Posted by Dy on 22:41 Jul 15
In Reply to: Bedbugs........have you ever had them in your house? posted by Jo
What I've read recently says that the only sure-fire way to kill them in mattresses and box-springs is to heat them to an insanely high temperature. There are companies that will do it, but I have no idea how you'd go about it.
You can't starve them out b/c they can go 6mos+ without feeding and as soon as there's a body, they're on it. Bug bombs may help, but won't necessarily penetrate deeply enough to get them out of your mattress, which is part of the problem.
SO, being the weirdos we are, DH and I started thinking about alternatives that would work (and would be feasible). We came up with two that we'd be willing to try if we had a problem (dh travels for work, so it's a very real possibility for us). The one I like the best is to get a thick plastic mattress bag and some dry ice, and fumigate it the way you would grain or anything else. Put the mattress in the bag, with the dry ice, and close it up (but not tightly at first, or the bag will pop). Give it an hour or so w/ a little leak (keep it at the top) and then seal it up thoroughly. Leave it like that for 48 hours, and that should do the trick on any that are in the bedding, including eggs.
The other doesn't sound as feasible (and isn't for us, in high-humidity areas), but if you're in, say, Arizona or New Mexico, this might work this time of year. Get the mattress bag, seal it up, and set it on the concrete in the sun. As hot as it gets, I think it would reach the temperature to kill them in fiarly short order. (I'd trust the dry ice more, though, lol.)
Exterminators also recommend vacuuming regularly and thoroughly - every crevice, every nook and every cranny, every evening.
BTW, don't be embarrassed at all. They aren't an indicator that you're unclean or have done anything wrong at all. Parasites don't stick with just one host, and something like this knows how to travel - on bats, from guest to guest in hotel rooms, you name it. I just read this week that a museum (I think it was a scientific display they had going on) tested visitors and found bed bugs on more than one of them.
I hope you can get them eradicated quickly. {{{hugs}}}
Dy
Oh, I just found this place - they might have some good information for you if you find you can't get rid of them on your own. (Linked below)