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ObiDan71 t1_j879iyu wrote

Get the exterminator in and don't screw around with tips from others that either take a month to work or don't work at all.

Do it right when you have pests in the house.

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Few_Ad_5677 t1_j87tccy wrote

38thing this

Seriously bed bugs are a “drop your values” type issue

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evileyeball t1_j87yqxu wrote

I read somewhere that we almost extincted bedbugs back when we used to use DDT in bedrooms... but then we discovered how horrible DDT is... I wish we had kept the DDT slightly longer so we could have extincted them.

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zaphrous t1_j87zlh1 wrote

I think it could have extincted birds on the continent.

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Repulsive_Coat_3130 t1_j88206z wrote

Fun Fact, bedbugs have a razor-sharp penis that is stabbed into their mates' abdomen bypassing the female's genitalia entirely

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nylonstring t1_j87op1t wrote

  1. If you can afford professional help, get it.
  2. If you get professional help, and you should, listen to every instruction and follow their list of steps exactly.
  3. Understand that the nature of bedbugs is different than other infestations. They do not care about your food. Youare the food.
  4. Leave your emotions out of this. You are now at war.
  5. Declutter your home but do so logically. If they are only seen in one area DO NOT TRACK THEM TO OTHER AREAS. Bag articles of clothing and bedding in study trash bags at least 3 mil thick and tie them with a knot, not a twist tie or drawstring. Do this to every article you don’t need right now.
  6. Get a bagged vacuum if you don’t own one and plenty of bags. You are now going to vacuum everyday and throw the bag away immediately.
  7. Now is not the time to ignore this.
  8. Purchase a quality mattress protector made to keep out bed bugs and in. The will starve in there. Oh did I mention these fuckers can live like a year and half without a meal? The ones you can’t suck up, burn, or crush you’ll have to starve. This is war.
  9. The biggest mistake I made was not finding their nest which was in some luggage that my dad had in his trunk. He kept bringing more in.
  10. There is hope. Heed the advice of a professional and you might make it out with less PTSD than I did.
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carthous t1_j87n57f wrote

  • get an exterminator right away.
  • bedbugs can lay dormant for about a year.
  • put your bed posts in buckets of water if you can
  • hopefully you won't have to throw everything out.
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abigaelb4 t1_j87rwn5 wrote

You can also put bed posts in trays of diatomaceous earth instead of water.

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DamnItJon t1_j87ax2i wrote

Burn your house down!

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idontknowhyimhrer t1_j87kjhp wrote

LOL when we had bedbugs my mom burnt them all one by one 😭😭😭 it took a week to get rid of all of them

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keestie t1_j87rq0b wrote

I don't know what happened in your life, I wasn't there, but I do know that trying to find and kill bedbugs is the best way to let an infestation spread. They are nearly impossible to find, they reproduce at a very fast rate, and they can lay dormant inside of fabric or mattresses for very long periods of time.

You may not have meant this as advice, but I just want to make sure that nobody reading this takes this as advice.

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idontknowhyimhrer t1_j87s5nq wrote

yeah we tossed out all the sheets we had that time

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keestie t1_j8c6q86 wrote

Also totally insufficient most times. They nest in mattresses.

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bogusbanansa t1_j87dvjs wrote

Diatomaceous earth and heat treatment. Washed and dried linens/clothing on high heat and bought a steam mop to steam/heat every square inch of carpet or mattress. Spread diatomaceous earth cautiously and do in a well ventilated area wearing a mask or respirator.
Worked when I discovered bed bugs in my guest room after I had a friend stay with us for a few days. I check religiously now and haven’t seen any since my treatment two years ago.

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bogusbanansa t1_j87e3n9 wrote

Btw, this is the budget DIY… if it’s in a large area or house wide, look up rental rates for heaters and fans. Need to provide continuous heat above 120F for a few hours.

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Mojomunkey t1_j87ro5e wrote

In apartment it could be building wide problem.

In a house easier to manage.

  1. All your bedroom clothes, sheets, everything goes into sealed garbage bags. Wash and dry it all. Wash your laundry daily and keep it bagged in fresh bags. Keep it stored away from where people sleep and relax.

  2. Mattress and box spring need to be steamed daily. Flip it over, every crack and seam and corner Use a clothing steamer. Get in the seams, kill the bugs, kill the eggs. Daily for 1-2 weeks.

  • Day one under the bed, sweep, mop with bleach, clean slate. Easier to see. Fewer places to hide. Throw out the garbage. If you vacuum get that canister full of eggs away from your house.

  1. Change bedding daily. Wash it and DRY ON HIGH HEAT daily.

  2. Get bed bug mattress and box spring covers. Amazon sells them, they completely encase the mattress, the material is slippery and they can’t climb it, the zipper is very fine and tight and keeps any remaining bugs or eggs inside.

  • douse the box spring in DE powder before you seal it up for good.

  1. Clear packing tape the legs of the bed and baseboards around the bed. They can’t climb it.

  2. Spray poison, pyrethrine based poison works well.

If you’re in an apartment you may need to invest in some silicone, weatherstripping and gap filler spray foam.—we’re talking baseboard gaps, light fixtures, outlet covers, don’t forget under the sinks in the bathroom and kitchen. Gaps where drain pipes go. Gaps where water lines go. You are in a spaceship. Your job is to seal the air leaks. Seal the hallway door with weatherstripping. Dust outside the door with DE.

Hang garlic on your mantle.

Sacrifice a goat on a 6ft diameter pentagram carved into your dining room floor.

Then burn the house down.

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Dr_Sigmund_Fried t1_j87a3we wrote

Gentrol Insect Growth Regulator + Tempo SC will take quick action with bedbugs

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PlebianStudio t1_j87d7mh wrote

its very very hard. do not use diatomaceous earth. its extremely fine and hard to get up. Just keep using insect killer vacuum powders for it if i remember, on your bed put all feet in bowls of water with soap. Use very thin sheets preferably white so you can easily see where they are. even with just 4 or 5 bugs that i could see, they were nightmarish for me to deal with because im allergic to insect bites and they would bite the sole of my feet leaving giant whelts.

It took me being half asleep but constantly alert and instantly reacting to being bitten. There were many days I never slept. I went to war with them and nearly lost. Good luck on your front

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CamDaMan100 OP t1_j87dagg wrote

Okay this is the game plan

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scutiger- t1_j87os36 wrote

If you've seen any bedbugs, that means there are more you haven't seen. They can hide anywhere, including cracks in your floor and furniture, power outlets, seams of your clothes, etc. Don't try to handle it yourself, get an exterminator ASAP. Seriously, you will regret it if you don't. Having bedbugs messes with your sleep and makes you paranoid for a long time. Do not take any chances.

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randompersonx t1_j886d6s wrote

My wife and I got bit by bedbugs in a hotel once. Luggage lived in the garage (far from the bedrooms) for months. Laptops and other electronics went in the freezer for a few days. Clothes went through high heat wash regardless of if it was “safe” or not.

Fortunately we didn’t bring any into our house… but I was still paranoid for months after just one night or bedbug bites.

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rrickitickitavi t1_j87gbxg wrote

Exterminator that uses dogs. Quicker you do it the cheaper and more effective it is.

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tchitch t1_j87e1uy wrote

I had bedbugs for a couple days and got rid of them by trying a couple methods at once. What worked best though was to bring another piece of furniture in my room and sleep on it with the feet in two layers of cups lined with diatomaceous earth. The bugs tried to get to me in my sleep and climbed into the outer cup's DE. Once coated in DE they couldn't climb up another cup to the foot of my fresh bedframe. Try multiple attacks. Don't assume one method will work. Good luck.

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Absurdist02 t1_j87ka6r wrote

I used crossfire and called orkin.

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oroc123 t1_j87zyq6 wrote

There’s a product that used to be called EcoRaider (I think it’s called EcoVenger now) that worked for me. It’s pet safe, kills eggs, and has residual effects for two weeks. I applied it EVERYWHERE, then applied it again two weeks later as recommended. I sprayed a bedbug and it seized up instantly and died.

I can’t recommend it enough, I was freaking the F out when the infestation started. Check it out online, it has awards from Entomology societies.

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ecoboff1 t1_j88111g wrote

Lots of posts here about getting an exterminator, but this costs loads and doesn’t guarantee the bed bugs will be gone.

I live in the UK and found bedbugs a couple of weeks after a holiday trip. I managed to eradicate them by doing the following:

  • Learn about bedbugs, how to spot them, where they live, the eggs, everything. Information is power and you want to eradicate all of them. Is it a spec of dirt or a bedbug? Doesn’t matter it needs to go, be overly aggressive with your cleaning.
  • Clean the affected room(s) and treat it as a contamination area, anything you move out of that room into another spot, you will have to clean that spot too.
  • Bin all cardboard or fabric you cannot wash or freeze. This includes memory foam pillows and toppers I’m afraid. Fabric like curtains that you can’t wash at 60°c needs to go in the freezer for 4 days to kill the eggs. Wash everything, doesn’t matter how free of bedbugs it looks, wash it anyway.
  • Your mattress needs to be steam cleaned, on both sides, but do this after you’ve cleaned everything else. Remember your mattress needs to dry too.
  • Use thin bleach solution to wipe everything down, focus on any woodwork like skirting boards, cupboards and bed frames as they burrow into the surface. Remove any rotten or loose wood completely.
  • Get some good bug spray, you’ll need a few cans and spray this on the cleaned surfaces. If you can find where the bedbugs came from and follow that to the bed, spray this area with prejudice.
  • You can use a bug bomb, but remember this will only reach some areas, it won’t cover under the bed or in cupboards, hence why wiping those yourself is more effective.
  • Vacuum every floor, sill, nook and cranny, imagine you’re a terminator eliminating all existence of life (because that’s the plan) If you think you’ve vacuumed enough, you haven’t. Bleach the vacuum and wash the filters after.
  • Sleep somewhere else, in fresh clean bedding that has been nowhere near the contaminated room (all my bedding was affected so I had to sleep under a towel the first night) the cleaning process takes time so you might be sleeping elsewhere for a while. Remember to de-contaminate your new sleeping area as well after you’re done.

Extreme heat or freezing kills the eggs but the gestation period is 2 weeks so you will need to stay vigilant for this long, continue cleaning and treating everything as a contamination area until you’re certain you’ve done all you can and there is no sign of them.

I spent about £200 on laundry service and cleaning supplies, but that was a lot less than an exterminator and I successfully got rid of them.

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Repulsive_Coat_3130 t1_j881jep wrote

Burn down your house! On a more serious note, hire a professional

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rosebeats1 t1_j8879je wrote

Get an exterminator asap. Have them heat treat the whole house. If that doesn't kill them, burn the house down

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En-TitY_ t1_j888l8d wrote

Honestly, you will never deal with them on your own. Exterminator. Now!

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100GbE t1_j87lxrj wrote

I saw that you can line the bed with emeralds (or at least crystals which are green) as the wavelength of green light will instantly vaporize bedbugs, spiders, cockroaches and dogs.

Just make sure your dog can't get into the room, of course.

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