonna call and see if I can get an exterminator to come and at least see if I have bed bugs or if I was bitten somewhere else.
I have a horrible fear of all bugs, Im terrified Ive locked myself in the bathroom plenty of times. I fear Im going to run myself into the ground bc I cant function..
pat::
I have been suffering with the unwanted quests for 3 months. For the first month I didnt know what I was dealing with, so of course they had lots of time to multiply. I identified the problem by my search on the internet.
I took the advice from Jim and must say; it took a while but I believe it finally worked; bug bite free for 20 days. I am a bit nervous about putting my house back before bed bugs. I vacuumed, steamed, used D.E. ( must be food grade for safety) I a 50lb. bag for 25 dollars at a feed store. The reason you find it in the feed stores, is because D.E. is given to animals to control parasites. like worms , etc.
I believe they were living in my recliner because that is where I have been falling asleep for years. I also sprayed my chair with ALL NATURAL BED BUG KILLER I got from a Ross store and also Rest Easy, I bought at Bed Bath and Beyond. Of course I vacuumed the chair very thoroughly and in every crack before I sprayed the D.E. and the sprays on and through out as well.
Over the counter anti-itch cream did not work, what did work was Vicks Vapor rub. I what to thank you for your comments ; The advice was so helpful. Unless you going through the same thing, its not fully understood. NO SLEEP> CREEPED OUT BY THE THOUGHT OF THESE BUG CRAWLING ALL OVER ME COMPLETELY STRESSED ME OUT. I noticed in most of the comments Doctors didnt identify the problem and the exterminators charge a lot but are pretty useless as well. IF THERE IS ANYONE OUT THERE THAT THOUGHT THEY GOT RID OF THEM ONLY TO SEE THEM RETURN, PLEASE POST A COMMENT, THANK YOU.
pat::
Before you leave your house, put your clothes in the hottest dryer setting for 20 mins. to kill anything that might be on you. Dont put you purse or shoes on the floor. You really dont want to spread this nightmare to anyone else.
Maria, NL::
I bought DE on Ebay (a 6 kg bucket full of brownish powder), sold as red mite powder but no result so far. Today, after suffering extreme shortness of breath for 6 days, I had to remove most of it and immediately they attacked me. I found at least 10 series of bitemarks on my legs, I guess out of revenge or maybe they were just hungry and glad that the powder was gone. At least one serie of bitemarks was from an adult.
I built me a kind of island in the middle of the room (the table upside down and the edges covered with ratglue) where I can sit in peace on a plastic camping chair. This, and also the bathtub and my bed, are the only bugfree places in my apartment.
Disappointed, and thinking what to do next
polly castro::
Ive found the solution for killing and getting rid of bed bugs!!!I never in my life experienced bed bugs until recently, They bite you in your sleep and they hide at the corners of mattress its gross .Any ways i remember one time at camp i used this repellent mosquito spay( OFF) BELIEVE IT OR NOT IT REALLY WORKS! Just spray all over on your mattress and in corners , by the time you know it your sleeping good again so remember its OFF to keep the bed bugs OFF!!
Deann A.::
PLEASE CAN SOMEONE RESPONDI would tremendously appreciate a response to the following. First, I am not sure if I have a BB issue. Heres a few questions:
- Has anyone noticed very tiny sparkles by what may appear to be areas where bbugs travel or leave fecies?
- While Im awake at work & sometimes in bed, I feel a light sensation of bugs crawling & know Im not imagining since Im usually very distracted or involved in some project and often find skin irritation where Ive felt this crawling.
- I havent physically seen bbugs but have white sheets and do see black pepper like specs.
- Can you get sick or develop lung problems from using Dio Earth right below ur mattress, I have a platform bed with only mattress / no boxspring & want to put Dio Earth right under my mattress.
- Can bbug bites appear like a crescent-type pattern looking more like a rash than a bite..sometimes I have what looks like a red rash-like skin irritation in the shape of a curvy line
JoAnne::
Hello Deann A,
You asked what could be causing you to have the sensation of something crawling on your skin but being unable to see anything. Here are my answers to your questions in the order you asked them.
- I have not seen any sparkles and have never heard of this before? Can you explain more, like glitter?
- If you feel something crawling on you and cant see a bed bug, then its something else which could be:
- Restless Leg Syndrome (if its only on your legs that you feel the crawling)
- Stressed out? Usually happens in people that are anxious and under a constant unusual pressure
- If the Thyroid starts having problems it can cause a crawling sensation
- Morgellons disease especially if you have had some type of lyme disease in the past
- Scabies (people given elomite for this) which itches more at night
- Bird Mites which is often overlooked
- Fleas are by far the most popular, witch hazel or green rubbing alcohol for the body and flea powder for the home.
- The Black pepper like spots are a tell-tale sign of bed bug feces, good indicator.
- You dont want to breath it in but most important, make sure its food grade DE (If it doesnt say food grade, you have the wrong product!) or youll have problems
- Yes, it could, but doesnt usually what youre describing sounds more like scabies (not saying you have it, just mentioning this)
The most common medication used to relieve the itching from bed bugs or other problems is a prescription of Permethrin Cream 5%
Deann A.::
Joanne, thank you so much for your quick response.
- I know it sounds crazy when I mention a tiny individual sparkle here and there. I do I.T. work and believe I inherited whatever this problem is from work (as I work in a real estate mgt co.). Im always a super observant person and usually notice things while pointing them out to others who 99% of the time concur. Its been wierding me out, but whatever this issue is, I have correlated it to tiny, very hard to notice individual specs that appear like a tiny sparkle. The reason for noticing is because like with everybody else, I too have become overwhelmed with whatever is biting me. I havent called in an exterminator just yet because Im trying to prep my home first (clothes out of closets, drawers, and other related tasks) prior to having them come in .because Id rather prepare first and then be able to move on this immediately than to find out first that its BBs and then be anxious trying to handle all thats involved in prepping prior to extermination. So as far as the sparkle like particles, Im perplexed.
- I most certainly do feel something crawling and wonder could it be the babies which are so very minuscule and usually whitish in color (which could explain why I dont see it).
- in response to your 3rd point, its not on my legs as much as my torso.
- I do have physical bite marks. Ive noticed some vibrant red raised tiny spots that either havent gone away or turn brown. I also noticed some much larger bites more on my back and torso & arms. Some bites seems to be in a crescent shape that look like either a rash or scratch mark connecting them. Im very careful not to scratch, I rub whatever itches so I can determine that it wasnt me that created the marks.
- I recently had a blood test and my results were clear of Thyroid problem.
- I have a wood platform bed and have been using Simple Green cleaner under the mattress and even on the sheets around the parameter of the mattress.which seems to have curtailed the problem a somewhat.
- as far as the DE, as mentioned I have a platform bed and was wondering if it would be safe to place the DE under my mattress (I do have asthma but am desperate to curtail this until I can get help).
So my question is if the DE is food grade, can I place it under my mattress which lies on top the platform? Theres no box spring just my mattress on top the platform bed.
Once again, your prior response it tremendously appreciated, and Im looking forward to this next response.
Lauren::
Food grade diatomaceous earth did NOT work for me. I live in nyc and as a PRECAUTIONARY measure used DE around apt because of all the media coverage Ive been scared. I live in a beautiful doorman building, I am a vacuum and windex freak and.I GOT BED BUGS. It is a devastating thing, my apartment is a disaster, Ive had the exterminator come twice and still getting bitten.
I actually went to a dr cause I was having hives. She correctly told me what it was and one day later I found a bug. I am finding feces and shells in my pristine cabinets.
Its just a gigantic nightmare and no end in site.
Neil Mac::
Man I am both glad and terrified after reading about half of the posted comments on this site. I recently moved in to a place with a roommate and thought I got the good end of the deal by getting the bedroom until I broke out in scores of red welts that appear in clusters. I had them on my face too and was starting to resemble the elephant man and hated going outside. Now I stay awake as long as I can and dread laying on the bed. My girlfriend wont allow me into her place unless we cant handle the time apart its still early spring and sleeping outside isnt much of a thing to look forward to. And she wont set foot in my place.
And when I do go to her place I strip naked and have a bath before I sit on any furniture just in case they are hitchhiking on me which i know they are because this extra paranoia started with the sight of one bedbug on her bed and she also immediately either bags my clothes then puts them through the washer then dries them for an hour more than necessary. I have tried various chemicals and even resorted to dousing my room with Raid Max insect killer but the slight relief from the bugs is offset with the toxic effects and allergic reaction to the chemicals it contains. i thought it was all the bugs till I looked up raid on the net and realized the numb tongue and lips was due to the RAID and not sleep deprivation related. I am glad I tried the term OFF in the Google search this time as I found this site.
I am getting some of that DE and off spray as I have noticed darkened erm poop which I know is liver related and that is another yummy side effect of RAID exposure. So if the bed bugs dont send me totally mad and I keep RAIDING myself the liver failure will but I will make damned sure I take those dang things with me. lol
Sorry about the craziness they seem to have that effect on people. I hope they work. The bed bugs seem to love my blood more than anyone else that has come into contact with them since I have been around hey I am a great bed bug solution for others lol only I get bit.
My girlfriend didnt get one bite till I wasnt around. And man I seem to have a really bad reaction to the little monsters. Oh and as far as RAID MAX goes I saw one taking a stroll on the mattress and I covered him/her good and it stopped moving then I left it alone and a minute later he started walking around again so I really let him have it he looked like a Christmas cake and all he did was turn bum end in the air and buried his head into the mattress tape and tried to get away I was thoroughly discouraged by this and stopped using RAID after that as it had little effect other than annoying him and poisoning me and probably my poor cat even though I keep her way after I spray everything.
Anyway I will post my results after I get the OFF spray and DE combo going. Bye for now I am having a bath and am going to drop various cloth based items into near boiling water to see if i can see a few die horribly. I love slicing them in half and spraying them with my cologne then lighting them.
Man I have to get a grip. All I can say is take whatever steps you have to before you get driven crazy by them. I think i will try staying a a homeless shelter till i can get another place and am going to sterilize everything I own except my laptop but I hear the hate plastic and metal or at least dont live on it. Oh and someone said to have the bed away form the wall and put the legs into containers of oil to stop them climbing into a new bed. I am going to look into a metal cot type bed and do that. bye
Bug killer::
Meesh what are those little creatures called. Please fid out and tell us PLEASE ITS HORRIBLE TO LUVE BED BUG INFESTED. We found bed bugs in our house one week ago. We threw nearly everything away, then we sprayed rubbing alcohol all over our house. Then we called an exterminator, and he came to spray. Then my mom found this spray called SLEEP TIGHT AND DONT LER THE BED BUGS BITE, we sprayed it everywhere, it has been 2 days without bites. Since we have a wooden floor my mom is going to buy a product to treat wooden floors, and hope that all of that works. It has already been two days without bites, but we are still afraid to buy a new bed frame and bed furniture and a new mattres until we are sure we are bwd bug free. PLEASE HELP ANYBODY OUT THERE PLEASE HELP. I WOULDNT WISH THIS ON MY WORST ENEMY. The treatment is working but you never know. We are 2 days without bites .
G::
DE Worksbut only if you use it correctly. Heres how. You have to place the DE in CRACKS, CREVICES, HOLES, FOLDS, PERIMITERS. The biggest problem with bed bugs is not the ones you seebut the ones you DONT SEE. They eat you and then hide. If you put DE on your bed only, you arent stopping them from coming out at night. Remember, YOU are the dinner. The bugs want YOU. The bugs have to come from somewhere. Check your matress and box spring for HOLES. If your mattress/boxspring is ok, then vacuum, spray the DE bed bug killer (you want to kill the EGGS with this), then get vigilant with the DE. Remember, put the DE in the cracks where the bugs HIDE. That stops them from even coming to get you.
Alicia::
i have four children including a premie baby girl and i first saw these tiny little white bugs crawling in my window sill and my fiance and i killed them and i sprayed all in the cracks of the window with bleach. Didnt think anything about them at all and that was months and months ago.
Just a couple days ago my 8yr oldest daughter grabbed her guitar and keyboard from under my bed and they were both just crawling with these tiny white bugs so i googled bed bugs and all i seam to see is talk about brown cockroach looking things and eggs so i looked all over and under my mattress and box spring and see stuff that looks like it could be eggs and that its nothing else so i soaked my bed and floor and window with bleach water and opened my window to let it air out but i still see what looks like maybe eggs.
Is it bed bugs and if so how do i get rid of them without hurting my children because I have not even a penny to my name and am behind in rent so i am afraid to call my landlord and i cant sleep now for 2 days because i am afraid that the bugs will get my baby who already has had tons of little red bump things all over face and head and not just baby acne.
It goes away when i wash her face multiple times and watch her when she sleeps but i dont believe I can take much more of the not sleeping and i am afraid to even go in my room or wear any of my clothes that r in there and i dont have even enough money to do 1 load of laundry right now. so my only option is hand wash and hang dry but that isnt hot enough to kill anything so i am sitting here ready to cry!
If anyone has anything that could help please let me know i will have my e-mail alerting on my phone. Even just a prayer would be greatly appreciated!!!!!! Thank you and God bless u!!
John::
Has anyone had this experience: I am in NYC and there are a few contractors who say they get rid of bed bugs. They also say they have sniffer dogs. I called them and they admitted, yeah we have them but the advice is always the same anyway so they dont seem to use them: bag everything up, spray inside the bags and then spray all over the apartment. (Then the bit they dont tell you, hope for the best!)
The one which doesnt say this says they use a machine instead as it is more reliable/accurate. So I called them in (NYPestpro), telling them that I seem to have a small problem on one section of a wall and the occasional bug which we can see and apparently nowhere else. A guy arrives WITH NOTHING WHATSOEVER. He looks at the wall I had identified over the phone and tells me that i have an infestation on the wall. I therefore need to bag up everything in the room (a gigantic amount of work), and then he will come in and do the room.
He also implied strongly that he wont warranty anything unless I bag up everything in the whole apartment and we do the same at enormous expense and time/trouble and let him do the whole apartment!
Last week, my offspring came home from school (a clean school, whatever that means) with a bug on his shirt. I suppose it may have been there when he left this morning but equally it may have come home with him. So after we spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars doing whatever it takes to get rid of this problem, it could re-surface within minutes? In fact we can re-paint the whole apartment, tear down all the walls and spray inside them, concrete up all cracks and crevices which appear in any apartment the minute it is built, there can still be no guarantee about these things.
One of the things I wondered was whether they have stopped using dogs (etc?) PRECISELY BECAUSE they might identify that the problem is limited to a certain area? And they wont be able to charge a fortune for the cleaning out process? After all, our problem does seem to be limited to a certain area AND we have all new bedding all new sheets and I have checked all over those items and there is no evidence whatsoever of infestation anywhere except on that wall (yes, I can identify where they are and/or where they have been)
The second thing I wondered was whether under these circumstances, the problem can be kept at bay where it seems to be? By spraying the relevant areas (and of course kids teddy bears) with contact sprays (which dont seem to have much effect as the most you ever see is ONE bug here and there every week or so) and residual sprays which either kill them as they crawl across a sheet or deter them from going onto the sheets? Is keeping these things at bay the only real solution until someone develops a fogger which works?
Or are all the OTC sprays too weak to have much effect? The one I have been using to no particular effect seems to have a heavier concentration of the active ingredient than the one which everyone seems to think works??
Sad Girl::
I am so thankful to have found this page. I have been traumatized by these wicked little things to the point that it is affecting every aspect of my life. I believe we moved into a house that had bedbugs, and with my severe allergy. well like I said, I am traumatized.
I have read many great comments and learned alot here. I am praying the home treatments work because I cant afford to get ride of everything and the exterminator (who works for my property manager) was the biggest jerk ever.
Any more advice please let me know. I have a feeling I will need counseling after this experience. Also, I am the only being bit, so no one can relate to what I am going through.
I am going to start with the alcohol, vacuuming and DE. As someone else said, I feel very shameful and ashamed talking to others about this. I feel, even though I knew it wasnt me, that it was my fault. I desperately need sleep.
Wish me luck.
Kryssy
Lola::
I had my house sprayed twice after 2nd time I found an adult bb in my bed I went the grocery store and bought pronto bb spray I sprayed it on a baby bb n it died instantly unlike the spray the exterminator used. Im buying DE today n a steam cleaner I believe that this is a plague from hell I hope the DE works cus Im about to jump off the roof. Moving will not help for Nhone whos thinking of doin so. They will only follow u there throwing out it furniture does help but they hide everywhere n will only reinfest any new furniture just vaccumm clean n wash m dry all clothing n then bag it all up its alot of work but what other choice is there . Good luck to us all.
somcay::
After spending so much money (you dont wanna know) and sleeping in my kitchen during winter, in my car (van) during summer, lost my job when I, naive of me, told a co-worker my problem, (2 days in the hospital due to bites, developed stress and had to be on medication etc ) finally my nightmare was over by doing this: filling ALL holes, from the walls and from the (wood) floors with wall putty, wood putty or wood filler. Long job, I was on my knees for weeks, also I COVERED all the electric outlets not in use, with a lot of (Scotch) Transparent Film Tape, it doesnt look pretty, also I plugged an electric extension cord or power extension cord and taped all around it for my electric items, like TV etc, that way I dont have to be worrying about uncovered outlets bed bugs traveled from the other apts to my apt through all these holes, after taping the outlets, I found them stuck in the tape (in the bubbles) and they even made babies there, stuck in the tape, yuck! I changed the tape of the outlets often and made sure that there were no bubbles in the tape. My lil dog was the one that discovered them coming in and out the holes. After that I started to use alcohol everyday, in the morning, I sprayed every morning as soon as I woke up! around my bed, my pillows and the WHOLE bedroom, also, every nite, sprayed alcohol on my body, on my bed, on my pillows, did this ritual for months, I have been FREE at last for the past 2 years. Counting my blessings! Please, do my rituals, dont dismay one day! you will win!
Stephanie::
Ok we had bedbugs for 2 yrs. Drove us crazy and had a newborn in the house. Used DE butbit wasnt very effective. Spent thousands on exterminators but it didnt work. Finally had to move, only to be reinfested. Finally came onto a product called drop dead. And had the idea to use saran wrap. So we vacummed like usual and then sprayed the drop dead and fhen saran wrapped our box spring and matress. The effect was immediate. I could believe it. We r now bed bug free for 2 months now.
Bridog::
We live in an apartment complex with eight units per building. Our building was inspected for bed bugs and ours was the only apartment that didnt have the problem. Strangely enough, before the owner hired an exterminator we had a fire which caused all eight units to be empty for one month while all the carpet was replaced and all units were painted. Now, guess what, WE HAVE BED BUGS. We see them on the bathroom and kitchen tile floors.
After carefully inspecting the mattress and box spring, (we only found them on the box spring) we wrapped them each with Saran Wrap which sealed itself well enough to create a bubble when we got on it. This seal lasted about two weeks. Then I started getting bitten again and was losing sleep.
I vaccum the floors twice a week and wash the two vinyl floors twice a week and noticed that I would see them on the vinyl floor soon after washing them. I believe the Pine Sol was driving them out.
We see a few during the day and manage to kill 8 out of 10 we see. We tried 90% alcohol and this seemed to only stun them for a bit. What absolutely does work for me for killing them on contact and seems to keep them away is Pine Sol. I fill a spray bottle with this and spray the cracks and seams on all the wood furniture and floor under the computer desk and bed and on the box spring and mattress sides. It smells a bit better than alcohol. Also, before I go to bed I wipe myself down with baby oil and rub it in a little bit. Ive used the baby oil for the past four nights and have not been bitten in bed.
On the first I am getting a bag of the Diotomaceaus Earth and will sprinkle that around the place and do expect to be rid of them within two weeks.
T.Randon::
This is Madness! Insanity!! Sickness!!! I am 44 and promise I had NO idea that the Sleep tight ,Dont let the beg bugs bites wasnt anything more than a saying I have not slept for over a week now and especially NOT in my bedroom!!! How can we let a CRITTER
Bug free::
I had these pests for about a year and a half. Started with red welts on parts of me and then soon after my son. I later found a dead bug and took it in to an exterminator and found out it was a full grown bed bug. I had my house torn from head to toe for 5 months, living out of bags and spraying constantly with a chemical I got from the exterminator. I also got a bed cover from them.
Well the bed cover and the spray did not work and Im sure they knew that but wanted me to pay the money for them to come in to get rid of them. I was constantly looking for information about these things and finally I came across a website for people with bedbugs and 3 different people said to use the food grade diatomaceous earth. I figured I already have my house torn apart and went broke on chemicals and the DE was very cheap.
I pulled every thing out of my sons room, threw out his mattress and filled it with the powder. Started to wash everything AGAIN and as i finished washing I bagged and put in my sons room. I moved on to living room. Went around the whole border, cut the couch underneath and put powder inside and all over it. Then I moved onto my room. Took all dressers apart and covered with powder. Covered my mattress with the powder also and put the sheets on them so me and my son could sleep on it.
I had a white powder over everything in the whole house for about 2 weeks. You have to make sure it stays dry because if you get the DE wet it will not stick to the bug. After 2 weeks I vacuumed every room and crevice. Washed the walls and hard floors. I then just put a thin line around the borders of the rooms and on the box-springs and mattresses.
I have been free of bed bugs for 2 years now but I still powder our beds and keep a little along the borders. Living in a extremely powder/dusty place was horrible but not as bad as having bed bugs. Get FOOD GRADE DIATOMACEOUS EARTH and put it in and on everything and leave it there!! They will be gone soon:)
Brigitte::
I love this page but as a chemist I must point out that Silicon dioxide is in DE but not the product itself. Keep up the good work and thanks!
Gina::
Hi!
I am a 15 year old girl and I woke up from a nap with tons of bites on my legs, arms, and feet. I thought it was just mosquito bites and didnt think much of it. So I googled bed bug bites and symptoms and it is exactly what I have; itching and red spots on my body. There are 3 on my leg and they are the breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the bugs. I have no idea what to do because I am only 15 and HATE bugs especially ones that bite you while you sleep. I have never before had a problem with them and wonder why they just decided to pop up. I may try the DE and wash my clothes in hot heat. If that doesnt work then I am at a loss on how to get rid of these bed bugs! If anyone has any tips or suggestions please respond! Thanks, gina
Jodes::
I am so, super, tired =(
I refuse to sleep. I feel like Im prisoner in my own home. I contemplating going to a hotel just to get some sleep. Good news is that no bugs are attacking me while Im awake. Bad news is that I am super-sensitive to everything. I wish I could be off-guard for just a moment.
I found ONE nymph on me yesterday (I was on my couch). Got an estimate for $1480. Tomorrow I have another company coming. Hopefully it will be cheaper.
After seeing only 1 bug and not seeing any in the crevices of my mattress or just walking around, do you think I should spring for the $1480 just to be safe? I just came back from a vacation in Miami, went straight to my parents house for 1 week, and then came home. So Im convinced it was in my luggage and terrified that my parents house is also infested (they dont seem concerned though). I prayed that there was only 1 baby in my luggage, but I think I saw some very small white things crawling in my bathroom and in my luggage. Ive put all of my luggage and its contents in bags outside.
I dont think I can handle a home remedy on my own. Im single and its easier to have a team come in to do this then try to lift furniture myself.
My heart goes out to all those that cannot afford to get an exterminator =( After reading these posts, I really cant complain.
Best of luck to all of you. All I keep on reminding myself that I still have all of my senses and limbs. It kind of helps.
Anastasia::
I am just traumatize this will leave me scar forever I keep my home Immaculate I have O C D and I cant help myself but clean clean clean.. and here I am thinking what the heck are BED BUGS??? Like the lady stated I thought it was a saying, I know there fleas, dust mites, all other kind of insects but these little blood suckers I never heard of.
I have not had a good nights sleep in a week exterminators can be expensive, I am just freaking out to think that when am sleeping I have these animals on my body all over sucking blood from me. its an eerie feeling am paranoid..please if any one has more ideas leave a comment
Im going to try food Grade Diatomaceous Earth, am so ashamed to go purchase this right away people think you live in a pig stock..I live in fear in my own home its bad enough I have a fear of insects this really did for me, someone please help. thank GOD am selling my home and getting out of here after this experience I would not want to live here.. I also have my Teddy my baby yorkie he slept with me and now he is confuse, I check him everyday is this a life to live???
Jodes::
Anastasia,
I am moving too and these suckers TRAVEL!!! Make sure you dont bring them learn how to get rid of bed bugs the right way!!!! I only found 1 bedbug and Im about to charge $1500 on my credit card for a full treatment. Im taking no chances. I stayed in a hotel last night just to get some sleep.welcome to misery!
=(
tracy::
i have been itching and sleepless for about 2 months didnt know why just thought i have a reaction to the new soap i was using so i switched the detergent and body soap to find i was still itching and having little welts and bumps all over my body. i have scracthed myself up so bad i have sores on my body. it feels like they eating me from inside of my skin. and i think its much worse on me because i have a condition where i think everything is crawling on me. i am so sick and so sad and i dont know what to do i moved to these stupid apartments and now this cant afford to move into another place so i dont know what to do. i am currently sleeping in my car or at a friends and praying we not transporting these things to friends and family. what can i use to stop this terrible itching? omg i cant stop crying i am making myself sicker and sicker these little blood suckers are evil.
tracy::
i am going out to buy food grade diatomaceous earth. but the itching please help!!!!!
Mika::
I live on the first floor of an apartment building. One afternoon, my sister and I saw something walking across the foot of the bed so we caught it, googled, and yes, it was a bed bug. I immediately ran to Target and bought mattress covers for my and my oldest sons bed as well as pillow covers and a new vacuum. We vacuumed EVERYTHING but 3 nights later, my sister felt something bite her. She used a flashlight and caught the little sucker in the act (we caught and killed this one too). We saw one more the following afternoon.
I caled the management company and the exterminator can 2 days later. People, if you rent, LEGALLY YOUR LANDLORD MUST COVER THIS EXPENSE if not you can report him or her. The exterminator told me that it could take about 2 weeks before they are gone for good. I bought a steamer for the couch and also some diatomaceous earth. I have been sprinkling the stuff everywhere, and hadnt seen anything until tonight, when I found one clinging to my sons mattress cover! o one was bitten except for my sister that one time, but I hope that catching the problem early made a difference. I have become so paranoid that Im losing sleep. I hope never to see ne of these things again!
natia::
I found a one bed bug in my bed. I killed it. but after week I found a eggs in other bedroom, What to do and how get rid of the bb eggs. Help me.
kerri::
so the home depot bed bug flea killer sucks if you direct blast these nasty critters it works but other then that it does nothing but stink up my house, we had a local exterminator come 6 times but other then minor short term relief it was a waste of money, i told him about the spray i bought at home depot and he made the mistake of telling me it wouldnt work unless it has permethrin in it. we then had griggs and brown come we had to work for 4 days moving everything we own in to a uhaul so they would spray but nothing not even a slow down, we have been fighting these critters for 4 1/2 months we have now purchased a 50 pd bag of diatomaceous earth and we then ordered permethrin all on amazon.com usually in the retail sprays there is .03 % permethrin in it the stuff we bought is 40% so we are gonna exterminate every week until they are dead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOOD LUCK EVERY ONE
Ola Mayo::
I have been suffering through the bed bug epidemic for the last month and a half! I have resorted to sleeping on my balcony because it is the only place that they arent. All I have to worry about out there at night are the spiders. I prefer them over the bed bugs! I have found that they slow down around 3:30 a.m. and thats when I get the nerve up to get in the bed to get about 3 hours sleep so I can go to work the next day. I cant afford an exterminator ($400.00 for the first room and then $200.00 for each additional room, I have a living room, bedroom, kitchen & bathroom and Ive seen them in EVERY ROOM). I will try the DE. Ive already tried Harris bed bug spray, and Bed bug and flea foggers but neither one of them worked. I even tried spraying them with rubbing alcohol but it didnt kill them on contact as I had read on another site. It just slowed them down for a few seconds. I have bites behind my ears, on my chest, between the top of my breasts, all up and down both arms, on my calves and on my ankles and the top of my feet. I cant take it anymore! Some of them are almost invisible!
Michelle::
Hello.
Just beginning my second battle with bedbugs. We successfully (?) defeated them in my apartment ~ 2 years ago and I recently found another. Were using the same company as last time to come in and spray. The problem is that we have cats and Im very paranoid about them ingesting the spray and powder. Im told the spray is all plant based, and were not allowed back in until that is dry anyway, but the DE powder they use is not food-grade. Its called mother earth dust and its 100% DE and amorphous silica- natural diatomite. The man at the company tells me its safe for pets. Any experts/chemists out there that can help? Anyone have any experience with this product?
Many many thanks*
Michelle P::
I had bed bugs before, i washed all my stuff, all my clothes about 4 times and got the house treated all 4 times, i was bug free for about 4 mo now they are back :( i dont sleep cause i have severe allergy of any kind of bites. I am going to call my landlord again so we can do the treatment again, I was wondering if i wash all the stuff and put on a plastic container would that keep bugs out or do i have to place them inside plastic bags? and can i just put the clothes in the dryer for 20 minutes or do i have to wash everything again? I am sorry its a lot of questions :( i am desperate please someone help
or we leave in a studio how about toys? do you think they would hide inside toy box?
thank you anyhelp would be great
Bed Bug Girl::
Mother Earth Dust is also called Bed Bug Dust which is Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth which you can pick up at just about any pet store. Buying Food Grade DE from a pet store is a lot cheaper than buying Mother Earth Dust from a specialty store. Check out my page on bedbug dust to see what they are selling it on ebay for a lot cheaper than buying it at a store, and free shipping!
Michelle::
BBG: Thanks for the info on Mother Earth Dust! I feel at least relieved that Im not harming my animals. Another question: As MichelleP asks, must one wash AND dry on high, or can I just do a cycle in the dyer on high and skip the hot-water wash.
Thanks again*
Melissa
DE Info::
Bed Bugs will die within 10 days of walking through DE if it is used PROPERLY. Make sure you have it applied where or near to where they are hiding. If you dont have it where theyll all walk through it, then you could have them for a long time. If you have attached neighbors and they got bed bugs thats not treated, they will keep coming. DE needs to applied consistently and combined with other professional treatment. DE used alone will create a longer time to get rid of bed bugs.
Therese::
I know all you guys are from the US, but let me tell you that the problem has CRAWLED all the way to northern Ontario Canada. We have increasing bed bug infestations all over Canada and wish that governments would think over their decision to ban DEET.
Drea::
HOLY SMOKES I FEEL LIKE IM LOSING IT!!!
a few weeks ago i was at the grocery store and my back was itching; it wouldnt stop itching so i had my gf scratch it for mei thought nothing of it like maybe a mosquito bit me or something. got home went to bed. woke up the next day with bites all over my stomach. red pallets that look kind of like spider bitesi still just figured they were nothing(had no idea that bed bugs actually existed)
next morning i woke up with even more bites except they were all over my back and on my gfs wrists and arms.she told me that we might have bed bugs but i kinda laughed it off like yeah right! but then i decided to look on google and see what bed bug bites look liketo my surprise the bites all over peoples bodies resembled mine pretty much identicallyi showed my g/f and we started freaking out! got up and started try and figure out how to get rid of the bed bugsi went and got some rubbing alcohol and poured it all over the mattress then got the vacuum & started vacuuming the mattress (at 1:00 in the morning) then shut the door put a towel under it and we slept in the living room..
Ive read that the tell tail signs are brown blood droppings little white eggs and the hiding places are the box spring light socket thingy base boards and wooden stuff the next day we decided to boil hot water pour it on the bed and scrub the crap outta the mattress! we vacuum the mattress again, cleaned the base boards and vacuumed the floor just to be sure that we killed all those blood sucking bed bugs!!! we told my roommates that we thought we had bed bugs so she gave us some spray she used on her bed called good night bed bugs or something like that.i sprayed the bed, all along the seams and on the baseboards even on the bed posts ( iron posts i have no head board) even came out into the living room and sprayed every base board the walls and the couchesshut the bedroom door put on the fan and fell asleep in the living room again!
we really didnt know if we officially had bed bugs cuz i never seen any droppings on the mattress or eggs on the floorall we have are relentless bites all over our bodies! i have it the worst thoughshe only has a few on her wrist neck and facei have em all over my legs arms back thighs and bottom! so we thought we probably killed those little devils but nope! woke up with a couple more bites this morning! we took every case off of the couch, every pillow case, all our blankets and shrink wrapped em in plastic & threw em outsidewe even shrink wrapped the mattress and found one bastard tryna get out of the plastic!! we vacuumed the carpet really good again and jumped in the shower! i got in and my gf found 2 ON MY BACK!!! apparently the little demon was dead while on my back!!!!!
i dont really know what to do my gf wont sleep in the room and so were stuck in the living room! cant call an exterminator cuz were dead broke plus our lease expires in oct. so were gonna move outi really dont wanna take the bed bugs with us so i think Ill just throw every single thing out and start fresh at the new place we get! but i feel like im loooooosing my mind! i keep itching!! i cant sleep cuz i think theyre biting me its really a nightmare to live thru!!! its just crazy cuz it went from nothing to bites EVERYWHERE!! and i still havent seen any droppings or eggs!! just one little nymph!! hopefully this hell ends well!!! im gonna get FOOD GRADE DIATOMACEOUS EARTH WHEN I GET PAID!!!! i hope it works!!
reed::
I got bedbugs a while ago and have been living with them for the longest time, and I have to say: its getting old i need to be able to sleep again, i threw away my bed and am sleeping on the blankets because of bed bugs, and simply because the bed is old. Then I still had the bed bugs so I threw away this old chair I had. I have no more old furniture, but still have bed bugs. Where are they hiding so I can set up the powder? In the new furniture too? or are they hiding in the walls? I live in an old building.
teresa::
OMgoodness, first of all skunks, now bed bugs.I am so frustrated..here it is around 3:00 am and I just woke up to something crawling over the top of my sheet by my upper body.yes, now for the past few week I have been finding these bugs in my bed.I am now freaking out, I run to the restroom and put them in a plastic baggie and low and behold, if you squeeze them out shoots blood..ugh..
I am sick to my stomach, same thing yesterday morning and one was so full of blood he felt like a tickanyway have to share my story as I feel like I should move out..I own my mobile home in So. California and really cannot afford to have an exterminator come in. Dont know where they came from I have not been to any hotelsI do have a bed that sits on a platform so I guess I will take it apart now for the fourth time and use a steamer first and then purchase the DE from the feed or pet store..
I get sick to my stomach when I have to pick the bed bugs off my bedI just purchased a mattress protector to the tune of $100 but the problem seemed to get worseOK so do these bugs infest the whole house?.OMGosh that is freakyare they in my carpets etc.,? could they come from dead animals? last year I had to have the under side of my mobile home treated for skunks and rats, oh yes I know, Im ready to run away.everything underneath is now completely enclosed, however still can smell the residue of the skunk spraying..sorry for rambling on and on, but I am at my wits end..
I am scared to sleep now in my bed for fear of them going inside my mouthI did take a bag of them to my doctors office as I had a really bad pain in my ear, not all the time and thought that perhaps one got in my ear..he said no, but i still have the pain my ear even after a serious of antibiotics and pain meds.I don t know.anyway I will share more of my story if I am successfulthanks for reading
Brandi::
Im glad Im not alone in this. Two years ago i was living with my boyfriend and i kept on feeling something bite me during the night. I figured it was spiders or something. A few days later my bf dad woke us up showing us this blood sucking bed bug. We lost a lot of sleep just staying up trying to catch them in the act. We caught A LOT!!!!!! We had to finally throw away all of our furniture!!! We had nothing to sit on or sleep on.
We had lived in some apartments so we got them to bomb and spray in there. Yet nothing worked. So we ended up moving. Its had been 2 years free without bedbugs until about a month ago. We just got this new house about 5 months ago and everything was fine until a month ago i started getting the bites again. So we sprayed the house YET AGAIN and they were still here. I spray this bedbug spray every night cause im so scarred of them. Last night i got bite and i jumped up and it was right there next to my arm. I have caught about 20 of them in my bed. I put them in a bag and burned them.
I have lost a lot of sleep. I have been sleeping on the couch every night and Im not feeling safe in my own home. I have only seen them in my room but my boyfriends dad has seen 2 in his. Im only 18 and i have never thought there was such a thing. I thought when my mom used to say, Goodnight sleep tight dont let the bedbugs bite it was just some stupid thing she came up with. Well i guess not cause i have been tormented by them. I wanna just throw my bed away but im scared if i do they would just get in my new one.
I need something that actually works. I want them out of my life!!!! If anyone knows anything to help me out please tell me cause im losing alot of sleep and i cant live like this in fear anymore!
Chinny::
I did not know about this until i saw lots of these red itchy spots on my hands and legs. My friends could not believe it,but i tried of complaining about mosquitoe bites when it was really not it. I am a Nigerian and i do not know how to find these cures mentioned.please help me,its so discomforting and embarassing
almost bed bug pro::
We r winning the battleand we r not using DE yet.
I want to warn everyone about these pests and they r worse then thatthere is so much knowledge that I have now about what works and what is working and also about how bad they can get and also small lil notes that people here r failing to tell.so let me get started and yes this will b long due to me battling this for a year now and not a sole believing me.
So 1st of bites
I have an allergic reaction the second they start to bite meit burns like hell and itches like crazyover time I have gotten better about waking up and killing then and also not scratching them til they bleedI am scared up I have dark spots on my hand forearms calves and feetso imbarrassing to wear anything that shows my legsbut I live in Texas and u have no choicenow I have a husband which finally he is on board with me about these bugsb4 he thought I was crazy and being a hypocondriac cause of the news and whateverhe and all 3 of my boys can sleep through the nightly feedingsand also not have any marks of bits or itchingso I was alone on this having my husband get mad at me that I was still up at we hours in the morning and i mean til 4am or longernow on weekends and some night my husband is up with me watching for them to come out of hiding
Now off to hiding places
I have eead and read and read about where they can hide and I have to say its anywhereI have a single wide mobile home the biggest u can getwe have wood floors in the whole house 2bedrooms with carpet and 2 bathrooms with laminate and no baseboardsbut we have crown molding and trim from floor to cealing every few feetI have found nests which look like black specks and if course during the day bed bugs and then eggs r nasty looking they pile up on each otherkinda clear with the tint of brownplease look for that and its a nestok on subject again (sorry lack of sleep) curtains mattress in any seam it can even b the stiching on the whole mattresszippers on during mattresses couch love seat frame door frames even just so random as along the baseboarddog beds kids stuffed chairs like the ones at Walmart for the lil kidsdessertsand I had a treadmill and they were anywhere on the frame of that that sat on the floor also had a blanket under it so cotten they love itcribI found a huge nest after I already removed my son from it but it was on the skirt and under the mattress and it was very light weight so I was surprisedhmmm also cab me in ur caroh and on ur kitchen table
Now poisons
I forever used hot shot bed bug and flea spray by the gallonmy husband hated the smell I was fine with itit got a lil strong but its more floral then like bug sprays so guest r ignorant to itI did not like the hit shot bed bug and flea spray that was in the arosal canI think it sucked and for the price didnt last long but it does kill the eggs so it says and has worked for menow here resently like 2weeks worth I have had this powder all over my house and on my bed and bix springsits NOT DEI cant find that stuff anywhere here in my small townits called MANY PURPOSE DUST its by GREEN LIGHTit does not list bed bugs but it dies list fleas and ticks which is y I tried itI put it all on my box springs baseboards whatever even walls and its workingbut is not safe so it says for skin and stuff but I have put it in my hair long story on our skin and I have small dogs and we r all finebombs do not work wellthey kill some but the smart ones crawl up the walls away from the foggersand everything has to b cleaned up and off the floor and if u have mattresses and stuff it does not kill those bugspretty much waste of money unless u just want to cut the bugs down
Now I have all our furniture outside on this over 100degree weather for a month now and it seems like they r gone but so dont trust itnow for those that r trying to freeze themremember that it has to b at least 2weeks of below freezing continusly and thats all the way to the coreand heat in the dryer I hear everyone saying 20min or 30 but I read an hour so b safe do an houralso I am reading about DE not working well its not gonna work if u just sprinkle it it has to b a dust or the bed bugs will not cross itand it doesnt work right away either it can take up to 48hoursand all it takes is one feeding for them to b able to reproducealso the adults cab live up to a year old with one last feedingand I am at the point where the eggs r hatching and I just read that they can live for months without a feedingand trust me abandoning that room or whatever does not work they will leave that space and go huntingI know I havent defeated these bugs but i know so much now that I know what to do and expect and when u r the only one fighting them its hard and even harder if u cant find the right poisonsalso the hot stuff gallon spray works on contact but will not keep the bugs away just by spraying itit has to stay wet and I have watched bb crawl right up to it and go around itthem smart lil things they ralso I have noticed most r active starting at 11pm to 6am and trudging me they r day bugs toothey cab feed off ur animals and when they get a host they keep it marked some way some how cause I am it and I swear they sniff me out
Oh also for those that say u can c bed bugs u can they look like rice almost but the babies if they come bite u I swear they will blend on ur skin and u cant c them well I have put white sheets and blankets on my bed and threw out all brown stuffjust warning
Scary stuff
Just recently I ended up with bed bugs in my hairits been 2weeks since and it was the worst thing everthey dont want to b there so when they become active they try crawling out and bite u as they leave ur bodymy poor head face chest back legs and feet I was in so much pain and struggling to get them outI almost shaved my headand I have very thick long brown hairI destroyed my hair and scalp cause i didnt have money at the time and I was deprate so I used hand sanitizer alcohol and the powder poison it worked some but not compleatly so then i used a comb and my hair srraightener and that worked some thought it was better til I went outside in the head and it started all over againneedless to say by that evening it was shampoo shampoo shampooing that got them all outand for the week I freaked out everytime I had a tingle or itch or anything
Watch
I dont sleep at night anynore due to all the bites over the year I have gotten so I have learned if u stay up to kill them sit in one spit and area to watch after awhile of watching u can c where or area they r comming fromthis can help u find their nestsI spent a couple of days with the hot shot in hand and made a wet barrier all around my mattress which i moved to the floor cause it was easier to control the bugs once I found them infested in the box springsI sat at the edge of the bed and with tv on and my phone in hand with the bright flashlight on going through sections on the floor when I found one I killed it S the night goes on it gets busy but by morning u can tell what areas they were comming fromby me doing this I found 5 nests in my bedroomand trust me they dont stay far from where u sleepand yes u can have more nests then that if u dont pay attentionand when it comes to carpet I recament tare it out but i rent so I got my gallon of hot stuff in hand and drenched the floor and then let it sit til dry and vacuumeddye to this I got my sons room bug free againand the foggers did not kill them in the carpetI swear it helped cut bugs down but left the strong smart ones to deal with
Plastic
I 1st did the plastic even vacuumed out the air it half assed worked due to kids company animals and just normal sittingit helped stop the biting though but not if u dont get all nests takeb care ofI found it easier to throw the stuff outside
Company
I told my family and close friends about the bugs after I realized what tarrors they rI dont even wish it on my worst enemy and if I was told about them from either it was my step dad or a neighbor about them I would have been more aware and probably prevented thisbut I was ignorant and thought it was a cute funny saying my grandpa said to me and i used to say it to my youngest til I got them and now biting them back is harder then everall I can say is please suck it up warn ur company and yes u can have company without them getting themI always pretreated when i knew someone aas commjng and my husband doesnt let his friends and family know due to worrying what they think and say but i told mine and not a single person has gotten them thank god
Hope
I hope what I have shared has helped anyone cause I have found out a lot from these things and kbow what works and doesnt workmy body is scared for a long time and i am mentally having problemsIm depressed cant sleep at night have a major anxiety disorder I wont lie here recently I have been doing uppers to help sray awake and keep my family from getting bitten and to fight themmy marriage had struggled due to the point of my husband cheating just cause he couldnt deal with me anymore and the non believing meme r doing better now cause finally he seeswe still fight due to the fact that his boss is our landlord and he refusses to mention anything about this cause he doesnt want to b the talk of the work place saying we r dirty or somethingbed bugs dont mean ur dirty now if u dont keep things cleaned it will help with the spread but its not due to thatI also dont allow my kids to have friends stay the jight due to the fact that I dont want them bite by chance and I dont need them to go home with a bug or just to tell their parents about it and never b able to have my kids b friends with them just cause of them being scared of the hugs .I will say when they go to a friebds it i go to stay out of town I make sure the clothes r freash out of the dryer and the bag is toovery importantok if anyone has any ?s email me please like I said Ive been fighting and learning for a year and i am down to having the last of the eggs hatch and they will b dead soon and I will b free of bb finally.
Rhonda::
Bed bugs!! OMG!! Im going crazy!! The itching is the worst ever and have tried Vicks Vapo-rub, Chigger ointment, etc. The best results for the itching thus far is rubbing alcohol applied several times a day. I must be having an allergic reaction to the bites because they are feverish and now turning into red sores. Where the cluster bites are on my arms i can feel a small lump or egg under the skin and these bites happened over a week ago!! Do I need to see a doctor?
I was recently diagnosed with diabetes and also have very sensitive skin. My husband rarely gets bitten and they dont drive him insane like they do with me. What a nightmare!! Right now we are vacuuming the bedroom carpet (we live in an apt. and told manager about the bed bugs) and taking apart the beds to distribute DE. Questionnot sure we bought the right DE!!! Home Depot carried two brands and one said toxic. The only warning on the bag we bought said, could cause irritation to eyes on both people and pets. Is it safe to use this on our mattresses and box springs? Too late to return it because hubby is using it already!! UGH!
I should also let you know that this bug problem has been going on for over a month now. We thought it was mosquitos until we actually caught a couple of the adults on our recliner. Hubby had been swatting them off but finally squeezed one in a paper towel and blood squirted. We Googled it and found that indeed they were bed bugs! Niece admitted that while storing a great deal of our belongings, including furniture that a friend had moved in and brought the critters with her which in turn infested our furniture. Of course she thought they had gotten rid of the problem before returning our items to us!! Now we have the infestation too!!
I just need a good nights sleep without worrying about being eaten alive! Just the thought of these critters crawling on my skin is making me paranoid. Hubby also bought the purple can of Hot Shot for bed bugs! How safe is it to use on mattresses, etc? We dont have children living here, but do have our little dog who happens to sleep in the bed with us! Sorry for bouncing around from subject to subject, but havent had a decent nights sleep in several weeks. Apartment manager plans to do his own spraying of insecticides over the next few weeks, but cant guarantee that the spray will work.
Any ideas on what to do next? Thanks for hearing me out.I may post more laterso tired right now
I have noticed that the bug bites look different on and between my fingers and toes compared to those that bite on my arms and legs. Why is that? The ones on my fingers look like tiny pin prick pimples, but itch LIKE CRAZY!!
The bites on my arms and legs are larger welt-like marks, very similar to that of mosquito bites. They drove me nuts last night so scratched as hard as I could until the area actually bled. I then applied rubbing alcohol!! Was hoping to burn instead of itch!! Weird I know, but this is literally insane itching!!! Now my skin feels sun-burned and very sensitive and sore, so dont recommend doing what I did. UGH!
Im afraid to go to the doctor for fear hell freak out and fire me as a patient. I mean what if I infest the doctor or his office or other patients? Yes, Im getting paranoid. Have contemplated throwing absolutely everything I own in the trash and burn it all. Maybe buy some cheap new clothing, give the dog a bath and just leave with the new clothes on my back and seek shelter somewhere that is BUG FREE!!
Would I still take these little demons with me???? ANY IDEAS would be greatly appreciated! Right now we are barely able to afford rent as hubby lost his job due to budget cuts. Our income is slim to none, so cannot afford professionals to come in and fumigate. We are using DE and Hot Shot (purple can for bed bugs). Were vaccumming the mattresses and box springs, etc.
We are both disabled, so cant physically go to the extent that others are capable of doing, so worried that were going to be living with these demons for a long time!!! This is why Im thinking about discarding everything we own and just start over again somewhere else. Please help!! THIS IS TOTAL INSANITY!
sleepless in nc::
I have been bed bug free for a year I moved and left everything except toys n clothes.yesterday my child was eaten up from head to toe with bites I thought it was allergic reaction it was so bad well my other daughter says mom there is something that just bit me n I was on the bed. I go in pull her bed away from the wall and there was plenty of evidence of bed bugs but only around where the bed was
I threw the bed out and packed a 4 inch wide 2 inch thick barrier of DE all around where the bugs n eggs were. Left it for 24 hours went in vaccumed up all the powder then took the vacuum dumping in a tied trash bag toook it to the dumpster cleaned the vaccum outside n left it there. Then I took good night bed bug spray and sprayed where I had the DE and all the rest of the carpet. I then blocked off the air vents with plastic bags and closed them then I closed the door to the room and sealed it with duct tape n plastic all the way around in 10 days I will go in there and see if all this effort worked.
I havent seen them ne where else n I checked all over furnishings bed walls cracks I even went out n look for ne crawling on my kids cause they r sleeping in the living room didnt c nothing. But now I am itchy and irritated I am highly allergic to all kinds of bugs. I have had sleeping problems for a year now since the first infestation. I really hope this works.
Any words of encouragement for me. I know I sealed that door up good I just went out there its 3:33am here and saw nothing with the lights out n I used my phone as a flash light. PLEASE SOMEONE ANYONE TELL ME DO U THINK THIS WILL WORK . Im so drained from no sleep my kid now I am itching our skin off. Please any one?
Sarita::
I have been living with these nasty, vile, spawns of satan for almost 6 months. I knew exactly what the bites were when I first starting seeing them and immediately started investigating. Looking for any possible signs of the things. I found nothing!!! No fecal matter, no eggs, nothing!! I live with my 3 year old daughter and my disabled mother. I am currently on unemployment and just about to finish up school to become a medical assistant. I am so worried about this because going into the medical field I dont want to spread these bugs. My landlord is a young guy in his 20s and I told him about our problem so he brings me ONE areosol can of HOT SHOT BB SPAY. Like that is suppose to do anythingwhen that didnt help I called Terminix on my own to come in and while the guy was here inspecting we found one on the floor and it was bright red so I know it just fed. He quoted us about $1600 just to do 4 rooms in my house. When I told my landlord he flat out said THATS NOT GONNA HAPPEN So I set off some foggers (i knew it wouldnt help but i was desperate) I told this guy it did not work and what does he do??? Goes out and buys about 30 cans of the same foggers claiming he was gonna do the entire building well that is all fine and dandy but how are you gonna get in the walls because that is where they will hide until the fog is gone. Then they will come out and tear you up with vengence!!!!
I went to a local feed store and purchased a 40 lb bag of food grade DE for $20 and immediately. I wash clothed EVERYDAY in extremely hot water and do my bedding every two days or so. I went and bought covers for all the mattresses and boxsprings but they are vinyl and have already ripped or got torn. The major problem Im having is my landlord is a slum lord and has done NOTHING about the repairs this building needs. There are cracks in the walls all along the doorways and window sillshell the light fixtures werent even installed correctly!!! He had what we call a backyard maintence guy come in and caulked the huge gaps in the light fixtures!!!! Not only that but we have hardwood floors throughout the house and a disgusting carpet in the kitchen (my landlord is Polish.literally!!) I do my rituals everyday.wash clothes and bedding, vacuum the floors and wash with Pine-Sol ( seems to repel them) after that dries I lay down a dusting of DE around the beds and along the molding and baseboards of the floors. My sister gets me alcohol from her job because it has a higher percentage of Isopropylol than what you get in the storeover 100% and I spray my beds down. The other two apartments in the building have the bugs too and since the landlord doesnt want to take the correct steps to eliminate these pests I have to put my house on lock down EVERYTHING I buy for this problem I save my receipts and deduct it off my rent!! YOU CAN DO THIS ITS LEGAL!!! I purchased those Space saver bags online and put all my clean clothes and linens in them and vaccuum seal them. They are defenitely worth the money!!! Its an ongoing battle but please dont get discouraged and DONT let them beat you. You can win if you have the right mentality and KEEP UP WITH THE TREATMENTS!!!! If you miss even one you have to start all over again.BUY DE IT WORKS AND PINE-SOL EVERYTHING YOU CAN!!! Good luck everyone!!!!
john::
I have lived with bed bugs for two months that I know off. I thought I had become alergic to my fabric softened but soon realized that the bite marks were bed bug bites. My apartment has been sprayed twice and has had liitle effect. I believe that they are comin from my neighbours, which makes them especially hard to get ride of. I have found that using deep woods off on my self just before I go to sleep helps, but when you shower the nest day your tub will be full of dead bugs. They seem to be dried out. DE works but only up to a point, it will not get ride of them. I thought I managed to keep them off my bed at night by putting two sided carpet tape on my bed legs, but the little suckers climb the wall and then the ceiling and then fall on the bed. I am wondering if the extermonators are really trying to get ride of them(they have to be making a fortune).
Good luck
Jbaby::
DE works man! Dont let exterminators try and con you into using their services.
Just put DE around your bed or the affected areas and the bedbugs will disappear. As far as itching, put saliva on the bite and I guarantee the itching will stop in about 5 minutes. I have lived through the ordeal of bed bugs and trust me DE works.
2sexxy::
Garden Safe Cawling Insect Killer Containing Diatomaceous Earth works great and kills bed buggs on contact you can buy it at Lowes for about $9.00 for a 4lb bag Good luck!!!
marcus::
What a simple, harmless solution!!!
DE definitely works! to distribute DE around your house get a Pest Pistol /Duster. if the infestation is pretty bad, first try to remove all bed bug pieces that may be laying behind your headboard, under your bed, spring-box, on or under your mattress etc inspect your bedroom thoroughly!
*now, put DE into your Pest Pistol and apply DE EVERYWHERE on your bed, spring-box, frame, headboard, footboard, everywhere around your bed now leave the room and let the DE settle down no matter what kind of DE you got it is not ok to inhale it. once DE settles down, you are ok to live in this room :)
**also get four bed risers and turn them upside down. now fill them with DE (1/3 or 1/2). place each of your bed feet into bed risers filled with DE you dont have to use bed risers, you can use pots, buckets but make sure your bed feet are surrounded by DE. (you can easily hide these if you have a bedskirt)
***if you got Food Grade DE I suggest you dont vacuum your bed or around it put two fitted sheets over your mattress. I am allergic to all kinds of stuff and this thing didnt bother me in case you cant stand it while sleeping, vacuum only your mattress
****now that you are done with your bedroom you can move to other places in your house. start with areas where you spend lots of time sitting, lying down spread DE using your pest pistol until you get your entire house covered
WARNING:
DE wont work if you apply it to wet surfaces or if you let it get wet after you applied it wet DE does not work.
REMEMBER:
you cant give up or do the job partially and expect this to work! so please do your best before you decide to call an exterminator.
ALSO:
this method will not only help you with bed bugs but also with other bugs. pretty soon you will notice dead bugs, spiders, flies laying around yaaay! :)
Berrett::
Bed bugs are one of the worst things to deal with. It harms you psychically and mentally. Here is how To Keep Bed Bugs Out.
- Use a flashlight and magnifying glass, look for bed bugs, their dark fecal spots, and light-brown shed skins.
- Focus on mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and areas around the bed.
- Bed bugs like to hide so remove bedding. Look in cracks and holes. Turn furniture upside down and take apart.
- Bed bug detection traps are available.
- Vacuum along mattress seams, baseboards, and other areas.
- Wash all bedding and clothing in hot (120°F) water and dry in a hot dryer.
- Consider steam cleaning.
- If possible, replace infested mattresses.
- Specially designed mattress encasements might be helpful.
ann::
I have a fear of bugs and one of my friends has bed bugs so I go crazy every time they come over. I vacuum, I spray I dust with diatomaceous earth when they leave in fear of getting them. I cant sleep at night afraid that I have them. Im going to try your dry ice bed bug trap and see if I cant catch some.
so tired!::
I am so glad I found this site, I have read and took down notes to help me fight these nasty little creatures. We moved into our new place about 7 months ago and soon after I noticed little red spots appearing on my legs, they didnt hurt or itch or nothing like that, but now they hurt and itch like crazy.
Me and my bf have bites but our daughter wasnt really getting bit until a couple days ago. I have previously had to deal with bed bugs but moved out of that place and took nothing, that was the end of that; but now, I still have 5 months left on the lease so I am going to try remedy this situation myself. What I was doing was staying up real late every night so that I am so tired I just fall asleep right away and have no time for paranoia but that is not working anymore.
Today I am getting (demanding, actually) the help of my bf and our roommate to use DE and all the other tips people on here have tried and worked for them, so hopefully they work for me, until this 5 months is up and we can move out of here.
Aezha L.::
So a few days ago I discovered bedbugs in my home. Ive heard that the plastic covers dont work, and I cant afford to buy new furniture. I have a child with severe asthma, and dont know what to do, because I fear that any sprays or dusts will have a bad affect on his breathing. HELP!!!!!!!!!!
senthil kumar::
hi,
before i come to know about DE powder. i thought that i can not control bed bugs. i live in apartment i do 12 hrs work shift so i must get enough sleep in remaining 12hrs to do next day work without any problems.but this bed bugs never let me sleep i got itchy feeling even though i was so tired. i suffered for 6 months. i lost my body weight remarkably my co-workers and my friends asked me about this. finally i used Google to find out this website. i bought this powder and simply spreed it all over the room. with in four days i got deep sleep and i never get itchy feeling. now i gained my body weight and i am so happy. if anybody is suffering from bed bugs just use DE powder. it is effective than costly pest control agency. use it one time then you will enjoy your sleep .
ang::
I got bbs from somebodys house & its been the worst time! I put DE everywhere & about 2 weeks later I saw 2 bugs at different times on my couch so hopefully those were just ones that havent died yet. I found a cpl dead dehydrated ones too. I put more DE in case!!
Earl Sinclair::
I tried the food grade Diatomaceous Earth. So far so good. I used about 25lbs of DE. I think I went overbaord, but it seems to be working.
A couple of suggestions when using this:
- To spread the DE I used a dollar store small wire colonder.
- Turn all your furniture over and dust it with DE. NUKE IT
- I left DE on the floor where you cant see it.
- Make sure you have a shop vacuum as this stuff goes every where(which is a good thing) A normal vacuum will be destroyed if used to clean up DE unless you empty it and clean it out every few feet of use.
- Be ready to dust alot, and I mean daily for a while.
- Have some extra furnance/AC filters on hand. Get the cheap ones and change them every couple of days after you use DE.
- The little (insert your favorite word here) Will run once you spread the DE.
- Have a Spray bottle of rubbing alcohol in every room, spray one if you see it..
I also found out by getting upset and thinking I have to have something in the house that will kill them, I found these items work:
Furniture polish, foaming carpet cleaner(the only one I found that worked was the Dollar Tree Brand,works well on bedding and walls, it melts them into a goo and then it is easy to clean up and smells fresh too), Hairspray(at least they cant move anymore), rubbing alcohol.
Give the DE time to start working (about a day for the bigger ones)
I spread DE on a Saturday and started cleaning on Sunday. (total time about 12 hours)
As I have read in other articles on this site: Use the food grade DE and you can powder up your pets too.
Great all around pesticide, flies, spiders,fleas, misc anything that crawls, lions and tigers and bears OH My
I bought my DE at the local garden center. A 50LB bag was $49.95. Im sure you can get smaller bags.
Hope this helps someone.
Just remember when you start with DE, your house will look like an illegal lab of some sort went totally wrong.
Lets bring back DEET.
Good luck
Jack::
Hey guys..ok I live in a 4000 sq foot house and a few months ago my son started complaining about tics in his bed and he had rashes that looked like chiggers before (something he got frequently from playing outside). I chalked it up to fleas b/c at the time I had NO IDEA BED BUGS WERE REAL!
Anyhow..he has been staying with his mom lately and a few weeks ago I started noticing my arms were covered in bits when I awoke. I chalked it up to mosquitos since Im very allergic to them. Just a few days ago a friend told me about Bed Bugs so I went home and inspected my mattress. Sure enough..tell tale blood stains that I researched. I found about a dozen of the frakkers in the seems of the box spring and immediately got a jar and captured 2 of them.
That night I went out and got hot spot foggers and 2 5 lb bags of DE and spread LIBERALLY (problably too much) around the house especially in the two known infested rooms. I also decided to do an experimentI put dust into the jar with the bugs to see if the claims were true. NOTE about the foggers: I read bad reviews of this product and what not but after I fogged the room I found 2 dead bed bugs so it works somewhat at least.
I have researched and researched and it does seem DE was a great choice. Today a pest guy came in and said it would cost me 2-4k to treat it twice and only have a 30day warranty. He said on a scale of 10 my house was about a 4 in terms of infestation level since I really dont have all that much clutter. The pest guy said that DE would NOT work and infact BUILD their resistance. I sniffed BS b/c its a physical killer not a chemical type killer. It physically messes them up so there should be no resistance. He said it doesnt do a thingwhile I smelled the BS this scare tactic frightened me.
When he left I checked my jar and at day 3 one of the bugs is dessicated..the smaller one. The bigger on is still going but it can take up to 10 days from all I heard.
I found a scientific study where mortality rate for bed bugs is >90% by 4 days and 100% by 10 days. Now keep in mind these bugs were exposed to it..we have to get them to walk through it.
But from what I read and the experiment I am running so far the evidence suggests it definitley works!
Now in a few days Im gonna vaccum everything up, use a specific vapor steamer all over the house, zip up my mattresses and then reapply correctly to the right areas. I am now far more confident that I can handle it. My ex has a pesticide license and has a friend that has one too and they offered to come out and treat it with some chemicals before I do all that. Hopefully this works.
I know you are SUPPOSED to use a pest guy..but honestly I dont trust them in this matter. Their incentive is to make money so they are gonna do everything they can to trash a wonder product like DE (again based on my evidence thus far).
LadyBlue::
I am sooooo happy i found this site. Like many of you, I was sooo embarrassed when I finally figured out what was wrong. It started getting bit middle of July, dismissed it as mosquito bites because its summer and I was outside a lot. Then began the 3-4 am wake ups because my arm was itching out of control and burning sensation. Week 3 of incomplete sleep and I was a nut case. I woke up to the itchy arm and was upset, turned on the lights and was about to start crying because I was soooo frustrated. Moved my pillow and something brown moved. I jumped off the bed but then came back to investigate. Google is my best friend. I found out it was a bed bug No, not happy it was a BB but at least did not feel insane.
Let my landlord know and they called out the exterminator. It only appears to affect my bedroom, but we bagged up everything in my room and my kids room. Exterminator came in and sprayed. I also bought a steamer. People at the laundry mat thought I ran a shelter I had so much stuff.
Of course Landlord holds me responsible for reimbursing the fee to have treatment done, but can pay as I can.
When i came home after the exterminator was here, was not sure that much was done. It took me a few days to go back to my room, but did and it felt great to sleep in my bed.straight up until 3 days ago.. Its only been 3 weeks since the exterminator came in. So I am happy to have found this site. I will try the DE, Vacuum, steaming, mattress covers solution. Even thought my couch is heavenly i prefer to sleep in my bed, that way the kids can get up and enjoy the living room and i might get a few more minutes of sleep,.
Brian::
Im wanting to use DE preemptively on an apartment Im about to move into since I had noticed a complaint about bedbugs online from a year ago and I have two questions. One Im wondering if I decide to use it again after I move all of my stuff in should I be worried about it getting in the vents of my computer? From the sounds of it this stuff gets everywhere. My other question is about a mixture of water and de Ive seen some people mention. Does this work? Since the point of de is to dehydrate them wont mixing it with water quench the powder and make it ineffective?
ang::
No you dont have to worry about your computer vent. & wet Diatomaceouse Earth does not work!!
great site::
Lets hope that bed bugs in the end are defeated by the internet! Getting everyones great comments and suggestions to go along with this sites information shows the real power of it.
louis::
I keep hearing from alot of people on this site.Where can I get DE? You can go to Home Depote and buy it for around $9.00.The product is called CHEMFREE INSECT KILLER.read the the label and it has DE in it.They have other brands but this one is the cheapest.
hopeBbugfree::
Thank God I hope I stay BB free. I caught BB problem very early. Saw 2 baby bugs come out in the daylight. Tried to catch one and it spurted blood. After seeing news and Animal Planet I realized what it was. I believe I transported it from my cousins house via car who had BBs.
I researched this problem on the Internet and decided the best solution was to seek a Professional Exterminator. I think the best solution is to use ambient heat, but I couldnt afford $1,600.
I decided on Terminix $800 and a 90 day plan. Terminix only discovered a few bugs but learning the procedure, BB habits, and other BB info. was worth the cost because as a LL now I have tenants that have got BBs.
Cleaning the clutter, using plastic bags, plastic bends, thorough cleaning and a precise methodology are the keys to eliminating an infestation. Since I caught the problem early did not have to dispose of any furniture.
My Bed and livingroom couch was sprayed with Co2 (freezing). Carbon dioxide is what the bugs are attracted to, the human breath. Exterminators spray CO2 throughout the house and the bugs will come out to be frozen. The most important key to eliminating BBs is the prep. work before the exterminators arrive. Still have most of household small items in the garage such as books and med. supplies.
Im afraid to bring some items back in because BBs can live without feeding for 1 year. Often vacuuming was also another key to win. I understand the anxiety of having BBs. I hate the idea of sleeping with bugs and awakening with severe itching. I still research the cheapest and most effective way to eliminate BBs in the event that this problem recurs.
Here in Michigan most stores dont sell pyrethins regularly but DE and other chemicals are available. Havent discovered how effective Bedlam, DE, and other DIY remedies are, but if this problem recurs, I cannot afford to use a Professional Exterminator again.
After using Terminix I have knowledge on how to solve this problem DIY. I have to say that I really think that Terminix and other Pro companies should perform their services for customers on an installment plan. Also state or federal governments should get involve in helping people considering this is an national epidemic. For instance many states were request that the EPA approve more chemicals to be available such as propoxal.
I personally would risk health problems down the road to be able to sleep comfortably at night now. Good luck to everyone. And prayer helps also!
MR::
Diatomaceous Earth works! But it takes anywhere from 12-24 hours to kill them we tested it on a couple bugs we caught and put in a glass jar with some of the powder on them.., and they have to come into contact with it.
Today is my day 14 of battling bed bugs and they are almost all gone! It is not a, spread some powder and then they are gone, deal. You have to dig in and be diligent about cleaning them out!
We bought the DE from Lowes in a 4 lb bag for like $9, mine was not the food-grade, so I used gloves and a face mask. This size has worked fine for 3 full bedrooms, my entire 2nd floor. We got a shop-vac, because you probably do not want to then clean it up with a regular vacuum-plus once you vacuum some of the DE into it, you can vacuum any live bugs up and be assured they will die!
We stripped the beds, box springs and all..they hide in EVERY small space! We vacuumed, dusted, sprayed (Hot Shot Bed Bug and Flea Spray), vacuumed, dusted, sprayed, etc., etc, etc, for the last 14 days!! The large ones can lay up to 5 eggs a night, and those hatch within 10 days..
We also heard from a friend that watched a Bob the Exterminator show, and said they set up several space heaters in each room and heated the rooms up over 120 degrees and it kills bugs and eggs all in one swoop-we do not have space heaters..! We put every bit of bedding-including pillows, and clothes through the dryer on High heat, everyday. We were blessed to be able to contain them to the second floor, so our family has basically lived in the downstairs living room and kitchen/dining room for two weeks.
The bugs are most active in the middle of the night, so I would stay up late hunting them, then set an alarm to get up in the wee hours of the night to hunt some more. We put the DE in every crack and crevice, along the floor to baseboard areas, around the bed legs (bugs have to climb up somehow), we put that DE EVERYWHERE, and sprayed cooking spray on the legs so they couldnt climb up.
By the way, we found them in my little girls room nesting in the top of her curtains! Her bed is a metal frame kids bed with no real box springs, so they found a place close by to go! Once you destroy all the nesting places on the bed and box springs (remove the cover at the bottom of box spring-they get into the little place in the wood framing of it), they will start scattering to anywhere they can get to. I would find them on the walls, in the drapes, in door crevices, behind picture frames etc..but that was actually a good thing, because it meant they were on the run!
We bought bed bug proof box spring and mattress covers-but should say, we just got them today, so everything else weve done was killing them off. We covered our bed as it was where it started, and if anymore eggs are in there, they arent coming out!!..
We just moved into our townhome a couple months ago and had been itching in our room from day 1!! Go figure! Anyway, they can be wiped out without paying a ton of money to exterminators, you just have to read all you can and find out their habits etc..then be absolutely determined and diligent to get them out!!
Move in hard and fast on them, and you can get them out, it takes a little time, but at least you know you wont be still fighting them 6 months to a Year later! I praise God they are being wiped out! Ive been praying and spraying!!! Today on day 14, I have only had to kill 3 of them! Im taking my house back!!
Jc::
This is to tell everyone how sneaky bed bugs are. One night I moved to the floor to get a break and they moved down the comforter to where they could watch me the whole time! I believe they are confined to the bed and they are not bad every night. The landlord is cheaper than heck and handed me some spray that doesnt work.
Bed Bug Girl::
Hey Jc,
The bed bugs follow your carbon dioxide (what you exhale), this is why a bed bug trap using dry ice works so well (see http://www.badbedbugs.com/bed-bug-traps/) for details on how to make your own.
Steamer/DE::
Bed Bugs Australia Melbourne August 2011
Is there anyone else in Melbourne, Australia that has/had Bed Bugs?
Im fairly certain thats whats been biting me for the last 6 months (possibly traveled in an overnight bag), I have no evidence except the bites (not unusual). I long to see just one, think Id burst into tears! Any other bug would be dead by now! My bites are often the typical breakfast, lunch and dinner, they bite in a row/cluster (Google it).
Below is how I would handle the situation knowing what I know now DO NOT PANIC!
NOTE From Bed Bug Girl: This was such a fantastic comment that we dedicated an entire page titled How to Kill Bed Bugs to it. Check it out, it details how to get rid of bed bugs yourself.
Trisha::
I was wondering after how long did everyone notice their BB issue end once you realized you had it? I noticed about a week ago I had the issue after 3 months of crazy itching. My Apartment complex is known for spiders and that is what we thought it was. I have used the DE/Steam Vac defense every 2 days by steaming the entire bed frame, box springs and mattress. We also lay down the DE powder around the whole bedroom, bed and entry ways to other rooms.
I stopped getting bit since we have moved into the living room area and not taking all the washed blankets into the infested rooms. This morning was the first morning nothing was found going through the mattress although I did not go through the box spring were we have found some as well.
I will still continue the process untill we go about 2 weeks with out finding anything. How long did it take others to get rid of the BB and once getting rid what did you do to prevent anymore coming back?
NoMoreBlood::
Oh my! I am so going to buy this product as soon as the local feed store opens!! The reviews are jaw dropping and easy. I wish I knew about his before I wasted 400 bucks on a bad DIE job.
Thanks everyone!! :)
Brandi W.::
I have tried diatomaceous earth and I still have a bed bug problem. I check my kids beds and rooms every night for them. I thought I had finally gotten rid of them and then my child wet the bed the other night and when I went to change the sheets I found 2 of them. I have found them sitting right in the DE and they had layed eggs there too. I have found some that looked like they were slowing down because of the DE, but I was really baffled by the one laying eggs while sitting in the stuff. I am just going to keep trying to be deligent, and maybe try the Dry Ice thing that someone else suggested. Supposedly they can find you by your body heat and the CO2 you put off.
Faith::
A couple of years ago my son and I developed a bad case of bb. Shortly after it spread to my daughters house. After a lot of research I decided DE was the best choice but couldnt find the product. So instead I bought silica cat litter, ground it to a powder and spread it around and over the beds and couches, vacuuming and respreading every few days. I did nothing else. Within 2 weeks we had stopped being bitten. I kept spreading the powder for another 2 weeks just to be safe. We have never seen a bug or been bitten since.
Then I took the powder to my daughters house and told her how to use it. She slacked off and only spread it once yet her bugs disappeared too, never to return.
Its a good idea with both the powdered silica and DE to wear a mask while dealing with it, but once the powder has settled theres no need to worry.
One other thing if you spread the powder too thickly the bed bugs will do their best to avoid it (theyve been known to climb up walls, walk across the ceiling and drop onto the bed when other routes have been hindered). A fine dusting is all thats needed.
Yadira::
I need some advice, I got bed bugs in my bed and my husband used boric acid in the bed, in the carpet and in my childrens room too. And now I dont want to go into those rooms because I think that is dangerous for us to smell, I am 7 weeks pregnant and I dont want to risk my unborn child. also I havent let my children sleep in their room because of this boric acid in their bed. Am I correct or we can sleep in the beds even though they have boric acid powder??? Please help!!!
Going crazy::
About a month ago I discovered I had bedbugs, I had an exterminator who works for my local housing come out who charged me $200 w/ a 30 day guarantee, haha the bugs were still here after 2 weeks, so he came back and he gave me a can of spray he was using (bedlam) so I googled it $17 on the Internet, wow! I was shocked.
So I bought a steamer and de from amazon. Also hot shot bed bug and flea spray. I steamed my walls, baseboard furniture, everywhere the I sprayed everywhere than I put de everywhere. My house looks crazy. Im living out of bags I already threw my mattress away. I dont go any where. I am going crazy. I did everything 4 days ago, I felt good about it all until an hour ago when a bug crawled beside my arm. This is craziness, I will keep you posted on the bb status.
Etta Rae::
Hi, I had just noticed the bed bug infestation in my room about a month and a half ago after my mom had been noticing them in her couch where she sleeps in June. At first I was dismissing the tiny little pests as some kind of other bug or little roaches since thats pretty bad where we live as well and mind this, we live in Texas.
When I found a bed bug under my pillow, I flattened it and then taped it to a piece of paper and looked it up via Google and sure enough it was a bed bug alright. I took immediate action then because at first they were biting my dog who was waking me up in the middle of the night in the early morning hours whimpering big time (also I had been dismissing the situation as fleas). I have NOT bought the DE stuff yet, want to but so far when I found a small cluster of a nest up above the top of my box spring under my bedskirt and mattress (assuming thats where they had been at the whole time I had gotten them in my room but to be better safe than sorry later, I sprayed everywhere of my sleeping quaters with Ortho home Defense MAX for bedbugs (Kills them where they hide!) and sure enough after spraying, vacuuming dead bed bugs/some that might of still been alive/dying, and re-spraying it showed signs of it working in killing them.
Double checked under the box spring and mattress, vacuumed, re-sprayed while I was running all the bedding I had put into bags to dry on high heat in the dryer. Sprayed good sized layers along the sided of the bed boards, small crevices, headboard, foot board, etc. Gonna see how it goes on when I sleep and see if I wake up to see any of them crawling about in the wee hours of the morning about 4 6 am. But none the less, the stuff does kill them and I just found out about them today after keeping them at bay with some crystal cat litter which has silicone in it too plus spraying RAID for fleas and ticks.
Keeping your sleeping quarters free of clutter, constantly washing clothes and bedding, vacuuming like mad, etc. does play a big part into defeating these nasty little critters once and for all. Luckily I caught them before they could get out of hand and I would have been stuck at getting rid of my bed all together. Gonna get more of this stuff since so far it works wonders, way better than the hot shot stuff and respray crevices I might have missed since I went crazy with this stuff and sprayed everywhere I saw them coming which was good, getting rid of the adults and their little cluster nests on contact was a good thing.
Really glad those little suckers got cocky and only moved from the folds of the box spring up to folds of the bottom of my mattress near my foot board, saw some at the headboard too but not as many as saw at the foot board and luckily when spraying them when first saw them it killed the little suckers all together at once! Double checked them with my witnessing eyes after spraying and vacating the room for about 30 minutes to an hour and checking every 15 minutes.
I know for fact they were dead on contact with the stuff since when I picked one up in my gloved hand, in my palm. its little legs werent moving and it was lying still. Also when I picked up the mattress after turning it on its side to spray all around and ensure I got every square inch of the mattress plus box spring I found some more lying flat and still plus stiff as a board when touched. Didnt move like they did before when I picked up the mattress the first time. So yeah, I highly recommend Ortho which you can get anywhere they sell pesticides and insecticides. I wish you much luck as well in defeating these things because the war is not over just because some people get rid of them and prevent them from coming back.
Etta Rae::
Oh hey, its me again, did another check up in the wee hours of the morning today since its Tuesday now where I live, only found one live one bed bug (YIKES!) on the curtain and another dead and dehydrated from spraying. Its working so far so I am most definitely gonna get some more after school since I am in college and need a good nights rest top function properly and despite the fact I am heavy sleeper, its the paranoia and having horrible nightmares of these things being larger than life eating me alive thats keeping me up.
The bites are the least of my worries since they dont itch but they are there which is even more proof that I have to act fast and stay at the top of the game of ridding my bed of them. I am making plans in getting a roll away bed but for now I think I can sleep in more comfort than before since I got rid of the small cluster under my mattress. Thank God.
Etta Rae::
Third time posting, so far its 3 in the morning and no signs of further infestation on bedbugs except one I found alive on the curtain. Like I said, Im gonna buy two more cans, one fore my mom and one for me to spray as according to where I see them, where they may harbor their eggs, etc. This time Im gonna focus more on the bottom of the box spring and the crevices around the carpet and ceiling, plus change my curtains and bag up the pink one til I can destroy whatever eggs may be there but yet still no bed bugs yet which is good. Ill probably make one more post if I dont see any while staying up to make sure I got rid of the main adult infestation for good so I can focus on the eggs that are either
A) hatching already or
B) getting rid to hatch in about 7 19 day.
You can do this Henrietta, just be persistent and read up whenever you may find something.
Etta Rae::
Ok, its about 5 in the morning and sure enough those nasty pest seem to be gone so I say home Defense MAX for bedbugs is most definitely a good buy in pesticide control. Im gonna try the DE if I anymore pop up so thank you and good luck to anyone else in defeating these nasty bloodsucking monsters.
Etta Rae::
Me again with a follow up report,
my box spring was infested in the corners and in the folds which I took care of but still I got rid of it plus the frame. Now its just me and my mattress along with my bedding. So far so good, I sprayed all and up along the crevices near the bottom and top of the wall, near the window pane and on it, up above the window pane, etc. Well see how this go.
I am taking my uninfested bedding out of there and sleeping up in the front room with my mom and kid sister leaving the mattress alone with the sheets on it to see if any other show up. I am going to however clean the area and place the mattress back but now at least I have better control of the situation if they were *god willingly* just in the box spring and the frame that I got rid of. But you know how they say better to be safe than sorry.
Either way I am feeling a tad bit more relieved each day that I straightened out this problem and prevent it from reoccurring since I will most definitely getting a new bed, roll away preferably since those are easy to master control the problem. If Im right and my mom is too, theyre most likely coming in from a nearby apartment. Well see. Ill double check my room and the mattress(especially the mattress to make sure I eradicated them all). *crossing my fingers I did* Well win this war, these things will not take over my life!
Etta Rae::
I have a positive follow up to share so Im hoping it will bring some hope to all of as well so you can get back to your normal daily lives without these things forcing you to wake up early or stay up at all hours of the night just so you can catch them because believe me, when they sense movement, its not as easy as it seems to catch them that way thus you end up losing tons of sleep and end up like looking like a total mess.
1. Buy DE or anything that has silicone in it like crystal cat litter will help plus tick and flea powder, anything that dehydrates bugs that are bent on sucking your blood; i.e. ticks, fleas, lice, and bedbugs.
2. Spray a bedbug spray (I use Ortho Home Defense MAX that kills bedbugs where they hide) all along the perimeter or your mattress and remove any effected furniture ASAP and fast (I removed my effected box spring and bed frame). (Keep in mind, you gotta act fast because they move fast. faster you act, the better chance you have at ensuring yourself they ARE ALL GONE. Maybe not for good but at least by then youll know what to do to prevent them from re-infesting new furniture.) After the you spray and it dries, vacuum really, really (I cannot stress that enough if you want to feel secure in your own home again especially at night when they feed) good. Youll have better chance at vacuuming dead and dying bed bugs including their eggs if there are any in the mattress (bedbug eggs hatch withing 7 10 days, gotta act fast before a new recruit awakes). You can however to feel more safe, spray the bed mattress again and on the carpet again (which is what I did, have to go back and vacuum today and re-spray since Im taking fort in the front room for the time being or at least til I can get a new bed.) Im slowly getting my sanity back, not imagining them crawling on me anymore because like they say, out of sight out of mind.)
3. If you plan on getting a new bed all together and have had to get of both the mattress and box spring. Spread DE all along both box spring and/or mattress. Reason why I say you can just do this to a mattress because I know since this epidemic is going on, a great majority of the human population will sleep on roll away beds for the time being since bed bugs love to nest in box springs the most plus bed frames. They only spread to the mattress or other furniture if the infestation gets out of hand from what Im viewing plus I caught them in the early stages of infestation. If that happens, I suggest calling in professionals but itd be good to do that too to ensure they are all gone and wont come back for awhile because I cant promise they wont come back ever. So far, I only found one dying one on my blanket in my room ever since I got rid of the box spring and sprayed plus vacuumed like mad. I know I will have to run all my bedding again through the dryer and washer on high heat to ensure I wont get re-infested. Also investing in a mattress cover is great way to go. If they were still on my current mattress, Id see dark spots of their poo but they are gone so far, so thats a relief. I think it was just the lagers who didnt get to the box spring in time when the sun was coming out and I was getting up.
4. Spackle up any cracks on the walls and floors (those who have bare floors), get rid of clutter and prevent your home from getting re-cluttered (doing this too); trust me, youll have better control the more cleaner and de-clutter you stay, being a complete neat freak in your home is the best way to go til they are ALL gone again from the U.S. Vacuum like mad each day too to ensure you wont be getting re-infested for a long time.
Thats about all I have to say from my experience, about all I can say now is dont worry too much about them (you know, dont let them rule your life because that is pretty sure what they want, dont let them scare you into not getting your good nights rest, just stay aware that they are here again and be on your guard into making sure they dont come back into your home.) Ill keep you all posted if what I am doing works effectively as how it seems to be working so far for me. I wish all of you the best of luck. Just like they mysteriously came into all of our homes mysteriously, theyll be gone just like that mysteriously. Just gotta stay at the top of your game and dont give up even when you think you dont see any for days or weeks or months. Theyre still there, lurking in the dark.
yolanda::
do i need to throw my box spring away is still covered in the plastic since i first got it
Leelee B::
I never believed in buying used furniture especially a box spring or sofa /chair against my better judgement I let a friend convince me to buy a sofa from an associate of hers. Low and behold that jerk sold me a sofa with residents aka bedbugs.
Not even three weeks later I started seeing bites on my 2 yr old and myself no one else was getting bit so I thought it was mosquitoes. I took my daughter to the doctor and was given a cream for the itch. We had fresh bites everyday so I started reading up on bug bites, I was praying it was not bedbugs bites b/c I never saw any eggs, nest, bedbugs etc.
On Sat 9/10/11 I got up at 5am checking the sofa and my daughters bed I found nothing. I decided I was going to a 24 hr CVS to get several bottles of rubbing alcohol just in case we had mites which would be cause by a bird making nest outside the window or rats even though I never saw any signs before. I went in my daughters room to check on her and saw a bug filled with blood on the sheet. Man, I freaked! that confirmed my suspicions especially since everyone else in the house though I was paranoid.
My spouse went out and bought Hot Shot foggers and a gallon of Ortho bedbug spray (total $48) we treated the room immediately threw out the sofa and another small piece in my daughters room. I spent $143.00 buying plastic zippered cover for both the box spring and for all the mattress in the house; in addition I bought zippered plastic covers for all the pillows.
On 9/11 I vacuumed the entire hose and at around 11pm I was checking the sheet and pillows when I found a 2nd bedbug attached to the outside of the case I sprayed again and went out and bought more foggers( 32.00) for the entire house. I was reading other testimonies about how to treat bedbugs effectively without using a Professional b/c I dont have the money to pay $300 per room. So I ordered food grade DE $64.00 w/ shipping. I spread DE all over dusting it in carpets etc and saw one bedbug trying to get away I caught it and put in in a container it struggled for several hours several hours later it was dead and crisp. No one has gotten bitten since.
On 9/23 my oldest daughter found a bedbug crawling on her carpet (the same room we found the other 4 bb). This was her 2nd night in her room since 9/10. I told her, need to stay in the room so the bed bugs stay in that space and be killed by the DE but she refused. So far no other room in our home is affected by BB so I am hoping we caught the infestation early. But the DE gave us piece of mind.
chris::
My sister and friend came to visit for the summer and brought the pests with them. They were here for three months. Somehow the infestation has been confined to their guest room for the whole time until recently. I had no idea what these things were until I started doing some research. Now, theyve spread to my room and the living room. Im not sure how to get rid of the or if there is even hope for me because they are everywhere. you see I work a lot so I havent been home to notice Im going on month 5 with these things for the last two months Ive been trying sprays and alcohol. nothing works long term. Is there hope for me with DE? Or should I call a professional?
Debra::
Someone asked about finding blood and wondering why there was no squished bug close byit appears that after a feeding, a few drops of blood leaks out of them, I think also that if you are getting bitten often, some of the blood you find on your sheets may be yourseek.
jasonh::
Hello, I noticed some of you are spending a LOT of money on Diatomaceous Earth.
I also see some stores selling a small amount for a lot.
Find a local feed store and you will be able to get a large 25lb bag for about 11 dollars or so.
even if its pool grade it will be safe and effective. you will have enough to cover your entire house and it works.
I put a small sprinkle in my hand and shortly there after my entire hand had loose skin hanging off of it. It really does kill bugs without being toxic
Christine::
No need to panic. You should not be using foggers or spray cans of pesticides because they are very harmful to humans and pets and do nothing to harm the bed bugs. Pyrethrins and pyrethroids do not kill bed bugs. They have developed immunity to them. You do not need to use pesticides or to spray or cover everything in the whole house with powder to get rid of them. You do not have to throw all of your possessions away.
Use these steps and be amazed:
Vacuum your house thoroughly, including your mattress.
Put a dust mite cover on your mattress. Bed bugs are bigger than dust mites so they cant get through a dust mite mattress cover. You might want to put a dust mite cover on your pillow as well.
Here is the most important part. Get Climb Ups for your four bed legs, or however many legs your bed has. Also install them under the legs of your sofa, and other upholstered furniture. You need to put a fine layer of talcum powder in the Climb Ups, but that is all.
By excluding the bed bugs from their food source (you and your blood) they will fail to reproduce and then the whole population in your house crashes and you are free of them.
Be careful that nothing from your bed hangs down to the floor, and move your bed away from the walls.
Wash your bed linen and your clothes in hot water.
No matter where the bed bugs live in your house, they only come out after midnight to feed on you in your bed. They are attracted by carbon dioxide and heat. By making sure they cant climb onto your bed, you have solved the problem. Climb Ups are available Bed Bath and Beyond; the legs of your bed sit in them and prevent the bedbugs from climbing up your bed.
You can also use a plastic container like you get at the deli, cover the inside with diatomaceous earth, put fly trap tape around each leg inside the container and youll have a bed bug free sleep (make sure you have a dust mite mattress cover that completly seals as well!). Good luck!
Michelle, Colorado, US::
I live in a state where bugs of any kind are rarely a problem. When I discovered last year that Denver is one of the most bed bug infested states, I was surprised and alarmed. So when I began noticing an itchy bite or two on my leg in the morning, I thought I was paranoid about bed bugs. But the mosquito-like bites couldnt be from mosquitoes since it was fall, and past mosquito season. Plus, my ankle and calf and covered the entire nightnot accessible to mosquitoes.
Anyway, the first couple times I was bitten (about two months ago), I didnt think much of it. And the bites were spaced many days apart, so Id forget about it. But one night I was reading in bed and my calf began itching like mad. It was a raised itchy lump like a mosquito bite, and it had to be recent. This set off all kinds of alarm bells in my head after reading about bed bugs months before. In the morning, I had three little red bites, all in a row about an inch apart.
I began researching bed bug bites, and the very first website I came to said they commonly feed in a breakfast, lunch, dinner pattern, with three bites in a line Were clean and tidy, and I felt dirty, itchy, and embarrassed. I thought I couldnt tell anyone (we have many visitors, mostly family and kids) but realized I would have to do the opposite and fully disclose the problem. We keep a nice guest room because we love to have friends or family stay the night with us, especially my mom and stepdad, and we miss having them!
So, after I found this website and realized I very likely had bedbugs, I immediately began stripping my bed. Everything looked spotless until I found some evidence betwen the fitted sheet and mattress cover (on my side only, and right below where I was getting bitten). I saw some black spots, possibly some eggs, and a large cast skin. I cannot even describe what it felt like to confirm the bed bugs. I was teary and distracted all day and had difficulty working. During that day I stripped all our bedding and washed it in the ultra-hot cycle. I washed the dog beds too. I sprayed and washed the bed frame and underneath the nightstands, and scrubbed the entire bedroom down. But as I realized all the places bed bugs can hide, I felt totally deflated, like there was no getting rid of them.
The next day we bought bed bug mattress encasements. We bought twoone for the box springs and one for the mattress. A few sleepless nights later, it seemed to work. But now Ive had two more feeding sessions a few days apart. I should *NOTE* here that I am the only one being bitten. My 6-yr-old daughter comes into our bed every night and snuggles next to me most the night and has not yet been bitten. Nor has my husband. But we have not, and WILL NOT tell her of the problem, and I hope I can get rid of them before she ever knows or gets bitten during the night. I know how sleepless my nights have been the past few weeks, and I would never wish it on her. Ironically, her dad has always tucked her in with the old good night, sleep tight, dont let the bed bugs bite! Shed ask if there was any such thing, and Id tell her NO! Of course not! Then scold him because what kind of thing is that to say to a child when you tuck her in??!!
So Im glad I found this site. I now have a list of things to get tomorrow (including DE) and a new game plan. Right now, my infestation seems to be very mild and in the early stages (in fact it seems to be only one bugis that even possible?!) and I want to fix the problem before it gets worse, and before my daughter ever gets a bite.
Thank goodness I dont have severe allergic reactions to the bites like so many photos you see online. But Im so afraid Ill wake one morning to dozens of bites instead of only two or three. Or worse, that my daughter will suffer bites and find out we have bed bugs. I feel so badly for the parents whose kids are suffering from bed bugs.
Wish me luck as I begin my battle. I will dust and spray and clean like mad every couple of days for the foreseeable future. When my daughter asks what Im doing, I will lie my ass off. I need only to think of a good, believable lie..
I will update you all on my progress, and hopefully, ultimate success. And I wish you all a good nights sleep, and your children, too!
Cristina::
We found bedbugs and not sure where they came from. We had recently moved and they are known to travel in the moving vans or they could have already been in our new place as they like to hide in the outlets and cracks and dont come out in the daytime. I watched an episode of infestation and heard that bed bugs are hard to get rid of on your own, I was determined to due to me having small children. I did the sprays and was getting burnt out due to me finding more.
On the show they had said that they cant withstand heat. I got up the next day went to Walmart and bought a Shark hand-held steamer for $89. Best 89 dollars spent. I steamed the inside of the couches, mattresses, baseboards, curtains and outlets. I did this twice and havent seen any bugs or bites. THIS REALLY WORKS AND I PROMISE IF I CAN HELP AT LEAST ONE FAMILY RID OF THESE NASTY LIL CREEPY CRAWLERS, ILL BE HAPPY! I stand by the Heat method it cuts out all the chemicals and really works.
tye::
I only had them in my room, I had to isolate my room,put a rag under my door because they due try to escape. I had to wash all my clothes in hot water, I had to take down all curtains and cloth in my room, slowly clean my room out little by little (I am warning you , every time you go in your room take a quick bird bath with water because one may be crawling on you.)
I put them outside including my bed bug infested mattress and box spring, then but DE on it and bagged it with the bed bug cover, I scrubbed my room from top to bottom, they climb walls. I took apart my bed set due them hiding in the cracks, took my dresser apart, and vacuumed everywhere. the most important thing is to seal everything because the do hide in the light switch. Then I put DE everywhere, and clean it every 3 days, Ive only seen one bed bug since then.
Taylor::
I am currently fighting this problem with bed bugs in my college dorm and these bugs are almost impossible to get rid of! It takes multiple times for them to go away. I dont recommend exterminators, they arent worth it.
No More Bedbugs!!!::
OMG!!! I am so glad I found this site. I was dating a guy, and the first time I slept at his house, I notices a few itchy bumps along my jawbone the next day. I thought nothing of it first. The next couple of times I spent the night at his house, I would wake up the next day with what looked and like mosquito bites on my arms and legs. Its November, so I knew it wasnt mosquito bites. Thats when I got the thought that he may have bedbugsbut I still didnt do anything about it because I wasnt 100% sure.
So days go byand I awake in the mornings, at my house, with more bites. I googled bedbugs and researched a little bit, and I came to the conclusion that my ex did in fact have them, and that Id brought them home with me. I told him about it, and he said he hadnt felt any bites at all. I had to do something. Getting bit every night was becoming torturous. I read so much about DE and figured Id try it and pray for the best. So I bought some for myself, and my ex. I spread the powder all over my boxspring, all along the sides of it, and did the same to my mattress. This was about 2 weeks ago. I still continued to get bit every night after doing the DE treatment. But I read that it takes about 10 days for it to kill the bedbugs, so in the meantime I just tried to be patient.
I was sitting on my couch one night (leather), and my buttock started to itch like crazyanother bite. I dont know if I got bit while on the couch, but thats where I was sitting when the itching started. So I was all paranoid that the bedbugs were spreading to the rest of my apt. I put DE all over my carpet, under my living room furniture, in the folds of my furniture, etc. I vacuumed up the powder from the floor, but left it around my bed posts. Oh, I forgot to mention that I never actually saw a bedbug in my apt, nor did I see any evidence of what they leave behind. But I knew I had them because over the last few weeks, I have been bitten on LITERALLY every part of my body.
My ex saw one at his house, and we saw little blood spots on his mattress and boxspring. I washed my bed linens and clothes in hot water, and dried them. After a couple of days, I couldnt take getting bit anymore. And my 3yo son getting bit on his little feet was the straw that broke the camels back. I placed DE on my boxspring and mattress again, and bought a bedbug proof mattress cover. I was unsure if that would help but I had begun to get desperate. That was a week and a half ago and we havent gotten bitten since. I was one of the lucky ones. I didnt have to suffer very long at all. I feel so bad reading these posts from people who have had to endure this torture for months or longer. Im glad that I noticed the problem early on, and got a hold on it before they reproduced and began to infest my bed/house. Keep trying people, I feel your pain!!!
merlot58::
I thought I had scabies or some other mite problem, have been battling this for 10 yrs, now I realize all I needed was DE.. going to buy some tomorrow. Thanks.. : )
Kim::
I never thought i would have to deal with bed bugs. But unfortunately i saw one one me after waking up a little over a week ago. I wasnt sure at first if it was a bed bug and googled images of them. I then knew that yes the bug i saw looked like a bed bug. I started to gather information on bed bugs. The main things i got were: I would have to keep sleeping where they were because if not they would follow me to other rooms, De-cluttering is helpful to eliminate them, Heat kills them, they can live for up to a year without feeding.
I was crushed, my apartment has always been cluttered. I had no money for an exterminator and I wasnt sure I could even get any sleep knowing they were there just waiting to crawl on me and bite me. I threw out my box spring. I wrapped my mattress in heavy duty plastic and duct tape. I dont have a bed frame. I moved all items in my bedroom and vacuumed everywhere. I heard about Diatomaceous Earth after researching how to get rid of the bed bugs. I put DE all around the room where the carpet meets the walls. i got some in the electrical outlets and all the way around my mattress on the floor so in order to get on the bed they would have to walk through DE.
I have been de-cluttering the whole apartment and putting DE around the perimeter of the rooms. I did also dust the furniture even though the bugs have not been spotted in any room but the bed room. It appears that the bugs are becoming less present since i started using the DE. I have still seen a couple. After waking up today I shook the sheet i was using and found 2 dead bugs and one alive bug that didnt really squirt blood out when i smashed it.
I hope i caught the problem in time for DE to eliminate them. It has been extremely hard because all the bed linens have to be washed every day and I have to use the laundry-mat. I am out of money and had to wash my blankets yesterday in my tub. (which, on another note, i think gets my clothes cleaner than the laundry-mat) our water gets REALLY hot. so i put the sheets in the tub fill it with burning hot water and laundry soap, swish the sheets around a little bit and let them soak for at least 20 mins. I then empty the tub and refill with hot water only and swish the sheets and soak. Only problem is trying to wring out queen sized sheets and comforters. not to mention it takes at least a day with space heaters pointing on them to dry.
I guess on the positive side getting bed bugs was really a swift kick in the ass to de-clutter my whole apartment. already gave away a box of stuff i dont use and threw away 2 giant bags of old papers, mail, misc. stuff. my apartment is spotless and looks great except for the bed bugs.
I am going to continue to vacuum wash bed linens and use DE. Oh, and kill all bed bugs on sight.
gook luck to everyone else who has lived or is living this nightmare. Like i said before, I never thought it would happen to me, but it can happen to anyone and it doesnt mean that you are trashy or dirty. It really does mess up your life due to many sleepless nights and constantly being distracted because all you can think about is bed bugs. every time i lay down i think i am feeling them crawl on me.
So tired::
So I saw a bed bug about 2 months ago immediately pulled all bedding vacuumed etc. I didnt see any sign of them. I have a old water bed frame with a specialty made regular mattress to set inside of it. (got sick of the water bed) Anyhow those little bugger were in the wood of the frame and the under-drawers. I got a steam cleaner steamed all that couldnt be washed. Went to laundry mat (most home dryers do not get hot enough to kill bugs you may want to check yours) And did all that could be laundered Bought this stuff called stop bugging me sprayed my bed down and surrounding carpet. Let that dry overnight. The next day put down some DE (in hardware store found it but do not think it is food grade quality). So far have only seen 2 bugs and they were not healthy. Hoping this works best of luck to all.
Candi Lax::
Ok, so Ive heard of bed bugs, never in a million years would I think the infestation will happen to me! Starts out in june 2011, my husband and I went to new york to get his family to come down for our wedding, they came down June 10, June 19th, our wedding day, husband had bite marks all over his back, face, arms, it was horrific. We immediately thought wow, a mosquito tore him up! But until it start happening quite often, and often, and often, and he was the only one getting bit. Then I start getting bit, then it became often.
I never saw a bug, we searched and searched for the bugs, or whatever we thought could be in our beds that is biting the crap out of us. I start googling pics of pest bite marks when I saw very familiar bite mark patterns that resembled ours. Immediately I declard we had bed bugs! (The worst feeling ever) :( long story short, his family we here until late July and along they brought bed bugs with them! I hate this so much, our kids room is infested, they moved to our room, they are in our living room, closet, laundry room, and bathroom! Its so embarrassing, it makes me cry, Im so angry, I have so much resentment built up.
WE are trying to buy so next year, we are getting rid of everything, we are not taking anything to our new house. I feel its impossible to get rid of these things. We are living our best and are trying to get rid of them as best as we can. I just hate it and it sucks so bad :^(
rachel::
PLEASE HELP!
im 17 and my sister stayed over recently. i knew she had bed bugs at her house but i didnt worry about it, well anyway she slept on my bed, and everything, when she left i laid my head on my pillow for about 5 when the itching occured i looked in the mirror and had about 10 bites on my face! since then on theirs been many more bites, on my chest, and legs i told my mom but she doesnt care, she said it is not her concern, so i am left to deal with this alone, HELP! what do i do?!?!? my mattress is outside covered in bleach and lysol, i have no money for DE ! i havent slept in the longest time i live in fear and sleep in my living room!
No More Bedbugs!!::
Soooo, I posted a few weeks ago about my bedug problem and how Id gotten rid of them. Well, ther are back. I found one bedbug under my bed, and it was dead. I saw their feces (dark spots) on my boxspring. I put DE all over my boxspring and mattress again, and put a bedbug proof cover on both my boxspring and mattress. This past weekend, I was in bed all weekend, and I noticed new bites. Im confused as to where they are hiding. If I protected my bed, then they must be hiding somewhere else in my room, like my sons bed. I saw bloodspots on his pillow abd mattress this morning. I cant take this torture anymore. I let my apt mgmt company know I have bedbugs, and Im waiting to hear back from them. I hope they can do some kinda extermination that will actually be successful. Im so stressed out. I feel like Ill never get rid of these bedbugs.
RC::
Had the house treated with heat 1 week so far no new bites and old bites are going away
Mona L.::
So apparently there has been a huge outbreak of bed bugs as of lately. I didnt think those things were real! I thought it was just some made up bug in that little goodnight saying.. Anyway, Im pretty sure Ive had this problem way longer than I realized. My daughter is 9 mo. now and Ive been getting bit since I was pregnant and actually broke out in a bad bad rash due to allergic reaction Im sure.
The rash was a total nightmare and I was sure it would stop once I had the baby. I even went to the emergency room because the rash had spread all over my body and it was diagnosed as pitiriosis rosea; some random rash that occurs 3 months at a time and theres nothing you can do about it but wait it out and apply tons of hydrocortizone cream on it.. Dont think they diagnosed me right, i believe it was just a low immunity due to the pregnancy combined with the bed bug bites (allergic reactions).
So anyway, I finally know what the problem is: bed bugs. I had been getting these huge bites all over my body and face. Terrible! I was in constant fear or getting bit and a goodnights sleep was impossible.
I have since bought Diatomaceous Earth and sprinkled it EVERYWHERE. I have done my research and these things hide in all places, including behind picture frames on the walls! I had to powder up the whole bed in and out, take it apart, dust the box spring (which they love to nest in), the mattress, sprinkle this stuff all over the carpet and along edges.
I had to wash anything fabric in hot water and dry it for a few hours to kill any bugs. This worked, I found a dead bug in the sheets when I finally pulled them out. I also dusted the couches and rugs.
Having white powder all over everything is annoying, but I have not gotten bit since. And according to my research the bugs should dehydrate in about 48 hrs (assuming that all the bugs came in contact with the powder).
I have heard that steam kills them, rubbing alcohol, boric acid, and heat. But I would go with natural remedies like heat, steam, and diatomaceous earth because it is perfectly safe -nontoxic, and have personal friends who had gotten rid of the problem with this stuff. You just have to put it everywhere.
bedbugsreallysuck::
I will never forget the day I saw my first bed bug. It was last night at around 2 a.m. Over the past few days I have been noticing bites and major swelling. I was immediately concerned and started my research. I came across bedbugs. I was not totally convinced and had to do some investigating. So that night i stayed up waiting and waiting.. Nothing. As Im getting ready to call off the bug hunt There he freaking was. Coming right at me This confirmed it I have bed.bug. I literally took my lighter and burned him alive.
Took my mattress and threw it out.. washed my sheets. And pulled everything out of my room. Ended up sleeping on the couch. I had no new bites when i woke up this morning which was nice after getting about 10 over the last 5 days. I ended up going to home depot and getting the DE made by safer brand. It says organic but Im still concerned about having it so close to where I sleep. I basically set up a perimeter around my bed and used a glove to fill every hole and crevice in my bed frame. Not sure if this is even gonna work but, for the time being, it is giving me what little peace of mind I have left.
I feel so bad for all the parents having to deal with this. I am currently single and living on my own so it is not really effecting anyone but me. I would not wish this on anyone and I believe my journey has just begun. Good luck to everyone dealing with this. It is not because you are unclean or have bad hygiene, it could happen to anyone. Try to keep a positive mind about this whole situation and with hard work and persistence, theres proof you can get rid of em.
Mike::
STOP!!!! All of those over the counter methods do not work! They actually make the problem much worse and makes it harder for us, the professionals to get rid of them. I understand if you cannot afford treatments, but you cannot afford to try and self exterminate either. Would you try to rebuild your engine if you dont know how? These are pesticides, no matter how safe they say they are. The simple steps are using a vacuum. Clean all the cracks, screw holes, gaps, everywhere with the WAND of your vacuum. If you only took 10 minutes to vacuum a room, you didnt do it right so do it again! Wash all of your clothes, linens, teddy bears, whatever you can in hot water and then dry them. Do NOT let the dryer go to the cool down cycle. Also, do NOT take your clothes to the laundromat. You arent the only person to think of that and you will bring home someone elses bed bugs with you. Get you mattress and box spring off of the floor. Put them on a frame. Take double sided tape and put it around the bed rails. If a bed bug tries to climb up, it will stick to it. Finally, get bed bug mattress covers for your mattress and box spring. Dont be cheap, this is actually part of a treatment. Last but not least, do NOT switch rooms to sleep. They will find you. When they do, they will set up shop in another room. I am so tired of people giving bad advice because of their opinion like this website. Ive seen people spread Diatomaceous Earth everywhere and the bed bugs were swimming in it have a great time. It does nothing to them but makes them develop another gene to become more strain resistant. We are busy enough and know that these things will never go away. But we can keep them under control as long as people stop with the do it yourself treatments.
Kristen D.::
My boyfriend and I moved into his grandmother and sisters apartment back in May. Everything was great until about August. That was when I started getting a lot of bites that I thought were from mosquitoes since there are always a ton of gnats and other flying small bugs down at the secluded park where we would walk the dog.
All my life I got bit more than most people just like my mother. She always said we have sweet blood. This is why I was not really concerned. After about a month it was starting to get colder and we were both working full time and took less and less trips down to the park, yet somehow I was getting bit more than ever! My body was covered all the time and even my boyfriend started getting a few bites. His sister didnt say anything.
After another month of the torture, I showed his sister my millions of bites and scars one night and she told us it was probably the bedbugs. We had not heard talk of this in the apartment and were confused. She initially lied and said it was in the furniture her mother had given them from storage. She gave us a spray she had and she complained when we finished the half-filled bottle. While we were spraying, we saw all the evidence and even found a ton of the bugs sleeping. I was already skeeved. The spray worked for about a day or two but then I started getting many bites again and saw dozens more bugs.
Eventually the we lost hope in the pull out couch and threw it away. We began sleeping on the couch where I got bit a lot less but was still getting a few bites now and again. His sister abandoned sleeping in her room, threw out her bed and began sleeping with her grandmother. Soon enough grandma was complaining about bites and itching and they were in her room as well. My boyfriend and I tried EVERYTHING to at least keep the couch safe for us, but with them not caring and refusing to do anything or even tell the landlord, there was only so much we could do.
We just got our own apartment and were thanking God we would finally get some sleep. We washed all the clothes, bagged them up and put them right into the truck. Everything we couldnt wash we put into the drier (pillows, dress clothes, blankets, stuffed animals, etc) and super dried them for an hr. we shook everything out and wiped everything down and vacuumed like CRAZY! Our new mattress and box spring have bedbug covers.
We have been here 5 days today and our new furniture set comes tomorrow. The problem is, I woke up this morning with 9 new bites; 2 on my neck, 4 on my stomach (2 sets of 2), and a row of 3 down my side. I am FREAKING OUT! I called my boyfriend at work crying and I dont know what else to do. I went through everything on the bed, sprinkled DE everywhere and still feel totally helpless. I leave for work in 20mins. I cant go back to not being able to sleep through the night. With 2 jobs and a new apartment, I can not handle that. Please let me know if you can give me any other advice.
Ugh!::
Against my better judgment I purchased a futon style mattress from Ikeas As Is section just before Thanksgiving in anticipation of holiday guests. The mattress was wrapped in plastic with only a small opening and I figured someone must have returned it because it was the wrong size or something. Boy was I wrong!!!
Shortly after placing the mattress in our Ikea sofa-bed in our den where we were sleeping, I began to experience bites. First one, then two, until I finally caught a two adult sized bugs. An exterminator came to our house and confirmed that they were in fact bed bugs.
I threw away the sofa and the mattress and steam cleaned the carpet and washed to curtains on high heat. For weeks it seemed as though he problem was solved, until Tuesday night.
This past Tuesday we were sleeping in our master bedroom, which shares a wall with the den. For several weeks I had noticed bites but naively thought they were from this Falls round of Asian Ladybugs. We had gone to bed early and around midnight I awoke to that painful itching sensation and quickly turned on the lights. We caught four bedbugs.
A different exterminator came and confirmed that they were bedbugs. The price quoted to treat a two bedroom condo is $1250. We are going to treat with diatomaceous earth and other online remedies first because that is a lot of cash.
Last night husband sprayed and put a casing on the mattress. We through out the headboard and bed frame. Tonight he put diatomaceous earth all around the room. Im a little nervous about the impact that breathing it will have on our lungs.
I will keep you all posted on our success. Best of luck to all of us.
John::
Im 16 years old and Im been dealing with bedbugs since July. First time i told my mother she didnt believe me. i let her see the bugs she didnt believe they where bed bugs. she bought me a mattress protector and the bugs got threw it we threw my whole bed out mattress and all( because it got very bad) now sleeping on a blow up bed (we thought getting rid of the bed would help) and i keep complaining and complaining and complaining and complaining that the bugs are crawling on me and Im still getting bit. and she start to scratch a week ago and today she saw two bugs in her bed. and now she starting to believe me.
And now we are going to get some foggers Friday we was going to DE but people say it dont work. today got some bed bug spray. and wash all the sheets in the house.
If somebody your house say they scratching alot or getting bit or saw a weird little bugs in there bed listen cause best to treat early as possible. i been living with the bed bugs for like 5 months and its a nightmare but your not sleeping. And also effect me at school im sleepy the whole day of school or i fall asleep in alot of class. scratching myself to sleep everyday from 1am and waking up at 6:30am is not helping. I hope us people with bed bugs can find a cheap solution because these bugs are drive me crazy.
MVC::
Bedbugs are little Draculas i mean for real like vampires. they wait till ur asleep as soon as the body temperature rise they bite. they track humans by their blood & gas they exhale carbon dioxide. im from the getto in CAPE TOWN & have been targeted by these insects for up to 5 years now. we had rent to kill here thumbs up to them no signs of roaches anymore but the vampires seem to be immune to whatever you do. we aint untidy people we vacuum every single day and deepclean Saturdays it should be generally important to do so.
Bedbugs smell awful when theyre killed and they lay eggs in huge quantities. i noticed these eggs are white and extremely small and when it survives its a beginning of a new bedbug chapter. i havent slept for 6 nights at least few hours during the day i cant stand these insects. as im typing this post im on the watchout for them and ive killed up to. i dont know at least less than 20. my pillow and bedding is filled with blood spots really looks disgusting.
it has been away for months due to a chemical i used. when i threw it on them cause i found a spot where a lot of them were grouped like a family gathering planning tonights outbreak the lamp oil killed them immediately. it dries the bug and bends it like a banana. my only concern was the eggs i dont know how to destroy them and i know revenge is taking on me and family for destroying their forefathers.
this is serious and im honest about everything im posting. i sat in the taxi on my way home when the guard shouted at me saying. Bru, sit still, theres something in your neck, he took the bug which were probably hidden in my jersey and said please keep these dangerous creatures to yourself. people enjoyed the good laugh i could feel the heat in my face as a result of the embarrassment. i asked the driver to stop the taxi got out and walked with tears filling my eyes.
I cursed these nightmarish bedbugs theyre ruined my life. i dont sleep over anymore and i spend less time in other peoples homes coz my friends and family do not deserve this infestation. so today ill get some lamp oil which i know will work for the next couple of months and ill pick up some DE. thanks for reading people good luck to yall. i have posted this with the intention to share my experience and without prejudice.
Jamie::
So were pretty sure we got them from American furniture warehouse. my boyfriend 3 yro and myself were living with my dad sleeping on the living room floor. my father decided it was a perfect chance to buy a pull out bed couch. we paid $500 for this really nice couch.
1st night we slept in it i was sleeping with my hands in between the couch and the bed. when i woke up i had 100s of lil red itchy bumps all over both hands. figured i was sensitive to the fabric it was a cheap suade. they kept coming back every night. my son had his own room n was starting to get them on his back and hands. we looked every were not even knowing what we were looking for. one day my son and i were playing in his room.
when he saw this red bug crawling on a shirt hanging in his closet we caught it and searched the web right away. fount out it was a BB. we told my dad and began searching the entire house they were in my dads bed, the couch, my sons bed and all of our clothing. we did the first 3 things we read online.
Bought 2 $45 steamers and like 3 gallons of alcohol. Cleaned the house top to bottom steamed the whole couch along with my sons bed washed and dried on high heat for 1 hour all of our clothes and bedding. the very next night i was eaten alive. it was heart breaking. anyway, we lived with the problem everyday cleaning spraying.
putting on nasty smelling tasting lotions at night. nothing helped. well we moved outta my dads and took crazy measures to make sure we didnt bring them to our new home. and of course 2 months later my son wakes up with some bites on his hand. we got crazy with the alcohol and steamer. then i was getting bit and my son was not.
My boyfriend prefers to sleep on the couch due to the television. so hes not getting bit at all. found 1 in my bed and flipped out. googled how to get rid of Bed Bugs fast and this page came up read the thing on the top. and all of the comments, went out and bought some DE very happy with the product so far 3 days into covering my walls under my mattress and bed-spring. and no bed bugs! so very happy with it! really hoping its not another failure. so ready to stop constantly thinking of these damn bugs!
Thank you!
Hannah::
So, Lord willing, this story will be a positive one,now and in the future. So far, it has been six months since we got rid of our bb infestation
It all started in early July. I found a bug, and then another one. A nagging suspicion drove me to the Internet, and a check of my bed sheets confirmed. However, I didnt really believe it until I found another bug. I killed it, and kept it, looked it up, and confirmed my fears. I had had no itching, and little to no bite marks, and the visible ones were hidden by freckles and mosquito bites.
There were no bedbugs in or on the mattress, we put a cover on that, and immediately began washing and drying my blankets, pillows, clothes, curtains, etc. we found an infestation in my wooden bed frame, in tiny cracks and nooks. The most popular places were the knots in the wood, were I didnt find some for weeks. We eventually got rid of the whole frame. That was the turning point for the battle. We put my mattress on the floor, with de all around it, like a little perimeter.
So, I figure that all the babies and adult BBs that were left hid in the wood floor. And baseboards. They were confined to my room by a diatomaceous earth (de) border, and when they tried to get to my bed to feed were stuck in de. We put de in all cracks and caulked everywhere too.
After two weeks with no BBs I got a new metal frame. It had wooden slats, so we caulked all cracks before putting it in my room, and used de in every step. Gradually we vacuumed up the de. We put de in Tupperware containers surrounding each foot of my bed, the only way to get to and from my bed is to go through de somehow.
I feared going to bed. Reading helped me to go to sleep, but willpower was what made me stay in bed. Our first inclination had been to bomb the house with bug killing gas, and sleep somewhere else. NO. Dont do that. Its not easy that way, but its better than spreading the problem to other parts of the house.
I still freak out at little itches. I still dont bring my purse to the movies, and seeing this website again makes me want to go check my bed with a magnifying glass. My pajamas are dark colored, and create dark fuzzies, which freak me out. I dry everything before and after I go on a trip. It gets better, but I will still be on guard its normal,
and for everyone out there, dont feel alone. These evil little monsters are killing themselves, because by increasing and becoming more prevalent in our society, we can help each other more and more, and find new ways to kill the little suckers. We arent alone. Just look at this site.
So the most important things? Find the place where they are coming from. If it is your bed, I strongly recommend trashing it (or buy a mattress cover that covers the entire mattress), if financially possible. Its easier in the long run. Place a perimeter of DE around your bed. It might not kill them all in one day, but in a few weeks, it should. It took us five weeks. A month later, we had a scare, and found one single adult in my brothers room. We took apart his room, and found nothing. Nothing since then either.
Good luck to you all. And no, you arent going crazy. :D
Ugh!::
This is my update. Today is Wednesday morning. Last Tuesday we discovered bed bugs, which were confirmed by an exterminator who wanted $1250 to treat. Pretty sure we got them from a mattress purchased at Ikea. Though we purchased a book case from there as well and during his search husband found them there so they could have been in the case.
Steps taken have included throwing out our bed frame and head board, spraying the mattress and encasing it in a bedbug mattress cover that we purchased from Walmart. Throwing out the pillows, purchasing new ones and encasing them in pillow covers from Walmart. Steaming the carpet with a bissel carpet steamer. Steaming the sofa with a shark cleaner. Husband used the heat gun on all of the baseboards, we threw out half of the stuff in our closets and washed the rest and put it in plastic bins, which were also sprayed. Sprayed everything and put down DE.
First we put the DE right on the carpet, along the baseboards going out about six inches into the room. We picked it up at Granger and I dont know if we got the wrong kind or if I just got sick from something else but I got sick. So three days later, husband vacuumed that up and re-did it by pulling up the carpet and putting the DE between the baseboard and the nail tac. Things were good for what seven days? This morning I woke up with new bites.
Going to throw out more stuff tonight and do everything all over again. The Shark steamer didnt work that well, didnt get that hot, going to go to Home Depot to purchase one that heats up to 200. Exterminator told us the bugs dont die until the heat gets over 115. Will keep you posted. Good luck everyone!!!
Flight Attendant::
To whomever posted about using the orange oil, the stuff you use to polish wood furniture, thats a solid tip, thanks! We got to test that one right away, and it kills them on the spot, not even a death gasp.
We just discovered our unwelcome guests 3 days ago. Im a flight attendant and thought I was beyond vigilant with checking my many hotel beds, but apparently I wasnt vigilant enough. Looks like one hitched a ride home with me in my suitcase (despite never putting my bags on the bed, EVER. Worst passenger EVER). Sad thing is my boyfriend and I started getting bites months ago, but were told by the dr that it was allergies probably caused by our laundry detergent or the like. We were checking for bedbugs all the time anyway, like the paranoid entomophobes flight attendants are, and still missed them.
Our apartment building just treated the whole apartment with no cost to us yesterday, thankfully. Weve vacuumed everywhere repeatedly, to the point of overheating the vacuum cleaner, and Ive been liberally sprinkling diatomaceous earth everywhere like a bed bug fairy of death. We also bought bed bug covers for the box spring and mattress ($45 each at Wal Mart). Maybe this is insane (or unhealthy? I dont know), but we sprayed DE all over both sides of the box spring and mattress before putting the bed bug covers on.
I know that throwing away furniture is supposed to be a big no-no, but we tossed our bed frame and bedside table after it was all treated, and then vacuumed the hell out of the apartment again after transporting them into the bin outside. After everything Ive read, a good majority of people have said they inevitably throw out their bed frames and furniture. We just decided to eliminate one for-sure issue, after unearthing live ones chilling in the wooden slats holding up the box spring.
After every vacuuming session, we suck up a boatload of DE into the bag to ensure they are suffering til death in their dark, blood deprived hellhole. God, I hope this all works.
We came home today to find a few dead ones. Miniscule triumph after an 8 hour duty day at the laundromat and still unknown scale of infestation.
I have no idea how our wool uniforms are going to survive a dryer for 40 minutes, Im hoping a Dryel bag will protect it from shrinking. Id throw it all away, except we still have to work and it will take 2 weeks for new uniform pieces to arrive. The whole lot is currently quarantined, tied up in double bagged heavy duty garbage bags. From now on, my (new) bags will be living in the hotel bathroom.
There are so many things Im unsure of. Like the closet is across the room and I have a filing cabinet in there.
Are they laying eggs in paperwork I cant throw away?
I also have a 4 tier metal basket system that sits on the floor that houses my purses and belts. Are they in there???
Since they leave bedrooms to hunt for their meals and we are away from home at work half the month, is our living room just as screwed as the bedroom is, just because they are trying to find someone to bite?? Or are they on flight attendant schedule too, endlessly lay eggs to pass the time and (god forbid, I hope not!) attempt to investigate the neighbors, then celebrate by biting us more when we are home in our own bed? We havent seen any sign of them in the living room really, just one dead one today hanging out on the zipper of one of my work bags but that speaks for itself. My psyche cannot grasp the potential scale. Also, speaking of bags, I live in Vancouver and I havent seen the sun in days, so the keeping them in the car with the sun roasting them trick wont work here. How should I treat our work bags?? Vacuum and DE?? I feel like the bags are ground zero here! Again, we still have to work, and getting new company luggage wont happen in a day.
On top of it all, we found out the same day that all this started that Im pregnant (a surprising, but much much more welcome guest). The information sheet we were given advised us to leave the apartment for 12 hours if there was someone pregnant living there. We were gone for 24, but my godIm exhausted, at my wits end, and scared to death over whatever fumes Im inadvertently huffing, and I feel like this is only the beginning. At least I have a good excuse to cry.
I will update our trials and tribulations as they happen. I am crossing my fingers for everyone.
frustrated and itchy::
We just discovered our bedbugs. I have had bites since before thanksgiving but two doctors said that it was an allergic reaction probably from my detergent since i also have seasonal eczema. We came back home from a month long trip (where my bites disappeared!) and the next morning I was once again covered in bites.
I looked down at my comforter and saw two huge bedbugs! I caught about four bigs ones and put them in a ziploc for the exterminator to see. He sprayed today and is coming back next week. The problem is that we live in a small studio, with tons of books and movies. We had to take everything off of the shelves and bag them along with our clothes and shoes. Now we are living in a tiny apartment chock full of bags waiting to be put in the dryer. How though, do I make sure that these bugs are out of our books?
The exterminator told us to microwave them but everything I have read online says thats a dangerous idea and could ruin them. Should I put them in the oven? We are thinking that our books are fine and that we should leave them alone, but we want to move next month and REALLY dont want to take these bugs with us. This is the pits! I feel like we have to leave this city or we will for sure get them again (There are a lot of cases here!) Thinking of trying DE if the exterminator doesnt fix the problem.
Bed Bug Girl::
You dont have to put the books in the microwave, you can visually inspect them. Its the books that have bindings which open that you need to be concerned with, but using a flashlight on one end and inspection the other end for bed bugs should do the trick.
A lot depends on the place you are staying at! For example, an apartment complex that has an infested unit can hire an inexperienced exterminator who ends up drive the bugs into the next apartment; if thats your apartment, then youll end up with the problem again. So make sure there are no complaints, ask management directly about previous infestations, and take measures listed on this site to ensure you dont bring them with you. If you stay, get some type of guarantee from the exterminator if you can!
Please let me know how this works out for you!
sick of this::
hello. Ive been dealing with bed bugs in my house for some time now. Im almost 19 and still live with my parents and little sister. I recently found this site maybe two days ago, and were trying some of the things that yall have said. Today, we have started vacuuming up their nests and I have tried the baking soda treatment on my little sister.
The problem, though, is that we have absolutely /no/ money. Were even on food stamps. Neither of my parents, nor I, can get a job. Is there anything anyone can suggest that is super cheap, or maybe doesnt cost anything that can get rid of them?
Theyre in every room of the house, and we dont have the money to replace furniture or beds.
If you know anything that can help, please e-mail me @ notsoeasyzz@gmail.com I would appreciate it so much. In the mean time, were going to try and get DE, and hopefully tax returns will bring in enough to get heat treatment.
No More Bedbugs!!!::
Hi, Im posting again because I still have bedbugs. My apt mgmt sent out an exterminator to inspect, and he swore up and down that I dont have any, despite me showing him the fecal stains on my boxspring, and bites on my body. So now, my landlord is off the hook for footing the bill. They told me Im welcome to break my lease and move out, without any consequence.
I was so disappointed to hear that Im again on my own to rid my apt of this problem. I have done extensive research, and I will be purchasing Phantom today and distributing the pesticide myself. I emptied out my dresser and closets, washed, and bagged everything. I still have not seen any bedbugs. But my son and I continue to get bit every night. Ill post again after I exterminate.
I will be moving out in April when my lease is up, and I pray that I dont take them with me. Im not keeping anything except our clothes, electronics, and my sons toys (which I will be freezing for a few days to kill any bedbugs hiding inside).
Good luck to everyone whos battling this issue, it SUCKS!
Gary::
I am moving in a couple weeks and have already planned on destroying all my current furniture and washing all clothing that I am taking with me so I am not going to bother constructing this but I thought Id pass it along to everyone and see if it helps.
Bed Bugs are attracted to humans by our exhalation of carbon dioxide (CO2) and heat. CO2 is also a byproduct of fermentation. The basic plan is to put a fermenting bottle in the middle of a piece of poster board covered in DE so that as the bugs are attracted to the fermenting bottle, they will have to cross the DE and die.
To construct the most basic of bottle:
Equipment:
2 liter bottle with cap.
Duct tape
about 1.5 feet of flexible fish tank tubing.
2 liters tap water
½ pound sugar
dry yeast (available from the baking section of grocery store)
Calk, (Or Elmers glue will probably work too)
Dissolve sugar in water completely. (heating may speed up this process, but you MUST allow it to come back to room temp before using.)
get warm tap water and dissolve yeast in it.
Fill bottle about 75% full with sugar water.
Add the yeast water.
drill a hole in the cap and insert a small length of the flex tubing.
Seal any air gaps around the hole with calk or Elmers glue.
Put the cap on and seal the hole around the tubing with the tape.
Tape the other end of the tubing near the bottom of the bottle.
Place the bottle in the center of a piece of poster board and secure double sided tape (or glue some duct tape upside down) in a square surrounding the bottle. As the bed bugs try to make their way to the bottle, they will get stuck on the tape.
Known Issues:
I do not know how the CO2 rate from this fermentation compares to a humans exhalation. If you are in the same room as this device, you may still attract them to you with a stronger scent.
I do not know how long the ferment will last, and with the above method I dont know how to measure it, but if you live near a home brew store you can buy a water seal that includes a ball in it*. This ball will click letting you know the progress of the ferment. (also consider picking up some Champaign yeast while there, it will last about 4 times longer than bakers yeast from the grocery store)
Lastly, bed bugs secrete an alert pheromone, I dont know the range, or how long it lasts, but if enough gets on the poster board and its persistent then you may have to replace just to eliminate the warning to future bugs.
*If you decide to get this there are some size issues with the exit side of the CO2 monitor and the fish line tube. These can be managed by cutting the ends off small balloons and using a rubber band to secure to both ends. Be sure the rubber band on the hose side isnt so tight that it clogs the airway. This can be identified by the balloon having an internal air pressure.
Hope this helps. If some DIYer out there decides to build & test it, let us know how it goes.
Gary
linda is losing it::
I cant get rid of them I paid over $2,000 on professional thermal remediation treatment. They heated my house up to 140 degrees for 8 hours after significant prepping.. . I bought the zipper covers for every bed in my house .I went straight to the professionalsand they even came back a second time 1 month later to retreat my bedroom when I found a live bug in my room. my body is covered in scars and fresh bitesthey had said my room was the initial source and the chance of eggs hatching was possible so they reheated just my bedroom..I have just discovered they have disconnected their phone.
My husband took my living room furniture to the dump today see I thought I was home free for about 2 months until three days ago when I noticed the breakfast, lunch, and dinner bite pattern on my left arm and then realized my whole right hip was covered in bites. I had fallen asleep on the couch.
Today we found 1 on our outside patio furniture. I was sitting outside since we dont have a couch anymore. I am the only one in my house getting bit. Its hard to understand how crazy this can be if you are not a direct victim. My husband was not convinced it was a problem initially now he is ready to move and leave everything behind. Every time I start to get comfortable and think they are gone they arent. I cant sleep. I work a lot, and I miss my bed at least just being able to get in it and relax I threw out all my favorite pillows. Theres no where to go that just says homme.
It always feels like something is crawling on me I cant tell people. Its like I have herpes or crabs or lice.. pure humiliation. Im so exhausted. Im so afraid to have people over. I dont feel like going anywhere. This said speak your mind Im speaking my mind.
ain::
i never knew what a bed bug looks like until a few months back. i got severe itchiness around my feet and i went to the doctor, and the problem resolved. i didnt think much of it at that time, until when i woke up one morning and found a weird looking lice-like thing getting half squished near my bed with blood around it. i was scared wondering if that thing bit me.
Im a medical student so i did my own research and found that it was indeed a bed bug. i didnt know what to do. that was my first encounter. i read about DE but i couldnt find it anywhere. i study abroad so its much harder, i dont know where to get it in this country. one day i went to a mart nearby and saw some kind of chalk used to kill ants, cockroaches and bugs.
I decided to give it a try. i drew around the perimeter of my bed. so far i found them dead whenever they tried to crawl up my bed. served them right! ohh and the chalk is really cheap! Im so happy because well, Im just a student. i couldnt afford all the professional service thing. thank god i gave the bed bug chalk (DE) a try :)
good luck to all you guys!!
joanna5555::
I am devastated. I thought bed bugs came from dirty people. How did I get them? My Moms room doesnt have them. I discovered them tonight in my bed. One was crawling on me and I woke up at 1:30 am and killed it. looked around and there was a bunch more under all the blankets I sleep on I have a futon.
I am washing everything in hot water and drying hot. Now I am going to get the diatomaceous dirt as suggested and some bed bug sprays. Does alcohol really work? I appreciate all the suggestions. I guess I am not too tasty because I dont have bites just the bugs. ARG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am so worried about getting them in my car or my boyfriends house! Will just being clean when I go over there be good prevention for spreading them? Every little thing makes me think there is one on me. I feel so sorry for those being bitten especially the kids.
I am terrified of the bugs and the expense of getting rid of them. All I receive for income in SSI. I hope the DE helps me get rid of the bed bugs!
Robbin::
Joanna, Bedbugs dont come from being dirty, you can pick them up on the bus, airport and even hospitals! You can wash yourself all day and it wont help to get rid of them or prevent them from spreading to others; however, having them and a lot of clutter around the house can make killing them a lot more difficult! There are some great successful do-it-yourself stories on this site giving details on how to go about this most important is time and patience you cant give up!
The only way you bring them to your boyfriends house is by transporting something they are hiding in, like clothing, furniture, etc. Check your car to make sure they are not in there as well!
SmS::
We live in the suburbs and My brother brought home bed bugs after sleeping over at friends house downtown Toronto. We believe it was a small infestation. We very lightly dusted diatomaceous earth (bed bug dust) into bed, bed frames, box spring and along the base boards and perimeter of the room.
After 1 week we were bite free. Cleaned up the dust and applied again for safe measure. We have cleaned up the second application and happy to say bed bug and bite free for 5 weeks. We were apprehensive at first that it would work, but luckily proved wrong.
Professional treatments and extermination were out of our budget and this worked just as effectively and much more budget friendly. Make sure to wear dust masks when applying and buy mattress covers and pillow covers. We didnt end up buying the bed bug labeled covers as they cost $45 each at walmart and opted instead for the vinyl mattress zippered cover and pillow zippered cases that were $12 and $4, respectively. And your furniture should be 6 inches away from the wall during the application.
Your room will feel messy for a bit, but it ended up working out. I would also recommend purchasing the poly duster as it will make the application much easier, than using a flour sifter. As well, I had ordered 2 4lb bags, but only ended up using 1/2 of one of the bags. This stuff goes a long way and you must apply it in a thin layer barely visible to the eye, otherwise it wont work. Only downside is you must clean the dust thoroughly afterward. Im talking wiping down the floors and furniture on your hands and knees at least 2 times and vacuuming the box spring and mattress.
We also took all of our sheets (bed skirt, duvet cover, comforter, sheets, pillow cases and pillows) to a laundromat and used their super large machines and their very hot water option to was and used the hot dryers to dry our linen. The hot water and dryer will kill and potential bugs or their eggs and by going to a laundromat you wont break your machine.
DE works like a charm for do it yourselfers!
BRYAN::
Can anyone tell me exactly what to do with the DE and the orange oil spray for the best results including the couches ??? I will appreciate any and all feed back THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH :)
bri::
where can you get food grade DE i went to pathmark,target,and pet smart and they looked like i had two heads where can i find them i live in the city
DE WORKS::
Im going to keep this short and sweet. Had bedbug infestation. Bought a 10lb bag of Diatomaceous Earth off ebay for 15 dollars. Covered my apartment in it. Waited a few days, vacuumed it up. NO MORE BEDBUGS. Ive been bedbug free for 3 years now. IT WORKS! Friend had same problem, I told him my solution. WORKED FOR HIM TOO. Bottom lineDE WORKS!!!
Gone Crazy::
My family and I have been fighting bed bugs for the last two months and were pretty sure they were brought back from our hotel in Chicago and after doing some research it appears that 99.5% of every place in Chicago has bed bugs.
The bugs bit my dad first, but he had been working with some different woods in his building so we never thought anything about it and they eventually went away. I started having large welts show up on my forearms and the middle of my back and even on one of my calves. They just appeared out of nowhere and I had been stressed and sick so I went to the doctor thinking they were hives and ended up getting a steroid shot that helped the swelling go down.
My cat ended up catching a live adult bed bug on a pillow I was using on the couch one night (before midnight for all of you people that believe they only come out after that timebed bugs are out any time of the day from what I can tell but predominantly out in the early hours of the morning). I managed to put it in a Ziploc bag to keep and my mom was in denial and said it was not a bed bug because we were not dirty (a common thought).
Called the PCO and they came out to do an inspection and said without the live bug they would have said our house was bug free. A week or so went by before we were able to set up a time for them to come treat the house (cost $475who has that laying around?) and we found four more bugs in the corner of my dads recliner and found their black fecal dots. We checked the cracks of all the recliners and couch and never found anymore.
We removed TONS of clutter, clothes, shoes, etc. from house and did a ton of cleaning. The PCO sprayed on 2.6 and I thought greatthis will be over in no time. WRONG! Two nights after spraying I had 50+ bites on my neck, collar bone, and shoulder area along with approximately 20 on my upper thighs. I went ahead and scheduled a follow up treatment.
We continued vacuuming, laundering and still didnt see anything until one night I was on the couch after my shower and found a bed bug crawling in my hair trying to reach a place on me so it could feed off of me. Before the PCO came back I decided to pull the back off the couch and looked around and only found two dead bugs, but I was still getting bit.
The PCO treated the couch and chairs again on 2.22, but not the rest of the house because the infestation was contained to the furniture and once again I thought we would be in the clear since he used the chemicals that are used in the really large rooms of hotels and our home is on the small side so it was like a haze in there when I was able to go back in. That was a Wednesday and I stayed off the couch until Friday night and did not get bit.
I was on the couch off an on Saturday and did not get bit. I was on the couch Sunday night and I got twelve bites on my calf and five on my back. I was sitting sideways and had my leg over the crack between the outside and middle cushion with my back towards the arm cushion. The only thing I can figure is theyre in the seat cushions because I have had the back ripped off multiple times and we cant find any and I even ripped all of the cushioning/stuffing out of the back of the seats and went through it and vacuumed it all out and didnt see anything.
I broke down and bought DE, because they tell you not to self treat or it could make them worse, my mom put it in all of the cracks of the cushions. I went home later and took a small paint brush and smoothed it all out so its a thin powder so they will still walk through it and not avoid it. Of course I have terrible luck because while I was leaning against the couch making sure I had it in all the cracks one of them managed to bite my thigh through the hole in my jeans. Yep. Last straw.
My mattress and pillow are already encased in the covers but I put a layer of DE under my mattress to make me sleep better even though I know theyre not in there. The DE was applied on the couch on 2.28 and we put a large bed sheet over it to prevent the dust from blowing around and the cats from pawing at it. I plan on sweeping up the DE on Sunday so the PCO can come back and treat for the third time on Mondayhopefully. Thankfully I have a 90 day guarantee with this companylooks like they will be seeing a lot of me!
Do not let people tell you that you are crazy!!! The PCO that treated the house the second time pretty much implied I was crazy even though I was looking directly at my bites. Just because you do not necessarily see the bugs does not mean that you do not have the bugs. I know I have them and have decided to use DE because Im about to go postal and torch my whole house, but I know Im on the downhill slide because the couch is the only area with them now. Just be persistent and keep working at it!
Bobbie M::
Heres what worked for me
1. Bought bb-safe enclosures for the mattress, box springs, and pillows.
Also bought Food-Grade DE and BB sprays (available at Amazon, eBay or Tractor Supply).
Note that DE is NOT harmful to people or pets but it MUST be FOOD-GRADE.
Also do NOT inhale it while you carefully put it down.
2. Washed and dried (on Hot!) all blankets, sheets, etc
3. Placed bb-safe enclosures on mattress, box springs, pillows
4. Bed has only 4 metal legs. I carefully spread food-grade DE around each leg.
5. Also put a line of food-grade DE across the door entrance to each room, to keep them from migrating between rooms if possible.
Now I no longer get bit at night. But as you know eggs could still be present elsewhere in the room and hatch many months later, so I continue to
1. Vacuum
2. No longer leave piles of clothing around. Hang everything up. Keep everything clean. And most importantly, wash and dry on Hot!
3. Keep DE barriers between rooms and across other potential migration paths
It looks messy to have DE around but it works. I intend to keep it around my bed for a long while. I will get rid of the DE barriers between rooms in a couple months.
Thanks for the good advice from everyone who has posted here.
Michellee::
Ive had bed bugs once before about a year ago. I got rid of it, I think there was only one or two because my bites were days apart, and I found no evidence of infestation. I havent had any problems since then, until now.
My daughter went with a friend to a hotel. in the city a couple weeks ago, today I noticed the bites on my neck. Four in a row, just like last time. Im unfortunately the only person in the house they bugs like, because Im the only one who gets bitten. Strange. Last year I put the mattress encasements on my mattress and box spring, I taped with duck tape all the edges of my wooden bed frame with drawers, I sprayed every nook and cranny with spray and used the diatomaceouse powder, and I finally stopped getting bitten.
I still have all the tape and mattress encasements in place. Should I just go through everything again with the spray and the powder like I did last time? It took what seemed like forever to treat where the bugger was living/hiding. Its such a daunting task!! Plus all the laundry I need to do.. ugh.
Thanks,, Im pretty sure I know what I need to do,, now I just need to do it..
Michellee
Anne::
For those looking for bed bug dust and live in Toronto, Ontario you can find DE at Grass Roots on Spadina and Bloor. There is also a Danforth location! The Big Carrot also has it.
Birdman::
Like many of you I have ended up with a bed bug infestation. Never went to a motel or anything but found out upon my reading up on it they can actually end up in your home in shipped packaged. Long story but the timing on a package to my house in a cardboard box preceded the bites from what seems like an entire colony of these critters by about a week. How do you get bed bugs? Ill tell you how, when checking out the box I saved there were the tell tale black stains in one of the folds in the box!
I have them in 4 areas at one time.. computer room.. den (with my pet birds) and bedroom.. and lastly.. a few seem to have hitch hiked to my truck.
I have shut and sealed the main bedroom.. sprayed with Cypermethrin and hung me a No Pest strip in there. I havent noticed yall mention this weapon in here. True its not for everyone but if you can seal off a room.. or even seal up you furniture it is suppose to kill anything in 3 days and the eggs after they hatch..(10 days). So my intention is to keep the main bedroom sealed for 2 weeks. I also sealed up the couch in the den with 2 mil poly and stuck me a no pest strip inside there for 2 weeks. I was getting bites there, but the no pest strip seems to have done its job there. (success!).
Things I have noticed they do not bite the wife.. they have gone after me and the birds.. They bite any time of the day..not only at night. The will travel on your body from place to place in the house. I ordered some DE to go along with all my other plans of attack here pesticides seem to be a slow working option unless you actually contact them with the spray.since they do not ingest the toxins from preening like a cockroach or spider would do.
I am waiting for the DE to arrive to make me some barriers on the legs around the beds.. I am even going to fashion a cheap bed bug attractant using the ole yeast/sugar trick in a gallon of water along with another gallon jug with an aquarium heater warming it up.. (heat and carbon dioxide) I plan to surround the warm jug with DE in a platter under the bird cages.. since they seem to gravitate to that area in the den.
I have made the bird cages secure using glasses under the legs and fly paper taped around the legs above the glasses to snag any of the climbers. When the DE makes it Im going to put some in the glass under the legs so when they fall in they have no choice but to crawl through it. Wish me luck..
Oh and I do know those no pest strips can be dangerous, but after doing a lot of reading on them it seems.. that tho not for every situation.. handle them like you have a little sense and they will kill these lil vampires. IF I ad the option to rent me a camper and move in to it in the driveway for 2 weeks I would just seal up the entire house and fill it full of No Pest strips and say to heck with all the other stuff.
Good luck folks.
vikki::
I tried to DE stayed up all night and hunted I have been killing them by smashing them between paper. but my chair and bed are covered in the dust. The stream treatment did not seem to help and none of them came out . How long does this take to kill . If this does not work im going to have to toss the bed and chair and sleep on the floor til i can afford a new bed. please are there any faster way to deal with bed bugs, please !!!!!
Ezra Van Helsing::
Im not going to go into the story of misdiagnosed hives, supposed allergies, and the impossible to find little creatures that I am most sure come straight outta hell. Let me say that bed bugs are so plentiful here in my side of the duplex that you can almost always find some on the walls and I had a little nest of those bloodsucking bastards behind a picture frame.
They came from a neighbor that was inclined to indulge in crack and basically turned his side of the duplex into a flop house. There have been lice, bed bugs, and an astonishing amount of roaches due to his lack of domesticity or hygiene of any kind. The Short of the already too long is that I discovered HARRIS BED BUG KILLER and it does NOT work for me WHAT SO EVER! I killed the very same bed bug with it 3 times over a 12 hour period. I wanted to *know* that it worked so I took a little paper plate and a ziploc baggy and got a volunteer from the wall next door, put it on the saucer, sprayed it then put the saucer and bug in the baggy. It died pretty quickly. I might even say that it died on contact like the bottle advertises. I was elated. Tears came to my eyes. Immediately I walked away to start spraying according to instruction leaving the bag on the counter. When I came back to throw the bag and bug away, the little pariah was up and walking around on a paper plate that had been completely saturated with HARRIS BED BUG KILLER.
How could this be? I told myself I must have done something wrong. I told myself that maybe I should shake the bottle mix it up yes. I did. I sprayed. Count Dracula died again and was RESURRECTED by some sort of miracle/curse. I left it discouraged and outraged. I cried. The tiny Nosferatu sat there over night in its makeshift prison. It was still alive the next morning. I killed it again out of spite. It resurrected again for the same reason Im sure. So I smashed it while blinding the Sun with a string of screamed obscenities. So much for kills on contact. It does not. Not even after 3 contacts!
Diatomaceous earth, huh? That makes sense. Maybe Ill get some and have it blessed just in case. Vampires cant sleep on hallowed ground.
Good luck, people. Ive made notes and will act accordingly.
Thanks
Bed Bug Girl::
Hi Vikki,
There is no short-cut to get rid of bed bugs, the most effective way of doing it yourself is following the steps on my bed bug dust page. Most important, be patient and dont give up!!!
sick of the vampires::
so i got DE and used it just today. i went in my kids room and they were all over the wall, its like i made them mad. is this normal? will they start to die, after they feed tonight will they crawl through it and go off and die during the day tomorrow? i didnt expect to see results within hours but i didnt expect to see them all over the wall like that either thats never happened before. Im thinking i made them mad and drove them out cause i sprayed DE in every nook and cranny i could find even tiny little nail holes. how soon should i expect results? cause Im just tired of these little vampires
Oscar::
I went to a swap meet about a month ago and I bought a small dresser so I can put my TV on top of it. Not sure I got bedbugs from the dresser but about 3 weeks ago I would wake up to bedbug running away from me. I would always kill them but the other day I went to clean my closet and I discovered a bedbug hiding on one of my shirts, ever since then I have been killing with napkins about 4 a night walking all over my walls . Does anybody know how I can get rid of them? ps I cant even sleep at nights thinking they will come out. its messing up my dally life. thank you and hope to get rid of them soon .
shwetha::
hey.. i hav too much bed bugs in my home.. me n my family did evry trick to finish them..but we always fail. we r killing by diff. 22medicines..but we didnt get any solutionif any oe have some trick to finish them pls advice me..thanx i advance
Jennifer in Florida::
The key to NOT getting bedbugs OR getting rid of them once they are there is to ***take away their food source***** If you have roaches, clean your house. If you have ants, put yoru food away or in tupperware. If you have bedbugs, clean your shower, your bathroom, your floors, dust, vacuum, Once a month do a deep spring cleaning. Roll up rugs if you use area rugs, shampoo carpets, dust walls, (behind wal hangings and pictures too). Do your laundry, dont leave dirty things around, When you are dirty wash yourself, Never go to bed dirty. Take showers at night, Apply lotion to skin to hydrate, BedBugs eat dead skin. Take that away and they will stop.
If you get bed bugs and have a hard time getting rid of them, you could get rid of everything you own and start over but that would be expensive. Instead, launder sheets and blankets and clothing in the hottest water you can NOT IN YOUR INFECTED HOUSE. Spray fantom all over cloth surfaces like beds and couches and carpets. Let dry, finnish your laundry and take a lunch. Its almost over.
Get FOOD GRADE DIATOMECIOUS EARTH usually at feed stores or hardware stores with a nursery. once the cloth in your house is dry, spread DE all over, WEAR GLOVES, MASK AND EYE PROTECTION. This is ok to ingest not to get into mucous membranes or lungs. It will dehydrate you. You can work with it without gloves but your skin wont like you anymore.
Let the DE set atleast 7 days. Yes that will mean, hotel time. Take a vacation. Maybe stay at a friends house now that you have clean clothes. Please be sure to let them know you had a BEDBUG infestation so they can protect themselves too.
Then its time to vacuum and dust and do a real deep cleaning to your house. It burns calories and you will feel so good once it is done. Look at all the dead BEDBUGS you are cleaning up. You will continue to find them for a while. Periodically you will have to do a deep cleaning on your house. Why not take pride in this. A clean home is a healthy home. Remember, these BEDBUGS go to the dirty houses. Like roaches if the food source is plentiful and they go unchecked they will multiply with a cengence. BEDBUGS will migrate to the next house over. So while you are cleaning let your neighbors know so they can be on the look out. It is best to get them before they get you. The smaller the Number the less the cost of getting rid of them.
CJ in OKC::
@ jennifer in Florida
There are a number of helpful tips in your comment. However, there are also a number of things that are outright untrue. To begin, bed bugs do not feed on dead skin and no matter how much shower or moisturize they will still get you. They feed on blood. They are attracted to you by the carbon dioxide that you breathe.
Second, DE is a helpful addition to in aiding to get rid of bed bugs but will require multiple treatments and careful application. And lastly, having bed bugs does not mean you are dirty or live in a dirty house or have an unclean lifestyle. I agree that keeping a clean house definitely helps but bed bugs can show up anywhere. From million dollar homes to hospitals. So, attempting to convince people they are dirty if they have been unfortunate enough to come across these pests is absolutely not true!
MeNotYou::
@ Ezra Van Helsing
Love your post. I appreciate your sarcastic dark humor through my turmoil. I never thought I could find anything about those jerks funny. Thanks.
joe::
Well I have had my first night bite free am i am excited. I first realized i had BB when my girlfriend showed me three bites that were lined up her chest i new right away but went into denial for three days until i got bit several times. I was lucky though because i had caught the problem early and knew what i was up against after watching the show infested were they had a story on bed bugs.
I immediately called the orkin exterminator and paid $1,275 to get my house treated. waist of money. I got bit the next 3 days! I researched on the internet for a week day and night. I decided I was gonna have to take care of this myself.
I used a water bottle poked a whole in the top and made my own duster works great if u make the hole right. I then dusted every square inch of my house with diatomaceous earth (DE) so they couldnt go anywhere without coming into contact with it. Make sure you use a dust mask because it builds up in the air quick. I have had my first night bite free and i am excited. Also, dont worry about the mess you can clean it up later 7 days you should wait before vacuuming. Also make sure its food grade DE.
JoJo::
Ive been dealing with the little jerks for almost 2 years I moved, am on my 3rd round of furniture (Thank-fully we have a great goodwill type place here) and still cant get rid of them. I have tried DE, hot shot bedbug spray and steam. The exterminator said that the only way to truely get rid of them is to treat all 4 apartments at once but the other tenents refuse!! Is there anything else i can try? Our ventalation is connected to two of the3 other apartments so i have to be very careful of what i do.
Stephanie::
Mostly Im coming here to vent (and learn some anti-bb tips, obviously). I, too, didnt realize that Bed Bugs were a real thing until recently. I moved into a rental house in October and I was getting bug bites, but not many so I figured it was a spider (Id seen them around the house). After a while I began doing research and stumbled across the idea that it might be bed bugs, but found no signs of them (black marks, shells) and not wanting to believe that something so awful could really happen, I put the thought from my mind.
I did not see a live bug until I got back recently from a 2 week trip and woke up with 2 adults crawling on my blanket and I was COVERED in bites. Since then (about 2 weeks ago) Ive notified my landlord who swears that theyve never had an infestation before so it must be allergies or stress (despite my having SEEN THE BUGS). She refused to pay for professional treatment or really acknowledge the problem at all.
I rent 1 of 5 rooms in a shared house (the downstairs is owned by another family of 4), and 2 of the rooms have seen multiple tenants since I moved in so there is no real way to figure out how they got here. I have few doubts that Im not the only one dealing with this, but Im obviously the first to have said anything. I have since spent quite a deal of my own money on DE and other pest sprays, as well as plastic vacuum bags. I will move out of this house as soon as possible, but my biggest fear is bringing these things with me.
Luckily, I dont own any of the furniture and Im willing to part with my linens/bedding. However Im worried about books/luggage and bringing them in the boxes I pack in. My plan for the clothes is to systematically clean everything and place it in vacuum seal bags. But what do I do with all of my books? Also, we dont have a dryer, only a washing machine. I have a wall heater in my room that I typically dry my clothes on, but is that enough? Should I hand dry everything with my hair dryer?
(I am still waiting on my pesticides so I havent started a full treatment yet but A note about the DE. DO wear a mask or cover your face in some way. I havent used it properly yet, I was just testing my application process before doing a whole vacuum, spray, DE treatment, but even the little amount Ive put around my bed seems to have worked them into a tizzy as Ive seen no less than 10 tonight, as I sit here unable to sleep at 4:30am researching bugs.)
ashley::
Only had infestation in one top bunk of kids room. immediately thru out top bunk and mattress now have mattresss in encasements. in infested room used alcohol and Clorox clean up on everything. dried all clean clothes that were hanging and in dressers. put DE in all rooms. only rooms i havent completely flipped over and checked and cleaned everything are the laundry room and kitchen how likely is it that i have to clean those room with alcohol.
i only found 1 infestation and only 1 other bug in the other bedroom prior to finding infestation. my daughter was getting bit up for about a month and a half. why cant i find anymore? do you think the majority of them got out when i took the main infestation out?
Its still on the side of my house can they get back in? this is driving me up the wall. i have about 30 bags of all our winter clothes extra bedding stuffed animals and so forth. i already put the totes that where in the infested room that were inspected with no bugs in storage as well with keepsake boxes and stuff and put down de in the storage. is it ok to take the sealed garbage bags there and they wont enter?
Im going crazy here someone please answer!!! its driving me up the wall i still feel like they are here and i missed them or there is just one and its all gonna start over in a month. i suffer from ocd and Im going crazy!!!
do i need to wipe everywhere including dishes in the cupboards n so forth im going crazy here someone please help! im ready to just jump in my car and run away
john::
My heart goes out to all of you that have had a run in with Bed Bugs. I have been reading a lot of what you have posted and i am in shock. I know that there is A LOT of home remedies and urban myths out there on how to take care of the bed bug problem, but if you have this problem you need to call a professional exterminator.
I am one of these such people (bed bug exterminator) and i am speaking honestly, after all, there is no way for me to cultivate business here and i am not giving out my company. I treat bed bug units 2 days a week every week and I get rid of them from site in 5 days and totally on 21 days. Please for your own health and state of mind, if you have bed bugs, get rid of them the fastest and most efficient way possible.
And for those of you that are paying big money with little or no results, a bed bug treatment should run around $300 for the first room and $100 for each additional room with kitchens and baths being free (as bed bugs rarely are found there). Good Luck all and Death to the Bed Bug!!!
Yvonne::
We suffered with bedbugs for almost 1year. Finally, we did several things at once and solved our problem:
-clean all floors and furniture with a carpet sweeper and cleaner
-diatomaceous earth perimeters of every room
-spray visible bugs with bedbugs spray
-use mattress covers for all mattresses and box springs and even
couches
i hate bedbugs::
I killed 20 something adult bedbugs id see crawling on my wall late at night, didnt know what they were until i saw a pic of one when research pesticides for my garden, what I did was got one of those old puffers used to clean out stuffy noses, and sucked up pyrethrin powder and sprayed it everywhere, EVERYWHERE in my room and slept downstairs for a week. Then I vaccumed up all the powder and wiped the dust off of everything with a wet rag and that was the end of the bed bugs.
Charles Fowler::
If, you can kill the eggs at your bed, that is the key. If you determined heat treatment is too dangerous or expensive, now what ? The big picture is you have a ranch, youre raising Bed Bugs and using your bed as a corral.
Second, Make sure there are no problems with your bed. Nothing about your bed can be allowed the touch the wall or floor but the caster wheels.
Third, the new corral for the Bed Bugs is a dim light going 24/7 where the Bed Bugs can be drawn to and removed with masking tape.
Fourth, you spray the ceiling-wall line on two of the most distance walls from the dim light to move the Bed Bugs toward the light.
Notes: Do not spray near the dim light or any other location, that will create a barrier to keep them from coming to the light. This dim light is most likely for life. As new Bed Bugs arrive at your home they will go to the light. Bed Bugs are drawn to you like Bees by your Co2. A fan moving air near your bed will mix your Co2 evenly in your bedroom, making it hard for Bed Bugs to find you.
Every other day a light spray on your bed caster wheels will protect you. Those in the Bed Bug business wont be needed anymore. Please beware of biased replies from them. This method seems to be the Silver Bullet for Bed Bugs. This lure will provide detection, control for the home and car. The poorest people will be able to handle their infestations. This DIY project can be done for a very small cost of parts. This is a very Green method.
For all living places and whole house treatment, the hallways will become giant traps. The lights are there, a $5.00 dimmer switch is needed and spray. Lightly place DE on hall traffic areas where people put their foot down. Careful: My new kitten made a mistake, near the light. I moved the litter box there. Later I found a live Bed Bug in it. When the Bed Bugs stop coming to the light theyre gone, for now.
If you have total control, youll have complete relief. The Dim lights double for night lights and Bed Bug Control.
Bea K.::
Urgent for john the exterminator
Just so you should know, i personally do not have the kind of money you guys and gals are looking for to get rid of these bugs, and according to the news reports even when paid that kind of money, those bugs arent always killed on the first go round.
If i did have it, i most definitely would not pay thousands to stop them, for something tells me it can be done for much less with the right company. also, im not so sure these infestations will be going away any time soon, as weve found bedbugs in the following things and places: sealed packs of depends underwear, rolls of toilet tissue bought from neighborhood and other stores, clothing and furniture bought from well-known places (mb for example), etc. so how can we fight the war, if these places dont inspect their merchandise???
Lastly, just like these bugs emerged, there has to be a way to get rid of them for good (or so im hoping), and ill be so glad when we find out what that is, but until then ill be glad to try anything like the product mentioned above, which should do for now.
SUMMER::
We found out we had bed bugs last year during June 2011. It started out with my son getting bites all over him when he was sleeping in his room. We thought it was fleas, so called pest control to come out and treat. The day that pest control came out my son had found a bug on his wall. He taped it and showed it to pest control. After that we were $1000.00 in the hole.
The exterminator came out three times to treat the whole house because I even found one in my kitchen. We took everything out that they said had it outside in bags, washed two times and dry three. My son did not want to fall asleep because he was becoming a meal.
Just the other day I was thinking about it being a year that we were bed bug free. Slept good too, but last night my son came running into my room at 2:00 with a bag telling me they were back. I looked at his bed and saw that there were some on his sheets. I took the sheets off and put them into a bag. Taking the bag down to wash and dry double times again. So today we are going to home depot buying something to wrap the bed in and throw it out. My mom also told me that she saw a bed bug in her room. So now we are throwing her bed out too.
Im guessing they made it out of the bed wanting BLOOD. ANOTHER SUMMER OF HELL!!! Here we go again.
Kim::
Thank you Charles Fowler, I was told by a company I could not do it myself, but guessing they just wanted my money. I will start this tonight!
Bug Killer::
For all of you wondering why the bugs only seem to be biting some people in your house, not all or those of you who see the bugs, but have no bites the bites dont always show up. I think it has to do with personal reactions neither my sister, my brother, my dad or my mom or me had any reaction at all to the bed bugs. I kept seeing them, not knowing what they were. They creeped me out, but I have a live-and-let-live policy for insects. Then I saw one that was red and realized it was clearly a parasite googled bed bugs, figured it out, spent a few hours panicking.
A friend of my brothers got kicked out of his house a few months later, had no place to go so he stayed with us he had an immediate reaction to the bed bug bites. Like a rash all over his arms and legs, almost like mild poison ivy. So dont assume that because you dont see the bites, theyre not feeding you probably just dont have a reaction.
Another thing dont try to move out of a room to starve them. Theyll just use spaces between the walls to follow you, and now youve got them in two rooms instead of one. I know it sucks, but your best bet is to hunker down where youve got them make sure youre treating all rooms if possible, but if theyre in one room only, stay there so they dont start looking for a new food source in other rooms of the house until youve finished killing them.
Im heartened by the diatomaceous earth results you folks seem to have definitely going to try that before we call an exterminator and spend the money. Anyway, good luck to all, and death to the vampiric bastards. Hey, at least they dont sparkle, right?
Tammy::
I have also been dealing with bed bugs since February of 2012, that is when we moved into a new rental home and the landlord neglected to tell us that the previous tenants had bugs as well as not doing any treatments. After three months of dealing with bb and the landlord not wanting to help on a consistent manner and my room mate moving out over the bugs I am also moving however scared to death that I take these bb with me.
I dont have money to pay for someone to come out and professionally take care of this bb issue if I bring them with me in the new apartment. These are the precautions I am taking to move please give advice if anyone has done this as well. I am not taking any mattresses or box springs or couches or end tables as they are wood. I have washed my clothes and bagged in dark garbage bags as well as the other items I am taking and have baked in the sun for two days in a row for about 10 hours a day. I also have bagged a lot of items twice to try to make sure nothing can survive in the bags or get into the bags.
I have four cats and have not seen any bites on them or any scratching and I have checked for bb on them and have not seen any. Is there anything else I can do to try to ensure that I will not carry these bb with me to the new place? Any suggestions would be helpful, sick of dealing with BB.
Jay::
I pretty much agree with the OP as to the best strategy.
Ive trawled HEAPS of forums and blogs, and one of the most common experiences seems to be that exterminators charge thousands of bucks to kill 99% of your BBs, then the remainder breed back and youre starting over Steam cleaning is good if you have the energy/time, which I do not. Here is my lazy strategy (and still cheaper than getting professionals in).
- fit bedbug proof mattress encasements
- place bed legs on interceptors (see the bed bug dust page on how to make your own interceptors)
- wrap bed legs in bedbug tape
- position beds so they are not in contact with anything except where the bedlegs touch the interceptors.
- vacuum and spray the couch in the lounge with residual pesticide so its not a comfortable place for them
- scatter Diatomaceous Earth in places youd expect them to traverse (e.g. around the couch, around the beds, around the skirting etc)
Weve been bite-free for a while with the above, and expect the BBs to die of starvation in 24 months or so.
just1::
FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth works great. i had bbs pretty badly but just sprinkled about a tablespoonful of DE around perimeter of my mattress and around corners of room. i was bb free in about 3-4 days. no lie. dont know if its just that simple for every case but certainly was for mine.
Steve C::
Yes, I was shocked to find bed bugs. I live in a small block house with plaster walls. By the head of my bed there are some cracks in the plaster. Fortunately, I have a Sleep Number bed so there isnt a box spring per se. The mattress is a couple air chamber. I spread DE all over my bedroom, the window sills. I also spread it around the outside of my home at the base and around the sills. It has only been 2 days. I found about 6 in the bed this morning. However, none were under the mattress. I think that the DE will work but will take vigilance. I bought new pillows and ran the sheets through the washer. I think that the ones I found this morning may have come from the sheets even though they are clean. I will post my progress. Thanks to this Web site I became aware of DE. I am a horse rider and bought a 50 pound bag of DE at the feed store for $25.00.
Day 3 update: I woke up at 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM and no bed bugs. The DE did its job. I have it under the mattress pad, on the frame and all over the floor by the walls of the bedroom. I am going to leave it there another month or two. I forgot to mention that I took my mattress pad and cover to a laundromat because their dryer HEAT UP way further than any home dryer. Both those items would shrink in the wash so I put them in the laundromat dryers only, no washing. I live in Phoenix where the humitidy is almost zero. That may have an effect on why the DE is so successful. Do not use DE meant for swimming pools. Use only food grade DE. Swimming pool DE has been treated and is ineffective toward insects. I will keep posting my progress. So far, looks good.
Steve C::
Update Day 10.Still not a bed bug to be seen. DE cleaned them out for me. I cut the disposable red drink cups in half and used them for my bed frame legs as interceptors. I placed DE into the interceptors after I put them under the frame legs.
Nicole C.::
We put down a TON of DE last night and this morning, I am completely covered in bites. We dusted every nook and cranny and all of the beds. Beds are encased. I thought maybe the DE made them freak out and bite me a lot more. I hope thats what happened but I could sure use some encouraging words right now. Will they die?
Mrs. Slick::
Brought home bedbugs a week ago today from a cabin in the mountains. Although we have not been able to find any evidence we know this is what it is and we are currently trying to get rid of them and I need some suggestions. Upon arriving home we dried all of our clean clothes washed all the others in hot water and dried them. I put all our luggage in black trash bags and left them out in the 85 degree sun all day. We have encased our mattress and box spring in a bedbug proof cover and sprayed about the entire room with alcohol. We have also put DE under and around our bed and in the mattress cover for added measure. So far I am still getting bit and currently have over 150 bites which are driving me insane! My first question is this we have not been bit or seen any signs of bedbugs any other place in the house so how likely is it that they have spread to another room. Also we have leather furniture and hard wood floors in the living room so if we do see them in the living area what is the best treatment in the leather furniture and on the hard woods to minimize the DE all over the house. I do need to mention as well that we have a small dog so I am trying to reduce her exposure to it.
Joseph B.::
This comment was removed and place at the top of this page Thank you Joseph!
Linda::
They will Nicole, just takes time and it wont happen over night, but what you have done along with climb up protectors for the bed should get you a safe nights sleep!
Jenny H::
How can I make sure that bed bugs didnt get into the computer? If they did, how can I get rid of them?
Diana Madsen::
Hi,
The only way to get rid of bedbugs is to have your place steamcleaned (150`) everything.. this kills the eggs and the full grown ones. Start by doing your beds whether they need it or not. I have had my beds steam cleaned and my furniture and it seems to help. The apartment block where I live has had quite an infestation of them. Hope this can help you.
Ursula::
For those of you wonder if you move will you take the bugs with you I can tell you without a doubt you will! I moved into a house about 3 years ago and my boys and I started to have bites all over within days after our move. The landlord got a PCE to spray it never killed 100 percent of them even after 10 treatments. I got rid of all my beds and furniture bought covers this cost me thousands of dollars. I had to move twice for my job and my little boy is still getting bit. I took nothing. Nothing. With me when we moved other than heavily laundered clothes and a very few toys. I just spread more DE in the bedroom Im so sick of these bugs. I wished I never moved my family into that infested home 3 years ago. I hope this DE treatment works these things are so hard to get rid of.
lee::
i helped clean my daughters apt when she found bedbugs, & let her borrow my small shop vac. now its in trunk of my car but im afraid to bring it in. its been in hot car (about 109 degrees in car) for 4 hours. is that enough to kill bugs and eggs? i read needs to be 113 degrees for 3 hours, wondering if temp doesnt get that high if longer time at a little lower temp is enough? anyone know? my heart goes out to all of you here dealing with so much, and am praying my daughters problem will be over soon. besides cleaning and laundering and drying she got professional exterminator. i hope all of us get rid of all these bugs for good!!
monica::
I have bb in my room and my sons. Were all sleeping on very old mattress & box springs on the floor because we have no frames. Should I throw them out and by air matresses? Cant afford new frames & beds.
Bed Bug Girl::
Hi Monica,
No, get a mattress cover and climb up protectors (see my page on bed bug dust to see how to make your own).
Michelle::
Found bed bugs about a month ago. My daughter had refused to sleep in her room because she saw a bug. This is not unusual for her so I did not bother to go see the bug. After a couple of days though, I was in her room and she showed me one of the bugs. I have never seen a bed bug before but I felt impending doom as I wondered if this horrible looking critter in my daughters bed could in fact be a bed bug.
Off to my computer I go to search the internet for clues. Thanks to Google, it took mere seconds to have my suspicions confirmed. More searches on how to get rid of these pesky pests was filling me with dread that my home would never be bed bug free again!
We removed all bedding from my daughters room. Washed in hot water, dried till it was dry + 20. Then we bagged it all and put it in a car outside in the 109 degree heat (easily 120 in the car) and we left it all there for two weeks. Extreme, I know, but worth it!
I thought that after we sprayed her room with pesticide and left it empty for two weeks, we would be good to go. (Insert horrible buzzer sound here) NOT! Those dastardly devils had migrated to other rooms! My other daughters room was the happy residence to a few bed bugs that we could see. Back to Google I go!
I had been using Diotomaceous Earth for my pets as flea, tick, and worm control for quite a while and wondered if it could help in the case of bed bugs. My Google search turned up quite a few stories that held promise. So, I filled up a bottle and began to spread both daughters rooms with DE, cleaned all clothes, bedding, and surfaces again. Made sure that under the bed, box springs, and top mattresses with all nooks and crannies were fully coated in DE. Covered all base boards, full perimeter, and then coated the entire carpet. Both girls left there rooms to sleep in mine.
Still getting bitten!
The couches have been the recipients of the boisterous bed bugs!
Break out the flash light, kill all spotted disgusting pests. Spread DE on all couch surfaces, under couches, and the perimeter of the couches. Yes, guests think I am terrible about cleaning, but I know what the real scoop is!
At this point, I have taken the flash light, searched all furniture daily for three days, applied a coat of DE to each room with all of its inhabitants, laundered all that could be and even run the throw blankets and pillows though the dryer for 20 minutes each day.
We have not seen any bugs for several days. No bites that we can see for several days. Am I counting my chickens? Nope.
Since the Diotomaceous Earth seems to be doing the job, I will continue to keep everything coated for at least the next month. I will also continue to launder all bedding, throw blankets, and pillows each week. I plan to win this war and I honestly do not care if my guests think that my house needs a good dusting! DE is not poisonous to me, my children, or my pets and it seems to be getting the job done!
Emma::
I have moved into a new condo in October and got bedbugs somehow and did the heat treatment. Lived through a period of what can only be described as hell. I now have a slight reinfestation with PCO coming on Tuesday to begin spraying. I find this whole process very difficult and would benefit from having an email buddy to talk to about the anxities and worries of the ongoing problems and advise for how to cope. Is there anyone out there who feels the same way? It appears that unless you have gone through this or are going through it you just do not understand the difficulty of it all.
Donewithitall::
Im so depressed and tired over this. Im not well to begin with now I have to fight this too. I feel like giving up. Just want it all to end,
Laura::
Dont give up! You can do this Donewithitall, just get mad, get even, let that anger fuel your desire to win! Bed bug dust works when applied with a regiment of weekly applications, vacuuming hiding places, puffing DE into cracks, climb up protection and mattress encasements. You can do this!
irritated::
my husband had gotten bed bugs while we was not together when i moved back in i inspected everything because of bites everyone was getting. i found that the couch was infested with bed bugs so when he got home from work i told him the couch had to go!! 2 days later we threw out the old couch, cleaned top to bottom, bombed with hot shot bedbug and flea fogger, brought in the new couch and slept peacefully for five months.
Then my sister moves in and what decides to move with her. BED BUGS!! my kids were waking up with 14 to 2o welts from bites a night! i had the mindset ive battled and won before i can do it again. well the bombs did not work this time. i researched so many websites for so many hours, i wrote down products, looked for reviews on those products it was exhausting well finally this is what i did!
I bought 3 cans raid max bed bug and flea spray (with straw), jt eaton bb spray, hot shot bb spray and a 20lb bag of DE powder. my husband searched for a couple of these bugs put them in separate pill bottles and put chemicals to the test.. Hot shot DOES NOT WORK!!!! raid and jt eaton worked instantly to kill them. the DE powder did take 3 to 4 days to finally kill them so its a slow kill but to me a kill is a kill with these things! Heat kills them as well 120 degrees for an hour minimum.
i bagged EVERY fabric item in my home except a blanket for each of my kids.. i sprayed the dressers down (more like i soaked them in the spray) waited till the spray was dry and put de powder under the drawers and all around the dressers, took the beds down (my mattress is already encased due to last problem) sprayed the entire frame, i found quite a few even eggs on the frame.
i bleach my kids toys, i sprayed every where in the walls under my encased couch and after spraying i laid the powder. next i took all my bagged items to my aluminum shed i left them sit. the next day about 3pm i checked the temp in the shed it was 130 which was hot enough to kill the little buggers! im hoping and praying that being continuous with this routine will eradicate them!! so far thought no bites!!
i live in Ohio where we very rarely get 3 digit temp readings, but if you can get an extremely hot day get out of ur home for a few hours open blinds to let sun in dont run no air, keep it closed you may be able to hit 120 for an hour and kill out most of them! good luck to every one these things are horrible!
DT::
To the person that moved and said they took nothing, yet the bed bugs still moved with them, Ive had this fantasy ever since being bitten nightly for weeks.
I go to a clothing store, strip off all my clothes and shoes. Put on all new clothes and shoes, purchase them. Walk out of the store and leave everything behind me, I mean, EVERY SINGLE THING. That means, no clothes, no shoes, no furniture, no NOTHING. No car, no luggage, no people, NOTHING from the bed bug infested days. Just me, and the brand new purchased clothes. If I could walk around buck naked and get a new place that way, then I wouldnt even bother with the brand new clothes. Just walk buck naked down the road to get a new apartment or home. Ha! Its a fantasy, so
If I could afford it, I would do it though. These things seriously, majorly suck. I would take me, myself, and I, thats it, just my body and move into a new place. They can travel on anything, ANYTHING. Even in your car. On clothes, toys, luggage, anything. I would literally leave my home and the bugs, buck naked, WALKING, to get a new place if I could.
cookie::
At this point im willing to try anything, so im off to the store to get DE and start the process. My husband thinks im paranoid and a complainer (which i am lol) but the bugs dont bite him..he sleeps so hard nothing wakes him up. As im typing this paragraph im killing these bloodsuckers. I wish i had the money to let the professionals exterminate them. tonight im going to grease up the the feet of bed with Vaseline as suggested hoping to get a bite free sleep, then 2moro ill start with the DE. These critters make me dislike sleeping !!!
Bed Bug Girl::
Let us know how that works for you Cookie! If you do it right with the DE, it will work! Dont give up it takes more than one application.
E Castro::
I keep hearing of people having problems with Bed Bugs moving from apartment to apartment.
Im not sure my remedy will work 100%, but it should help.
In my old apartment, we had ants that would come in through all the outlets. it was really bad. One crumble of taco meat left on the hardwood after a late night meal after the bars, and boom, giant ant trail in the morning. So I started with caulking all the trim in the whole place. Worked pretty good, but then they just used the outlets.
So I bought expanding foam spray, or filler foam as they call it. This is the stuff that they spray around the pipes under your sink. Its a foam that you spray out of a inverted can with a straw on the end. As it dries, it expands to many times its original size, filling up and sealing all cracks.
This 100% stopped all the ants at my old place. As I am a week into my fight against Bed Bugs in my current apartment, I took off all outlets, light switches, and anything else that can create a hole in the wall, and sprayed this stuff in till it was coming out the front and i couldnt get any more in.
It expands to at least twice its beginning size, and dries into a hard foam that you can trim up with a Razor blade so you can fit your covers back on.
Not sure landlords will like this, as it encases the outlets in foam. And if you ever want to break it off the outlet, make sure to turn the breaker off.
Im hoping this keeps them from entering from other apartments like they originally did, and I hope this stops them from leaving my apartment when the professionals come in 2 days.
So far, vacumming, 91% rubbing alcohol sprayed along all cracks and seams daily, Laundering everything, cans of EcoSMART bed bug spray, sealing up all outlets and bug bombs has seemed to kill everything in a matter of days.
Changing and washing sheets every other day, threw out everything i dont need anymore, sealed everything up as well.
So after the professionals, I will move onto spreading Diatomaceous Earth and sealing the mattress. And just keep to the DE treatment weekly as well as rubbing alcohol and bug sprays every few days.
bitten grandma::
Help, I look like I have measles ! Have begun fighting,but no one to help,cant lift furniture, throwing things out and laundry very hard .Live in 4 floor walk up ,have to go up and down 5 flights of stairs to do either. And I had surgery in June, put DE everywhere {can barely breath},sprayed,covered mattress and pillows{no box spring }, Will keep fighting , biggest ? for bb girl : a bb bit me right on incession {cut} where surgery was ,swelled up ,red,this was 3 days ago. have been using peroxide and triple antibiotic ointment ,covered with bandage, Do you think there is an infection from the bite ??????????????? See my surgeon next week, have no insurance, Scarred, please respond and thanks for all the great info and for every ones honesty. I have no one to talk to.
Kat::
Ok, so I will give a little background and then tell you what we did. I am pretty sure I got bed bugs when I got a second hand mattress. I moved out of that apartment and into a new one, not because of bed bugs though. At the time I wasnt sleeping in my room at my old apartment much so I didnt even notice until we got to our new apartment when I was spending almost every night in my bed now.
Within two months we had a full blown infestation. The exterminator said it wasnt the worst that he had seen but def. not the smallest either. Needless to say we gave it a month they couldnt guarantee that they were all gone and we kept seeing them so we moved out. We threw out everything. Well I found out that I gave them to my boyfriend by sleeping at his house and vise versa.
At that point I knew we couldnt tell the landlord because of my past experience (old landlord wouldnt give us our deposit back.) So we decided to treat it ourselves, I had read up A LOT on BB and would consider myself very well versed on their habits and what to do and what not to do, although of course I am NOT an exterminator. We basically cleaned the entire room inspected everything anything that was deemed ok was bagged and removed. ALL and this is important ALL clothes, bedding, towels cloth of any kind needs to be washed on hot water and dried when you dry it you need to dry it 45 min LONGER once its fully dry to kill the eggs and any BB. Then bag it up, leave it in the bag until further notice, if you can live out of these bags for a month take what you need from the bag and then reseal. This DE stuff is like GOLD!
I took this stuff spread it all in the room you dont need alot and you NEED to rub it into the carpet so its almost invisible to the eye. Then I spread it all in the baseboard any cracks and the sockets. RUB IT IN. If you can buy a new bed, do so and before you put it in there buy a good BB cover. I got one for 60 bucks on Amazon that got good reviews. You want one that says bed bugs o proof on it. get pillow covers too.
If you can afford a new mattress get a BB Cover if you can and take this DE Stuff and spread it on your bed. Get it anywhere that there are holes or visible areas where they have infested. Then cover the mattress with the BB Cover to seal them in. And kill them. If you cant afford a BB Cover then spread this stuff all around the mattress and get Four bottom sheets. Take first sheet and put it under the mattress so basically put the sheet on and flip the mattress over so the sheet is on the bottom, then put a sheet on the top, so now you have completely wrapped the bed in sheets, then flip it over and put another sheet on the first side. repeat this once more so than you have encased the mattress completely. Not saying this is ideal but if your strapped for cash its a good start.
before you do this youre going to want to so this next step first. Sorry I am writing this as I go so things might jump around a little. Anyways, I bought Ortho Home defense max spray and sprayed that in the holes cracks baseboards, on the bed sides and where there were tears and evidence of them. You would do this in conjunction with the DE powder which btw is pretty cheap. anyways, then after you have dusted the room, sprayed the room, rubbed DE into the carpet, we took BB bombs and put two in the room, they say dont do that but we did, I dunno rather be safe than sorry. After that we set them off and left. Mind you you want to leave any beds or furniture that you had in there, in there for this treatment.
Five hours later we came back and vacuumed up the carpet, this is when you want to do the treatment to the beds that I mentioned before by encasing them, and yes this is safe to be around. least I havent gotten sick and from what I read you dont want to eat it or breath it but once is settles its ok. ( not a doctor) Leave the powder around the baseboards and in the cracks, you can put sheets on again and what not I just wouldnt start using dressers until you confirm that these things are gone, IE if you have dressers I would treat them with DE. So then you just have to do maintenance, check your bed wash your sheets reapply DE when needed.
If your persistent and keep treating you can beat this but I really think that being thorough with making sure your checking everywhere and treating the adjacent rooms baseboards Also caulking up and holes once you put this DE stuff in there would be a good idea. This is just what I did its only been two weeks and so far so good. Figure I would share my experience with this horrible affliction.
CaliGirl::
I have been battling Bedbugs since 2009. I started to get bumps on my body that I couldnt understand how they got there. I thought I was having an reaction to the new laundry detergent that I had been using. Then I saw a bug, then another. FML I was so angry, I told my mom and come to find out my brother had an infestion in his mattress and that they basically had travelled to my room.
Well I got rid of my bed and got a new bed. Within weeks I was getting bitten again. I sprayed and vacuumed but still was having problems. I eventually had moved out of my moms house into my own apartment and have been there for the last year and 1/2. Once again the bites and now my boyfriend noticed the bites on him. HOW EMBARASSING!! So my bed had accidently broke and I took my mattress off to fix the frame of the bed. OMG the bugs were all in the wood!!! I just started to cry I was devastated. I sprayed and I sprayed and Sprayed but still have bed bugs.
I have had enough of them and of wasting my money on spray that is not working. I have seen a bug sprayed it and it continued to crawl away like nothing had happened. I have done reseached and I will be buying bed encasements and going to shampoo my carpet and put down the DE powder and see how it works.
The main problem that I see with myself and other people, is when doing the treatment you cant just do it once. You have to continue to treat your house and clothes and furniture so any ridden bug or unhatched eggs will be killed.
I will try to do an update once I start the powder. Good luck to everyone. I know how devastating the BB problem has been on me so I can only imagine how it is on other people that has it worse than me.
Cant Sleep::
I first saw these nasty brown bugs on my bed back in late June,I thought they just harmless insects like ants.But then my mother went to the doctor and showed them her itchy welts on her skin and they said bed bugs had bitten her. Thats when I panicked and researched and found out I had bedbugs on my bed.They are the nastiest insects ever!
I hate roaches but bedbugs take the bait..they leave spots on the bed leave you feeling feeling itchy.I hate this, they have no purpose to my knowledge.They just make you feel so dirty.I just had to vent this stuff is horrible..my family cant afford to get an exterminator. So Im doing the best I can by placing alcohol on the bed and washing clothes/sheets in hot water and drying them on the hottest tempits so serious Im praying that they they go away.
Its so stressful I dont know where they came from. Im just trying to stop it before bad turns too worse.Its enough almost makes wanna cry.This stuff is driving my family crazy. Is there anything else I can do? Im thinking about getting a Steamer too.
Tania::
I moved down to LA with some family members and they have bed bugs I will be stating with them for four months. I have been bitten by this monsters over and over again the itchin is crazy and I dont know what to do to get ride of the bed bug bites. The swelling isnt bad but you can tell that I was bitten. I need some help on how to get ride of the bites and the bed bugs too.
There are many treatments available that can be use to kill and get rid of bed bugs permanently. They include chemical as well as treatments that kill bed bugs naturally.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Naturally: 6 Steps (with Pictures)
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How to kill bed bugs naturallywithout using harsh chemicals or pesticides. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite. That old adage seemed quaint until
Get Rid of Bed Bugs Permanently - Bed Bugs Treatment Secrets
Attention: If you have a bed bugs infestation and want to get rid of it FAST I have cracked the code to permanent bed bugs treatment and eradication and If you
How To Get Rid of Bed Bugs - 5 Fast & Easy Ways
Bed bugs are one of the most disturbing little buggers to ever find in your home. They rival maggots and cockroaches in the fact that once you see them the hair on
How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs Yourself And Naturally
Bed bugs may seem to be relatively harmless; they dont destroy furniture and their bites dont spread disease. However, it is important to learn how to get rid
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Naturally - treatment for bed bugs
Insecticides have long been used to eliminate infestations of bed bugs. However not only are the bed bugs becoming resistant to many of these they pose a serious
Easy Steps to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Permanently
Ways That Bed Bugs Get Into Your Home. Inside your bed, behind your baseboards, in your pillows or under your linen (sheets, etc.) Inside cracks and crevices in your
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Yourself | Quick Tips for ...
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How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Naturally | eHow
Although bed bugs typically congregate in the bedroom, you may need to treat the rest of your home as well. If this natural solution does not get rid of your bed bugs
