(Part 2) Top products from r/Bedbugs

Okay, I'm going to try and keep it manageable.

If you live in an apartment, you need to tell the super if only because you risk them going into other places and reinfesting.

There are kits you can buy, though just be sure anything you buy also has a sprayer of some kind if it's mixed

If a kit doesn't have encasements you should order those on amazon.

That said, here are some steps:

Wash and machine dry everything you own, and put them in these or these. Don't be stingy on this, buy 2-3 of them. Make outfits for work and home and organize them bag by bag. Lets call this 25 dollars.

Do this with your linens, pillow cases, and pillows. If your bedsheets are not light colored and plain, then buy some light colored plain ones. White is good, a little off white is best as nymphs can appear white if they haven't eaten, eggs too. Wash your linens every 4 days or so.

Buy mattress encasements for your bed AND your box spring. Measure both to make sure you don't buy one that's too big, the snugger the fit the better. Do not go too cheap on this, look at the reviews. A good one will have not only a zipper but a folding flap to secure it. Lets call this 60 bucks. Once on, never remove the encasement without a PCO telling you to. Do not try to make your own, it never works out well. Important note, do NOT under any circumstance have any kind of bed skirt or blanket that's so large it touches the floor easily. You're going to want to make it so the bugs have to crawl up the legs so they die on the cimexa.

If you do not have an iron/steel bed frame, I recommend getting the cheapest one you can find.

Clean everything off the floor, make sure no furniture is touching any other furniture or the wall. If you can't do that, you need to lose some stuff. Believe me it's worth it.

Vacuum daily if you can, and immediately toss out whatever you vacuum up in whatever trash is outside. Do not keep it inside. I wouldn't recommend vacuuming less than every other day. Vacuum early in the morning if at all possible.

Buy interceptors. These babies are pricey unfortunately. but a 12 pack should be good for a bed and something else. That's about 40. Make sure whatever bed post you have will fit in them, they're not the widest.

Buy two cans of bedlam plus. Spray it along each joint and crevice in all the furniture after you've emptied it out. Do not use over the counter sprays, they're almost always things bed bugs are already resistant to.

Buy two bottles of Cimexa and a bellows. Apply the cimexa on the perimeter of every piece of furniture that is on the floor as well as along the wall of the room. Unscrew every outlet and switch cover and put it there as well. Don't go overboard, less is more. This will be about 40 total for the set. I recommend spraying the legs of your chairs. Make sure to cover your face while you're doing this. Cimexa will kill them if they crawl over it, however if it's clumped up in big piles they'll walk around it because they don't like it.

Do NOT switch where you sleep. They'll follow you and spread to other parts of where you live. You're live bait. It sucks, but having them come to where you're sleeping is the best way to kill them. You want them feeling safe and secure as they walk over the poisons and cimexa you've laid out.

You'll be living out of bags for a long long time, so get used to it. I recommend scheduling something you enjoy every week to keep your sanity and have something to look forward to.

Whatever you do, do NOT buy a bed bug bomb. It will scatter them and make them harder to clear.

Nothing goes on the bed unless it's sterile, and nothing leaves the bed without being washed and dried ASAP.

>If I place the dust everywhere, should I try to refrain from vacuuming? Or just reapply after vacuuming?

I'd vacuum, then apply, then re-apply after any future vacuuming.

>Can you possibly link me to the pump/sprayer?

Here's 2 options, we used this one ourselves, but this one seems to be promoted by Amazon right now. Looking at that yellow one... eh, I'd personally recommend going with the first one. THe extra $6 is worth it for higher quality.

>How much is needed for a ~800 sq. Ft. Apartment?

Per their Amazon link, 2 ounces covers 100 ft^2, large bottles are 4 ounce, so you'd want 4 large bottles

Oh, and as a safety given the high chance other apartments are infested, you probably want this XFasten double sided tape, you will want to make squares around every power/cable/telephone/airvent/etc. outlet, and a large square above your bed, slightly larger than your bed. Yes, they are known to crawl along the ceiling then drop down onto beds.

Several years ago I had a bed bug problem. Not nearly as bad as some others I've seen, but a regular problem. I got rid of it myself with about six months of work.

Because bed bugs are attracted to your breath while you sleep, most of your work will be in and around your bed.

First you have to wash your sheets every week. Strip the bed and put the sheets in a plastic garbage bag to prevent spreading the bugs or eggs around your house or apartment, then throw the bags away once you get the sheets in the wash.

While the bed is stripped, inspect the box spring and bed frame for bugs and eggs. I used strips of scotch tape to gently lift any bugs I found without crushing them and spilling their blood all over my walls.

Twice a week, move the bed out from wherever it sits and clean the area under it. If it's carpeted, use a handheld steam cleaner to slowly blast steam all over the carpet to kill any eggs that may be buried there, then vacuum the entire area. Then spray the carpet with a bed bug spray.

Examine the ceiling, walls, and baseboards around the bed. Bed bugs love to hide in any little crack in your paint, or dent in your wall, or crevice between your baseboard and the dry wall. Again, use the scotch tape to lift any visible bugs off and throw them away. Run a vacuum cleaner hose attachment over the baseboards and the point at which two walls meet, or the wall and ceiling meet. Spray the bed bug spray on these areas.

Carefully examine any electrical outlets near your bed. This is where I found quite a few bugs hiding. Unscrew the outlet cover and look on the back side of it for any bugs there, and look in the outlet wall cavity for bugs. Don't stick metal back there or try to spray liquid. Instead, I used a powder twice a week.

Buy a bed bug mattress cover and one for your box spring if you have one.

While you're doing all this it's important to not change where you sleep, even though you may be getting devoured at night by bed bugs. They're attracted to your breath so if you try sleeping in another area of your home they may just follow you there and infest other furniture.

These are the steps that worked for me. Again, I did them once or twice a week for a solid six months. I never called an exterminator. My landlord tried to use some "bug bombs" from Home Depot but I found they did not work.

First of all, Dragnet is primarily targeted at termites but it's labeled to kill other types of insects. Permethrin is one of the chemicals to which many BBs have developed resistance, more so than many other chemical pesticieds. You mentioned you caught live BBs; if you still have them, ask the PCO to treat a container at the labeled rate and then place bugs in them. That way you'll know if those products are effective for your strain of bed bug.

Safety appears to be important to you since you're nervous about breathing CimeXa dust and frame piece too large to fit in bag. Forget Nuvan if that's the true. I'd suggest you look at Cirkil or Ecoraider for your wooden frame. Cirkil smells (stinks to many people) for about a week but is quite effective, killing through vapor and contact. Ecoraider is popular but iffier, you have to keep spraying it because it's residual is more transient but it doesn't smell so bad.

Link to Ecoraider

Link to Cirkil

Again, thank you for your help. I tossed my mattress, box spring and bed frame (it was time for a new one anyways. I had a professional come and treat my entire place.

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I haven't seen or felt any bed bugs since when they treated on 9/17. I also live in a condo, so I've called my HOA to notify my neighbors. For my new mattress and bed frame, I've purchased interceptors and protectors for both the [mattress](r/https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004BAEF7E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and [pillows](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PWNHSC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1). Any more precautions I should take? I'm trying not to be too paranoid.

That's the solution I'm moving toward. Books into small containers like this and then the large containers into this, which gets sealed with duct tape. Then put the whole thing into storage.

Hot Shot Pest Strips- same exact thing, friend.

https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Shot-No-Pest-Crawling-Penetrating/dp/B0019BK8AG

https://www.amazon.com/Zinus-SmartBase-Foundation-Replacement-Noise-Free/dp/B006MISZOC/ref=asc_df_B006MISZOC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167157021761&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9451980537366277784&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1020086&hvtargid=aud-643565131866%3Apla-274915971116&psc=1&th=1 this is the bed frame I own and it's amazing if you're looking to keep them a little further away. The full is even on sale for $55. I did break my toe on it by just walking but if you're less of an airhead than me you won't have an issue. It folds up and is so easy to move and assemble. Figured I'd throw it out there.

Please don't stress yourself out. Could your delicate clothing be heat treated? It only takes a few runs in the drier to make sure. Visual inspection of the clothing will help as well.

Also, german roaches are horrible. I understand your paranoia. But it's easier to kill a roach infestation than a bed bug infestation. I'd rather have roaches. lol I can kill roaches easy with a little proactive killing and poison.


Same here. Just keep your home clutter free, store your clothing in sealable bins, and vacuum regularly. Good luck at your new place.

I got my hotshot strips on amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008H5BBOO/ref=sxts_bia_sr_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3182441022&pd_rd_wg=MgjVM&pf_rd_r=V6JER3VAVQHD2HFBVEJY&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B008H5BBOO&pd_rd_w=zuvnL&pf_rd_i=hot+shot&pd_rd_r=7711BMA7BZK9C323B170&ie=UTF8&qid=1506445568&sr=1

You'd think the frequency you're getting bit, that you'd see one somewhere by now.. kinda sounds like there's a few fleas still lingering. My brother had a flea issue and bought this trap and said it started catching fleas within 15 min. Can't hurt to get one or 2 to use in the rooms you're noticing bites in.

He was also dealing with a bedbug problem at the time and used this CimeXa Powder and it helped a ton also. He used a 1" angled paint brush to apply the powder to the cracks and crevices and a powder duster to dust larger areas.

cheap diy indicators and treatments;
simple double sided tape along bed legs.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002O16SHW
use this powder as directed
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0085HRWI8

it may be fleas not bb.
fleas leave fewer indicators behind.
for fleas wash everything around bed with borax.
https://www.amazon.com//dp/B000R4LONQ
including floors walls in:outsides of furniture.

I got these:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B003KV608C/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474706924&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=climbup+interceptor&dpPl=1&dpID=41Tw5rNBtIL&ref=plSrch

The outside is rough I think it's tape on the outside

I got this exact one for $112

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0051T8XMW?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I quit talking to one of my best friends because of them. He happened to be in the adjacent apartment and refused to do anything about them, which didn't help me. I also didn't want him in my new house until he did. So I understand.

Spray: http://www.amazon.com/Harris-Bed-Bug-Killer-Gallon/dp/B003YHKY9I

Bed Bug Killer Powder (diatomaceous earth) http://www.amazon.com/P-F-Harris-Mfg-HDE-8/dp/B00GVLG9A2/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1416116908&sr=1-1&keywords=harris+diatomaceous+earth

Those are what I used, I am not sure what the exterminator used. I still to this day keep covers over all of my mattresses, and keep a stockpile of that spray and diatomaceous earth just in case.

Yea there's no box spring or headboard anymore. I just got this metal frame