# Bed Bugs



## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

After a couple of weeks of bites and itching, which I though were from airborne beasties, it now looks we have bed bugs.

Stripped the bed and counted about 6. The ends of the slats on the bed were covered in dots and these are now in the bin. Sprayed the rest of the frame and mattress in Raid. Both look like there is no signs of infestation, just on the slats.

Any ideas on what next, anyone with any experience of this. Got two house cats so I'm reluctant to spray or fumigate.


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## stamboy (Apr 1, 2013)

Sounds nasty


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Everyone I know who had bed bugs got rid of their mattress and bed, especially if it's a wood frame bed. I doubt what you did will completely get rid of the bugs as there's probably a bunch more in places you didn't find. Bed bugs are infamous for being tricky to get rid of so that's why people prefer the slash and burn approach of getting rid of the bed/mattress and having the room fumigated than trying the longer, more painful approach of trying to save the mattress. 

There's no need to fumigate the house, just the bedroom. Dubai Pest or something like that apparently does a very efficient job.


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

i read recently that one of the key ways that you can get rid of bed bugs is to heat the house / room to over 50 degrees C for several hours. THey cannot survive this. It needs to be several hours due to the insulating properties of bedding and clothing, and to get the heat into everywhere. 
Some companies have the kit for this.


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## stamboy (Apr 1, 2013)

Take a trip down to Ikea and get a new one. Midnight Oil sung a song called "Beds are Burning" - looks like you need to do that to yours.


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## saraswat (Apr 28, 2012)

vantage said:


> i read recently that one of the key ways that you can get rid of bed bugs is to heat the house / room to over 50 degrees C for several hours. THey cannot survive this. It needs to be several hours due to the insulating properties of bedding and clothing, and to get the heat into everywhere.
> Some companies have the kit for this.


^^ The heating bit is sound advice. If at all possible, take the wooden bed frame and put it on the roof or some other area of the house where you'll get maximum sunlight exposure... Seeing as how its pretty much summer, leave it out there especially around noon/1 o'clock for a couple of hours. The bugs will either die off or scatter to get away from the heat...


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## vantage (May 10, 2012)

i'd rather do that than skip a family heirloom!
When (probably not if) the bugs arrive, i'll be going down this route.

Apparently, absolute heaven for a bed bug is 18-20 degrees. My house has never been near that once it starts warming up!


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## Byja (Mar 3, 2013)

I guess that oversized microwave oven would come handy right now...


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