Ask HN: How to Eradicate Bedbugs? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to Eradicate Bedbugs?

7 pointsyogrish11 comments

I am facing problem with these tiny blood sucking creatures from past one year. I tried pest control (spraying medicine) twice to ward off them but still they are back. Unlike in other countries we don't have fumigators or bug bombing.

I often travel and looks like I got them home either from flight/hotel or in transit. Never knew that they are so intelligent creatures and very annoying. I took it as challenge and tried all means to eradicate them (changed mattress, replaced beds, pillows, repainted cot etc), but they seem to outsmart me ..always. It subsides for some time but they are always back with a bang.

I have a small infant at home hence it scares the hell out of me.

Fellow hackers, do you have any ideas/hacks in eradicating them with no sign of them again? Any pointers in this direction is of great help. Btw, I live in Bangalore.

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This question may be off topic for HN, but never let it be said that I didn't answer the call. I eradicated my bedbugs by getting rid of the mattress, washing all the bedding at 90 C, stripping the room of all carpets and furnishings down to the floorboards, distributing some kind of powder that kills them by clogging their pores, and leaving it that way for several weeks. I feel bad about killing any living creature so I made an announcement in advance advising them to vacate the area. That was a few years ago and they haven't been back. When you check into a hotel room, the first thing you should do is look under the mattress.

> I feel bad about killing any living creature so I made an announcement in advance advising them to vacate the area.

I would love to know what you mean by this, how many living creatures are there in your room... and how do you tell them to leave

Maybe you eradicated them just by telling them to leave?

On https://www.reddit.com/r/Bedbugs/ there is a section with guides including 'bedbug indentification', 'DIY treatment guide' (https://www.reddit.com/r/Bedbugs/comments/3f5zro/crispys_diy...), 'ineffective methods' and of course it's a forum where you can ask specific questions about bedbugs. Especially now that you've tried all the usual methods.

I had them and I killed them dead. Bed bugs are very susceptible to heat so steam is the key. The second key is to divide and conquer room by room. I did this with masking tape. So take your steamer and heavily steam every crack, crevice and fabric, then seal that room off with masking tape. Repeat this room by room.

Bed bugs can travel up to 100m in a night so if you live in an infested apartment building you might be in for a battle but in that case seal up all through wall pipes and electric vias and then use masking tape on your door at night.

If you google bedbugs and heat you will see that some companies will wrap an entire house in a big plastic bag, raise the temperature to 50 or 60C for a few days to treat the whole house at once.

Heat, particularly steam, is the magic bullet for bed bugs.

It's better to ask this kind of questions on Reddit.

You are in India. It should be easy to get rid of it. Spraying chemical won't do anything. Most chemical won't kill eggs. Also chemical won't reach hard to reach areas.

Heat is the best weapon against bedbugs. Everything should be out in the sun for a week. Including TV's. Things that you can't take out side spray rubbing alcohol. Make sure to shut off electricity.

When you are back from tracking to other hotels, don't bring bags and cloths inside your house. Get it washed.

There are tons of resources online. Google it.

If you’re renting, just move out and discard as much clothing as possible. I had this issue in an apartment I was renting - I tried everything that I could, as a tenant. Nothing worked. I gave up and moved out, in desperation.

Bedbugs are horrible. They also stink bad.

is HN the right place to ask these questions?

Getting rid of “real” bugs is no less than hacking!

diatomaceous earth

DE is how you finally get rid of them. You need a bed that has posts and doesn't touch a wall, under each bed post you place a 'bed bug trap' (see YouTube, can make yourself with a glue gun and two metal pieces that fit inside each other). Dust the bug trap with DE. Have a pro exterminator spray your baseboards and lightly dust them with DE too. If you buy a new mattress get a bed bug cover for it and your pillows. The washer doesn't kill them but a dryer on reg heat setting does. All else fails you call a company that specializes in high heat extermination (prob expensive).

You have to repeat this for months redusting traps (and dusting baby powder on inside of traps so they can't climb out). Eventually the DE kills them all or they move to sucking your neighbor's blood.

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