Post: #1

I got bedbugs

It was January in NYC and I started getting big red sores. They were like the worst horse-fly bites you could ever get, hot to the touch, they would swell up very large and last for almost two weeks.

I thought at first that maybe there were mosquitoes somehow. My girl was sure they must be something else, not bedbugs. Ticks?

Eventually, I spotted one, crushed it. It crunched when I crushed it, did not squish. I googled the images and yep, it was a bedbug. I began losing it, this is every New Yorker's worst fear. They say they can live in the cracks between floorboards, the eggs can be hidden anywhere, they could be anywhere. I was freaking out.

Who knows how I got them, it could have been any restaurant, anyone's clothes in the subway, any chair in a doctor's office, no idea. I actually had seen a really nice dresser set out on the street corner near me and took it in, I needed another dresser anyway and this was an old one with beautiful hand carvings. When the bedbugs thing started I got rid of that. I don't know if this was the cause but their arrival happened a few weeks after this so it's possible.

I only got bites at night, I would wake up with new ones. I was never covered in dozens, it would be one day I would wake up with a handful of new bites that would last for a couple weeks. Then I wouldn't get any new bites for a while, and would begin to think it was all over, then get some more.

My mattress is atop a metal frame with a boxspring under it. When I bought it I got a bedbug protector, a breathable cover made from some synthetic fabric. What did I know about bedbugs, the guy said this would work, I believed him. So I suspected that perhaps they were not actually in my mattress, but just on my bedding. I washed all my bedding regularly and several times washed all my clothes, cleaned out all my dressers with lysol, etc.

Nope they stayed around.

I began reading about how you get rid of them.

One service offered to basically bag up everything you own, put it in a hot house and bake it until they all died. The service would cost over a thousand dollars and offered no guarantee at all of its effectiveness, since the eggs or bedbugs themselves could literally be between your floorboards and you could very well bake to death all but one and have your infestation continue the very next day.

Other services would fumigate your house, steam your mattress, again, over $1,000 and no guarantee at all. I wasn't about to do that shit, and moving wasn't an attractive option at the time.

After much more googling I discovered Diatomaceous Earth:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

What is this stuff? Wikipedia says:

"Diatomite forms by the accumulation of the amorphous silica (opal, SiO2·nH2O) remains of dead diatoms (microscopic single-celled algae) in lacustrine or marine sediments. The fossil remains consist of a pair of symmetrical shells or frustules.[1]"

Why does this kill bedbugs?

The chemical structure of it apparently kills them through death by a thousand cuts. They have a waxy shell around their exoskeleton which keeps in moisture. The chemical structure of diatomaceous earth punctures this waxy shell and they die from dehydration. Here's what it looks like up close:



I bought "food grade" diatomaceous earth, which literally means you can eat it. This stuff is not poison. Some people advocate mixing it with water and drinking it to cleanse yourself. I never tried that. It is apparently also used to treat pets (and I would guess humans) who have parasites in their digestive systems. Also used in gardens, sprinkled around freely to kill pests that might eat your plants.

Anyway, I did not do any of that stuff, I just used it to kill bedbugs.

So heres what I did:

I already had a covering over my mattress. I did not want to get rid of my mattress if I could avoid it. I still did not know if they were actually under this covering and in my mattress or if they were just getting onto my bedding. When I actually saw them, one was on my curtains, and one was on the floor. So it did seem like they were out and about and not necessarily inside my mattress.

At first I sprinkled it all over my floor, literally everywhere, I wanted it to get into every crack and crevice. This is kinda insane because your footprints will be white and your whole place will be covered in white footprints but compared to the creeping insanity of having bedbugs, it's worth it.

Eventually I cleaned it up a bit and left a border of it around the corner of my room. I still have it there, months after my last bite, just incase.

I also put it on top of my mattress and between my mattress and my box spring.

However, after a week or two of this, I did not see the bites stop.

Some people say you should put this everywhere, like inside your electrical outlets, literally every single place in your house. I did not go so far.

What I did do was buy vinyl, unbreathable coverings for both my box spring and mattress. I sprinkled the diatomaceous earth liberally over my box spring then wrapped it in this vinyl covering, zipped it up, and covered the zipper with duct tape. It's still like that.

Then I took my mattress, with the original breathable covering on it, covered that in diatmoaceous earth, and put that too into a new vinyl covering.

Then I sprinkled more on top of the vinyl covering and between my mattress-pad and the mattress, then on top of the mattress pad as well.

Doing this you can taste it, this is a very fine powder and it will get in the air. It will be in your lungs and on your tongue and you will taste it and feel like you're losing it a bit breathing this stuff in.

But it worked, at least for now. It has been months since my last bite, I still have this powder lining my room and no bites.

I bought "bed bug detectors", tiny plastic things with a sticky substance in them that is supposed to attract and trap bed-bugs, so you could tell where they are. You put it in your drawers, under your mattress, or wherever, to see if bed bugs are around there.

I put them in my closet, in several drawers with clothes, between my mattress and box-spring, and under my sofa cushions. In none of them did I ever find one bed-bug. This was weird because I did this at the time I was getting bitten. Perhaps they just don't really work. But I never had a huge infestation either. It further suggests to me that possibly they weren't actually in my mattress but just wandering about freely and getting onto my bedding.

After I stopped getting bit I did see and kill 2 more walking on the floor. But I have been several months bite-free without seeing any, and I no longer feel crazy about them.

I hope anyone who gets them tries diatomaceous earth before going nuts with poisons or spending a ton of money. The product itself costs like $10-20 so it's no sweat off your back if it doesn't work and you need to call a professional.

Sleep tight.

Post: #2

I hear some use it to kill ants also. It is like getting sand in the gears and they just break down.

Glad you got it sorted out.

Post: #3

This post is the truth. I had a battle with bed bugs a few yeara ago, and DE is the way to go. Make sure you buy food grade DE, I've read that's really the only kind you want in your living areas. You can even buy this at most pet stores.

Also, you place you bed in the middle of the room so that neither the bed nor the sheets touch the walls. From there the only way bed bugs can get to your bed is via the bed posts. Coat those fuckers with DE. Any bug that makes it to your bed will die shortly. It doesn't kill instantly. Sometimes it takes a few days for bugs exposed to DE to bleed out

Post: #4

Thanks for the bed bug datasheet. If I ever see a bed bug in my place, I'm coating my entire place in food-grade DE and take an immediate one-week vacation somewhere.

Post: #5

I used to work in hospitality in college. I had the experience of seeing a room infested with the bastards. They really do hide everywhere from outlets, drawers, cracks in the wood. It doesn't matter.

Your anxieties were well placed.

Post: #6

What happens if you rent an apartment and get bed bugs there? Is the landlord responsible for getting rid of them?

I'll remember this topic though, just in case. Great datasheet.

Post: #7

If they determine that you are the one who brought them, typically you are responsible. If they were brought in by another tenant and spread to you, you should be fine. Shady complexes may try to fuck you on this though.

Post: #8

(07-27-2015 08:54 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  Thanks for the bed bug datasheet. If I ever see a bed bug in my place, I'm coating my entire place in food-grade DE and take an immediate one-week vacation somewhere.

I don't think they come out unless they sense a victim nearby. Sadly, I think they would just wait. I think I read that somewhere.

Post: #9

Someone is going to have to start doing tent fumigation of entire buildings in places like NYC. You see it frequently on the west coast and in the southeast. As long as mother fuckers want to filthy, this shit's gonna get worse. If the trend continues, invest in Terminex.

Post: #10

Xhat I don't understand with those fucking bugs is that they only bite me, I'm litteraly thr only one who get bitten by them and I live in the house with 4 other people.
How is this even possible ?

Anyway thanks for the advice I'll buy that right after work

Post: #11

+1 on this post. I use DE as I am constantly getting creatures crawling through my apartments. Water bugs, roaches, this is the nature of the tropics. Since applying this earth to the cavity areas (under front door, under couch cushions), it is satisfying to wake up and see dead insects lying belly up in various places.

Post: #12

Great tip. I have been under attack by those motherfuckers twice.
First in Singapore, then in Sarajevo.

In Singapore they hit me pretty hard. I had a big red area on my lower back right above my asscheeks. It was itching so damn much so I just wanted to grab a knife and slice my skin off!

To make things worse I had a 12 hour flight home the next day, so I ran into a pharmacy and whipped off my shirt and told them that give me something that will reduce the itching. They gave me some lube, perhaps it helped a little.

However the flight home was a pain in the ass. When I came home I stripped off all my clothes outside my house. I went inside and slammed my bag and everything I had into the frezeer and I had it there for two weeks. (Except my phone and computer). Then I took it out and vacum cleaned every single square miillimeter.

Apparently it worked well. I was afraid to bring those little fuckers inside my house, but thank god I avoided it.

Bedbugs sucks.

Post: #13

@blck

The crazy thing is I only found out I had bed bugs because they kept biting ny girl. For some reason they prefer some people over others, I've read it can have something to do with bloodtypes or body temperature. Also, some people don't really have reaction to the bites while others they leave huge marks on, so its possible some may be being bit and not even realize it.

@Chaos

You can also throw your clothes in the dryer on high heat for several hours to kill them.

Post: #14

^ They survive in hot temperatures much better than in temperatures below -20 celsius.

Post: #15

If you are comfortable with pesticides, I would recommend them in addition to the DE. There are specific dusts that you inject into electrical outet void and baseboards that will persist alot longer than DE. The DE you would use for the bed areas where you actually traffic.

I use the dusts in combination with two other pesticides at my house in the southeast and its an insect holocaust with each emergence season.

Post: #16

What type of dusts Howard? From my knowledge the only ones that really work for bed bugs specifically aren't typically available for consumer purchase. Most good stuff I thought you had to be an exterimator/have a connect for.

Post: #17

+1 for a very informational post. Now I know in case I ever have the unfortunate luck of getting them.



I actually have a carpenter ant infestation story where it took months to beat them...might be worth a write up, as I couldn't find a good answer and had to figure it out myself. DE wouldn't have worked in the case of my ant farm.

Post: #18

(07-28-2015 08:22 AM)Repo Wrote:  What type of dusts Howard? From my knowledge the only ones that really work for bed bugs specifically aren't typically available for consumer purchase. Most good stuff I thought you had to be an exterimator/have a connect for.

I used to be licensed in Canada and the US to apply agriculture/forestry pesticides so yes there is some stuff that is restricted but not much and its really expensive so exterminators won't even use it until 'normal' chemicals fail.

As for what works on bed bugs it depends on whats in it chemically and what the concentration is. Most of the 'exterminator' stuff is just higher concentrations of the same active ingredient you buy premixed, which you can replicate by buying concentrates yourself and mixing them the right way (which is in the instructions). Home depot etc does not usually sell concentrates because well...that would be asking for problems when joe sixpack uses it wrong and poisons his family.

Deltametherin is the active ingredient I'm referring to in this case and can be found in all sorts of products at varying concentrations and formulations (liquids powders etc) it acts on bugs in the same way as DE does, by drying the bug out via breakdown of its exoskeleton. It works well on hard shell bugs like spiders and earwigs as well. Deltametherin in a dust formulation is very fine and using a bulb duster can be "puffed" into cracks and behind outlets so it gets in way behind where you can reach and it just sits there with a long residual time. Those two characteristics are why I like it for low traffic areas, its not something you want to be breathing in so don't be spraying it all on your mattress etc like you can with DE.

Websites like "do my own pest control" sell a lot of pesticide concentrates, which work well if used properly and under caution. The largest danger from pesticide exposure isn't spraying some on your toes or licking a baseboard that has been treated its having the concentrate get on you/into you while mixing it.

Some concentrates make 2 gallons of pesticide that kills scorpions on contact with only .8 oz of concentrate added. Imagine if you spill a 10 oz a bottle of that concentrate and it splashes into your eyes or mouth...you've just come into contact with effectively 25 gallons of pesticide on one spot of your eye. That is why I look like a Hazmat worker when I'm mixing my pesticides.

Last, in most states you need to be licensed to apply pesticides to another person's property for free or not, but you can pretty much buy and do whatever the hell you want to your own property with no regulation or training.

Post: #19

(07-28-2015 09:43 AM)Dr. Howard Wrote:  

(07-28-2015 08:22 AM)Repo Wrote:  What type of dusts Howard? From my knowledge the only ones that really work for bed bugs specifically aren't typically available for consumer purchase. Most good stuff I thought you had to be an exterimator/have a connect for.

I used to be licensed in Canada and the US to apply agriculture/forestry pesticides so yes there is some stuff that is restricted but not much and its really expensive so exterminators won't even use it until 'normal' chemicals fail.

As for what works on bed bugs it depends on whats in it chemically and what the concentration is. Most of the 'exterminator' stuff is just higher concentrations of the same active ingredient you buy premixed, which you can replicate by buying concentrates yourself and mixing them the right way (which is in the instructions). Home depot etc does not usually sell concentrates because well...that would be asking for problems when joe sixpack uses it wrong and poisons his family.

Deltametherin is the active ingredient I'm referring to in this case and can be found in all sorts of products at varying concentrations and formulations (liquids powders etc) it acts on bugs in the same way as DE does, by drying the bug out via breakdown of its exoskeleton. It works well on hard shell bugs like spiders and earwigs as well. Deltametherin in a dust formulation is very fine and using a bulb duster can be "puffed" into cracks and behind outlets so it gets in way behind where you can reach and it just sits there with a long residual time. Those two characteristics are why I like it for low traffic areas, its not something you want to be breathing in so don't be spraying it all on your mattress etc like you can with DE.

Websites like "do my own pest control" sell a lot of pesticide concentrates, which work well if used properly and under caution. The largest danger from pesticide exposure isn't spraying some on your toes or licking a baseboard that has been treated its having the concentrate get on you/into you while mixing it.

Some concentrates make 2 gallons of pesticide that kills scorpions on contact with only .8 oz of concentrate added. Imagine if you spill a 10 oz a bottle of that concentrate and it splashes into your eyes or mouth...you've just come into contact with effectively 25 gallons of pesticide on one spot of your eye. That is why I look like a Hazmat worker when I'm mixing my pesticides.

Last, in most states you need to be licensed to apply pesticides to another person's property for free or not, but you can pretty much buy and do whatever the hell you want to your own property with no regulation or training.

Spot on. I use that website to buy Pyrethrins without extra chemicals or Piperonyl butoxide stuff, so that I can safely spray my house without worrying about harming my kid. The stuff at the local grocery stores has Piperonyl butoxide that can lower IQ in small children. It can also affect unborn children in the 3rd trimester. It's not the Active ingredients on the can you have to worry about, it is the inactive ingredients like Piperonyl butoxide you have to worry about, and damn near 99% of them have it.

Post: #20

I just looked at that "do my own pest control" website. Wow. A lot of potentially dangerous stuff on there. I think I will use the website for Permethrin/Pyrethrin, though.

Also, for those of you who garden, DE is also very useful. You can lightly dust everything that is susceptible to attack from insects with great results. You can also build a border around trouble areas. Obviously, you may need to reapply after rain.

Post: #21

(07-27-2015 09:54 PM)Brodiaga Wrote:  What happens if you rent an apartment and get bed bugs there? Is the landlord responsible for getting rid of them?

I'll remember this topic though, just in case. Great datasheet.

I rent an apartment and the landlord is a piece of shit who avoids doing things for years and years. I didn't even want to talk with the landlord about this cause I didn't want to even think for a second that I would be not only dealing with bedbugs but waiting for someone else who wasn't getting bitten up to deal with the issue on their own timeframe.

I have a roommate and he never got them. Our couches in our living room never got them. Just in my bedroom.

Post: #22

(07-28-2015 10:46 PM)Sonsowey Wrote:  

(07-27-2015 09:54 PM)Brodiaga Wrote:  What happens if you rent an apartment and get bed bugs there? Is the landlord responsible for getting rid of them?

I'll remember this topic though, just in case. Great datasheet.

I rent an apartment and the landlord is a piece of shit who avoids doing things for years and years. I didn't even want to talk with the landlord about this cause I didn't want to even think for a second that I would be not only dealing with bedbugs but waiting for someone else who wasn't getting bitten up to deal with the issue on their own timeframe.

I have a roommate and he never got them. Our couches in our living room never got them. Just in my bedroom.

I have an infestation, called my landlord, they hired an exterminator, and that helped. Now the landlord is saying I should pay for it, even though by law they are supposed to. $275 is not as bad as I thought. They sprayed last week, I have seen 3 newborn bed bugs since then, been vacuuming the carpet nonstop, will try the diamascus earth, this is just getting ridiculous.

Post: #23

The thing is that exterminator cannot eradicate a bed bug infestation chimicly because once the chemicals are gone they come back, you have to apply steam everyday in your house (bed, couch principaly but not only) everywhere they can hide.





Do it also in the frame of the bed they hide there too





Also apply Diatomaceous Earth everywhere on the wallbase that's where they hide and reproduce



You have to do it for a whole month straight to hope to exterminate the egger layers and then kill one by one the hatching eggs.

Post: #24

(09-28-2016 12:50 PM)eradicator Wrote:  

(07-28-2015 10:46 PM)Sonsowey Wrote:  

(07-27-2015 09:54 PM)Brodiaga Wrote:  What happens if you rent an apartment and get bed bugs there? Is the landlord responsible for getting rid of them?

I'll remember this topic though, just in case. Great datasheet.

I rent an apartment and the landlord is a piece of shit who avoids doing things for years and years. I didn't even want to talk with the landlord about this cause I didn't want to even think for a second that I would be not only dealing with bedbugs but waiting for someone else who wasn't getting bitten up to deal with the issue on their own timeframe.

I have a roommate and he never got them. Our couches in our living room never got them. Just in my bedroom.

I have an infestation, called my landlord, they hired an exterminator, and that helped. Now the landlord is saying I should pay for it, even though by law they are supposed to. $275 is not as bad as I thought. They sprayed last week, I have seen 3 newborn bed bugs since then, been vacuuming the carpet nonstop, will try the diamascus earth, this is just getting ridiculous.

I am a bed bug survivor.

There is a multi pronged approach to eradicating them. Since your name is eradicator you are already ahead of the curve.

1. Throw your mattress and bedframe away. Also get rid of all non essential fabrics. Draperys, towels, place mats, maxi pads, shower curtains, everything. Throw it away.

2. Heat. Find an exterminator that has the room heater. They seal off your windows and doors, then add extra insulation and fry the place. Its really hot. But leave all your stuff in there. Leave only freshly washed clothing on your body, then throw that away before entering.

3. Take all things fabric remaining to a laundromat. Dry-wash-dry-wash-dry is the pattern to follow.

4. While your fabrics are outside the apartment, get that Damascus Earth shit and spread it around. Be liberal with it. Just let it be for a week or so.

If this doesn't work, do what I did the second time around:

Contact someone with the right connections that can get you some old fashioned DDT. Its still available in the Philippines. Its a lot like buying heroin because you really have no idea if you are getting the real stuff. The only way to know is if your bedbugs die.

Repeat steps 1 to 3 but use DDT instead of Damascus. Stay out of there for a few days after.

I had a whole building infested and it was a nightmare. Every exterminator had a different miracle cure. One guy had a bed bug sniffing Labrador retriever. I wound up selling the building.

They went from the building to my house. Eventually I had to get the big guns. Now I'm bug free.

Aloha!

Post: #25

(09-28-2016 04:30 PM)Kona Wrote:  They went from the building to my house. Eventually I had to get the big guns. Now I'm bug free.

Aloha!

Are bedbugs and roaches a common occurrence in Hawaii? One of my buddies came back from there recently and told me he's never seen so many roaches in his life.