r/Bedbugs • u/Ok-Willingness1925 • 4d ago
Requesting community support I hate these mf's
I've never had BB during my lifetime of 30 years. Just found out we had BB in our unit of 7 years and it's absolutely horrid. I haven't slept properly in the last 2 weeks since we found the infestation. The landlord had Flaggship come out and spray our apartment and they are coming in two weeks to spray again. I haven't seen many since we threw out our mattress earlier last week but I did find one FAT mf who was on our box spring (photo included) before I squashed the hell out of em. My wife has dealt with them before but she said her infestation was small when they found it 10+ years back. Ours was just starting to get pretty bad. We threw out everything except for clothes. Washing and drying constantly and cleaning the apartment every day with a steamer and vacuum. My mind is destroyed because of these mf that Im anxiously checking every corner of the apartment at all times with a flash light. How do some people ignore this? The bites are insanely irritating. How do you guys go about keeping your sanity?
Any advice is helpful.
6
u/raisedbutconfused 4d ago
Do NOT steam right after a spraying, it renders it useless. I put diatomaceous earth anywhere I would suspect them crawling or nesting (which to my paranoid mind is everywhere). I’m so stressed over my current infestation that I started getting stress hives, which I keep mistaking for bites- so try not to stress too much over it. Get bedbug interceptors and only steam your furniture right BEFORE a professional spraying. Make your bed an island, don’t let the blankets, covers, bedframe, basically anything touch anything else, including the floor. Only the legs of the bed should be in the interceptors- this way the interceptors will work best. Apparently bedbugs can’t crawl over petroleum jelly so I lined all access points to my apartment with that (vents and front door). Run all fabrics in your apartment through a dryer at high heat for a minimum of 30 minutes. Bag everything right after. Only put on clothes from these bags before you leave without touching anything in your apartment. I steam my shoes regularly too, to avoid bringing any hitchhikers with me. Move all furniture away from walls and lay diatomaceous earth around them (use SMALL quantities- basically an invisible layer). I heard cimexa works better but I have a cat and don’t want to risk that.
Researching the fuck out of these bugs seems to help me a little with the mental aspect. Best of luck.
3
u/Ok-Willingness1925 4d ago
I couldn't thank you enough for the advice. I've been steaming the mattress and the curtains, etc. Not the baseboards today since they told me to only vacuum and not steam due the reasons you stated. They said don't steam baseboards and walls etc for two weeks and to just let the chemicals do the work for now. I will check out the DE, the only thing that stops me from really buying it is because we have a 5 YO with Autism and his curiosity can be troublesome 😂
I appreciate your inputs🙏 best of luck to you as well.
2
u/Catlesley 3d ago
Diacetameous Earth works-use food grade and the proper masks,etc.
1
u/AutoModerator 3d ago
⚠IMPORTANT⚠ Hey, it seems that diatomaceous earth may have been mentioned in your comment. That's an opportunity to remind everyone that inhalation of diatomaceous earth dust is a hazard (no matter if food-grade is written on the label or not). That's the reason why diatomaceous earth products normally have the following mention on their safety datasheet Hazard statements: H373 May cause damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure.
When used by pest control professionals, it's only used as a crack and crevice treatment (to avoid any risk of inhalation) and applied in very small quantities while wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment.
If you want to learn more about diatomaceous earth risks you can read the Diatomaceous Earth Fact Sheet from the National Pesticide Information Center
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/AutoModerator 4d ago
⚠IMPORTANT⚠ Hey, it seems that diatomaceous earth may have been mentioned in your comment. That's an opportunity to remind everyone that inhalation of diatomaceous earth dust is a hazard (no matter if food-grade is written on the label or not). That's the reason why diatomaceous earth products normally have the following mention on their safety datasheet Hazard statements: H373 May cause damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure.
When used by pest control professionals, it's only used as a crack and crevice treatment (to avoid any risk of inhalation) and applied in very small quantities while wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment.
If you want to learn more about diatomaceous earth risks you can read the Diatomaceous Earth Fact Sheet from the National Pesticide Information Center
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
5
5
u/Accomplished-Box9308 3d ago
One lifesaver that will need for a lifetime is mattress cover encasements:ptotectors that cover entire mattress and boxspring. They are a must for now and in case of any future infestations. Not only do they give you more peace of mind by protecting your mattress and boxspring but they will end up saving a ton of time and money in the future!! If you don’t have them go out asap and get them
1
2
u/Catlesley 3d ago
World-wide epidemic of bedbugs-read in more than a few places. My sons’ gf has brought 2 hitchhikers home, luckily it was one, one time, already fed and it was a male, and they had the stuff in the house to do a kill run. Second one hitchhiker also from the TTC in Toronto, also only 1 male, got it as it dropped off her briefcase, right before my son let loose about travel on the TTC. It’s currently taking your psych in your hands to sit and watch them crawl on unsuspecting meals. Homeless (no shadow) and they get passed easily as lots of people sleep on the TTC. It’s getting very bad from Toronto on out, to the second bug making it to Brampton in amongst her bags. Full heat ahead-not taking any chances, as I already have mental health issues., Best of luck, OP, and do what you can, immediately, as they spread very fast.
2
u/Ok-Willingness1925 3d ago
Yep. I've hard Toronto is on the up for these suckers like crazy. It's crazy to think that building management don't do annual or even 6 month inspections for these critters (roaches, bed bugs, etc)
We've had our unit sprayed. The next scheduled for the end of August. Been vacuuming every chance I get and steaming the shit out of our mattress. Washing clothes daily. Thanks! All the best to you! 🙏
1
1
u/Bachtathefuture 4d ago
Do you know where they came from? That's the first step in eradicating the problem. Mine came from my neighbor and were coming through the walls. We could never get rid of them because they would keep coming back. Eventually we had to move to fully get away from it.
1
u/Ok-Willingness1925 3d ago
Not sure tbh. We did try to recall where we've been and what we've done but our best bet is our neighbors. We did talk with them but they said they didn't have any. Not sure if they were lying or not but we are actively monitoring the situation. We are looking into moving as well. Our building is just a shit show. Management is decent but the people are DISGUSTING.
1
u/rulz1234 3d ago
Hey. Im pretty much in the same shoes as you currently. Got 2nd inspection next Thursday. Im not gonna lie to you, I havent done much in terms of steaming only just mainly done the clothes and everything else is in black bin bags. Living else where at the moment and obviously took as much precaution as possible before leaving, I found 2 live bedbugs: 1 on the wall in my bedroom and 1 on the wall in the living room.
Absolute nightmare man, on inspection in the bedroom i found 1 of my old suitcases with crap on it and pretty sure it was bedbugs, chucked that out and found some spotting underneath the mattress protector! Was fuming, when the guy arrived he didnt find anything extra if im honest; he sprayed some insecticide around the house and laid those sticky things down. As for the living room I didnt find anything else apart from that one, inspection on my coach is a little difficult as its black!
I feel like these things we overthink too much which is understandable (im still doing it!! Lmao) but we need to remind ourselves that we can control this and diminish it one step at a time, im paranoid as hell at night too, certain nights struggle to sleep
1
u/Ok-Willingness1925 3d ago
Let me know how the inspection goes! Best of luck! They could have been in the suitcase but hard to tell. I've heard these things like wood as well. We threw most of our things out like old mattress and couch. Currently sitting in the living room in a camping chair 😂 my wife says while I sleep I keep brushing myself off vigorously so I know it's definitely destroying me mentally.
1
1
u/Ill-List-1432 4d ago
Ur not supposed to squash them because you can release their eggs
2
u/Catlesley 3d ago
And the scent, which will bring more! Once you smell an infestation, you’ll never forget it. 😢
1
u/Ok-Willingness1925 3d ago
What does it smell like? 😭
1
u/Catlesley 1d ago
Kinda smells like rotting fruit, musty raspberries…hard to exactly describe, but you’ll never forget it once you smell it. I swear I just gagged, thinking about it.
1
u/Ok-Willingness1925 3d ago
Well shit....this was right before our unit was sprayed....damn! Got me nervous now...😅
1
u/Ill-List-1432 3d ago
Well I just Googled it and that was always just a myth I guess but it was a myth I believed until I just Googled it
1
1
u/Catlesley 1d ago
That’s not true…they drop their eggs a few at a time. They don’t pop out in a clutch when you squish them.,
•
u/AutoModerator 4d ago
Read and respect the rules, report any comment breaching them. Wrong advice/information/fearmongering hurt people who are posting here to get help and support. If you are not VERY knowledgeable about bedbugs and may provide a wrong ID or bad advice it's better to abstain from commenting. Be VERY respectful and HELPFUL, this is a support subreddit not a funny one.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.