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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

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Original poster

oh dear, do I have bed bugs

40 replies

SayItIsntSo · 28/08/2011 23:22

I've name changed due to the Horror! We moved to our new home 10 months ago. In the last week I've had a couple of very itchy bites (no one else has) but they could be something else as we're in a rural location ... but then (in the living room) I've just found a bug thing, though can't be sure it is a bed bug: I just caught it in a jar. We're in a village near Cambridge, do you think I can take Mister Bug somewhere for identification? I have 3 DCs under 6 and am worried about them being bitten now ... In case it is the dreaded BB, has anyone tried diatomaceous earth to combat them? I'm thinking of doing some pre-emptive shopping ... HELP!

OP posts:

WhereYouLeftIt · 28/08/2011 23:36

Does it look anything like this?

Original poster

SayItIsntSo · 28/08/2011 23:46

it is a similar brownish rust colour but its body is longer and thinner in shape ... am experiencing extreme paranoia now ...

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ObviouslyOblivious · 28/08/2011 23:57

Hi, my dissertation was about bed bugs. I've also treated infestations. Can you look at the wall behind your bed, and on your mattress and bed frame? Bed bug excreta looks like blue/black biro stains.
Where did you find the bug you've caught?
Your local council environmental health dept should be happy to ID any specimens for you.
It's horrible, I'm sorry if you have them :(
But don't panic, they are not known to transmit any disease.

FingandJeffing · 28/08/2011 23:58

I think you should look in the dark places of your wooden furniture. Bed side tables, bed frames etc to see if you can find evidence. You can pick them up from hotels,or staying with others.

Original poster

SayItIsntSo · 29/08/2011 00:08

have found some bits of dark dust but nothing else ... one problem is that this house has dark wooden beams all over the place and low ceiliings: it's a mass of hiding places, in particular in the low beamed bedrooms! My DH was recently in the US where I know there's been a whole new epidemic, so I am trying to not be hysterical. The bug I found was on the sofa next to me (I was in pyjamas having been upstairs putting DCs to bed). ObviouslyOblivious: do you have advice on eradication?

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festi · 29/08/2011 00:17

Hi I had bedbugs I mlived in flats so think that is how nthey came into ine. I phoned the council and asked what I should do. They seemed to think it was nt bed bugs but gnats, so they adviced that either way I should...1) put vasaline at the end of every bed and sofa, and hoover out every day, undder beds behind wardrobes etc. and launder all beding at 60 degrees. and do this daily as it would cost a fourtune to get an exterminater out and this daily precaiitioh would get rid of them. The council did say it was unlikely I had them but I did fing excriment on dds oillow aswell as a shedded skin. But I did follow this and didnt need to pay out for extwermination so in shor vasilin and hoover.

Original poster

SayItIsntSo · 29/08/2011 00:23

thanks Festi, I'm currently abandoning thoughts of sleep and am laundering like a crazy woman: everything is currently in tightly tied bin bags or in the washing machine at 90 degrees. I'll launder DCs beds and do more hoovering in the morning. Nightmare!

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Original poster

SayItIsntSo · 30/08/2011 03:32

me again. Just woke up to find I've been bitten again: they are red and itchy, seem to be concentrated around my ankles and the back of my knees. I've been cleaning all day and haven't found the culprits (unless exhibit number 1 which is currently still wriggling happily in a jar has biting relatives).
I wonder if I take the creature in the jar to a chemist they'll be able to identify it for me?

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MrsTerryPratchett · 30/08/2011 03:43

Ankles and back of legs is GOOD. Means it could be animal fleas (jump on, bite, jump off) as opposed to bedbugs which crawl out of your bedding (sorry) and bite anywhere. Frequently bedbugs go for the torso/arms. If you have been hoovering and cleaning all day, maybe you have fleas in the carpet. Any pets?

Have a torch by your bed. If you feel anything in the early hours (their favourite time to feed) pull back the covers and shine the torch, you will see them. They don't move that fast.

I don't know if a chemist will be able to tell you. Can you post a picture on your profile?

BTW I don't have bedbugs but many happy years spent working in homeless shelters will make you somewhat of a paranoid bedbug hunter.

EttiKetti · 30/08/2011 05:19

I reckon fleas. Get some indorex spray from a vet and spray the whole house.

ProfYaffle · 30/08/2011 06:53

Yep, Indorex spray is fab. We spent a fortune on stuff from the pet shop but only Indorex managed to shift our flea infestation. Couple it with the measures already mentioned, wash all the bedding, hoover under everything, in all corners and cracks, then throw the hoover bag away. Hard work but effective.

VivaLeBeaver · 30/08/2011 07:13

It does sound more like fleas and beginning of autumn is often the time when fleas appear in a house. My db had them when he moved to a house even though he had no animals, must have been from previous owners cats. They seem to be able to live a long time without an animal host. His appeared some months after he moved in, in sept once he put the heating on.

We get fleas sometimes as loads of animals. Treat any animals you do have, get that indorax spray stuff and Hoover like mad especially next to skirting boards.

Original poster

SayItIsntSo · 30/08/2011 07:27

Thanks everyone, having managed only 3 hours of sleep and feeling itchy all over, and even more paranoid, I am going to get indorex and continue the clean. We don't have pets. I've got a torch at the ready for tomorrow night. Am thinking of sealing my pyjamas to my socks with packing tape (oh the glamour). At the moment the lovely dark wooden beams seem very menacing!

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Original poster

SayItIsntSo · 30/08/2011 07:38

am going to see if I can take a photo of the little bug in the jar - slightly concerned that I might have to open the lid to do this.

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ProfYaffle · 30/08/2011 07:57

Apparently, fleas in the pupae stage can live for over 12 months before hatching out! Even if you don't have animals, if the previous owners did you could still have fleas.

Original poster

SayItIsntSo · 30/08/2011 08:27

Thanks ProfYaffle (great name btw). I am a bit of a clean freak so it's a real pain to see this happening, apart from my attractive bites.

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babycham42 · 30/08/2011 08:40

Def. sounds like fleas to me too, both from your description and where they"ve bitten.

Maryz · 30/08/2011 09:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MrsTerryPratchett · 30/08/2011 15:49

In all seriousness, bedbugs are not harmful as such and don't spread disease. I say this because one of the only harmful effects of bedbug infestations can be insomnia and stress. Everyone agrees that it is probably fleas and you will be rid very soon. Relax and try to wait out the fleas dying.

Oh, and cleanliness has very little to do with it. Homeless shelters get them but so do high end hotels. That is what those weird metal fold-out stands for your suitcase are for

Original poster

SayItIsntSo · 30/08/2011 16:52

Well, well, MrsTP, I never knew that about metal foldout stands for suitcases (and probably haven't put my suitcase on them when I should either!).

Is Indorex toxic at all?
The bites which are itchy beyond belief today are around my ankles, backs of knees, a couple on the front of my thighs. I definitely felt it happen in bed last night. I can certainly believe that the major health problem caused by BBs is insomnia and stress: after two days of this I am like the undead.

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timetopost · 30/08/2011 21:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mycatsaysach · 30/08/2011 21:55

bb can go for months and months without feeding/biting so you may only get bites every few months

Original poster

SayItIsntSo · 31/08/2011 00:31

thanks timetopost, my hands are raw from cleaning today. I'm super paranoid about going to bed and trying not to pass this fear on to DCs. DH just went off on another work trip (whatever it is doesn't think he's as tasty as me) and I am observing our bed with fear. These bites are itching like hell. I've taken some antihistamine and am using calamine lotion on the bites.

mycatsaysach good to know that this isn't likely to be a nightly event, even if they are my worst fear.

I still can't get mister bug to cooperate and let me take a photo.

Wish I had a steam cleaner as I might be able to do the mattresses and beams ...

another sleepless night beckons (I am off to tape my socks to my pyjamas and am thinking of buying an adult onesie).

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Original poster

SayItIsntSo · 31/08/2011 01:10

would it be over reacting to get this pack: www.hygienesuppliesdirect.com/products/prod147495

it has something called mini foggers? I could spray everything, take the DCs off to my DPs for a day and let the foggers do whatever they do. Or would my home be a toxic dump for the next century?

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madhattershouse · 31/08/2011 01:18

We had fleas in a rental home a few years back. We used the foggers. Leave them to do their job then, after waiting time as pack instructions, air the house by openening aall the windows. Worked for us, turns out the previous occupant had two cats who were next to ferral. The fleas never came back!

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