Getting rid of bed bugs: trickier than ever
knowablemagazine.org
knowablemagazine.org
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 time it’s over, it looks like a tornado went through the house. And our prices started at $5k.
But it did work. The only two scenarios I was aware of where it didn’t were the result of operator error (laziness) or the customer unknowingly taking bed bugs out of the house with them when they left (we found the bed bugs were living in a baseball cap).
The problem with DE is it's so inexpensive and effective, and that makes it difficult to sell as a product. I got a 2kg bag of it for $10, and it's enough to last decades.
...In a 1978 study of workers, those exposed to natural diatomaceous earth for over five years had no significant lung changes while 40% of those exposed to the calcined form had developed pneumoconiosis.[46] Today's common diatomaceous earth formulations are safer to use, as they are predominantly made up of amorphous silica and contain little or no crystalline silica.[47]
The crystalline silica content of diatomaceous earth is regulated in the United States by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and there are guidelines from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that set maximum amounts allowable in the product (1%) and in the air near the breathing zone of workers, with a recommended exposure limit at 6 mg/m3 over an 8-hour workday.[47] OSHA has set a permissible exposure limit for diatomaceous earth as 20 mppcf (80 mg/m3/%SiO2). At levels of 3,000 mg/m3, diatomaceous earth is immediately dangerous to life and health.
In the 1930s, long-term occupational exposure among workers in the cristobalite diatomaceous earth industry who were exposed to high levels of airborne crystalline silica over decades were found to have an increased risk of silicosis.[49]
It took a year but we were successful
However, I assume the harsh reality says that it is nearly impossible to suffocate the entire infestation, and more than a few survivors or eggs would remain after the treatment.
I think it'd work for mild infestations, but for larger ones the heat method is really the only option.
But I hope we never have to try this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth#Safety_cons...
I'm going to go do my dishes, while contemplating burning the whole thing down =D
Where I live, in Europe, when I was young there were abundant insects of many kinds, butterflies, dragonflies, lacewings, flies, bumblebees, wasps, beetles, crickets and many others.
Now all have disappeared, but various kinds of bugs (Hemiptera) are still abundant, actually more abundant than before, when many other kinds of insects existed.
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.
After a couple days we saw these bugs crawling out of the couch. After a quick reverse image search, it came back as a bed bug.
Lo and behold we noticed these buggers were all over our house after a month.
We didn't use anything but diatomaceous earth. Sprinkled it all over the house around the base boards and furniture. After about two months, they were all gone.
I've been thinking about spreading it around every so often under my bed (plus around my bedroom) just in case.
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 keep bugs out, but it's a fine powder that gets everywhere and makes a mess. Personally I wouldn't leave it around but that's up to you
No. "Diatomaceous earth is made from the fossilized remains of tiny, aquatic organisms called diatoms. Their skeletons are made of a natural substance called silica." http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/degen.html
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.)
Breathing it for long periods of time wouldn’t be ideal.
Antiparasitic.
“Pool grade” diatomaceous earth should not be used, it is hazardous to be around as it’s structure was changed by heating.
https://www.diatomaceousearth.com/blogs/learning-center/begi...
We didn’t wear respirators and I haven’t heard of anyone who does in this scenario.
Pets and very small children might get much higher doses being curious and near the floor though.
Unlikely this length of exposure would result in silicosis probably though.
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.
Bonus: No more bedbugs can ever get in.
We heat the room to 120-130 for 12-16 hours.
Some people are magnets. bedbugs love their blood.
Also don't forget it just takes time to heat up a home that much.
If they are not hungry, they will stay at one location. When they are hungry, they will travel.
Typically they like to live near their food sources. In hotel, they are found in Mattress bedframe etc. High heat has high fan running too. As long as air reaches their, it will heat up. We had 100% success rate with heat as long as you setup properly
Article indicates some types are immune. That will be a different story. People might still be able to clear them out with sprays, though.
Took 2-3 treatments but it worked.
It was awesome. No bed bugs. No roaches except in the end of summer, (the giant flying variety and it was really just the month of August when the humidity is out of control they would come out of the drains.)
No bugs in general.
Those house centipedes ate everything.
I’m glad you weren’t referring to weight. The average human weighs 60-80kg, depending on what region you’re in. The heaviest spider is the Goliath, grows up to 13cm, but only weighs up to 135grams…
The last time one showed up in our bathroom, my wife yelled at me to "Stop marveling at it!"
It was the biggest one I had ever seen, close to 3 inches. RIP Uber-coleoptrata scutigera!
I discovered we had them when I was going to bed one night and one was just hanging out a few inches from my light switch.
I did a quick search online about how to get rid of them, and I mostly found stories of the form "Help, I got rid of all my house centipedes and now my home is infested with other bugs! How do I get the house centipedes back?"
So we let them be.
https://www.livescience.com/55270-can-indoor-spiders-survive...
> House centipedes feed on spiders, termites, cockroaches, silverfish and other household pests. They do not cause damage to food or furniture.
> For this reason, house centipedes are considered among the most beneficial creatures that inhabit human dwellings, but because of their alarming appearance few homeowners are willing to share a home with them.
( https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scutigera_coleopt... )
For some reason, this has been stripped from the article, despite obviously being the most useful information that was present in it.
Apparently house centipedes can live for up to about 7 years, and need a few years to reach breeding age.
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 starting and you want to confirm.
If I had never bought rental property, I would never have known any of this. I am relieved to have sold it all.
EDIT: The article says 120°F.
I do a quick bedbug check (headboard, nightstand, boxspring) in hotels I visit and mostly don't worry about it.
But I always wash my stuff at 60C and bedding and towels at 90C (for Fahrenheiters that's nearly boiling). And then dry for 30 minutes at 80C. I guess that does the job.
I'm surprised my clothes don't shrink from those temperatures. I wear pretty much only cotton but it seems unaffected.
I would think homeless people would be less likely to get bedbugs, not more. They aren't lice -- they can't live on people.
how would that help? are you assuming the temperature in the car goes below freezing or above 120F?
Preventing getting them seems preferable to trying to avoid brining them home.
Adults and larvae die at 60 degrees so vapor is like the nuclear option to them. Also it's non-toxic to you, it doesn't stain and the vapor can penetrate anything anywhere.
For example : https://www.kaercher.com/fr/home-garden/nettoyeurs-vapeur/sc...
But they can process cellulose, starch and even mold, can survive months without any food, so it is next to impossible to starve them. Low room temperature and low humidity might help a bit.
Source: about 15 years of fighting silverfish, until someone suggested permethrin on Reddit
Keep at 40-45% rel.hum. and silverfish will disappear.
Don't keep food unsealed (looking at you: unwashed dishwear) and cockroaches will disappear.
Have neither and centipedes will disappear.
----
No advice for bedbugs other than Diatomacious Earth and not bringing in used furniture / houseguests.
(Which I had at the beginning of the pandemic, my doctor casually mentioning "it also has known anti-viral properties")
You have to really abuse it to have any troubles unless you have a bad liver.
I find your assertion that it only harms people curious given that the studies that I saw showed that it actually helped quite a bit in third world countries. Of course, those people may have been infested with parasites and cleaning that up may have helped them overcome covid as well
These creepy, long-legged brown centipedes were familiar to everyone I knew growing up in the northeastern US. They are shy of people and tend to stay in the basement at night and only come out at night when it's dark, cool, and quiet (increasing their creepiness).
The upside? They eat other bugs, including many pests like termites, cockroaches, and bedbugs.
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.”
Plus, they can live for 5-6 years. The bigger they are, the longer they’ve been there too.
A neighbor fumigated five times and they still remained…until heat treatment.
Diatomaceous earth just scatters them, compounding the problem.
Might come a day when a defunct restaurant gets acquired by a pest control company and used to freeze items too expensive or dear to replace. But they’d have to use one truck for pickup and one for drop off to prevent cross contamination.
I'm pretty sure that's not all it does to them.
When I had bedbugs in an apartment I was renting, I caulked up all the spaces by the baseboards where they could get in, inspected the bed and wrapped it in a bedbug-proof liner, washed and thoroughly dryered all the linens and pillows, and then spread DE all over. I put lids under the bedposts with DE in them. And I moved the bed away from the wall.
That was the end of them. Didn't get another bite.
| <- bed lays on top of the feet
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
----|---| <- glue here
|
| <- this part touches the ground
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.
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?
gig working app for lizards. disrupt the reptile economy. fund me.