Info How did you get rid of bedbugs?

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Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,234
136
IIRC if you use high percentage isopropyl alcohol, it also works. Put a ton in a spray bottle and get all the seams of the mattress that could be possibly storing the buggers.
Yes. But studies shown that the contact needs to be a very high concentration; beyond store level. Then it's very effective but very dangerous to human and animal health too.
I use 99% pure isopropyl to clean electronics. Doesn't matter if you get it on yourself or spill it. The stuff evaporates in seconds. Dries waaaaay faster than water does.
 
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Raincity

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2000
4,477
12
81
Really depends on how bad the infestation is. Using a pro that uses heat treatment for a day is the only sure fire way to get them all. Needs to be a treatment like this.

I am not endorsing this extermination service in the video but using it as a example on how it should be done.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,476
8,076
136
Surprised a black market for DDT hasn't sprung up.
I think there is some around, but of course it's been totally banned for many decades.

IIRC, we used to have it around the house in the 50's, maybe 60's. Smells nasty.
 

deadlyapp

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2004
6,587
702
126
I use 99% pure isopropyl to clean electronics. Doesn't matter if you get it on yourself or spill it. The stuff evaporates in seconds. Dries waaaaay faster than water does.
Exactly. 99% alcohol is easily available and evaporates nearly immediately. Yes if you drink it it'll kill you but most people aren't that idiotic.
 

Oyeve

Lifer
Oct 18, 1999
21,914
821
126
My GF had em last year. Her daughters room was the worse as she probably got em from college. My poor GF was bit to hell. Shes real sensitive that way. Mosquitoes love her as well. Anyway, she called the pros, came with a dog, sniffed em out. She had to take apart the whole apartment and beds and they froze em out and treated everything. She was banned from my apt for a while. As a precaution I sealed and treated my mattress.
 

TXHokie

Platinum Member
Nov 16, 1999
2,557
173
106
Fought bedbugs for a couple months many years ago. Here's what worked for me:

Lost a couch and a bed boxspring since we didn't want to risk trying to salvage it. The only bedroom furniture we tried to save was the wooden bed frame that I took apart every time there was a sighting of remnant bedbug during the weekly check. Put the mattress and boxspring in a nice bedbug proof cover (don't get the cheap plastic stuffs, it will just tear and make too much noise during sleep and you'll end up buying it twice). Kept furniture and bedding in the infested room to minimum and 2 ft away from walls and put DE around the walls perimeter. You don't want them getting into the walls and infect other rooms but it would have to be a major infestation to start getting into walls. I only had the bed and simple night stand left for easy clean up and cleared out all tables/books/dressers/closet. Our sons spent 2 months changing clothes in another clean room and only slept in that room. Moved all the rest of the furniture into garage storage during the treatment. Did the mattress check daily/weekly for any signs and if I see them, time to take the bed apart and clean every nook and cranny of the furniture and vacuum the entire room. I ended up taking the bed apart to clean 3 times and the third time, decided to paint over corners and crossbars with a layer of acrylic paint to seal in any possible hidden place in the cracks for them to hide and lay eggs which seems to have done the job. The check and clean rinse and repeat took 3 months before I stopped finding trace of bedbugs. It's been said that you don't really get rid of bed bugs until you stop seeing them for 6 months. Every time you see one, the clock resets. The chemicals are useless since they don't really seep into cracks where they hide and lay eggs. My only chemical used was 99% alcohol in a spray bottle for instant visual kill.

I did look into getting exterminator pros but they start at $500 and can run up to $2k and they also can't guarantee you won't get reinfected. You end up doing most of the work anyway with isolating beddings and laundry. I did that making sure everything gets into extended drying cycle and stuffs in separate bags and stored in plastic containers. That one encounter with bed bugs scarred us all pretty good and now whenever we go to hotels, that's the first thing we do is check the hotel mattress for signs.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,409
7,591
126
That one encounter with bed bugs scarred us all pretty good and now whenever we go to hotels, that's the first thing we do is check the hotel mattress for signs.
I sleep in my truck. I started that years ago before bedbugs were exploding cause I'm cheap. Now it's a prudent self protection routine.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,853
1,048
126
Twice we thought they were bed bugs and they weren't. Be absolutely sure before you upend your entire floor. Does the room have carpet?
 
Jun 18, 2000
11,122
698
126
There's a new pesticide that uses bacteria spores that supposedly kills the entire colony. I remember reading about it a few years ago. I guess it's been commercialized. Look for an exterminator that uses it. A quick Google search says its called Aprehend.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
Theres only one way to be sure


michael-biehn-hicks-aliens.jpg
 
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CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
856
126
Yes. But studies shown that the contact needs to be a very high concentration; beyond store level. Then it's very effective but very dangerous to human and animal health too.
Don't know who told you that. I've gotten as high as 93% from jugs at the drug store (91% is more common) and 99.9% from Lowe's Home Improvement. I keep 99.9% Electronics Cleaning Grade isopropyl all over the house for cleaning flux, cleaning old videogames, cleaning the 3D printer bed, etc. Probably going to be ordering this stuff by the gallon when I get a UV resin printer.

Unless you are doing something stupid with it that I can't even imagine, 99.9% isopropyl is not notably more dangerous than your typical drugstore 91%. It's just rubbing alcohol that evaporates even faster with less water in it and no additives for restoring skin oils.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,272
10,777
136
Exactly. 99% alcohol is easily available and evaporates nearly immediately. Yes if you drink it it'll kill you but most people aren't that idiotic.


Folks tend to injure themselves accidentley starting fires with that stuff ... not sure how they manage but they do it.

Maybe spraying it over a lighter ??? :p


Also it only kills bugs it gets directly on and has no lasting effect so while it can be part of the solution, by itself it isn't getting rid of the little fvckers!
 
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Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,341
12,099
126
www.anyf.ca
Wonder how well this stuff works for bed bugs: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Cyonara-Bed...801776?hash=item4d916511b0:g:naUAAOSwCm9crjHJ

Amazon has it but it's over $200 so Ebay is better bet.

I've used it for spiders, it targets pretty much all bugs as far as I know. It leaves a residue behind so it's continuous action. For bed bugs I would put holes between each stud in the drywall and spray inside each cavity too. Spray inside outlet boxes etc, get all the crevices you can. Get baseboards etc. Avoid drywall surface, because it will probably leave streak marks (you mix with water so it's like spraying any other liquid). I would avoid doing the actual bed, like do it during an infestation but I would avoid it as an every day preventive just because you probably don't want to breathe that in every night. It's relatively safe though, it has kinda a fruity smell and the MSDS is decently tame. It's considered safe for use in food prep areas as well.

It's bad for reptiles though so if you have any as pets you may want to avoid it.
 
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Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,272
10,777
136
"Cyonara"


Wow that's special... :rolleyes:


It might work despite the unfortunate name but unfortunately again everything I've read on the topic (from sources without a stake in the game) has said ALL pesticides are rapidly becoming less effective on bedbugs. That includes stuff pros use which are far stronger then consumer grade products ... also usually much more expensive!