Bed bugs!

[ezmum]

Hi,


Just like to share my experience on our war with the bed bugs....

Bedbugs are nocturnal pests which are basically \"harmless\" and feeds on human blood. Though harmless, they multiply extremely fast, invade your home and will cause serious havoc and disruptions to your lifestyle. If you do not bring it under control, you may also unknowingly spread to your relatives, friends or bring to your kids' school too.

Few months ago, due to urgency, we hurriedly took in a transfer maid from a maids' shelter. Our nightmare began when she brought her luggage into our house. When we discovered that the shelter had severe bed bugs problem, it was too late.

These bed bugs are active around 1am-5am. It usually hibernates near human hosts such as bed mattress/frames, curtains etc... As adults, we can endure some disruptions but it pains my heart when our children sleep are disrupted and had to wake up early for school, and frequently had a trail of bite bumps on their bodies.

We enquired with a few pest control companies. It requires a lot of cleaning and packing up before they agree to start the job. We need to empty out all our wardrobes and bookshelves, wash all our clothing and linens in HOT water, dry, and packed in sealed bags. All books are also required to be sealed in bags. The package costs about $500-$700, usually takes 1-2 visits within 1 month for them to fumigate your home for about 5 hours. So far, only 1 company offers up to 1 month guarantee whilst some do not guarantee at all. We can understand why there's no guarantee as these nocturnal pests are only active at night and as there could be millions of them hiding ANYWHERE, it is simply impossible to eradicate in 2 visits!

Hence, I decided to DIY, yes war with the Bedbugs began here... I did lots of googling and researching and finally, these are the methods which work best:
Materials:
-\tDouble-sided tape, masking tape, big plastic bags (all from SKP)
-\tA4 or larger size Glue board (about 4pcs per room) (from Daiso)
-\t3 strong hairdryers (high heat) and a torchlight.
-\tDiatomaceous Earth powder - FOOD Grade (Diatomite or DE powder). Insist on Food grade as the pool grade is harmful to our body. We bought from 2 places, one from Ubi the price is 10x more but seems more effective. A cheaper one from Toa Payoh pet shop seems less potent. Avoid breathing in DE as it’s drying for your skin and harmful to your lungs (do google for more info). Get a mask, pair of gloves, socks or slippers ready.
-\tPotion 3 spray solution, tea tree oil pack (to hang in wardrobes) (bought from Ubi).
-\tMattress encasement bag – we check with several departmental stores and bedding shops (including Spotlights) but unfortunately, we could not find any. The imported ones are too expensive. With these bags, it will trap the bugs and it will eventually die – but do note that bed bugs are known to survive without food for 12 months! So if you happen to use these bags, do not open it any sooner.
Method:
1.\tTape masking tape round the bed legs, floor skirting or any place you spot these bugs. Bed should be away from the wall or any cabinet.
Place the double-sided tape over the masking tape.
Above method is to trap any pests when it walks past the path and to prevent it from getting near you.
2.\tNext, we will use the hair dryers and blow near the bed frames (overturn the frame), mattress creases, skirting openings. To prevent it from flying away, place the glue boards on the floor. This is a most effective method and you actually feel very satisfied seeing the bugs running out from the hiding places. As the hairdryer gets overheated easily, you will need to get extra hairdryers on standby. Get masking tape ready and catch the bugs when you see it. Use the torchlight at obscure places to look out for the eggs are which are very tiny and translucent. We found several bunch of eggs underneath the bedframes - use masking tapes to remove this. Do be very prepared and look out for runaway bugs as the last thing you want is to move it to other rooms! Hence, standby many glue boards, be very alert and get extra help to catch the bugs. Once it’s done, vacuum up and always keep the VC in a sealed bag. There may be bugs in the VC. Leave some DE powder in the bag and also VC bag.
3.\tBrush the Potion 3 solution generously over the bedframes, cabinets, mattress edges, and any area you spot these bugs. Some of the places we spotted are curtain hems, base of TV cabinet, bed frames & screw openings, openings of wall skirting, ceilings. Do not rule out micro places eg screw openings or power sockets. We removed a wall mounted “pigeon hole” and found its nest! Leave to dry for 2-3 hours. Hang the tree oil pack inside wardrobe, the strong scent will keep the bugs away.
4.\tOnce it’s dried, lightly brush a thin coat of DE (Food Grade) on these places. Put on your mask, gloves and slippers/socks, turn off fans and keep children away. DE is extremely light and avoid breathing in as it’s harmful to our lungs and extremely drying to our skin. With DE powder, you will not see instant result but when the bugs walk over DE powder, it will slowly die of dehydration. Hence, it’s good to apply a thin coat below the mattress cover and along the mattress edges and the bedframes. You can add some water and it will stick better. Again, from our experience, avoid getting your children contact with DE as it may cause skin allergies and irritations.
5.\tFor severe infestations, check daily for dried skins or dead bugs, vacuum up the places. Then repeat steps 3-4, twice or thrice weekly. Once the situations improve, we step down to once weekly, and after 1 month, biweekly, then monthly. At the moment, we will do this monthly and eventually stop after one year, as the bugs can survive up to 1 year without food.
Important – always keep the vacuum cleaner in a sealed bag. There may be bugs in the VC and you won’t want to spread this to other rooms. You may also want to change the VC bags frequently – but for us, keeping it in the sealed bag works and it will also die as there’s DE powder inside the bag.
If you spot any bug, do not kill it as there may be eggs inside the adult bug! Only heat can kill the eggs effectively. We kept it inside a small container with DE powder and if the egg hatches, the baby bugs will die over time.
6.\tIn the meantime, wash bed linens twice a week in HOT water. Do not mix with your other clothings. Again, when things have improved, reduce washing to once weekly.
7.\tRemove the curtains and wash in HOT water. We found some adult bugs breeding in the curtain hems, yuck! For this period, it is probably better to keep the curtain away sealed in a bag.
8.\tTo stop spreading to other rooms, avoid using the same broom or mop. Clean the vacuum cleaner with Dettol or bleach after each use.
9. Be very careful when how to dispose the bugs and its eggs. As mentioned, the eggs may survive even if you kill the adult bug. You can kill the eggs with extreme heat (hair dryer). For us, we simply kept the bugs and the eggs in an small air-tight transparent disposable container, place some DE powder and let it die on its course. You can pour some oil into it too.
10. If you are disposing any infested furniture, do it responsibly and spare a thought for others who may picked it up unknowingly. In this case, the infestation will never end and will multiply.

It has been almost 2 months since we declared war with the bed bugs (touch wood)! It took us about 8 weeks of total continuous dedication, hardwork (overturning beds, furniture) but only with the heating method, we start to see immediate results in the last 4 weeks. Surprisingly, the heating method works best but when I proposed this to the pest control busters, they did not recommend this. Now I know why…. Haha. I am glad we did not have to call the pest control which not cost money but it did not guarantee any result and the bugs could return anytime. The amount of money we spent DIY was not cheap either, about $250. However, with our own DIY experience, we are more experienced now and can keep the bugs at bay.

Just a word of caution – From the many pest busters we spoke to, bed bugs infestation is on the rise due to frequent budget airline travelling etc. So when you enter a hotel room, do look out for bedbugs (floor, beds) and if possible, avoid laying your bags on the carpet floor. Upon returning home, clean the luggages immediately and look out for any unwanted pests. Having been through this, we will not take things for granted!

It has been a tedious, tiring and laborious battle with the bed bugs and I hope the above can help anyone to conquer your war more easily. Feel feel to email me if you need help.

Good Luck!

[janicevills]

I think pest control is also good and effective option for http://eliminexpestcontrol.com/bedbugtreatments/, one should regularly use pest control spray after every 1 month. This is very helpful to get rid of bed bugs completely. :hi5:

[sundaymorning]

Thanks ezmum for sharing !!

[JacqJacq75]

Thanks ezmum for that informative post!

[nolting]

Garbage provides food and shelter for many unwanted organisms, as well as an area where still water might collect and be used as a breeding ground by mosquitoes. Communities that have proper garbage collection and disposal, have far less of a problem with rats, cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies and other pests than those that don't. Thanks.

Regards,
http://bestpestcontrolutah.com/

[33mama]

I went on a holiday recently in Malaysia and I think I caught some bugs… Did not find those bed bugs but was bitten on my own bed at my home now each day 20-30 dots… sprayed bed bugs spray and await the bugs to appear. Whatever I do I just do not see the bugs at all… definitely not a mozzie bite as it is red with a dot… other than those normal bed bugs, could it be something else?

[Nebbermind]

33mama:

I went on a holiday recently in Malaysia and I think I caught some bugs... Did not find those bed bugs but was bitten on my own bed at my home now each day 20-30 dots... sprayed bed bugs spray and await the bugs to appear. Whatever I do I just do not see the bugs at all... definitely not a mozzie bite as it is red with a dot... other than those normal bed bugs, could it be something else?

Are the spots in clusters?

[33mama]

Nebbermind:

33mama:

I went on a holiday recently in Malaysia and I think I caught some bugs... Did not find those bed bugs but was bitten on my own bed at my home now each day 20-30 dots... sprayed bed bugs spray and await the bugs to appear. Whatever I do I just do not see the bugs at all... definitely not a mozzie bite as it is red with a dot... other than those normal bed bugs, could it be something else?

Are the spots in clusters?

yes.

[Nebbermind]

The last time I was bitten I could see blood stain on the sheet. If there isn't, may not be. Perhaps you spend the night in another room and see if you still get new spots. Or you can use a steam iron n steam your mattress

[33mama]

Nebbermind:

The last time I was bitten I could see blood stain on the sheet. If there isn't, may not be. Perhaps you spend the night in another room and see if you still get new spots. Or you can use a steam iron n steam your mattress

slept in my kids room... no bites...