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Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

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Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#101

Post by lazide »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #90
calamari4065 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's generally considered safe. It's sold as an additive to livestock feed, though I don't know what the purpose there is. It's very finely ground volcanic rock. The particulates have very sharp edges which shred insect exoskeletons. It doesn't hurt your skin though. It might cause a problem if inhaled, similar to silicosis but that's mostly a guess. Some people leave a line of it on windowsills or door thresholds to…

> It's very finely ground volcanic rock. Wikipedia is pretty clear that it's finely ground fossils. (It also says that it's sedimentary rock, as is necessary for fossils. Fossils can't be volcanic rock; their structure would be destroyed by melting.)

They also aren’t necessarily ground (the fossils) - and are made of silica.

Breathing it for long periods of time wouldn’t be ideal.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#102

Post by al_borland »

chasil wrote: post #6

Even the best hotels have dealt with bedbugs. For safety, leave your luggage in your car for a few days when you return from a trip. Ideally, you want the temperature to either drop below freezing or rise above 100°F, which will kill bedbugs. The same procedure should be employed with used furniture, perhaps more aggressively. There is also a trick with dry ice and talcum powder if you think an infestation is startin…

I’ve always heard to put your luggage in the bathtub when showing up at a hotel, then check the bed for signs of bedbugs. If it’s all clear than you can move your luggage into the main room. If it’s not, request a new room or go to a different hotel.

Preventing getting them seems preferable to trying to avoid brining them home.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#103

Post by TacticalCoder »

I saw a company selling bed feet with a trap catching bed bugs. It was using glue IIRC. I remember it looking like this (side view of one foot):

        |
The idea was that there was no way up to the bed for the bedbugs without getting stuck in glue. It's not unlike the traps for big wasps, to prevent them from attacking bees.

Now of course it only works if the bed is on feet. It basically prevents them from climbing up to the humans as they get stuck in the feet.

What I noticed is bed bugs hate: zen rooms with no furniture besides the bed (very little place to hide, besides the mattress) and brand new paint.

Had bed bugs once, in room: treated the room with chemicals, moved the bed off the wall for a few days, repainted the room, vaccuum cleaned (with a very strong vaccum cleaner) the mattress... It worked but YMMV.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#104

Post by roncesvalles »

roncesvalles wrote: post #43
bruce343434 wrote: post #2

Personally I've had great difficulty getting rid of Silverfishes. Despite plugging all crevices with diatomaceous sand, making sure indoor temperature does not exceed 18°C, removing any specimen on sight, I still encounter one every now and then just chilling on the wall or floor. They've eaten my underfloor isolation (the floor sags at those spots now), but other than that they're harmless - I can't imagine the horr…

Just spray permethrin and be done with it. It's the only thing that works and if you spray in all the right places, one round of spraying fixes it forever. Source: about 15 years of fighting silverfish, until someone suggested permethrin on Reddit

NOTE: Wikipedia says it's toxic to cats

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#105

Post by ThinkBeat »

Clearly this can be solved with AI and tiny drones with lasers, rail guns, and flamethrowers.

Or maybe the drones can jump on top of and envelop the bug, toasting it in a second.

Apparently, ants, cockroaches and centipedes eat bed bug. None of those seem great to have around the house in great numbers.

Lizards (at least some) also eat bed bugs. Perhaps someone could rent out lizards. Would one week be sufficient time for the lizardst to eat them all?

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#106

Post by zeroonetwothree »

_dark_matter_ wrote: post #34
koolba wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have centipedes in your house then de facto you have other bugs. They’re strictly carnivores. So as cool and helpful as they are, their continued existence indicates you have other problems as well. Best to consider them like Sully in the movie Commando: “ I like you. I’m gonna kill you last. ”

How is it possible to have a house with no insects? I just don't even see that as feasible, except maybe for a small new house with no shrubbery (and probably in a desert environment?). There ain't no way you're living in a house with zero bugs.

I won’t say I have zero but it’s very few. I can go weeks without seeing an insect indoors.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#107

Post by phendrenad2 »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #71
caesil wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's how we got rid of them ourselves for cheap: 1. Bought a bedbug-proof encasement for every mattress and pillow. Seals them in and they starve. 2. Bought a handheld steam cleaner and steamed every seam on every piece of furniture.

> Seals them in and they starve. The problem here is that their lifecycle is unimaginably long and punctuated. They happily hibernate for 6 months at a time between feedings, so waiting them out means waiting a very very very long time.

TBH I'm skeptical. Everyone talks about the 99.999th percentile case but does it work in practice..?

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#108

Post by lamontcg »

ThinkBeat wrote: post #105

Clearly this can be solved with AI and tiny drones with lasers, rail guns, and flamethrowers. Or maybe the drones can jump on top of and envelop the bug, toasting it in a second. Apparently, ants, cockroaches and centipedes eat bed bug. None of those seem great to have around the house in great numbers. Lizards (at least some) also eat bed bugs. Perhaps someone could rent out lizards. Would one week be sufficient tim…

> Perhaps someone could rent out lizards.

gig working app for lizards. disrupt the reptile economy. fund me.

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#109

Post by tomcam »

mholt wrote: post #72
tiltowait wrote: post #3

I worked pest control for a few years until 2021. We all knew that pesticides basically don’t work on bed bugs—it was old news. The article glosses over heat treatments, which is odd, because it really does work, and usually in a single session. It’s a very labor-intensive and invasive procedure, though. The residents must leave the house for 8 hours while the techs bake each room and throw everything around. By the…

When I lived in Las Vegas we unfortunately moved into an apartment for a short time that had them. We just took out all the cushions, couches, mattresses, and bedding, and set them out in the summer heat for a few days. (It was actually very inconvenient, but you know. Worth it.) It worked!

So much for my plans to attend the Caddyserver ‘24 slumber party

Re: Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever

#110

Post by tomcam »

idlewords wrote: post #46
Gys wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read once they get into beds by crawling up the bedposts and by putting something smooth like aluminum cups around the posts, the bugs cannot crawl up. What do you think of that?

If the infestation is heavy enough they will climb the walls and drop from the ceiling.

You do realize that I’ll spend the rest of the day looking up at my ceiling and scratching the frantically at imaginary bedbugs.
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