Bed bugs - desperate for help

[goldengoddess]

I am at my wits end. I have had a problem with bed bugs for nearly two years now and am so stressed about it.
We have been using a professional company who claim to be world experts in the problem, and rather than using harsh chemicals, they use a deep cleaning strategy combined with that white earth stuff which slowly kills the bugs. However, I have spent thousands of pounds on treatment and the problem just doesn't go away. I cannot now sleep with the stress of it, and just as I am drifting off wake with a start imagining that I can feel bed bugs crawling on me. I am sorely tempted to get another company in who will blitz the place with some hard core chemicals, which the first company stress is not the best strategy as apparently that just drives the buggers underground/deep into the skirting boards/floorboards, and only kills those bugs immediately in the vicinity.

I feel like burning all the beds and moving house to get away from them, but then would be terrified of taking the bugs with me. HELP!! If anyone has managed to succesfully eradicate them I would love to know how they did it as I am now really desperate

I used a guy called David Cain. This was in London and years ago so no idea if he's still working or in your area but worth a Google.

I am usually very much in favour of avoiding chemicals but with bed bugs I really think you need to take the nuclear option.

Nb it was horrific, I remember. I was at uni at the time and one night spent the whole night in the 24 hour library as I couldn't face going to bed. One treatment seemed to sort it though. Never had a problem again.

Yes it’s David cains company we are using but the problem just won’t go away. He doesn’t advocate using chemicals but this organic approach but frankly I’m now so stressed that I would use the nuclear option if that were available to me .
I don’t want to go to bed at night despite being exhausted and done really know what to do next

Shit, I'm sorry, I have just searched back in my emails and apparently I completely mis-remembered! We actually got David Cain to look at the problem first but it didn't work (they had some weird thing where you had to keep sleeping in the bed after the treatment had been used I think??) and so I got someone else in with the standard chemicals. DC gave me a refund.

I'm really sorry I was talking absolute rubbish before.

I can't remember the name of the firm that actually dealt with it successfully but I think it was just the standard chemical treatment and it worked.

Hope that helps.

Ah no problem but thanks for clarifying! Yes they lay down this powder stuff and then you actually have to sleep in the bed to act as prey and attract the bugs . In the process they walk Over the powder which slowly kills
Them. Well that’s the theory, I have had at least 6 treatments now and think it may be time to try something else. But it’s so so horrible I dread going to bed!

Maybe get a company to heat treat the house instead as that’s supposed to be quite effective.

Oh that sounds so hard
Can you get a new mattress? And heat kills them so hot wash pillows etc everything at the same time. I've only experienced on holiday and that was bad enough

Does your local council not help treat bed bugs?

I was so anxious and upset when we had bed beds I nearly lost my mind, I can't imagine what your going through for this long.
We had the harsh chemicals in the bedroom and slept downstairs. Everything was washed on hot and tumble dried. Clutter was cleared and binned. Things that couldn't be washed like books were frozen!
I was still worried so had the whole house treated next and stayed at parents house that night. Came back the next day and aired the house out.
I was really worried about breathing in all the chemicals though.
It got rid of them.
I couldn't eat and nearly ended up on antidepressants. I know that probably sounds like an overreaction but it could have been stress stored up from other things that had already happened to me. It just got to me, feeling vulnerable from something I couldn't control.
I still worry about bringing anything home from holiday years later. Absolutely everything gets washed even if not worn on holiday and nothing goes upstairs until clean.
Hope you get it sorted.

Hi thanks for the replies. I bought a new bed for my sonOnly three months ago as the mattress on the old one was horribly stained from the bed bugs and just looked disgusting. But a couple of days ago I noticed that the new mattress is already showing signs of infestation and every day I am forensically examining all the beds and killing several live bugs and eggs a day. I have decamped to the spare bedroom, the one room in the house that isn’t infested but I know that this is only a short term solution as eventually the bugs in my bedroom will
Migrate to another room in search of another victim and new blood. And the last thing I want is for this room to become infested too. But I can completely understand how it affected your mental health cuddling, as I am so stressed I can’t sleep and have ever resorted to buying a pop up tent to enable me to sleep on my own bed but be protected from the bugs!!! That’s because the treatment the company uses means that the beds have to be occupied for the treatment to work - ie you have to act as “bait” to attract the insects out of hiding and forcing them to walk over the powder that kills Them. I feel utterly violated in my own house and can’t imagine ever relaxing in bed at night again. I’m
Getting about two hours sleep a night if that and am
An emotional wreck. So I’m going to get a
Company in and try the toxicchemicals
And if that doesn’t work the heat treatment.
However I have little faith that anything is going to work!!

I’ll PM with a number of a guy I used who was excellent. Proper full on chemical treatment. Got rid of the fuckers.

I think you're making the right decision OP.

Dealing with bed bugs is really unpleasant experience. Sleepless nights, 24/7 stress, even if you're not in bed... I am sorry to hear you got trouble with that. Almost half a year ago I and my husband had to go through a professional procedure in order to get rid of the nasty bed bugs... I believe most pest control companies have the same procedure and will be able to effectively assist you with the matter... We used Mario's help. I am not entirely sure what was the exact company name but this is his number - 020 8144 8757. The price was affordable and we've not had a problem since. Oh, I believe the name of the company was Archers Pest Control.

I really hope you find a quick solution to this.
Stay safe!

contact the council. You might not be eligible for free pest control, but they will be able to recommend a company that they use themselves. I had a bad infestation a few years ago. The council recommended a company that got rid of them in one application. Windows were closed, the rooms were filled with gas, we went out for the day, we never had another bite. We did have to declutter the rooms a bit first, and we were warned it could take 2 applications. We got rid of a lot of bedding and some books on shelves right next to the beds. Since then, I have always ironed the seems on sheets with a hot iron, on the offchance we bring another individual home at some point, so they cannot establish a colony

I had them and managed to kill all the little fuckers myself - which I am very proud of as it's not easy. I used a steam cleaner and a spray. Completely took my bed apart and blew steam into every tiny crevice and over all surfaces. Slowly and very carefully. Especially along the piping of the mattress and into seams.

But you need to be very sure where they are - mine were fairly contained on my mattress and at one end of the bed . I was disgusted and horrified. I did my carpet, around the legs, everywhere. Obviously washed sheets super hot too.

Then I bought a special zip up mattress cover that I have put on the mattress that they can't get through that I will have to leave on my mattress for two years (it was an expensive mattress) so any that are left die.

I can't find the name of my steam cleaner - but it's a square white one with a hose and different ends you can use for floors etc. Not a handheld one.

I also sprinkled that white powder (dia-something earth) but only as an after thought. And I'm pretty sure I will have used those bug bombs. If you have carpet get rid of it if you can.

Good luck. I'm not terribly methodical as a rule but I was with this as you can't afford to miss even a millimetre.

So first step:

Get rid of mattresses and carpets

Replace any wooden beds with metal frames or steam clean wooden beds

Replace mattresses and buy the zip up bed bug proof covers for them.

Every Day Tasks

Hoover the mattresses and floors
Put Vaseline on every leg of anything that touches the floor bed legs especially.

Every week tasks

Hoover whole rooms as much as you can

Do not replace carpets until no bites for a very long time. Three months if you can.

Combine that with any pest control method you can find. The organic solutions are because bed bugs are awful for resisting them.

There are some herbs and plants that repel them. Grow them in the rooms if you can or in the garden and make sprays from them.

I had bed bugs last year, the psychological trauma is something else isn't it? Over the years I've dealt with fleas, nits, mice, rats, ants, slugs and cockroaches and none of them has impacted my mental health as much as these fuckers. I think it's because our beds are our ultimate refuges and if that refuge is violated we have nowhere left to go.

I also used David Cain's company with mixed success, IMO he gets a lot of stuff right but some stuff very wrong.

Chemical pesticides are becoming increasingly less effective and what worked five years, two years or even one year ago might not work now. And what doesn't kill them makes them scatter and if they do that they're much harder to deal with.

Diatomaceous earth kills adult bugs in 10 days. It scratches the surface of their skin so they slowly dehydrate. It doesn't work on juvenile bugs because they cast off their skin every 2-5 days so they keep getting a fresh start until they are adults. 10 days of adulthood is long enough for them to feed, mate and lay lots of eggs, so all you're doing with diatomaceous earth is keeping the population down a bit.

There's some other stuff called Cimexa which works in a similar way but dries them out in 2 days so they never get the chance to reach adulthood and lay eggs. This is the stuff you need. This is how I got rid of mine.

It's true you need to lie there as bait but there's no point doing this unless you put something between you and them that will kill them, and kill them quickly.

I wrote a fairly detailed account of what I did on this thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/housekeeping/3915786-Bed-bugs-clearance-diy?msgid=98435638

LangClegs, thanks so much for that useful thread. I might try that Cimexa stuff, it sounds more effective than the Di earth stuff. Though I'm not sure why bed bug companies don't use it if it's more effective? I'm actually waiting now for someone from David cain's company to come and do a deep clean, and I'm having another treatment on Friday. Though beginning to question the point of continuing with this type of treatment when it has proved largely ineffective so far. in the past two weeks I have caught and killed about 30 live bed bugs on my son's bed (this is despite buying a brand new bed three months ago), and about 10 on my own bed. (though haven't found any for over a week now, though am still getting bitten). I honestly can't imagine being in a position where we can confidently say that we've got rid of the fuckers, i am actually despairing, But am going to try this Cimexa stuff.

@goldengoddess I killed all of my bed bugs in one go! Using a Dupray Neat steam cleaner (also use for my carpets). You need to get the steam directly everywhere, into crevices etc. They cant survive the heat. It took ONE go & then a special mattress cover (in case any of the little fuckers survived) which has to stay of for 2 years.

toastervsoven.com/best-steam-cleaner-for-bed-bugs/

As for Cimexa heres what Google says
Like diatomaceous earth, CimeXa is a residual powder that clings to bed bugs that come in contact with it.

Honestly just kill them dead immediadtely with strong heat/steam. You cant get a powder to go deep into mattress seams etc. I spent hours reading up ion this as I didnt want to pay someone hundreds to do it. I have not seen a bed bug since - after reading that they were virtually impossible to eliminate yourself. The Dupray Neat has different heads & one will shoot steam right into all cracks & crevices.

I went very slowly over the edges & seams with the medium triangular head - I saw a youtube video. Google using styeam cleaners to kill bed bugs.

Now I use it for carpet cleaning (not bad, but not perfect) & it will kill carpet/clothes moths too. Im abvout to get rid of all carpet though. As well as steaming kitchens etc.

hi Vodka, thanks very much for your message. You did very well to kill all your bugs in one go, part of the treatment that the bed bug company i use incorporates is deep steam treatment followed by the Di earth stuff. However on your recommendation I think I will buy a steamer myself to keep on top of the situation.
We don't have any carpets in the bedrooms, just stripped wooden floors, though it is an old Victorian terraced house with loads of gaps on the floorboards and under the skirting boards. I dread to think what is lurking under there, though acc to bed bug company they will be lured out of hiding by a sleeping body, and theoretically should then be killed by the powder.

I steamed EVERYTHING OP. I took the mattress off & the base out, & lifted up the slats (its a storage bed). Then methodically I did the whole thing - into the nuts & bolts & brackets that sit in the corner, both the inside & outside of the frame, the whole headboard, the mdf base, the feet where it met the bed, & the floor. EVERY space. I pulled it out from the wall too.

The mattress got extra attention, I pulled the piping aside & went down every single seam plus of copurse the mattress itself & into the buttons. I would say I held the seamer on each part for a few seconds.

Then the floor/skirting boards, & bedside cabinets (which Id emptied out & sprayed the contents).

Then I sprayed bedbug spray everywhere - but not as much as the steaming. I didnt spray loads.

Then I set off two or three smoke bombs & went for a walk. Left it a while came back & put the new special zip up mattress cover on, put the bed back together & sprinkled that earth at the bottom of the feet & on the floor under the mdf base (I also have clothes moths which were in the carpet under the base, lovely).

I have not seen once since. And since the little bastards breed like crazy & that was a year ago I would know.

I did something to the bedding, cant remember, a super hot wash I think. If I had to do it again I would steam the duvet & pillows too, then wash them in a hot wash. The storage bed had a ton of stuff in it & I didnt have to wash it all. Though it was all taken out & some washed.

I freaked when I had them. Just disgusting. All the articles say you can get them yourself but you can. I suggest taking things out & spraying/smoke bombing them, then taking everything apart & doing it. As far as I know they were mostly on my mattres though & if I missed some it doesnt matter as they cant get through the special cover & after 2 years will die. Good luck!!!!

Oh and just reading up I would definitely steam the wood floors especially the cracks. The floor will survive a steam. Then spray the whole lot with insecticide. And put 'bed bug interceptors' on the feet. I used that earth around my feet.

They cant hide very deep & heat kills them. I think a proper steam cleaner like my Neat is better because it gets hot enough & has various attachments. I wouldnt trust a steam mop personally.

Hi vodka I’ve ordered the Neat steamer already thanks for the tip off! The bugs mainly seem to be hiding on my headboard and in my sons wooden slatted bed base. I routinely wash all bedding and towels at least 60 degrees now, bugger the environment!!

I shot steam into the bits where the slats go into the metal frame, forgot to mention it. Very bloody painstaking. Also I think take the headboard off if it comes off. Maybe put plastic sheeting down so the little fuckers cant scuttle into the floorboards while they are dying? Or put the slats in a bin bag (if they roll up) & do them outside?

They do tend to mostly gather in just a few places. They love mattresses too so deffo those covers. I got mine on Amazon, they were hypoallergnic ones I think.