Tales From A Bed Bug Survivor
How did you first discover you had bed bugs?
My boyfriend had been getting about one bite each night for a couple of weeks. We assumed it was a spider until my boyfriend saw a strange tear-shaped bug crawling on the floor. He looked it up on-line and realized that this is the dreaded bed bug. This happened in January of this year, so it was before there were any ads or much public information out about them.
How bad was the infestation? What was infested and what did you have to get rid of?
The infestation was not too bad. We would catch a couple of bugs a week. We had our first extermination and were hopeful that the problem was resolved. Unfortunately, about two weeks later we were both getting a couple of bites every few nights again. My landlady brought in Penn’s bug sniffing Beagle, Heidi, (so cute!) and she found nothing. It is said that she can track down up to one egg! So, the company agreed to bring her back a second time since we still had bites. This time she only found one in the wall. They concluded that there was no longer an infestation. We assumed that they were coming from the building attached to us. We decided to move because we had not had friends over in nearly six months and had been living out of plastic bags for that time as well! Our land lady did one more extermination and immediately following we got rid of all of our furniture and moved the rest out. So, our infestation was not that bad but every exterminator we talked to felt the need to detail the, “worst infestation I’ve ever seen,” and that really didn’t help me sleep at night!
Who did you call for help?
We called our landlady and she was extremely understanding and helpful. She paid for an exterminator as soon as all apartments in the building had prepared for it. This was a tiresome process. We washed and dried ALL clothing on high heat. Then we sealed them in plastic air tight bags and stored all of our clothing in the kitchen. Basically anything we wore around the apartment had to go through the process again before wearing outside. Also, all dry clean only clothes basically stayed sealed up for the duration of our infestation due to cost.
We were also instructed to check all of our books for sign of bugs (eggs, blood stains or bugs themselves). This took an entire weekend. We sealed all of these up in plastic bins. After the extermination we had to vacuum every night for ten days; it was exhausting. Not all exterminators require this so check with the company before going above and beyond what is actually necessary.
What was the most effective means of getting rid of them? How long did it take?
I would say the most effective means is extermination. Earlich did our second extermination and were VERY helpful with numerous options. We never really got rid of them and have since moved because if they are in the building next door, which is run by a landlord that we could not force to exterminate. We were basically stuck with them. After seven months of living in an apartment where most of our belongings were packed away, we decided to make a break for it, even though we loved our block!
What would you do differently if you had to do it again?
I wouldn’t keep it a secret from all of my friends. We basically lived like recluses for a couple of months and it was depressing. Now that this issue is much more out in the open it is a relief to talk about it.
Having lived through an infestation, what advice do have for anyone who has or is worried about having bed bugs?
Don’t freak out. I cried for a week thanks to an NPR story I had heard years before. But now I see that it is an issue happening all over this country. Just shower and change into clean clothes before leaving the house and DON’T feel like you are carrying them everywhere you go!
Put double sided tape around the legs of your bed and fill four shallow tupperware containers with baby powder and place these under each leg. This will catch any bugs coming from outside of the bed area.
A mixture of rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle will kill any that you see.
Bed bug mattress covers are great and prevent them from nesting in the mattress and box spring. Also, they are wonderful for peace of mind.
You DO NOT have to wash everything if it is already clean (i.e. dry clean only clothes) just put them in the dryer on high heat for two cycles and that works just as well!
An awesome entomologist taught me this trick: buy a dog food bowl, a small igloo cooler, baby powder or double sided tape, and a $10 bag of dry ice. Place the cooler on top of the upside down dog bowl. Fill the “moat” of the dog bowl with double sided tape or powder. Fill the cooler with dry ice leaving the spout on the lid open. This will give off CO2, which is what they like about us. If you are gone for a night leave this going until all the dry ice melts and you can catch them in the moat! Victory! I also am using this at my new apartment every couple of weeks to make sure we don’t have any new critters.
Don’t panic. The worst side effect is not the bites but the anxiety the whole situation causes. Talk to people about it; if Victoria Secret and Abercrombie in NYC had them, it can happen to anyone. Keeping it to yourself will just drive you crazy.
Hopefully, we can put pressure on public policy in some way to deal with this issue in our country as a whole. Undocumented people who have no clout in dealing with landlords may be stuck with this problem without any resolution. Similarly, landlords or residents who cannot afford the costly process of extermination are also at a disadvantage, without much option for relief. As long as anyone has them in our city there is a chance that everyone could have them. I believe this is quickly becoming a public health issue and should be treated as such by our elected officials. So, make some noise about it!
Finally, for general peace of mind, try not to look at too many pictures where they have blown up the image of a bed bug to 100X the actual size!