Any of you ever get bed bugs?

[samman1994]

Hello everyone,

So anyone of you get bed bugs in  your dorm or apartment when you moved out for undergrad/grad school? If so, how'd you treat it? If in a dorm, I assume you'd inform the school itself and they'd call exterminators, but how'd you deal with those in the apartment? Considering college kids are low on funds, exterminator wouldn't be the first choice (unless landlord decides to call them). I've looked up Diatomaceous earth food grade, and looked at just spraying that basically everywhere, especially around and within the box frame and mattress, and around and inside my couches. Seems like most of the bug bombs are useless for bed bugs. 

[Concordia]

Maybe dry ice combined with cases for your mattress and pillows.

[samman1994]

4 hours ago, Concordia said:

Maybe dry ice combined with cases for your mattress and pillows.

dry ice? never heard that one before

[ltr317]

One or two apartments in my building had them.  Even though the other apartments were bed bug free, everyone had to have their residences treated.  That's because bed bugs travel from apartment to apartment through the walls.  The exterminator had to actually spray inside the walls through cracks.  So even if you treat your apartment they will come back if they are still in other apartments.  Since you work in a science lab, ask your co-workers about treatment.  If they don't know, they may know another scientist with knowledge of bed bugs. 

[Concordia]

Carbon dioxide.  Living things hate it.

You can use it in garment bags to get rid of moths.  Not quite sure of the most practical way to enclose bedding, but it is worth a try.  Garbage bags for the smaller stuff.  Or if you're going away for the weekend, a few hundred pounds under the bed while taping the doors shut.

www.lifekind.com sells bedding of all kinds that either don't attract, or otherwise thwart bugs.  Not necessarily for student budgets, but the workmanship is very good.

 

 

Edited September 18, 2017 by Concordia

[samman1994]

I mean, I have access to literally pounds and pounds of it, but for obvious reasons I'd only use it if I was away, also don't know if the carbon monoxide alarm reads carbon dioxide as well, because then it would go off if it did. Regardless, that treatment seems uneffective unless you douse the whole room (don't know how much CO2 bed bugs can handle, but due to diffusion, not enough of it will saturate in one area to kill them, meaning you'd have to saturate the whole room, in which case it makes it unliveable for you). So seems like a huge hassle with potential for little success (they might just run away into the wall cracks). Seems like an exterminators job for that.  

[cowgirlsdontcry]

I have read that bedbugs are difficult to get rid of. When I lived in a dorm while on an exchange, I purchased bug proof mattress covers that zippered the mattress up into a plastic cover because I was paranoid, then covered with a regular mattress pad. I have heard of people who had to have their homes tented and fogged (gassed) by professionals. 

I believe that carbon dioxide dissipates rather quickly once windows are opened and a fan is turned on to blow out the window. You simply don't want to be in the room if you're using large quantities of the dry ice. Have no idea if that works

[samman1994]

Yeah that's what I'm going to get once I fix this

[Concordia]

Maybe get a plastic tarp and ductape to seal in the bed.  Which might not address the whole problem.

For moths, it is usually recommended to keep an imperfect seal on for 2-3 days.  Obviously, you want a way for the oxygen to escape out the top.

[guest56436]

FYI, bed bugs are not exclusive to mattresses. They can live anywhere. Bed covers are asininely useless against the prevention of bed bugs. Waste of money.

The only way to really get rid of bed bugs is through professional help.