"Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!"
You may have heard that cliche phrase many times before and never thought anything of it. You may even think that "bed bugs" are just an old-wives tale or some legend. Recently Lindsay and I discovered that bed bugs are real, and they SUCK.
Cimex Lectularius (A.K.A. bed bugs) are parasitic and nocturnal, meaning they suck your blood and they only come out at night. Bascially a vampire in bug form. They live in temperate climates and are known to get particularly bad in people's houses during winter time, when it is cold outside and warm inside. Generally, Bed Bugs will live in mattresses due to the warmth, and due to the fact that their host (you) sleeps there. Once you have them, they don't go away, they only get worse because they like making babies. Generally an adult bed bug will get no bigger than one tenth of an inch, making them difficult to spot. If left unchecked, eventually you will have an entire colony of bed bugs living happily inside your mattress just waiting for you to lay your head down so they can come out and gorge on it. That's where Lindsay and I were at.
It took us a while to face the fact that we had bed bugs. We would wake up in the morning kind of itchy and have red spots that were bites. It was obvious, but something about bed bugs and their putridity makes you not want to admit to yourself that you have a problem. But eventually, we could see the little buggers crawling on the bed when we took the sheets off. It was sick! The last 5 nights before we got a new bed Lindsay spent the night on the couch in the living room, and I slept on the floor next to the couch.
Getting rid of bed bugs is not easy. But it has to be done, and believe me, it's well worth it. Here's the steps to getting rid of bed bugs (in my experience).
1) Throw your bed away.
2) Bug bomb...it won't necessarily kill them, but definitely doesn't hurt. We used five bug bombs!
2a) After bug-bombing, you'll have to let your house air out and wash all your dishes.
3) Wash all your clothes. Everything. The water and soap from the wash and the heat of the dryer WILL kill them.
4) Deep clean the carpet in the infested room
5) Clean anything else you feel like cleaning, it won't hurt.
6) Bring in your new bed, and sleep well!
It took an entire day to get that list done, but it was well worth it. An interesting strategy post bed bug annihilation is to put the legs of your bed in glass jars, apparently they can't climb up glass. We didn't do that, but its just an idea.
Here's to hoping we never get bed bugs again, and if you have bed bugs, may God have mercy on your soul.
-Bill,
http://www.twitter.com/billgrip
http://www.youtube.com/billgrip
2 comments:
I am sorry to hear you are fighting bed bugs, and I must say, I am even more worried about your approach to getting rid of them. Throwing away your bed will not get rid of bed bugs. If they are not gone they will simply infest your new bed.
There are no insect bombs that kill bed bugs. They are resistent to almost every over the counter insect spray/bomb/goo with the exception of Bedlam. Your bug bomb killed not one bug or their eggs. I'm sorry to have to share that with you.
Sleeping on your sofa means, they will come to the sofa where you are sleeping, bite you, retreat into the sofa and lay eggs. I've been through this, and won the fight. So can you but you must act quickly now.
Please do call a competent, detailed pest professional and have them inspect your home and produce a specimen. The longer you wait, the more eggs they are laying. Those bugs can bite you immediately upon hatching and after five bites the females will begin laying more eggs.
Good luck to you!
Tarrabyte
www.bedbugsnorthwest.com
Thank you, but we actually haven't had any problems with them since. I think our method worked.
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