Bed Bugs: Effective prof treatments & How to handle things that can't be washed at 60

Nyveane

Hi,

We suspect we have a bed bug infestation after staying at a hotel 3 weeks ago, however we're facing some issues as to how to treat it, especially because our bedroom has had piles of clothes, shoes, books and DVDs in it for weeks. Please if anyone is able to help!

None of the pest control companies are willing to come without evidence of bed bugs, we have done the usual checking and are going to use the recently reported on Dog bowl + yeast mixture DIY trap.

1. We are trying to get a professional company in to treat the issue, however:
- Most companies we've contacted are talking about using pesticides, but it seems from many websites I've read that bed bugs are resistant to pesticides, so we're wary of using these companies
- The one company that suggested using something else was Rentokill, they suggested their heat pod treatment.
However they want to charge an eye watering 340 quid per room (we think at least 3 rooms could have been infected) and they basically pile the furniture in the middle of the room, build a box around it and heat it, which surely doesn't treat any eggs or bugs in the carpets or behind the wallpaper etc? And surely bed bugs can dislodge from the furniture while it's being moved? We also have reservations about using Rentokill as they were less than qualified while dealing with our flea infestation last year (yes we've been lucky...).

My questions are:
- Has anyone had any experience with this Rentokill treatment or their more expansive full building endotherm heat treatment.
Was it effective? How much did it cost?
- Has anyone had any success with other professional treatments?

2. Many websites advocate washing things above 60 degrees and/or drying them in the dryer on a high heat to at least keep the numbers down and keep your clothes relatively safe for at least a day. However we don't own a dryer and (before anyone suggests it) our freezer is frost free, meaning it heats up every so often to 0 degrees C, which apparently makes it ineffective at killing bed bugs. Since we also probably have to pay an astronomical bill for the pest control, we don't really want to take all of our clothes to a dry cleaners.
- Is there any other way to remove bed bugs from clothes which can only be washed at 30 or 40 degrees? These clothes contain Polyester or viscose and surely would be ruined in a 60 degrees wash?
- Is there any other way to remove bed bugs from things that can't be washed, such as any type of leather shoes, shoes with cork soles, expensive walking shoes, books and Dvd(s)(cases)?
- Will we simply be forced to buy a chest freezer and a dryer to get the house bed bug free?

I hope you can help, we're at our wits end!

MX5huggy

Contact your local council pest control for another option.

I would be doing nothing until know you have them.

The freezer thing has to wrong, a frost free freezer does not go up to 0 if -18 or so kills BB's then a FFF will be fine.

nonnatus

SHUDDER!

I stayed on Lundy several years ago for 3 nights and woke up after night one COVERED in large, itchy bad bug bites. There were so many that they were very visible to the naked eye.

One was just chilling on the pillow case, legs crossed, belly full of the blood from my head, smoking a bug-fag I suspect...!!

DEFINITELY get a professional company in to eradicate every trace of these NASTY creatures...

Ectophile

Regardless of what it says on the label, many things can be washed at 60 degrees. I always do bedding at 60 degrees, even if the labels say 40. I also recently washed a sleeping bag on a hot wash after I got bitten while using it.

Similarly, until I got my own washing machine, I used to tumble dry everything at the launderette, even things that said "do not tumble dry" on the label. I never tumble things until they are bone dry and crispy, just to the point where they aren't soggy any more. Everything has survived so far.

rach_k

I would wash everything at 60 degrees too, unless you have something particularly valuable or made of something like silk. Polyester should be fine at 60 degrees, I've washed all sorts of poly stuff on hot and it's been fine (and I did once try to ruin some horrible poly baby clothes we'd been given and it all came out absolutely fine )

Does diatomaceous earth work for bed bugs? We had success with carpet beetles with it.

WestonDave

Having accidentally washed an entire load of kids clothes at 90C, I'd be inclined to take most labels with a pinch of salt - for the record the only damage done was the teflon coating stripped off their school clothes, and the elastic in the cuffs of some sweatshirts melted and went out of shape.

I'd suggest buying some of the vacuum bags off ebay (you can get ones that you just crush the air out of rather than having to use a hoover). They would be almost impossible to get into for bed bugs so if you say took all your clothes to a launderette, washed them and dried them and then in situ sealed them into the vacuum bags and removed the air from them, they'd be safe enough from bed bugs.

It may be that other stuff like DVD's etc can be isolated in similar bags and if necessary sealed off until such time as the outside temperature is likely to be sub zero overnight and then you can put them outside to freeze. Obviously that's not going to be soon. Is there anyone that would let you put sealed bags of stuff in their freezer - I appreciate most people wouldn't want unsealed stuff in their house for obvious reasons but stuff in an air tight bag left that way until removed would be OK.

SJshah

Buy a good quality steam cleaner, one that has several attachments to steam mattresses, carpets, pillows, clothes, everything.

It should kill the bed bugs. Cleans stuff all over the house really well too.