Home Remedies for Bed Bugs

You’ve probably read or heard about the horror stories associated with the small insects that feed on human blood in the night. They attack when you are sleeping and are quite adaptable in most of the environments catering to humans. This is the life of a bed bug and contrary to popular belief – they surround themselves beyond unsanitary and unkempt conditions – even striking the ritziest of five-star hotels. While professional extermination is almost always the only way to eliminate the problem, there are a few home remedies associated with the dreaded bed bug.

Bed Bugs on Mattress

What are Bed Bugs?

Waiting until the night to attack their victims, the small nocturnal insect known as the bed bug belongs to the family Cimicidae, which is known to feed on blood. While humans are commonly referred to as the main sufferers of this pest, the bed bug also seeks out other warm-blooded hosts for their meals. With a past that traces back to ancient history, the common bed bug (Cimex lectularius) has learned to successfully adapt to the same living spaces as humans [1].

With a preference to temperate climates, the bed bug is often found in warm temperatures, especially in locales such as Florida and the tropics of West Africa and South America. It is there that various species of the bed bug infest poultry, bats, humans, and other types of birds.

When the bed bug reaches maturity, it is reddish brown in color with a flattened, oval appearance. On their body, microscopic hairs give off a banded appearance. They possess no wings. Some people believe that bed bugs are so small that they cannot be seen by the naked eye. This is not the case, as some adults reach length of 4 to 5 millimeters (which translates into 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch). Their size is comparable to that of an apple seed. Since bed bugs are extremely shy and wary of others, an infestation of the insect is quite hard to pinpoint [2].

When feeding, the bed bug is typically active only at night with the most activity taking place an hour before dawn. Using two hollow tubes, the bed bug pierces the skin of their host and draws blood. One tube injects an anticoagulant into their victim, while the other tube is used for blood extraction. Average feeding times are about five minutes, where the bug then returns to their place of hiding. At the time of the bite, a victim is unaware, although late reactions come minutes to hours later.

In the home, the bed bug seeks many different places to hide during the day, including linens, drapery, headboards, desks, nightstands, artwork frames, mattresses, and clothing [3]. With the use of a flashlight, you may find a bed bug crawling about at night. Additional signs, such as blood spots help detect an infestation.

Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation [4]

The best way to detect a bed bug infestation is to call upon a professional, who will complete an inspection of your home. In case you wish to analyze your surroundings before hiring someone out of the Yellow Pages, some of the signs to seek out include:

a) Bug Bites:

Even though you may display bed bug bites on your body that occur during the night, this is not a sure sign that a bed bug was the culprit.

b) Blood:

The sight of dried blood (referred to as fecal spots) may appear on the box spring, behind the headboard, as well as about the seams of a mattress.

c) Bed Bug Skins:

A bed bug sheds skin during their nymphal stage, which looks like a hollowed-out bug.

d) Bed Bug Eggs:

About 1 millimeter in length, the eggs of the bed bug are rather difficult to pinpoint, but are still visible – resembling the shape of rice.

Risk Factors

Bed bugs do not feed on dirt, debris, or crumbs, meaning an unclean environment is not the primary target for the insect to dwell. Bed bugs feed on blood and it is advantageous for them to seek out places where warm-blooded individuals are present. This is why places, such as hospitals, hotels, motels, inns, and cruise ships are perfect living quarters for a bed bug.

When bed bugs find their way into a home, there are plenty of different methods to their madness. When guests of a hotel settle in for the night, bed bugs may climb into their luggage, where they are then transported to a new environment. Bed bugs also travel by way of used furniture purchased at a garage sale or thrift shop. The same is true with used clothing, as bed bugs are known to hide in the crevices and folds of material.

In multi-unit dwellings, such as condominiums and apartment buildings, bed bugs find their way throughout the premises by moving about the walls, cracks, pipes, and wires. New residents may bring bed bugs into a living space through their moving boxes, mattresses, pillows, and other belongings.

Negative Effects of Bed Bugs

The pathogens found in the bodies of bed bugs have been connected to plague and hepatitis B, yet no conclusions have been made as to whether or not the insect is able to pass on disease to humans. While the threat of disease is of no consequence, the bed bug is seen as a rather unclean visitor that affects the sanitation of a household. One is embarrassed to admit they have bed bugs in their home. Additional negative outcomes associated with bed bugs include:

a) Infection:

Those who scratch their bed bug bites may develop skin infections, which may leave behinds scars.

b) Red, Itchy Welts:

The sight of a cluster of bed bug bites is quite alarming, especially when they claim large stretches of visible skin. The back, legs, and arms are common places that bed bugs attack.

c) Stress:

A bed bug infestation is rather stressful with the potential to cause delusional parasitosis or even post-traumatic stress disorder in extreme cases.

d) Poor Reaction to Saliva:

A handful of people may experience anaphylactic shock, as they suffer an allergic reaction to bed bug saliva.

e) Extermination Costs:

Since bed bugs are very difficult to remove from a home or hotel, professional means of extermination creates extra bills for a family or business.

f) Offensive Odor:

A strong scent comes with the presence of bed bugs, as they emit an oil-like liquid from their bodies.

Home Remedies for Bed Bugs

When it comes to bed bugs, there isn’t much a homeowner can do to get rid of these pesky intrusions on their own. Before calling professional help, some have found slight success with the following home remedies for bed bugs:

a) Rubbing Alcohol:

While not a definite fix, spraying rubbing alcohol where bed bugs thrive may contain the problem by killing some on contact.

b) Fruit and Vegetable Insecticides:

Some insecticides comprised of pyrethrins and canola oil are sometimes used by those who wish to lay down a home remedy that is safe for children and pets.

c) Steam Treatments:

It is not uncommon to see some pest control companies use steam treatments to deal with mattresses and other pieces of upholstered furniture. While very limited effectiveness is associated with this type of remedy, it shows great promise in treating items with less than ½ inch of penetration. At home, one may use small steam cleaners to care for their mattresses and other bedding selections.

d) Dry Heat [5]:

Placing clothing, footwear, rugs, toys, stuffed animals, backpacks and other non-launderable items in the dryer for a certain length of time can conveniently remove bed bugs. When an average clothes dryer is run for five minutes at low, medium or high heat, they generate temperatures of about 140, 150 and 180 degrees (respectively). It is believed that when drying a bundle of infected clothes, high temperatures are able to kill bed bugs. It is suggested to run the dryer for more than 20 minutes.

e) Hot Sun:

Since temperatures over 113 degrees are said to kill bed bugs, it is suggested to wash and dry clothing and linens at high temperatures. When living in a hot desert climate, you may hang your bedding and clothes in the beaming sun to destroy lingering bed bugs.

Resources

190 Comments
  1. anoymous has posted a tip on April 9, 2008, 10:13 am

    Just throw away all your stuff and buy new stuff to get rid of bed bugs!

  2. me has posted a tip on May 6, 2008, 6:04 pm

    Throwing everything out is the WORST thing you can do! As you drag your old stuff out of the house, bed bugs can fall off and infect your couch, rugs, and other belongings. They may also crawl into your neighbors’ home. In addition, if you don’t treat the actual problem, all of your new bedding will just get infected, too. Waste of time and money to throw out all your stuff.

  3. stephen has posted a tip on June 12, 2008, 5:21 am

    remove bed sheet every day and deep in hot water for aday and then wash as they very comfortably hide and breed on just the small folding of the bedsheet boarder, just to control to some extend from avoiding the bite the following day.

  4. brooke has posted a tip on May 20, 2009, 4:04 am

    sleep with long sleeved shirt and pants, pull socks up over pants to protect ankles and feet ,and so thet dont crawl up your clothing.

  5. James has posted a tip on June 7, 2009, 2:24 am

    Pesticides is the only treatment…Go with some best guys

    Gudluck

  6. wierd has posted a tip on June 7, 2009, 7:52 pm

    put salt and water on bed bugs bite(a little) and the it wont get swollen ans will stop itching

  7. lauren has posted a tip on June 13, 2009, 10:23 pm

    Buy some normal insect repellent like Cutter, even though it says ticks, mosquitos, and other it will help prevent the bites if you have no other choice than to sleep in an infected area. Whatever you do dont scratch. The bites leave horrible scars and become infected.
    If leaving an infected area to go to another always wash all clothing and bags several times to prevent spreading from place to place. They will also get in your hair so wash hair very thouroughly. Good Luck

  8. middy has posted a tip on June 15, 2009, 11:58 am

    rip up all the carpets in the whole apt.

  9. Arslan has posted a tip on July 3, 2009, 3:11 am

    guyz,the easiest way’s to sell ,Not your furniture or other stuff but your whole house and flee the bedbugs for a new home

  10. danielle has posted a tip on July 4, 2009, 5:30 am

    I have tried it all i moved to an apartment complex that my nieghbor turned out to be infested with these things and now i have them. I have tried proffesional help home remedies heat EVERYTHING i even threw away all of my stuff. Nothing has worked they return within a week full force. I have even moved but this has not worked either.

  11. matt nevada has posted a tip on July 21, 2009, 7:14 pm

    if you spray spic and span antibacterial spray, from, a dollar store, it will kill them within 2-5 seconds, also spray carpets with it, as it will help and is a cheap fix. death to all bedbugs! (dont spend a crap load of money on sprays that dont work)

  12. des sears has posted a tip on July 21, 2009, 8:04 pm

    Kerosene will kill them on contact. Wear a mask and make sure there is lots of air. This works only if you know exactly where they are.

  13. Bugs has posted a tip on July 22, 2009, 3:03 pm

    Move to an Island.

  14. hope has posted a tip on July 23, 2009, 12:30 am

    get some head lice treatment it kills them on contact and lice furniture spray… it works but you have 2 do your entire house and wash everything. BUT you have to find thier nest and it well keep them from bitting you at night

  15. hope has posted a tip on July 23, 2009, 12:35 am

    get some head lice treatment it kills them on contact and lice furniture spray… it works but you have 2 do your entire house and wash everything. BUT you have to find thier nest and it well keep them from bitting you at night if you put the head lice shampoo as a barer around the top fold of your top matress they won’t pass it!

  16. HELP has posted a tip on August 4, 2009, 12:32 am

    if any of this would work I would do it all. I have tried lost and still have the buggers.. Can’t sleep as I feel my skin is crawling…HELP

  17. lost has posted a tip on August 9, 2009, 4:23 pm

    try hair spray soak everything bed mattresses and all (cheap hair spay will work it’s supposed to smother them and kill em.

  18. l bickley has posted a tip on August 10, 2009, 9:04 am

    Clean thoroughly and buy bayer insect killer and spray once a week for four weeks

  19. sar has posted a tip on August 10, 2009, 1:58 pm

    get carpet tape (wide two sided tape) put completely around most top edge of mattress before you go to sleep their little legs will get stuck to the two sided tape and you can torture them in the morning. lol jk on the torture part….. though i’ve wanted to.. then throw them in a closed lid container of turpentine, kerosene or gasoline. till they die. remember they breed every two weeks and nothing but ddt will kill all stages and ddt is illegal in the usa. so you’ll have to keep the tape up till you see no more.

  20. shanna has posted a tip on August 16, 2009, 4:26 pm

    Ive called a extermenitor, Ive bought the sprays emptyed all my drawers and closets washed everything we own Ive bought new pillows new sheets new comforters and one new bed and $800.00 later I still have them. I ve been suffering for one month I just dont know whats next. I cant say theres no improvement but we are still getting bit.I sure wish I had a great tip to share but I dont. Except sleep tight dont let thosde bedbugs bite

  21. carrie has posted a tip on August 16, 2009, 10:57 pm

    i just tried the rubbing alcohol and it killed on contact. but that is only temporary, i will need a whole weekend to clean out my whole apartment, put everythign in the drive way and clean everything. the rubbing alcohol did kill on contact.

  22. Jess has posted a tip on August 20, 2009, 1:15 pm

    We got bed bugs and didn’t really have the money to get an exterminator or the mattress encasements. So we vacuumed and saran wrapped our ENTIRE bed (box springs and all. After that we sprayed rubbing alcohol all over the floor, especially near the walls, cracks, and crevices. Then last but not least we put vasoline on the bottom of all the legs of them bed. I have not seen one bed bug on our bed since. If you see one….SPRAY IT WITH RUBBING ALCOHOL. They die instantly. Also they can’t breathe through vasoline either.

  23. Pradeep has posted a tip on August 24, 2009, 5:12 pm

    wash your bed spreads, rugs, clothes etc in very hot water. Then dry them for atleast 60 mins in a dryer….

    Now throw the mattress which is infected with bedbugs….Seal the bed using candle wax ….(This is really effective)…

    Spray some insecticides …. use napathloene balls in closet and between clothes…

    if these things doesnt work ..you need to call an bug terminator :(

  24. mitsy has posted a tip on August 25, 2009, 10:45 am

    I dont have a tip but i do need some help i got them from my daughter. Her boytoy had them at his house and she goes back and forth from my house to his what do i do i dont have a lot of money to get rid of them so i need something very cheap.

  25. el has posted a tip on August 27, 2009, 2:25 am

    To stop itching from bed bug bites use a small amount of baking soda and water, make a paste and apply to affected area it stops the itching immediately as well as caladryl clear an over the counter antihistimine for the skin it stops the itching so that your skin doesnt get irritated.

  26. tirinia has posted a tip on August 29, 2009, 11:55 am

    im so glade im not alone! i received the nasty little bugs from my neighbor downstairs!!!!!! i will try the rubbing alcohol and keep my fingers crossed. but i never took the plastic off my mattris when i bought it so i wonder if they could get through my plastic?

  27. tony has posted a tip on August 29, 2009, 10:06 pm

    ….i moved into a house already infested with them…im hating life…im ready to exterminate my landlord…or burn the house down..but shed collect insurance then…gimme good ole roaches anyday

  28. wannakilllindsae has posted a tip on August 29, 2009, 11:42 pm

    My lovely step-daughter came to our house and complained about something chewing on her the entire time she was here. She swore it was fleas though no one else was getting attacked. Shortly there after her dad, my BF, who was sleeping on the sofa where she sat, started waking up itchy. Then she calls talking about bedbugs. Next, we find them in our couch. Now they are in our chair but so far NOT our entire house. I am so PI$$ed I want to kill her. We just got the couch. I KNOW they are going to end up upstairs in my bed. I WANT THEM DEAD!!! Yet we are both on disability and can’t afford an exterminator. PLEASE HELP!

  29. CHARLENE has posted a tip on August 30, 2009, 7:49 pm

    I had a rash and bites on my skin for 18 months and was on the edge of despair. Go on line to HHA Healer. I purchased the 4 herb tea in bulk and made the tea, which I took for 1 month. I had my a/c unit tucks cleaned. I put my mattresses in plastic mattress covers, and washed everything in my home. I also purchased heavy duty concentrate insecticide from a do it yourself home insect shop and sprayed my entire house, beds, and inside of vehicle. I had all my carpet ripped up and installed wood floors. And I prayed and fasted asking God for a miracle. I have been bite and rash free for almost 2 years now. Hang in there as this too will pass.

  30. Aleena has posted a tip on September 7, 2009, 10:38 am

    Stay out of New york City!!! the Big Apple is the rotten Apple due to bed bugs bites. I let my kids stay at my father’s apartment 85 Clarkson Ave, brooklyn. The entire building is infested, and their not doing the proper steps to get rid of them, now they traveled back to my house,and now I have to move out of my house cause they are taking over. Even when you don’t see them you start itching. Stop visiting!!!

  31. GoinCrazE has posted a tip on September 11, 2009, 3:37 pm

    No tip…but HELP there everywhere. What do I do about them around my face and in my hair & Private Parts?????

  32. Dawn has posted a tip on September 14, 2009, 4:34 pm

    I have read everyones so called remedies…IS there a REAL-for sure fire way to get rid of these bugs…I personally don’t have them, but, I know someone who does & I don’t want to go over because I’m afraid I’m going to get them & I do not wan to go through all the bs that everyone else seems to be going through…
    I read where some of the tips were to the extreme…like moving–not everyone can just pick up & go..come on-I’m sure there is a better way…
    Please be serious about this on going problem…My friend needs help with this…Thank You

  33. titi has posted a tip on September 17, 2009, 7:57 pm

    HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! any cheap remedie will due but i cant take it anymore.

  34. Bed bug solution has posted a tip on September 20, 2009, 9:44 pm

    Bedbugpowder.com. The ingredient is called Diatomaceous Earth. It is a fine powder, and when bedbugs walk over it, it cuts their shell and dehydrates them. It’s also 100% organic, so you don’t have to worry about poisoning yourself with insecticides. I’ve been using it for about a week now and haven’t seen any bed bugs. good luck.

  35. Help has posted a tip on September 21, 2009, 9:16 am

    Use Wax!The kind you wax floors with….its gooey and sticks on them. It sufficates them stick it all in the corners of your house all on the floors of course assuming you dont have rugs.

  36. SugaMamma has posted a tip on September 23, 2009, 2:58 pm

    HELP!! i have bed bugs, every morning i awake to itchy skin and red mars on my arms, legs, feet, today under my chin, the thing is, i cant see them, im thinking about setting up a camcorder to see them.. I have searched and searched but to no avail… What should I do. I will wash my sheets in hot water today and spray the mattress with alcohol.. I also liked the idea about the tape around the mattress to try and catch them that way. I tried looking in the creveces of the mattress, etc. What about the bug traps (the sticky pieces of paper you put down on the floor). Maybe I can place them behind the headboard on the floor, Other than that< what else can I do since I dont actually see them.. I even get up in the middle of the night to use the rest room and look for them… Please Help!!!!

  37. Jess has posted a tip on September 25, 2009, 11:46 pm

    I hate bed bugs as I’m sure everyone else here does, I just wanted to say one thing though off the subject of bed bugs. Shame on you “step-mother” for being so mean to your husbands daughter for bringing the bugs, shame on you. I doubt she meant to bring them and if she had known I’m sure she would have taken precautions. You are the reason for the whole “evil step-mother” bit.

  38. sharmeka has posted a tip on September 29, 2009, 7:50 am

    I HAD BED BUGS AND FLEAS I HATE BUGS

    THIS REMEDY WORKS BOIL WATER USE THE JUG FROM THE BUG SPRAY BOTTLE WITH THE NOZZLE

    I HAD SO MANY OF THESE LEFT OVER FROM BUYING BUG SPRAY THAT DIDNT WORK I LITERALLY SPRAYED THE BUG AND FLEA BEGS WITH THE STORE BRAND WHO CLAIM IT WORKS ON CONTACT

    THESE BUGS DO NOT DIE THE FLEA JUMPED FROM BEING SPRAYED AND THE BED BUG DIDNT DIE I WAS SO PISSED STRESSED ITCHING AND BITES ALL OVER IN MY BED FLOORS YOU CANT SLEEP
    BOIL WATER IN THAT JUG WITH THE NOZZLE SO THAT YOU MAY SPRAY IN CORNERS CRACKS PICTURE FRAME RUGS EVERYWHERE THE BOILING WATER IS NATURAL SO EVEN WHEN YOU SPRAY THE BED IT WONT EFFECT IT

    THIS STUFF WORKS I DID IT EVERY DAY THE REASON WHY IS BECAUSE STEAMING BOILING WATER IS LIKE THROWING A BOMB ON THESE BUGS BED BUGS AND FLEAS CAN NOT BREATH THEY BREATH THROUGH THE SKIN

    DURING THIS SPRAYING ACTION THEY DIE INSTANTLY

    IT REALLY WORKS KEEP IN MIND I WASTED SOOOOO MUCH MONEY ON STORE BRAND
    VACUUM TOOO AND THROW BAG AWAY YOU WILL SUCK THEM UP IN THE VACUUM REMEMBER THEY ARE LIGHT

    I SUFFERED ENOUGH I CAN NEVER DEAL WITH CATS BECAUSE OF THIS I AM CONSTANTLY IN MEMORY OF THESE HORRIBLE BUGS KNOWN AS FLEAS AND BEG BUGS VASALINE TOO THEY CANT BREATH THROUGH VASALINE PUT VASALINE ON LEGS OF THE BED TO AVOID THEM CLIMBING UP THEY CNAT BREATH WITH VASALINE DO IT NOW SHARMEKA

  39. Alexndra has posted a tip on September 30, 2009, 12:17 am

    OH My God!!! I know how you all feel. I have never had a problem with any sort of insects other than ants until I purchashed my couch… They’re everywhere. I got the couch from a Jack’s Friendly Furniture Repo clearance dealer. It looked so beautiful!.. On the outside, but on the inside.. I have never been so frustrated!! What a rip off! I paid $200 for the couch, and my prize was an INFESTATION OF COUCH BUGS! What to do? I don’t know, but wish I did. I think I might go down and take it out on that furniture salesman!!!!! hehe

  40. Pete has posted a tip on September 30, 2009, 3:01 am

    I’m thinking of moving and leaving every thing behind meaning start all over not even clothes or electronics! I’ve seen them come out of my keyboard and from the back of my T.V.I have a major problem with these bugs! I recently got laid off I can’t even look for work due to staying up all night killing these things trying to stop them from biting my wife and kids! I’m afraid to take them with me, Tonight alone I’ve killed over 20 crawling on the walls!
    If I leave I am going to a much colder environment!

  41. vikki has posted a tip on October 2, 2009, 1:26 am

    I was too infested with bed bugs!I also had the horrible bites went to the doctors several times and a dermotologist they could’nt figure out what the rash(bites)were!one day I noticed a bug on my laptop while I was in bed,the next morning I had one on my chest.They both were small (flea like).I had mom on the phone and she was joking and said “maybe you have bed bugs”!So immediately tore back all the sheets well enough there they where!I called the “pros”they said $1500.00!so i went on line to order there stuff 100.00.So I decided to read all ther ingredients…went to the store got spray for ants and roaches(15bucks)(liquid)sprayed my bed walls carpet everything..put plastic bed covers(from wal-mart)over the matress and pillows…I washed all my bedding in hot water.to let you know I have no bed bugs any where in the house!I had the bite from march until july my skin is scared.If you want more information on how i did this please feel free to e-mail me! kikisue41269@aol.com

  42. GoldNIrish has posted a tip on October 3, 2009, 12:16 am

    Got em in NY City, expensive hotel in Midtown Manhattan East. Brought em back to Cincinnati in our luggage. This is horrible. They do give off an odor though, and some people do not react. 6 in home, only 3 of 4 kids react to bites. My wife is having a nervous breakdown. I suggest you VACUUM a lot, keep clutter down, bag everything, and check all WOOD. they love to hide and sleep in woody places. Also a lot of people I read here may have fleas. Those are much easier to get rid of. Cover dishes or remove from house then BOMB, vacuum, carpet powder and repeat for 2 weeks to a month. BBugs are way harder to subdue, going on 7 months here. Almost got it gone!

  43. jekkk5 has posted a tip on October 3, 2009, 5:43 pm

    We’ve been having bed bugs in our apartment that we moved in 3 months ago and our landlord only decided to send an exterminator today.He said we will need 3 treatments for 3 weeks and hopefully we will be bed bugs free. For todays’ treatment,it seems that nothing changed yet coz i still feel itching,bites all over me since we get back home after 3 hour after the treatment which we are told to stay out of the apartment.When we came back home, I checked out first our box spring matress where we are told that the bed bugs were hiding and still bedbugs are still running around it which i thought they’re all dead. It actually cost us much for this treatment but if it really works for the sake of our 3 kids we need to pay half because our landlord is blaming us that we have bedbugs since he never had bedbugs issue with his previous tenants….But we deny the fact since we never have had this issue to the apartment we used to live… I guess, i’ll comment again to see if this works in the next 2 weeks.

  44. mrs anwer has posted a tip on October 6, 2009, 5:24 am

    Hi,
    please help me for get rid of bed bugs. I have small baby at home and I cant spend much money.my Email number is asma242006@yahoo.com
    thank you
    please help meeeeeeeee

  45. Disgusted and Itchy has posted a tip on October 7, 2009, 9:35 am

    I had a bad experience at a hotel last week when I woke up to bedbugs biting me in the middle of the night. I was even bleeding as it was visible on the sheets. At first we thought they were ticks but soon found out they were bedbugs when I pulled out my computer and pulled them up online to be sure. Either way we were horrified. And were so afraid of bringing them home from the trip that we undressed in the garage and sprayed insecticide around the pile of clothing. Some of the websites stated that they cannot be controlled with pesticides but an insecticide had to be used. Then we began placing the clothes in the dryer to kill the bed bugs and followed up with washing them and then drying them (second wave of heat). I used a clothes steamer, to kill any bed bugs that may have climbed into our luggage, my purse and on items that cannot be placed in the dryer. I boiled water and placed items that could be placed in the hot water in it. My husband vacuumed items including the car that we travelled in then steamed the seats and carpeting. It took us a long time to do all of this but it was worth it in an attempt to keep the bed bugs out of my home. So far we haven’t seen any inside our home and car and hope we never do. However I am still itching like crazy and I have bed bug bites all over my body. I keep feeling like something is crawling on my skin but I never actually see anything. A friend told me about alcohol being affective against bedbugs. I researched it online and saw that it was recommended to kill the bugs on contact. Since then, even though I have not seen any I have been spraying alcohol everywhere, even on my skin and hair in the absence of any visible infestation! The next time I go to a hotel, I am taking my spray bottle filled with alcohol! I never want to experience that again!

  46. Clicker F has posted a tip on October 9, 2009, 4:44 pm

    I learned one tip from the Internet that really helps you get a good night’s sleep while you’re battling these bugs.

    Bed bugs hate the spice thyme. I’ve sprinkled thyme in a powdered form all around the edges of the mattress and here and there on the sheets, blankets and pillow cased pillows. I can then sleep all night without a single bite. This doesn’t get rid of them and a sprinkling doesn’t last forever. I haven’t determined yet how often to use the thyme–every few days up to a week. Because I’m getting big whelts from the bites, I’m using the spice every night now.

  47. Michelle Bryant has posted a tip on October 12, 2009, 7:34 am

    I’ve read a lot, and appreciate everyone’s advice. Been battling them since we first found the infestation in my daughters bedroom 6 months ago. Sadly someone told me bleach worked but it DOES NOT and I’m going with rubbing alcohol./ Please I hope that works. I am developing sleep depro and anxiety over this crap. I thought we had it under control (checking/vacuuming/bleaching) but trying to sleep today one crawled across my sheet. in our own bed. And we all check weekly/even wash in hot hot hot. I can’t even sleep because they are in my couch – I pull a couple every week and my family thinks I am insane cause i am always looking. How much is Orkin?

  48. maria has posted a tip on October 15, 2009, 3:05 pm

    i dont noe i need help please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  49. keke has posted a tip on October 23, 2009, 9:54 am

    I know how all you feel now my girlfriend been telling something was biting her everytime she sleeps. But when i sleep nothing bothers me until this morning. I seen bed bugs crawling under my pillow. I’m pissed because i could’nt sleep at all. I been staying in my apartment for three years, and never seen bed bugs, or had this problem till now, I’m gon try alcohol, and the vasoline. I hope this works out…Thanks!!!!

  50. jcoe has posted a tip on October 24, 2009, 11:39 am

    someone please help me! My husband daughter and I are being eaten alive by these nasty little creatures… We have never actually seen them but after doing research it couldn’t possibly be anything else. We have no healthcare or money. I need a home remedie for stopping the itch. We are going to be scared for years at this rate. Please help:(

  51. Bernard Grater has posted a tip on October 27, 2009, 7:02 pm

    Use alcohol in a spray bottle directly on the bedbug, on the skin and on the sheets.
    When lots of bedbugs, remove contaimanented sheets and soak. Do this for a few days in a row for 2-3 weeks.

    Eating garlic tablets seems to cut back on bedbugs. Not perfect but bites are less and smaller.

    Throw away any fabric furniture, and beware of cardboard whch bedbugs like to nest in.

    Cockroach powder betweeen the bedspring and mattress helps.

    If lots of bedbugs, bomb room.

    I have kept the bedbugs down to a minimum by 1. bomb room once2. change sheets 3. apply alcohol.

    Keep clothes clean . Have a clean atmosphere.
    REmove clutter

  52. BED BUG AND COCKROACH MIRACLE!! WILL RID INFESTATIONS IN DAYS!!!! has posted a tip on October 27, 2009, 7:06 pm

    Diatomaceous earth a.k.a silicon dioxide will get rid of ANY bed bugs, cockroaches, fleas, ants and other anthropods. It is SAFE to uses around food, children, pets and can be put into your or your pet’s food to control parasites.

    The reason it’s not widely known is unfortunately quite a usual one: though it can solve a ton of problems, it’s not going to make anybody any money.

    Diatomaceous earth is a fine white powder, made from the ground up fossilized remains of diatoms, a kind of sea algae. The edges of each grain of powder are so sharp that they make tiny cuts in the hard exoskeleton of any insect upon contact, causing the insect to dehydrate and die within a matter of hours. Since the action is physical, insects don’t build up a resistance.

    I swear by it. I liberally sprinkle it around the bed frames, cracks, baseboards, carpeting, floors, cupboards, counters etc. I leave it in place for up to a week and then vacuum. I repeat again for a couple of weeks until all clear. It can also be made into a solution to spray. Just don’t inhale it if you can help it.

    I get it at the local hardware store. It is inexpensive at $11.00 for 200 grams which is enough for a two bedroom apartment. Just make sure the container says House & Garden and NEVER use the diatomaceous earth found for pool filters. It is not the same.

  53. BugBeGone has posted a tip on October 31, 2009, 8:13 pm

    About to try it all of these remedies. Got them from old Apartment from neighbor. She had them from amattres she got. Never told me. They finally made it to my side. We moved and a few weeks late seen them again in my daughter’s room upstars. She now sleeps in bedroom in basement. Now they are are in my room and some in living room. They have not bit me yet. But they do everyone eles. thank you for this posting of help. No one has money for exterminators.

  54. tamika has posted a tip on November 4, 2009, 1:12 pm

    i dont have a tip i need help i have 4 kids one of which is 5 months old my 7 year old and my 3 year old keep popping up with these mosquito bite looking things i know they are not those because its too cool outside for them and they are several bites in one spot…now my sons father looked up the problem and sure enough its bed bugs,now he said he wont bring my son back till the problem is fixed what in the world do i do im not a dirty person so why do i have them this blows!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  55. Denise has posted a tip on November 6, 2009, 1:02 am

    Last month I first started getting bit and I thought it was happening at work considering it’s a community setting and my employer have been dealing with them for over six months! Well, I checked my bed one Sunday Morning and found one in my bed ruffle! I threw my bed away, bought bed bug spray, used a bed bug fogger, got rubbing alcohol and etc. Still getting bit but have not found any. I even had an exterminator come by and found them in my living room suit that cost over $1000(had it less the 4 years), threw that away! Talked to my superviser about the problem and was under the impression that they were going to remburse me the money I had to spend as she told me to save my receits! 2 weeks later my superviser give me this stupid reason for not giving me my money back, “The exterminator said aint no way I could of took it home because the bed bugs are nocternal!” Well how else would they have got to work if that was the case! I am pissed and is now looking for another job after being there for almost 4 years, this is the thanks I get! I need help before they take over my house!

  56. QuitBitingMe! has posted a tip on November 6, 2009, 10:50 am

    The rubbing alcohol DOES work. We wiped the kids at bedtime nightly. Petroleum Jelly around the ankles and thinly on the feet.. they seem to prefer feet here.Boil water, fill a spray bottle, fill another with alcohol (rubbing) and attack alternating the two. Cover mattresses and boxsprings in plastic *i love the plastic saran wrap idea* and was EVERYTHING… every single piece of clothing in the house… repeat the alcohol and water assault daily… this should help. No one can afford to toss all their shi…tuff…stuff out in this time of poverty! With couches? Cover the cushions in tightly taped garbage bags, buy couch covers wash those weekly, daily if needed…. the key is to keep the house cool too, they hate cold!

  57. Rob has posted a tip on November 7, 2009, 4:26 am

    I’m a landlord and I called in the exterminators, 4 times in a 2 month period to get rid of the bed bugs….I spent a couple thousand…and I’m not spending anymore ! This is a government issue as far as I’m concerned, as it’s an epidemic. There needs to be some kind of mass treatment subsidized by local governments. These treatments that I paid for did nothing to rid of them.

    All you need is to have a guest over who has a bed bug on their clothes or on their crotch and it’s all over. The whole apartment and building will become infested with the blood suckers.
    I like the person who recommended to seran wrap their mattress, spray alcohol on the bed frame, carpets and cracks, and apply thick at the legs of the bed.
    This sound logical and it just might work.
    Rob

  58. Prince Vern has posted a tip on November 8, 2009, 5:39 am

    @_@ Me and my wife have been just pulling our bed away from the wall, surrounding the bed legs with double-sided tape (We make 4 squares surrounded with tape that we put under each leg) and we got the mattress encasements for any that are still on the bed~

    Unfortunately, we’re both still getting bit up +_+ I’ll give the vasoline thing a try and maybe even that Thyme thing~

  59. unknown1987777 has posted a tip on November 10, 2009, 7:16 pm

    i hate these bugs notthing kills them your gonna have to start life over leave your house with just the clothes on you back then hurry run to the store and buy new and burn the last bit in the nearest can…i tryed everything..but leave my house and not looking back im tired of itching and the welts im getting eattin alive awww well going to bed to get eattin

  60. bed bug insanity has posted a tip on November 11, 2009, 7:39 pm

    I don’t have a tip,but I can’t take it anymore. I have 3 children and I have spent toooo much money on sprays.!!!!!!! I just need some sure to KILL suggestions. I got these things from my mothers downstair neighbor. Now my parents house is completly infested and she has done sprays, and even called an exterminator. Who has that kind of money!!! :( I JUST WANT THEM GONE!!!!!! PLEASE HELP :(

  61. rinu has posted a tip on November 13, 2009, 5:47 am

    in my home there is bedbugs.ever six months we are calling pest controll people and they are making spray.still bed bugs are there,so please tell the remidie to remove the bed bugs

  62. Kim has posted a tip on November 13, 2009, 1:22 pm

    Sorry..not a tip…I need HELP!
    Well..I had these bites for about 2 weeks now..I thought is was masquito bites from being at the football field with the kids..Turns out my sister came to stay with me for 1 week..She brought the pesty blood sucking creatures with her! She told me that she had been battling them in her apartment. PISSED!! is a nice way of saying it. It looks as if I have a bad rash on my hands, feet and arms! The iching is intense..very! I read online about them..went home yesterday checked my matteress…and there I found them! I sprayed bleach on the edge of the matteress washed ALL BEDDING in HOT water. I woke up this morning with more bites…What works? Please help!..sniffle..sniffle..; ;

  63. michelle has posted a tip on November 15, 2009, 1:51 pm

    I bought a new blanket for my bed , lets just say i never washed it before i put it on the bed. I had them everywhere i tried sprays and all kinds of products until a man told me about silicon dioxide i put it everywhere and on my carpets , base boards you name it and they are all gone ! Read the directions on label and and youll be bug free !! I still have the powder in cracks and refuse to clean it up just in case they come back !! Hopefully they never come back !

  64. jamesm has posted a tip on November 15, 2009, 11:30 pm

    home depot has an insecticie labeled just for bedbugs. You have to spray evrything. Incase your mattress and boxspring in plastic. You can get them at most furnishing stores. Alcohol is good but I ound that green alcohol works best. On the bottom of your furniture you have to remove the material on the bottom to spray correctly. Leave the material off for a couple of days and spray daily. Place pilows in a garbage bag and spray before sealing. Bedbugs are at a infestation mode in 2009. You can’t getaway frojm thm. People buying these reconditioned mattresses and furniture are being led into this roblem. We din’t really know what diseases are being bred but it’s about time hat the CDC get’s involved. Until than we have to fend for ourselves. Good Luck, because if you don’t talk bout it people won’t know about it. Be prepared for a national emergency. Seriously.

  65. Tina has posted a tip on November 20, 2009, 3:01 am

    Thank u all for the tips. I justed moved into a house 1half week ago and 3days ago i was getting bit up plus my husband and 3children.This is a real pain in the but.I really feel embaresed even though its not my fault. I just really hope that i can rid of the that. Thanks everyone 4sharing there storys and remedies.

  66. dambugs has posted a tip on November 24, 2009, 1:21 am

    We had a flea explosion in our car on a long roadtrip a few years back.I thought it was the worst thing ever. But at least it was contained and treatable! Now we have bedbugs (discovered on the day of the last payment of our new bed!!!) Treated the bed and sofas then tossed them anyway. 6 days later have two new bites. I now know THIS is the worst thing ever. So far have emptied out all our Xmas money and all our savings on exterminator and steam machines and dryer costs etc. But impossible to wash everything in house. My mom is a clutterer, we had her house prof done too but she won’t follow any of the steps. DOOMED. Will we ever be rid of them? Wits end.

  67. cedric has posted a tip on November 25, 2009, 6:55 am

    One way is to apply vaseline to the legs of the beds. Second one is quite interesting, Take a Kilogram of green hot chillies, cut them into tow and boil them in the water. Keep on boiling untill the water is half of what the original wate was before boiling. Strain and use the hot chilli flavoured water to spray around the house. Mind you you will not find any bugs for the next 6 months. Try out it works!!!

  68. Sarah has posted a tip on November 26, 2009, 1:54 am

    I moved into my apartment about 6 months ago. Only after a few weeks we started getting bit up. When we confronted the lanlord about the welts on my room mates arms, he claimed he had no idea what they were, she went to the hospital and they said it was fungus! Then a couple of weeks later after nothing had changed we got a notice from the lanlord saying that they were doing there anual 3 month bed bug spraying. He claimed he had no idea what he they were yet he treated them? Anyway, i went to wal-mart and got some raid and i sprayed the mattress and the carpets and any cracks i could find, it reeked of poison. I put all of my clothes and sheets and anything that was possible to be washed in the washer and then after i let the room sit for a bit i vaccumed everything. When the sheets were done i found that they like sheets. So i dont have a sheet on my bed anymore, i just lay a blanket over it then use another blanket. Raiding keeps them down, and no clutter deffinately helps. But deff dont use a sheet that wraps around the bed, they’ll just go under it and make an even bigger nest. I havent had time to raid lately and they’re getting worse, i was just sitting here on my laptop and somehow my arms got bites on them, it creeps me out that they can crawl on me even when im awake and bite me. Any new remedies would help. I am in college, i have practically no money and no time. Thanks.-Sarah

  69. Sarah has posted a tip on November 26, 2009, 1:57 am

    AND are my pets affected? I dont want them getting my kitten.

  70. itchiy richy has posted a tip on November 28, 2009, 12:46 am

    Hi, I have been dealing with the little critters for about 2 weeks. I woke up one morning and I was covered with them. I have put petrolem jelly on the rails and legs of the bed. I also used rubbing alochol on my body not by my eyes and it works. dont dump the whole bottle on you. Also put little cups under the legs of your bed and fill with water. They come out between 3:00 am and 5:00 am. I am going to try the powder made from fosills. Also wear a pullover hat, long sleeves, long pants,socks and tape all the exposed areas of your clothes. Put petrolem jelly on your body. I put it all over my body. They cant walk through it. It sounds silly but I hope it works for you. I HATE BED BUGS !!!!!!!!

  71. Jamie has posted a tip on December 4, 2009, 9:05 am

    Well, as everyone else has said, these bed bugs are the most horrid thing I’ve ever come across to get rid of!! My parents are in their 80’s and never travel anywhere, however, they live in an apartment complex so we are certain this is how they got them. Anyway, it has been six months of the complex paying for extermination a couple times per month, we encased the mattress as well and threw away their beautiful sofa. THEY STILL HAVE EM!!!! Now they are in their two living room chairs and the exterminators suggest we throw them out as well. My sister and I don’t know what to do!!! Recently we planned to hire a housecleaning service to for my parents and told them they have been battling with bed bugs. They said they won’t come until they are gone, but gave us a tip to place dryer sheets under the cusions of the furniture and at each corner of the boxspring. We have no idea how, if, or why this would work, but did it anyway last evening. WE ARE DESPERATE!! Will update in 2 weeks after the exterminators come back to let you know if this worked!!

  72. wow has posted a tip on December 10, 2009, 9:37 pm

    this is all too lol! I went to a four star hotel and caught them and just took hot showers and washed my clothes in hot water. everything needs to reach a scalding hot to kill these pests!

  73. Arthur Me has posted a tip on December 13, 2009, 3:06 pm

    Bedbugs DO have a plan. They infest, nest, breed and feed (off of your blood). We would suggest “triage” to fight their plan. But, first, BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE THE BUGS OR SOME SORT OF INFESTATION. Otherwise, you may be putting yourself through a lot of needless work, money and worry. PLEASE BE CERTAIN TO READ ALL TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS BEFORE PROCEEDING. ALSO, WE’RE NOT PROFESSIONALS, WE CAN OFFER NO GUARANTEES. IF YOU CAN’T ACCEPT THE ‘NO GUARANTEES’ CLAUSE, PLEASE PROCEED TO THE NEXT TIP.

    1)a) Treat your wounds, rashes, sores…based on the above tips and information, it might be best to see a doctor or even a nurse.
    1)b) If professional medical help is out of the question – or unaffordable – we might suggest treating with salt & water, or
    1)c) baking soda, or
    1)d) caladryl or some other similar soothing lotion,
    1)e) or combinations of (a) through (d) if you care to and only if you and your loved ones can tolerate it.
    1)f) Don’t treat with anything that causes you itching, rashes, allergies or other adverse reactions.
    2)a) Hire a professional entomologist and/or exterminator or
    2)b) Buy and use a bug bomb – make sure you evacuate the premises for the amount of time the directions tell you to – or longer! REMEMBER: Bug bombs almost always are toxic!!! See this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bug_bomb#Hazards_to_humans
    3)a) If (2) is out of the question or does not work, machine wash and dry every fabric-made item in the vicinity.
    3)b) If possible, wash down the walls, the furniture (inside and out) and the carpets. You may even want to steam the carpet and other fabrics. Check the drapes, too. Check the tops of the window ledges, especially if you live in a ‘warmer’ climate. You will find plenty of bugs up there if you haven’t checked these yet. If these fabrics are non-washable, you may have to check in with your dry-cleaner. Um, they might possibly appreciate a little advance warning.
    3)c) Um, did you treat any cracks, crevices, holes or other points of possible exit/entry in the walls, floorboards, furniture, mattress, boxsprings…you may want to think about that…you may have to physically dry these items. If possible. PLEASE BE SURE TO CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY OF PERMANENT DAMAGE TO ANY OF YOUR FURNISHINGS OR OTHER ITEMS…DO A LITTLE ‘SPOT TEST’ FOR DAMAGE POTENTIAL IN A PLACE THAT IS NOT CLEARLY VISIBLE.
    4)a) If you’ve completed all of (3), you may have located the nest – or some individuals – or more than one nest. You may want to have some boiling water handy or rubbing alcohol (unscented should be preferred, but scented might provide a ‘marker’ to let you know where you’ve already attacked…just remember, that scent might not go away…for a while…can you and your loved ones tolerate that?).
    4)b) WARINING! BOILING WATER IS HAZARDOUS AND CAN AND WILL CAUSE BURNS. EVEN IF YOU PUT IT IN A SPRAY BOTTLE, IT CAN STILL CAUSE SERIOUS BODILY INJURY! WHEN YOU HANDLE BOILING WATER, THINK THROUGH EVERY STEP TWICE!
    4)c) That said, you may want to put your boiling water (quickly and safely) or rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle. Just be sure to insulate it with a towel or paper towels or some other fabric to prevent thermal burns. Gloves (fabric) are also helpful…
    4)d) Ready? If you aren’t, the little bloodsuckers have probably scattered. Have everything in place just for them so that they can’t get away.
    5)a) Clean up the remains carefully, there might still be a survivor or two left. Place them immediately in a container that can be sealed and that can’t be escaped. You might also have some rubbing alcohol or quicklime in the container. Make sure the quicklime has been kept sealed. REMEMBER: QUICKLIME CAN BE VERY HAZARDOUS AND CAUSE BODILY INJURY! KEEP IT AWAY FROM YOUR BARE HANDS – WEAR GLOVES – AND KEEP IT AWAY FROM YOUR EYES AND MUCOUS MEMBRANES! Want some proof? Throw a live bug in a container with fresh quicklime and watch what happens. To safely handle Quicklime, consult a Material Safety Data Sheet or see this link: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/cis/products/icsc/dtasht/_icsc04/icsc0409.htm.

    5)b)DON’T USE QUICKLIME IF YOU HAVE SMALL CHILDREN OR ANIMALS!!!
    5)c) Discard the container safely and legally. You might do well to seal it with duct tape or something similar. You can also mark the container: Warning contains rubbing alcohol/quicklime.
    6)a) How do you know you got them all or that they won’t come back? You don’t. So it might be best to seal up every fold, hole or crease in mattresses, boxsprings and all other furniture to keep them from relocating – or exiting if they are still in there.
    6)b) Preventive measures might or might not include (remember, no guarantees…) the spice thyme (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thymus_vulgaris),
    6)c) Boric Acid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boric_acid),
    6)d) Baking Soda and/or
    6)e) Make a blend of (6)b)c)d) in equal portions or experiment and
    6)f) Lay these out around the areas where they (the bugs) might wander through. Boric acid might be the most effective as it slowly kills the bugs from the insides (or should) as they lick it off of their limbs…
    6)g) Vaseline or mineral oil placed on the legs of furniture and bedposts might prevent them from climbing up…but prevent them from climbing off, too. Think about this. A little dish or pan of the stuff place under the feet of furniture and beds might also deter them. But, no guarantees. If you didn’t kill them the first time (or with repeated applications…), they won’t be able to climb off to nest…

    7) If all else fails, contact your local church (or other place of worship)…after all, you might as well try the Holy Water. God works in mysterious ways.

    Sorry, we’ve run out of time and have got to get going along.

  74. john has posted a tip on December 14, 2009, 7:16 pm

    BOMB THE LITTLE SUCKERS, THE IS A PRODUCT AT HOME DEPOT IN A PURPLE BOX IT’S A DEFOGGER DO THIS TREATMENT EACH WEEK FOR 4 WEEKS AND SEE HOW IT TURNS OUT I AM WORKING ON THIS AND HOPEFULLY I WILL BE BITE FREE SOON. BECAUSE THIS IS TERRIBLE……

  75. Alex has posted a tip on December 16, 2009, 6:31 am

    We have been battling these evil bed bugs since April of 2009. Here we are in December. The one reprieve we had was from using kerosene on all of our wood flooring, walls, and celing [it is wooden as well with beams]. We mixed Suspend insecticide with the kerosene and drenched the place. It smelled very strong for several days but, if it works–who cares. It did work for 6 weeks. Then they came back.

    Before using kerosene we tried the diatomaceous earth which doesn’t seem to work very well, and also the green chili water recommended by Cedric above, which, sadly, also did not seem to work. We tried heating our home to above 120 but were unable to acheive the temp with the space heaters.

    But–we are currently using Catalyst insecticide which is not approved for home use any longer [once was], only industrial use. That seems to be working, but it has only been a few days so I can’t declare success. Oh, another thing we tried was Propoxur which was useless. Funny, too since that is supposed to be “the” thing that will kill them–didn’t work. The other thing we tried which did not work was burning sulfur. That is the old fashioned way to kill them. It may have had some effect or maybe we didn’t burn enough, long enough or repeatedly enough. We may try that again. We burned sulfur with no one in the house, of course, for about 3 hours. Still got bitten that night.

    We also tried bug bombs–both pyrethrin based ones for fleas and the hot shot brand from home depot labelled especially for bed bugs which did not help and may have made the problem worse [they go deeper into hiding when you use bug bombs].

    My advice to anyone facing this is to go to the mirror. Say good-bye to that person you see, there. You’re not going to see him/her for a while–months, a year or more. You are going to become a neurotic, killing machine mixed with the most persnickety housekeeper archetype who you probably used to laugh about along with a dash of good old fashioned creepy crawly skin paranoiac. You’re not going to sleep well or enough but on the plus side, if you needed to lose weight, you are going to. Welcome to the bed bug battle work out. I have before and after pictures to prove its success.

    We got rid of our wall to wall carpet long ago, all books are sealed, vacuum and steam all the time, laundry non-stop, you know the routine….insomnia, despair but trudging on. I am reminded of the Dutch during the Nazi occupation. Their motto became, “It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere”. I wish you all luck and freedom from this and a return to a normal life one day.

  76. Alex has posted a tip on December 16, 2009, 6:48 am

    A couple of things I forgot to add. The enzyme “killer” Kleen Free was horribly expensive, smelly and did not work. Also, if anyone can benefit from this mad scientist experiment into which we have been plunged I had better add the details about our having long ago “isolated” the bed with steel cups of Murphy’s Oil Soap, encasing the mattress and pillows in bed bug proof allergy protection covers and slept in two TENTS–still got bitten every night. One of the tents had regular mosquito netting so I can imagine that they could get through, nymphs, anyway….by the way, the nymphs are the size of a SPEC OF DUST. Also used the noseeum mesh tent, which also did not work–now with that one I really do not understand how they got to us. We took all precautions, baked clothing, freshly showered and shampooed before entering the tent. Had one week of reprieve in the first tent by encircling the tent with a Home Defense insecticide from WalMart which a Canadian fellow recommended at bedbugger forums. But, alas, that did not work for us for long. It seems to have solved his problem, though. About the bedbuger forum, they seem to be a shill for pest control professionals. I have noticed that anyone who has had success with any remedy of their own is ridiculed on their forum or their posts are removed. Bed bugs can live underwater for some time–at least two hours and they can stand freezing temperatures for weeks on end. Another thing I have been doing is using the Glad turkey size oven roasting bags to enclose clothing and sheet in to bake them at 200 degrees in the oven for as long as the fabric can stand–up to two hours. In closing, those who are experiencing one member of the household being bitten while others are not–this is quite common. Bed bugs prefer females to feed on.

  77. Emily has posted a tip on December 19, 2009, 8:44 am

    OK here is my soluccion we came back from a trip and my daughter brought back bed bugs her bed got in fested we sprayed her mattress with 96%alcohol covered it and threw it out .Then i her room with alcohol.Threw her stuffed animals in the dryer so the heat could kill them .rubbed her bed especial the legs and the corners of her room with vaseline or petroleum gelly .the alcohol,spray bottle ,and vaseline can all be purhcased at the dolor store .my best advise is that at this point wash wash wash cloths and linens that can have any relation what so ever the couch the cloth in her dresser .killing then is cheap its getting them all what os tireing

  78. stressedout has posted a tip on December 26, 2009, 8:15 am

    I have no tip but I wanted to say thank you for giving tips,I am stressed over the bed bugs that are in my apartment it puts a strain on all I don’t know who to blame. I do live on the third floor in a building I could have got them anyway the good thing my kids aren’t being bitteni am though I am going to try that diacemous. Earth and see ill let. U know how I did

  79. Bernard Grater has posted a tip on January 3, 2010, 4:26 am

    put fabric furniture into storage until bedbug problem is solved(or throw away).
    Wash down room 2-3 times a week with clorox. wash all clothing in clorox(watch bleaching problem), and wash all clothing after one day use.

    Cover bed with 5 sheets. REmove sheet each night and soak in bathroom.Bedbugs will be attracted to your body. May have to wake up in the middle of the niogth to take off top sheet with its bedbugs.
    Spray body with alcohol and water(1/2 and 1/2). REmove clutter. Simply even if it requires putting stuff(in plastic bags) in storage.
    IT CAN BE SOLVED!

  80. Bernard Grater has posted a tip on January 3, 2010, 4:40 am

    Steam treatments , or heating the room to a high temperature may kill bedbugs. Beware however it may set off your fire extinquisher or alarm.
    Any reports on the effectiveness of heating room to 115 degrees?

    Bedbugs like to gather in clothes that were worn that day, so put used clothing in shower after use.
    I hope never to use “raid” as spraying with alcohol will kill bedbugs on contact. Keep area and walls around bed especially clean with alcohol and or clorox.

  81. Nicole has posted a tip on January 4, 2010, 3:18 pm

    Like all of you here I suffer from these nasty little creatures. I had never in my life even seen a bed bug until moving to these apartments. For about a year my now almost 3 year old son would wake up with bug bites and my boyfriend would not. I just figured it was mosquito bites or an allergic reaction since I have very sensitive skin. No that was not the case. One day I researched these bites we were getting and to my surprise BED BUGS! My landlord then told me there was no way to prove that I didn’t bring them in so I had to pay for them. Which is ridiculous because I had never had a problem with them. Nor do I EVER travel or sleep elsewhere. There was no way we brought them in. Anyways we paid for the 3 treatments. Of course they helped but didn’t at all get rid of them completely. To this day I am still being bitten. Not as often but enough to make my life miserable. I have tried every home remedy pretty much ever thought of even Diatomaceous earth which did help but also no real results. The only thing I could think of to do is leave everything I own behind and move but that’s not realistic for me. I guess I’ll be living with these things forever. They need to pay rent and food costs the food being me!!!!

  82. Robert has posted a tip on January 8, 2010, 9:16 am

    Guess i will chime in. I to have had these. My couch/bed was just infested. It’s gone along with a chair. Sprayed with a 50/50 rubbing alcohol water mix. Worked great. 3 months later i was getting bit and found maybe 4 bugs again so far. So last night i puled up the carpet by my new bed i’m currently using and put just regular table salt all in the cracks. It felt good to sleep. I didn’t feel a bite. I however am just FLAT BROKE and can’t even afford to go buy rubbing alcohol. Yep i am that broke a true 0 dollars kinda situation. The alcohol does work. If i had the money i’d just get a gallon and mix it in a 5 gallon bucket 50/50 and spray all the cracks. That silicon dioxide sounds like the trick too. Funny how you have to search for hours on end to find a good cheap remedy. Good luck to all and i hope the salt will work till i can get that powder. Has anybody had any luck with just regular table salt?

  83. Mary has posted a tip on January 17, 2010, 1:12 pm

    I have been checking this site out for a while now, well at least since I found out where my mystery bites were coming from. I have tried the alcohol not the green and it works sometimes, the sprays that say the kill the eggs are a joke because the kill the big ones and then we started only finding small ones. so I tried the powder you know the one make from fossils ans that is the best thing I have used. So I put it in the walls through the light switch and electrical sockets to keep them from coming back and we are down to seeing a bite here and there from being woke up to huge welts everywhere. I took everything apart and started using my blow dryer to get into cracks because the heat will kill them and even if the dryer is not hot enough it will blow them out of the hiding spot and you can kill them. And once you use the dryer you will see the hiding spot and put the dust in that area I also completely covered the floor just in case they were hiding in the crack in the floor, it is hard to resist not to clean it up but fight the urge and you will be rewarded with a peaceful night sleep in the near future.
    Good luck

  84. pj has posted a tip on January 21, 2010, 9:16 am

    i am gonna try the alcohol and dioxide today….just moved into an apartment building around two months ago and we are now seeing them in the mornings around 4 and 5 am. yet they have no blood in them…bed bugs can live 18 months without feeding so even if you don’t see them for a while, i would keep doing it for at least two years and especially if you find their evil layer then you may not have to..i noticed them in my apartment in the spring of 2008 they were in the door frame that had small cracks in them and black specks, usually that is were their evil layer is..so if you see black specks around the walls and door frames, do this: i covered the door frame with box tape to catch them and i sprayed them with the ortho max home defense indoor and outdoor spray, the spray brought them out and they crawled out of their home and died slowly on the wall(yet these were the one that hadn’t feed yet)..i also got plastic covers from walmart for about 10 dollars for a full and 2 to 3 dollars more for larger beds. make sure you get one for the box spring too, and only use the zipper kind, they cant breath thru the plastic… and i made sure that my bed never touched the wall ever again, and i never saw one again yet i always sprayed once a week, my bed was brand new and i was gonna be damned if i let them win…so i sprayed it with the ortho max and wiped it down with bleach and put the plastic covers on them. yet i think that this time be a worse time because we live in a much larger apartment complex that allows dogs. we have a dog we have not been bitten but we find one or two every two days or so, and i am wondering if they are biting the dog. the caretaker, they are a joke…he said he uses a mixture of ammonia and alcohol to draw them out…and that is all it did….we’ve been seeing more now than before they sprayed. so i like making homemade concoctions…so i am gonna try some of yawz advice, and maybe you can too.. i am gonna pick up that silicon dioxide, house and garden brand, some rubbing alcohol make sure it is more than 90 proof. i am also gonna get the hottest peppers, maybe habanero and boil it. i will make a habenero mixture and an alcohol mixture. and use the powder in tight places. have a newborn so cannot take a chance on anything with a lot of fumes, nor do i wanna kill the dog, he puts everything in his mouth. fortunately we have not seen any in the bedroom only the living room in one chair..the caretakers are stupid, they are trying to accuse us, stating “well we had them in the other wing of the apartment complex but not on this wing, so you must have bought them with you…wrong/not…too damn cheap to hire an exterminator…people come in and out of the all the time, we live close to the main entrance and the laundry room…these damn things travel/crawl fast and hard to get to a new spot in order to cause havoc and stress…gotta be a way…gotta pray…hell they been around for as long as man has…so i wonder what the primitive people used before insecticides were made. i will let you know how it works..oh i tried the ammonia and alcohol…the ammonia is too powerful yet they don’t like it…you have to spray a little leave the room and let it air out then do it again. i will also continue to use the ortho max home defense, we bought a brand of enforcer bugmax home pest control, and it says it kills beg bugs, it has no ordor, yet i think this shit just bring them out to…. good luck everyone, and hopefully soon we will all sleep well, stress and itchy free.

  85. Rayray has posted a tip on January 23, 2010, 4:14 am

    Depending upon how bad the infestation is or I should say how long they have been breeding; you might have to take drastic measures! If its new you probably wont have to get rid of everything you have in the probllem area/home. You have to treat it as if everything is infected and take no chance of even 1 of those pesty biters surviving! As soon as you realize the problem act right away. steam all cloth furniture including matress & box spring, then wrap it in plastic thick enough to prevent them from escaping.If you can afford it buy “Do it yourself spray”, and spray them before you wrap them.If you have a place to store items you don’t apsollutely need in the home that will help alliminate other posible hiding places and save you from having to throw everything away. The bugs usually die after not eating for about 6 months but some say they can live a year without eating.Clear out all droors, cabineets and shelves; bag it all up. Bag up the things you can live with out. spray it, bag it and store it out side the home. Take all clothing and linnen to a laundry mat wash with bleach when possible, but wash all with hot water and dry in maximum heat, or dryclean. Be sure not to put the bug free stuff back in the same containers you previously had them in. No recontamination!Store those ssomeware until you have completed the rest of the process.Remember the begs can live in walls,carpet,wood,electrical plugs,and any where they want.Note if you live in snow country you can open up all windows and doors and freze them during winter.Ok now that you have everything steamed,sprayed and wrapped you still have to kill the ones in your home.And prevent them from returning! Plan to stay elsware for about a week at the least preferately 20 to 30 days. Ware gloves and face mask when spraying to protect youself. Before you Start spraying clean all floors with bleech or rubbing alcohol.If your place is infested you have to remove all carpet, rugs and curtains. Spray every room well;not missing any crack, corner, space or opening. Be sure to spray around windows and doors.Make sure the spaces are sealed so they can’t come in from out side.If you live in a motel or apartments you need to see if your neibbors have the problem.If they do you need to consider moving because the bugs will re-enter your home!you have to quarenteen everything you cary with or on your person.(Wallets,purses,belts,hats,phones,shoes, clothes,keys etc.Get an air tight bucket spray the inside and keep those things in there when you are not using them.Always remember that those little pests can hide any where!After you have sprayed everything in your place.Close all doors and windows and place a bomb in each room and maybe 2 in the worst places.Now that you are outside, spray all around your doors and windows. Clear all junk and dabree away from house so you can spray the outside real good; consintratating around the windows and doors.Leave home sealed up for about 5 days then spray it all again.If you do that 3 to 4 times every 5 days and keep leaving it sealed up all the bugs and their youg/eggs will die.Once you return now you need to spread the powder(Diatomaceous Earth which is also called Silicon dioxide) this crucial!Line this stuff in every corner,in shelves and cabinets.Consintrate in the worst areas.Put some between the mattress and box pring. And everywhere people sit or sleep. Everything you can’t spray with poison and or powder, keep cleaning with alcohol and (or) bleach.Put vasoline or protrolium jelly on all your Bed legs.Stay very watchful of everything and everyone that enters your home!Don’t get lax and forget to control everything that is brought into your home and you will not have bed bugs again! Bless you!R.A.K.

  86. L..J. has posted a tip on January 30, 2010, 9:16 pm

    I moved from a house to an apartment complex back late October and my other half and I were elated. However a week of being in the place I started waking up with welts. At first I thought maybe they were flea bites from my friends dog, but after washing him and checking him there were none. Then I assumed spiders. Bought some crawling bug spray and dosed the place. Still the bites kept coming. For a while it seemed they focused on just eating me and left my husband alone, however 2 months later he too fell victim to their bites. Ironically enough the place I moved into I caught a few specimens and had them analyzed I had red house spiders, went to Orkin and they sold me the b1 pro apartment and house spray. That cleared up the spiders but Ironically after treating for them I did find a few bed bugs at the base board of the floor near by bed. The B1 pro spray does not work on bed bugs and the stuff itself is quite nasty. I ended up with propoxur poisoning. The main agent in their spray, due to the rather intense fumes. You do spray the stuff and leave for 4 hours but since its oil based it does seep into things and stays. Been a week now and we’ve got that under control now but I still have the bed bugs.

    Ive spent over 300 bucks now on stuff. My landlord recommended bleach and rubbing alcohol but that has not worked. Ive also tried tea tree oil and lavender oil, those do not work either. Boric acid also does not work nor dish soap. I’ve even gone as far as to steam treat my base boards but I fear I’m going to have to throw my bed out as well as my 3 couches.

    Its frustrating and sleeping has become a joke. 2-5 hours a day and I now sleep wearing clothes and socks but the itching… Its too much.

    Oddly I haven’t seen any of them in my mattress, perhaps this is due to the fact that my bed sits a only a few inches away from 2 walls.

    Because I rent I can’t exactly tear away at the base boards or the old molding (its a turn of the century building) but I do have a sneaking suspicion that they are residing in the walls and baseboards and come out to snack on both of us. I spotted my first one crawling out from under one of the baseboards near my radiator.

    I wouldn’t imagine these on anyone and landlords really need to understand what tenants go though. I think if they stayed at one of their units for a month they would be willing to do just about anything to get rid of them.

    The issue is since I live in a 7 unit building and yes, my land lord says hes treated for them twice in the past year. I don’t think it was every unit or that it was from a reputable specialist (IE: They were not Orkin or Able who do have guarantees ) so the problem isn’t going to correct itself. If they aren’t all treated the bugs just move to another unit. I fear that I wont be able to rid myself of them due to the fact that they will just go next door or underneath me again until I’m lulled into a false security.

    Please advise. I really am having thoughts about moving except I signed a lease and I’m trapped here for at least a year. If you have any ideas please email me at ladyjallyn@hotmail.com in the header area please title as BED BUG HELP.

    Thanks in advance
    Sleepless in Hamilton
    L.J

  87. Ms.Douthit has posted a tip on February 21, 2010, 2:52 pm

    I think the best solution ,is to spay your bed with the rubing alcohol.Remove all yur funiture from your house.get insect bome repelant from a family dollar our a phrmacy near you,and bome your antier house.After you do that spay some more ,but in the crevasious,seems,cracks,where you feel they might be hiding.Also rap your bed with the suran rap,put electrical tape around it with the vaslin.If this don’t work throw every thing away.

  88. MrBoSSmanBiGGs has posted a tip on February 25, 2010, 3:43 pm

    OMG. it was like 2 maybe 3 weeks ago. the terminator said 95buck an hour per person n said he doesnt like to do this type problem. i found 1 2day n now my skin is crawling n im swating at n e thing that feel like its crawling i feel vialated i wanna pack my hardrive, tedybaer, dvds, guitar n jet away from here. those nasty viall little monsters. all i can do is pray that God blesses me with a mirical…PLEASE HELP ME DEAR LORD PLEASE!

  89. Lou has posted a tip on February 25, 2010, 7:40 pm

    Here is the cheapest but not the most convenient way. Bedbugs can’t survive in temperatures below 30 degrees farenheit. Shut off the furnace and water lines and open a few windows be careful of thieves trying to get in your house so bundle up. This does work. I have done it and have no bedbugs anymore.

  90. kuldeep has posted a tip on March 5, 2010, 3:18 am

    tips to get rid of bedbug.

    1) turn on the AC for smtime, bedbug die on extreme temp.
    2) if they are visible then spray anything from kerosine to
    simple oil, not necessary pesticide, the basic idea to suffocate them as they die very easily with this method.
    3) wash ur bedsheet with hot water every alternate day.
    4) use anti bedbug bedsheet which are available in the market.
    5) bedbug usually hide in the wood so if you have any wooden cupboard or bed then make sure they are not eatenup or cracked, if they are any cracks then fill those cracks with any thing and paint it.
    6)bedbug will die if you put your matteress in the sunlight for an hour.

  91. Jennifer has posted a tip on March 10, 2010, 12:31 pm

    We too have fallen victim to bed bugs, a special thanks to whooever shared this gift with us. I have scars all over my arms to remember them always. We tried to treat with bed bug spray…with no luck. We have washed everything, including stuffed animals. We purchased several rubbermaid tubs to place all of our clean clothes and bedding and stuffed animals so as to not be reinfected. We put all soiled laundry into trashbags instead of hampers. We trashed our bed. We covered all of our remaining beds in plastic covers. We steam cleaned our carpets and steam ironed the carpets around all baseboards. We have been boiling water with cinnimin sticks and placing it into a spray bottle and using the mixture on everything. It smells great and seems to be working. We filled all nail holes in the walls and re caulked every crack in our home. My daughter and son have suffered just a few recent bites but every day there is less evidence of these little creatures. It really is a lot of work, but it in not impossible. Good Luck!

  92. Zoe has posted a tip on March 14, 2010, 6:48 am

    There’s nothing you can do, Bedbugs are a life sentence it seems. My tip: learn to enjoy scratching, pain, and disturbed sleep.

  93. Moe has posted a tip on March 17, 2010, 11:56 pm

    I too am battling the dreaded bed bug problem. We went to a rent to own store and got a bed and matresses. I have never in my life seen a bed bug, but my daughter started getting bit, and at first I thought it was poision oak or something because she was always itching. We have had the problem for about 2 months now. We ended up getting rid of all our old matresses and beds. I am constantly washing clothes, and have seemed to contain the things to my couch. We don’t see any anywhere else except there, and it is going out first thing tomorrow morning. I recently purchased Diatomaceous Earth, (had to order it offline as no one around here knew what I was talking about). It seems to be doing really well. I have only seen 2 since I have been using it. One was extremely small and the other one was a little larger. I also plan on using the rubbing alcohol to see if that helps. I don’t have the money to get rid of my furnishings and start over, but no one has been seeing bites since using the earth. The only problem with using it, is that you have to leave it in place for a week or two, and it really is hard to resist the urge to sweep it up off the carpets and floors. I wish everyone the best of luck in getting rid of these nasty creatures. I will post again in a couple of weeks to see if the earth continues to work. Thanks to everyone who posted their tips, and I wish you all the very best of luck.

  94. Jean has posted a tip on March 19, 2010, 7:07 am

    I thought at first it was fleas, but found the baby bed bugs in our couch. Though, I believe they have taken over my entire home and clothing. Been dealing with these anoying bits and now staying up all night. Yes, they do live in cardboard as do fleas. I have been using the rubbing alcohol and rubbing them off my skin arround my neck all night. It works a whole lot better then vaseoline. And steaming doesn’t work on these bed bug devils. So feeling the results from the alcohol in removing them from my skin. I have decided to use the alcohol and use the diatamacious earth again. This time I am going to put the diatamacious in the walls, electrical outlets and etc. I have tried every kind of insecticide available to no avail. Nothing seem to work. And, I am certainly desperate. My significient other is never bother by any insects. While I on the otherhand suffer from all those insect bites. I begain taking all kinds of vitamins and yet it didn’t make me immune to all those insects. I do feel heathier. I will save this web page. And notify you all if these efforts work. Thank you

  95. nikki has posted a tip on March 20, 2010, 9:44 am

    Orkin is great at getting rid of bedbugs. The only way to rid them properly is to get treated by a professional. It is costly but well worth it.

  96. Jean has posted a tip on March 21, 2010, 5:42 am

    Alcohol may help you remove those bed bugs and fleas off your body. And you will be amaze how many were actually on you. Alcohol does not kill them. I remember my mother would starch and iron everything including sheets. My dad in his 40’s became very sensitive to insect bites. My sensitivity started when I move to Texas 20 years ago. After realizing the alcohol does not kill them but piss them off even more. I starch and iron the couch, then came back with a sticky lint roller. I was amaze how many I caught. The bed bugs were unable to hold onto the fabric in the couch. Then I sprayed the starch and iron the bed spread. Caught a bunch of bed bugs with the sticky lint roller. Then came back with the sweeper none of them got away. Plus when the bed bugs try to re-enter the couch they were easily sweep up. It was amazing how many of those bed bugs and blood were actually on the blanket. I wish I could figure out what vitamin or herb I need to take to make me immune to them. B12, B1, Brewer Yeast and garlic does not make a difference for me. Though, I am considering Neem pills and Neem Oil and Charcol pills. The Neem and Charcol pills can be purchase at http://www.puritain.com Puritain vitamins are very affordable and cold process. What vitamins I purchase $160 pays for 5 months of vitamins.

  97. Sharon has posted a tip on March 23, 2010, 7:42 pm

    I too had to deal with these horrible varments. We didn’t know what to do when I woke up one morning with bits all over my stomach. I thought it was mosquitoes. These bites continued for several nights. My husband didn’t experience any. The red welts itched and I thought I had been bitten by a spider. I went on the internet and discovered that bedbugs may be the culprit. I called up Google and entered “How to eliminate bedbugs.” I responded to a sight called Bedlam.com. and ordered the product they guaranteed would solve out problem–and it did. We got rid of our 35-year old mattress, bought a new one, washed all the bed linens in hot water and hot dryer. We sprayed the Bedlam product over the new matress and box springs, around the base of the bed and box springs and that worked for us, so far. The Bedlam product wasn’t that expensive and worked great for us. We used this product I hope you can rid your homes of these evil,distructive creatures.

  98. wendy has posted a tip on March 24, 2010, 12:39 am

    i hate f’n bed bugs they r eating me and my 2 year old alive. it figures i would get the 1 f’n bug that is impossible to kill WTF seriously can i not just have 1 f’n thing go right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  99. ruggster has posted a tip on March 24, 2010, 7:57 am

    Sorry, no tip yet. We had a tenant find a couple of bedbugs in their living room so I called Orkin. They checked all over and didn’t find a single casing, body, poop, blood stain or anything that would suggest bedbugs were there. He still recommended treating the whole place at about 2350. I thought I was going to puke! Anyway, I just wanted to thank all those that did add some tips here. I read just about everyone and will take a bit of time to follow through with several to exterminate the little bastards.

  100. Gopakumar has posted a tip on March 26, 2010, 10:38 pm

    Make a soap solution with ordinary washing powder. Spray it everywhere on your bed and wash your bedsheets and pillow covers in hot water. All of them will die. Continue this for a week. This will work

  101. General Awesomeface has posted a tip on April 5, 2010, 2:56 am

    I hung out with friends and BAM! bugbites. So, I bought a cheap metal bedframe, two bags of diatomaceous earth, some vaseline, and some rubbing alcohol. I put my bed on the bedframe, washed my sheets, pillows and blankets in hot water and dried them in high heat, put vaseline all over the legs of the bedframe. then i sprinkled diatomaceous earth all over the box spring, put the cover (a fitted sheet) over it and sprayed the cover it with rubbing alcohol. i did the same with the mattress and pillows. I moved my bed and all my furniture away from walls, and put diatomaceous earth in every single crack and around and under my bed and other furniture, on my computer and beanbag chairs, and on my area rug.

    people need to realize that even though they are BED bugs, they don’t just hang out in your bed. I found them behind a poster i had hanging on the wall right above my pillow. I put tape on every single edge of every poster i have, so they can’t get behind them.
    once a week, i clean off and reapply the vaseline, vaccuum the diatomaceous earth and put it down again in the same spots. I wash my bed stuff and respray with alcohol every couple of days.
    since i’ve done this about 3 months ago, i haven’t noticed a single bite. everything together, minus the bedframe cost me a little less than 25 bucks. my friend did the same thing shortly after i did and hasn’t been bitten either.

    insects have the shortest evolution time, in that they become immune to chemicals rather quickly. what works for one person might not work for someone else in a week. keeping this in mind, i took the somewhat natural approach; diatomaceous earth cuts the hell out of them. if they make it to the legs of my bed, they get stuck in the vaseline. if they make it up on the wall, they cannot get to me because they cannot jump. super high heat kills them, just like it would a human, so if they are in my bedding, they die in the dryer. if for some reason they don’t, the rubbing alcohol will dry them out.

    haha! victory!

    p.s, i spend maybe 25 bucks a month this way, instead of the $809347592751 exterminators and in-store pesticides/insecticides cost.

  102. BB Smithee has posted a tip on April 7, 2010, 8:06 am

    Well, back again! Two professional treatments, four months later and my little BUGS” are back! Yep, they really are. i live in a high rise apartment complex and they (BED BUGS) are everywhere! One month they treat one apartment and the next month another one.The complete building needs closed down and treated. So, my next step is to contact the local goverment, as this is public houseing, and see if they can close down, move everyone out for a week, spray all apartments at the same time. Now we all know this will take time, may have to contact the television stations, get some press and then maybe something can be done. Using alcohol, D.E., vasealine, mattress

  103. Sandra has posted a tip on April 9, 2010, 11:05 pm

    Thank-you everyone that had a suggestion, I intend to try everything to get rid of these horrible bed bugs

  104. donna has posted a tip on April 13, 2010, 9:50 am

    it’s not much of a tip, but rather a question… i have two sons, they sleep in the same room, on the same big bed… and i noticed that my older son was getting these bites that itched. my younger son was itchless, biteless…. if it was bed bugs, they weren’t biting my younger son. so i didn’t realize i had them until just recently. so my question is this.. do BB’s prefer a certain(s) blood type over others??

  105. Donna has posted a tip on April 15, 2010, 6:05 pm

    I noticed the culprits about 2 months now, since then I have been spraying with alcohol which really kill them on contact but I still see a few now and then. Rid spray that is used for head lice really works because I spray my bed which is made of wood and the mattress and i have seen dead bugs on the floor. However I am neurotic now because when I wake during the night i am always looking for the bugs.I will continue spraying with alcohol and using the rid lice spray to see if I can eliminate these parasites.

  106. charlene has posted a tip on April 18, 2010, 2:24 pm

    my husband was getting bit but i was not until lately,so there is no certain blood type.You can also try murphy’s oil it will work but i think i will try alchol

  107. soniya has posted a tip on April 19, 2010, 11:14 am

    hi i got bugs about 1 month ago.
    i have 2 bed rooms but my daughter wanted to sleep with us in our bedroom so we had an extra matresss clean one we put that on the floor on the carpet and after 4 months she had a bite on her skin then another n another….
    i was thinking its allergy cause no one else had it even we were in same room i took her to a doctor she said she have a allergy to dust mites so i came home threw the matterss and bought a new one n put it on the bed this time so she stoped getting bites on her skin.
    but guess what my husband was the next target and the me. then one day when i was changing my sheet i found one of themmmmmmmmmmmmmm then i knew what the problem is.
    i told my mom she said take all the furniture out of the house rip the carpet throw the carpet but funiture just unscrew all screws
    the boil hot water and put some red chilli powder in it then pour it on the furniture each and every place.leave it out side in the sun for littile while the head board is the main place where they hidewe did that when we put the hot water they came out of the holes and cracks and died then we clean the floor with same hot water n walls.then we bring the furniture back and i pour some drione dust in the holes in corners head board. it was a lot of work but we did it and we killed them compleatly now they are gone

    so do that it will help a lottttt you can order drione dust in any pest control website it cost around 50 $
    good luck

  108. Molly has posted a tip on April 21, 2010, 9:27 pm

    O my goodness, you are all freaking me out. Completely freaking me out.

    I have had bites for the past two weeks. I have yet to have a bed bug citing, although I imagine that I see a few little spots on my sheets. All I know is that I want to nip this in the bud as fast as possible, in the hopes that they won’t spread.

    However, I live in a rental unit where I feel like there is not a lot of hope for me.

    I also feel like the exterminator thing is a big joke. Sounds like it is not worth the money and that I will have to try to tackle this on my own.

    Dear God, and whatever other gods and beings there may be, please please don’t destroy my life, I was kind of enjoying it up until now…

  109. veronica has posted a tip on April 24, 2010, 1:27 am

    please help me with real tips on how to get rid of bd bugs! i just bought 2 new lving room suits n my apt. is a 2 bdrm apt. with carpet on in the rooms…please hlp me wit at home remedy pls! gaddis04@yahoo.com

  110. patty has posted a tip on April 29, 2010, 11:01 pm

    a hand held blow dryer on high heat when you find the monsters can do well

  111. Daniel has posted a tip on April 30, 2010, 9:52 am

    I work for a large pest control company and I am sorry to say you are only making the problem worse if you try to take care of the problem yourself, because you are letting them multiply until you finally reach the conclusion, you NEED help from the pro’s. Throwing away sheets and furniture only costs you the money to replace them since bed bugs are noctural, by the time you throw things away,”during the day” 90% of the bed bugs are back where they came from, in your walls and attics!! Yes, putting clothes and sheets in a dryer on high for about 30mins will kill the ones in the fabric but this is not even going to dent the population. If you live in an apt, townhouse or duplex prepare for a long and difficult battle, even with profesional help, unless your neighbors also get under a treatment plan. Sorry to be a buzz kill but bed bug home remedies will only cost your more money in the long run because the larger the population the more money a PC company will charge you. The only real home remedy is, at the first sign of a bed bug, call a PC company for a free inspection, if they try to charge you, call someone else. You will get it for free. Then you wont waste money on all the home remedy treatment supplies and will have a much easier problem to deal with which will be less costly through you PC company.

    PS go with a highly respected compnay, do you home work before calling. You should spend no more than $300 per treated room.

  112. Help has posted a tip on May 1, 2010, 8:09 pm

    Disenfect spray really helps, spray ur bed dwn befor sleeping, u can spry ur entire room down, Just leave for a few hours they hate the smell, I think sum lotions help but I know Disenfect spray works, not get rid of them but they won’t bite thru the night if U do it right b4 bed, There gota be a home remedy or sumthn out there.

  113. nicolas has posted a tip on May 3, 2010, 4:14 am

    we discovered bed bud bugs 2 weeks ago-been bitten for about two months-it is destroying our lives-thrown away the bed and half of our stuff-we cant take it anymore!!i cant believe there is not one single thing that works-we are expecting a baby and do not want to bring a baby in a world like it is at the moment!help!!!!

  114. mati has posted a tip on May 4, 2010, 2:00 am

    so i don’t know how i got bed bugs in my house but i found a cheap way of getting rid of it and it works. “resolve” carpet cleaner will kill it on the spot! so its perfect for houses that has carpets coz mine does and basically threw away everything that was in the house! what a waste! but again, resolve carpet cleaner works!

  115. maryellen has posted a tip on May 4, 2010, 2:11 am

    I am not happy. My ex husband has bed bugs and did not tell me. My son was bitten all over and now we have them. Is he responsible for the payment for pest Control to come in and spray? I threw out the old bedding, cleaned with rubbing alchol, steam clean and they are still here.

  116. Scratching Sally has posted a tip on May 4, 2010, 9:13 am

    BEDBUGS ARE REALLY ANNOYING!!!! THANKS FOR ALL THE TIPS ON HOW TO STOP THE ITCH HERE IS MY TIPS FOR YOU. IT REALLY IS GREAT TO KNOW THAT I AM NOT ALONE IN THIS, AND IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IF THIS DDT STUFF KILLS THEM THAT THEY WOULD FIX WHATEVER PROBLEM THEY HAD WITH IT AND GET THIS PROBLEM BEFORE IT BECOMES A LARGER PROBLEM.

    I TOO DONT HAVE LOTS OF MONEY FOR AN EXTERMINATOR BUT I HAVE LEARNED A FEW TRICKS ON MY OWN.

    YES ALCOHOL DOES WORK ON CONTACT AND IT IS FUN TO SEE THOSE LITTLE PEST CURL UP FROM THE PAIN AS THEY QUICKLY DIE, AND YES YOU CAN USE IT TO SPRAY THE BED.

    PUTTING PLASTICS ON THE BED, CHAIRS, AND LARGE FURNITURE WORKS GREAT BUY THE THICK PLASTIC FROM WALMART AND A STAPLE GUN TO SEAL IT THE PLASTIC SMOTHERS THEM, AND IF YOU ARE LIKE ME AND HAVE WOOD FLOORS ALCOHOL IS NOT THE ANSWER BECAUSE IT WILL DAMAGE YOUR PROPERTY. THE PLASTIC ISNT CHEAP BUT IT WONT COST THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS.

    YOU CAN MAKE THIS REPELLENT AND IT WONT COST TOO MUCH. USE THE FOLLOWING OILS AND ADD THEM TO WATER WHEN MOPPING USE OIL IN SOAPY CLEANING AGENT:

    *ORANGE*, *LAVENDER*, MINT, CAYANNE, CILANTRO, BLACK WALNUT, GARLIC, RED PEPPER, BLACK PEPPER, *ROSEMARY**CEDARWOOD*THYME, CLOVE NOW IF YOU CANT FIND ALL OF THESE YOU CAN USE AS MANY AS YOU CAN, YOU CAN ALSO USE THESE IN HERBAL FORM TO PLACE IN SACHETS AROUND THE HOUSE TO REPEL BEDBUGS WITH THERE FRAGRANCE. MAKE YOUR MIXTURE AND SPRAY IT IN ALL CORNERS AND BASE BOARDS IN YOUR HOUSE AND LET STAY FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE WHILE REPEATING THIS. THE SCENTS WILL MAKE THE BED BUGS GO BECAUSE THESE ARE SMELLS THEY DONT LIKE. IF YOU DONT WANT TO SPRAY THE OIL MIXTURE THEN YOU CAN BOIL THE HERBS AND JUST USE THE SPRAY BOTTLE WITH THE HERB MIXTURE WHILE IT IS HOT.

    I JUST HOPE THAT THE GOVERNMENT STEPS IN AND DOES SOMETHING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM BEFORE IT GETS OUT OF CONTROL THESE BUGS DO CAUSE A GREAT DEAL OF STRESS, MOVING IS NOT THE ANSWER FOR ME BECAUSE I REFUSE TO LET THEM RUN ME FROM MY HOME.

  117. Helen has posted a tip on May 6, 2010, 11:56 am

    I lived at University Garden Apartment in Langley Park Maryland where 99.9% of the resident are latino and illegal, I reseided there from 2002-2007 in which the last year in a half, I started having problems with bed bugs, I thought like most people that bed bugs were a myth. I would wake in the morn’n with bites and blood spot on my shert and after looking carefully I discovered this little black things. The Apartment complex had the discovered the infestation so badly until they bought residence new mattress and box springs.
    Bed bugs are embaressing, and they do give you a complex,.

    I have found that using Ortho bug spray work very well on them they die at once, on the spot, nano seconds.The product can be found at your local Safeway or home depot store. I get up at 4:30 AM and look for them and start spraying.

  118. CrypticChristy has posted a tip on May 8, 2010, 7:17 am

    Okay Here We Go!!! Thanks everybody for the tips and even gripes. At least I don’t feel so alone. Have purchased, D.Earth, Alchohol (Green and Clear), two-sided tape, industrial size plastic wrap and petroleum jelly. We’ve fogged the bedroom multiple times and that seems to be a waste of money so we’re trying everything else. For those of you with bites a million like us, try the $2 Hydrocortizone Cream from Dollar General. It seems to bring a lot of relief from the bites and I don’t wake up clawing myself in my sleep anymore. Will post again after a week or so of treatment. Thanks again.

  119. help has posted a tip on May 12, 2010, 2:44 pm

    Help! My work has bed bugs and they aren’t doing anything to get rid of them. How can i stop from bringing them home????

  120. Jon Bruno has posted a tip on May 14, 2010, 8:11 pm

    Go to the Doctors ASAP I went week later, should of gone that day, get steriod shot, Prednisole pack of steriods, Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream, Hydrocortisone cream.
    I look like I have the measels, How I am I to find work looking they way i do. Ft. Lauderdale Crew Houses….. Bad Idea
    If you can walk away from everything.
    I threw all my clothes in the wash at a laundry matt, threw away my lugage, bombed my car with everything else in it.
    Checked into a hotel.
    Sleep with the lights on,
    Flashlight under my pillow,
    wash my cloths every other day.

    steriods thought they were working after day 6, pack was over, 2 days later all the bumps are back and extra itchy. Dont itch put socks on your hands.
    Lots of hot showers, use a antiseptic/antimicrobial skin cleanser available any drug store, scrub entire bites area, then shower, head ands shoulders shampoo all over, then dove soap, rinse off with Witch Hazel.

    Take benadryl at night,
    Its been three weeks since I was eaten alive over 200 bites, arms the worse, legs, lower back.
    Call Eco Lab they are what hotels use, costs alot, but they test and spray, retest, dont use a cheap guy. Have your landlord make a insurance claim, homeowners. Advice is get renters insurance that cover bed bugs too if that exists.
    Tell people fire ants attacked you camping. Thats my line.
    Yes worst thing in my life, Come to find a new life/work and welcome to measle land.

    God please heal these bites. Death to the blood suckers, Must call Porfessional. Eco-Lab is all over USA

  121. Rnoasn has posted a tip on May 14, 2010, 10:51 pm

    We’ve had bedbugs for about a year now. At first we didn’t know what they were. They bit my son, daughter and husband but hardly bit me and my youngest daughter. Since then we’ve throwen out 3 mattries, many pilliows and comfters. Also we’ve moved 4 times. In the past 3 months we’ve been using rubbing alocohol and recently been using vasline. Now the bites are fewer and less but we still have them even though I haven’t seen them anywhere recently. The best thing I would suggest is spraying rubbing alocohol and using vasline on the walls and bottom of the frunture.

  122. debbie has posted a tip on May 16, 2010, 2:27 am

    My husband and i got a roommate to help with rent cause i got sick and couldnt work, lo’ and behold,,,, bedbug city. please everyone dont buy the expensive stuff,, it doesnt work. i have tried alot of stuff and the only thing that works that i found is the rubbing alcohol.. also saran wrapping your bed as well for about 6 weeks, although you still need to wash your sheets everyother day, dont use the plastic bed covers as they go thru and or chew thru them..

  123. Bugernator has posted a tip on May 19, 2010, 9:20 am

    Heat kills these bugs. The hot summer months are coming for many so take heart you can leave off your AC and kill them with heat. You may have to go elsewhere for a day or two but the heat will kill them.

    I have three vans and one was in an accident and parked in my drive. I used it to kill the bugs. I boxed up books, bagged up stuffed animals and anything cloth, wood or fabric that I wanted to keep and I placed them in my van for a week with the windows up and let the sun kill them b**tards.

    Bed mattresses and box springs must be put in plastic not vinyl bed covers with the zippers. Then you must either tape *duct tape* the zippered area to keep them from crawling out of the mattresses.

    Wash bedclothes often, I washed in cold water because my water heater can’t keep up with the demand I’ve been putting on it, but I turn up the dryer heat and let them suckers cook.

    Steam clean the carpets and vacuum regularly, however, when you remove the vacuum bag or filters put them in plastic bags and dispose of them tied off tightly.

    Use Boric acid and or table salt mixed around the carpet edges. Any wall outlets you do not use or can spare block them off. Sprinkle boric acid inside all the used and unused electrical plug in fixture. Put the cover back on it. Then place tape across the plug in holes and around the frame of the cover so they can’t squeeze through it. They will stick to the tape too, so set up a schedule and pace yourself for the next several months.

    Change the tape monthly and sprinkle the boric acid/salt mixture.
    Wash bedclothes daily and dry on high heat more than 20 minutes.
    Spray alcohol on any areas that might have bugs or eggs remaining.
    Wear clothes to bed and exposed feet can be covered with socks or apply a Vaseline based lotion on any open skin areas.

    Shower daily so they don’t get nest in your hair.

    Cover pillow cases with plastic covers and pillow cases over them. Spray headboard with alcohol and rub Vaseline on bed legs.

    They had dogs that detect bedbugs and heat treatments that can be done in your home, but as of now. Orkin or any other exterminators in my area do not have them.

    Don’t buy used furniture. Anything you get used needs the heat treatment. I use my broken down van to bake everything in the sun and it kills them. I am junking the van soon, but for now I am putting it to good use.

    Don’t use a drivable vehicle to heat and kill bedbugs or you might get an infestation in clothes and such and back in the house they will come.

    Orkin has a heat application and a freeze application but they are expensive. That is not an option for me, I am too poor, but if someone can come up with the money that might be an option.

    People in apartments should contact the health department and get them on the landlords. This shouldn’t be your problem.

  124. Bugernator has posted a tip on May 19, 2010, 9:26 am

    P.S. Do not vacuum an infested area and then vacuum another area that is not infested in your house. It will blow the buggers out. Remove the bag after vacuuming the house and put it in plastic and tie off.

    Start with the uninfected areas and vacuum and suspected areas that are infested should be last. Then bag the vac cum bag or filter and pitch sealed tightly.

    If I can think of anything else I’ll come back. This is a public health problem and any store selling used or refurnished furniture to you and has bedbugs need reported. It is against the law. Let the health department deal with them too.

  125. stacy has posted a tip on May 23, 2010, 10:43 pm

    ksoo, im 15 years old and these bugs are hell to me. almost half a year from now i had ALOT of them and they came out of nowhere. i started halusinating thinking their was bugs on me all the time. my dad got rid of them, even the exterminator couldnt. but my dad used pinesaw and sprayed the WHOLE couch and everything that had the bugs. he bought plastic rap and put it over the box spring and completly soaked the bed with pinesal and nomonia,. NOMONIA IS THE BEST FOR THE BUGS. i honestly feel terrible for whoever has these bugs because they made my life hell for months. i cried every day and i was sleeping in the bath tub and got a terrible sleep every night. just remember their sneaking little idiots and they know how to hide.

  126. Bettina has posted a tip on May 24, 2010, 2:37 pm

    YOU ARE ONLY SPREADING THE BEDBUGS MAKING THE EPIDEMIC WORSE WHEN THROWING OUT THE FURNITURE, CLOTHES, ETC. IS THERE AN AGENCY OR ALTERNATIVE THAT WILL SAFELY DISCARD CONTAMINATED ITEMS?

  127. pearl has posted a tip on May 25, 2010, 3:47 am

    i am 14 yrs old and my dad has jst gotten bitten..we live in fiji..thanx peeps for info..well the alchol remedy looks promising, mite try dat 1.=]

  128. Bettina has posted a tip on May 26, 2010, 2:34 pm

    A TIP FOR ALLEVIATING ITCHING FROM BED BUG BITES.
    JUST PLAIN WHITE VINEGAR APPLIED WITH COTTONBALL
    TO BITE. IT WILL STOP ITCHING.

  129. ItchyNBitchy has posted a tip on May 28, 2010, 3:00 am

    Since BedBugs are nocturnal.. wouldnt it be beneficial to sleep with the light’s on?..just wondering.. damn im itchy.. never had this problem before until i let my friend move in with her boyfriend. their junk must of had them in it..

  130. melissa has posted a tip on May 31, 2010, 9:37 am

    Well me and my 3 children was moved into an infested apartment building all new furniture, we have had eradico come and spray our unit only 2 find out the multipule sprays and heat treatment did not work i think its due 2 other units being enfested they do not treat all of them 2 make a long story short we are moving and leaving thousands of dollars in electronics furniture behind and clothes and shoes this has 4 ever changed me as a person the damage is done im officially a freak 7 months with no sleep my children being bitten alive once a happy carefree person im now devastated and paranoid i pray 2 the lord once we move they will not come with us i cANNOT TAKE ANYMORE EVERYONE SAYS THEY ARE JUST BUGS BUT THEY ARE THE DEVIL GOOD LUCK AND GODBLESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  131. BED BUG HATER has posted a tip on June 1, 2010, 1:51 pm

    omg bed bugs are killing me . im the only one in my house getting bitten . my husband sleeps in the same bed and nothing happens to him how is that?? thank goodness my kids arent . we cant afford the expansive treatment from the exterminators. going to try some of the home remedies. hopefully they work. if not going to take out a loan on the car to get rid of these pests. why did i hVE TO GET THESE BUGS?
    AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

  132. tiffany has posted a tip on June 7, 2010, 4:35 pm

    hey guys, honestly throwing away furniture will jus cost losts of $$$ being tossed in the trash….a good inexpensive trick to do is to bomb entire room infested w/ the bugs including in little cracks and creaks(like in dresser corners, corners of room and etc) if they are cracks in the floor hot glue the spaces so they’re filled in(so they cant hide in the floor) then (if you cant afford to buy another mattress)buy moth balls and crush a good handfull of them then sprinkle on bed focusing on any seams, holes…everywhere. then purchase the plastic mattress cover where you can zip the bed up in and volia…no more buggies!!!! moth balls are harmless if children are around rather than using dangerous fumes but its important to bomb infested room then seal the creaks in walls and floors then do the bed when done bombing…it worked for me….good luck!!!!

  133. Valerie has posted a tip on June 8, 2010, 3:44 am

    I dont have ant tips but I found out I have bed bugs..Yuck there ugly little critters :( anyways I bought some boric acid and put it all over my couch “Not on top” All my clothes are now in garbadge bags…. I just got my bed froma friend and have not been on it yet so hopefully we are good in that room being bug free!!!
    I am going to try that rubbing alcohal cuz it sounds promising….But yeah My right ankle is infested with bites and so is the back of my right arm :( I just moved into my new apartment and this really sucks I hope this crap im reading works!!!

  134. babygurl has posted a tip on June 9, 2010, 3:54 am

    i dont have a tip but ima try everything yall haqve said and if that dont work im burning my house down so it dont infect others i live in a VERY populated place and it is around some nasty ppl so if i mave and leave everything behind if yalls remedys dont work i hope it does thanks for the tips and the best of luck to eveyone i know how you feel i just found out wat it was after 6 years of it

  135. natalia has posted a tip on June 9, 2010, 6:18 pm

    i just find a few on my bed but im going to wrap my bed with plastic i will let you kno what happens

  136. lisa has posted a tip on June 14, 2010, 1:29 pm

    ok so i have been battling these little guys for the last few months.Last week I convinced my boyfriend we needed to get rid of our old bed..I put the new bed in plastic and cleaned the entire room(pulled everything away from the walls, on my hands and knees scrubbing.) Its been about a week and they are back! I just spent another restless night woken up at 3 am itching! I see alot of suggestions and will be stoping at the store to pick up several of these items. I was just wondering for the people who spayed with alcohol, how many times? Per day?per week? And we have a cat, with the alcohol be harmful to her? Sshe likes to sleep in bed with us and I want to spray the bed down. I am a little worried also because many people have said that after trying several of these remedies, they have had relapses. How do I know for sure that they are gone for good? I am so tire and stressed out about all this I almost got into a carwreck driving to work!! I dont know how much more I can take!!!

  137. trout has posted a tip on June 14, 2010, 6:36 pm

    throw furniteure away wash all the animals

  138. ELISA has posted a tip on June 15, 2010, 3:12 pm

    I just read on another web site that several people tried using a hair dryer on high heat to kill the bugs and they calimed it worked for them. Take a hair dryer and blow the heat on any infested area for several min(including cracks and crevis) then vaccum right away. Also they said to wipe/wash with course sponge. I tried just about everything else and if there are people claiming this works for them I will give it a try. Im also going to try the rubbing alcohol and silocon dioxide. Something has got to work!! I

  139. Theresa has posted a tip on June 23, 2010, 12:34 am

    i do not have a tip as of yet…i sleep next to my boyfriend and i get slaughtered every night by our new bedbug friends…i have red welts all over me…let me tell you..i have been reading some great ideas and plan to put them into action tomorrow morning…there are a few people here that are misinformed…(1.) i sleep with my AC on 62, lowest setting and bedbugs could care less, they love the cold in my room,its like iceland cold…(2.) last night i wore a tee shirt tucked into my undies..a hoody sweatshirt…a pair of jeans socks to my knees and guess what..i woke with about 8 more bites…through the clothing… meanwhile my boyfriend sleeps in his boxers with no shirt..not one bite..its killing me and we are sleeping tonight with the lights on..you should see boyfriend eyes covered with bandana..grrr i will be back in the next few days to give my input about the alcohol and vasoline ideas, sound perfect..and the Diatomaceous earth i have to find…wish me luck…Thanks for all the great ideas

  140. mary has posted a tip on June 23, 2010, 6:48 am

    WHY ARE YOU TELLING FOLKS TO USE KEROSENE!! THAT IS CRAZY.!. KEROSENE IS HIGHLY FLAMABLE !!

  141. shannon has posted a tip on June 23, 2010, 7:15 am

    well when living with my ex we had gotten bed bugs and we tried everything, alcohol, the bombs, even the sprays and nothing worked.. now where i live has them too. ugh idk wnat to do… cant afford the pros.

  142. meme has posted a tip on June 23, 2010, 1:14 pm

    ha- i finally found something that works.
    first it was the couch and my sons bed… we tryed everything, spraying all kinds of stuff and even an extreminator- we still had them. got rid of sons bed and got hm new matress and box spring BUT leave the plastic on! recently we moved – guess what they came with us. they will hide in anything.
    we found a remedy of rubbing acohol and that kills the lil by lil (i think they reproduce faster). if you have a bite you can use alil on your skin and it will stop the itching. then someone else said a bottle of half water half bleach will kill them. we were spraying(misting) the couch and both beds. that helped alot! but still had them.
    SEVENS DUST!!!! oh yes, but i got down and dirty… we got rid of the couch… it was full! sprinkled the floor waited tillthe next morning and vacuumed it up but left a thin line around the edge. then to the bed room, lift the matress up and vacuumed it! all over very good, then do the same with the box springs. vacuum the floor underthe bed too! then sprinkle the dust, put the box spring down and sprinkle the top of it, put down your matress. about a week later do it again- vacuum up everything and reapply. you willsee a difference and they are about gone now!
    THAnK GOD FOR SEVENS DUST!!!!!!

  143. meme has posted a tip on June 23, 2010, 1:20 pm

    the biggest thing you have to know is when you vvacuum then up you are not kiling them, they will crawl back out your vacuum to feed. so as soon as you are done vacuuming take the bag out and throw it away… you will go thru several bags in a short time but everytime you vacuum you must throw out the bag…

  144. stephanie has posted a tip on June 23, 2010, 5:21 pm

    sorry no tip, i need help really bad, i have these nasty things in my apartment.. i have never had them beforre and my husband and i and our three little ones moved into an apartment and about two weeks in my daughter start to get bit. they looked like mosquito bites so i never really paid attention till we all started to get bit.. of course the apartment manager was like you could of brought them in and seriously we are flat broke because of this situation.. we had our mattress steamed our kids beds thrown out and we took everything we owned and put it in a uhaul.. had them exterminate and they are still here.. my daughter got bit up last night and i soo just want to leave evrything behind and just goo. i’m going to try the alchol and the vasoline.. my grandma said also banana peels is what they used to do in the old days so i’m going to give that a try.. thankyou for the tips!!!

  145. stephanie has posted a tip on June 23, 2010, 5:26 pm

    also i want to make a comment.. they also live in light fixtures of the home. i am putting everything in plastic bags and wont open till these creatures are gone..

  146. michelle has posted a tip on June 27, 2010, 2:48 pm

    Oh man got dese fu*res, wen my apt. Complex send some1 to paint n he was dragn the drop cloth from apt to apt, got exterminatedn now they rbak. So thnks for th tips. Tryn rubbin alchohol, n turned my space heater on full blast closed da bedroom door n stuffed a towel under the door so they can’t get out. Washed all my dirty clothes n left dem bagged up in my car in the SUN! Dat shuld help. I am living in my living room rite now. So tired from doing so much work not done yet but will let u guys kno wat happens in a few days. Please I saw 3 babies in the bathroom I feel like jus blown dis whole place up!!!! Anymore sugestion any1 thnx

  147. kayce has posted a tip on June 30, 2010, 5:03 am

    Thank u for all ur good tip by reading all the tip it seem lie people is using alcohol and vasoline….. I wrap my bed with plastic and from some reason I’m still gettin bite I hate them lil fuckers!!!! Then I notice that it on the clothes u wear no my brothers can not sleep in my room cus I think they bring it in…. I’m got to ripe my plastic spray alcohol and re-wrap it!!!! I jus hope dis work but I can I convince my parents to do the same…. I’m tired!!!!! Pls let god be on my side…..

  148. margaret has posted a tip on July 5, 2010, 9:20 am

    nothing works !!!!

  149. ana has posted a tip on July 5, 2010, 10:36 pm

    what about our pets???,omg!no tips..we are desperate!

  150. L. Kinsey has posted a tip on July 6, 2010, 1:26 pm

    My daughter was bitten about 30 times the other night in her bed. I have now completely stripped her room and have not found one single bed bug. I bought casings for her mattress and box spring, steam cleaned the floor and created a spray mixture of eucalyptus oil, citrus delight essential oil, and water. The citrus delight contains geranium oil, clove, lime, lemon, orange, black pepper, mandarin, juniper,bergamot, maychang, and tangerine. It smells wonderful, and as a natural remedy, insects do not like this odor. It also helps to ward off mosquitoes.

    I carefully vacuumed and rolled up her carpet and threw it out into the yard for further cleaning. I will probably spray it down with bleach solution and let it dry on the line in the sun.

    Bed bugs do not like heat, and will die at 115 degrees. This is why I first power vacuumed all the cracks in her room, and then steam cleaned.

    She didn’t get a single bite last night, so I hope what I am doing is driving them away.

    Just a side note: We live in the mountains and have two cats that come and go. They keep the mice, rat, and mole population down, but occasionally a mouse will make it into the house. It doesn’t take long for a rodent to bring bed bugs, fleas, ticks, or mites into your home. So watch for rodent sign. Also, this morning one of the cats caught a bird and brought it in. Needless to say, the cats are going to be out for the rest of the summer until we are sure the problem is gone;-)

    I hope this helps you. Keep in mind that you can see these little creatures, so don’t start thinking you are hallucinating. If you look for them in target areas, you will find their nests and then be able to destroy them. My guess is that if someone is still getting bitten after all the effort they put into getting rid of them, then they probably are not finding the nest.

    There was also a report recently about a heat treatment that can kill an infestation lickety split!

    Good luck!

  151. L. Kinsey has posted a tip on July 6, 2010, 1:46 pm

    I forgot to add, I also grow German Thyme in my kitchen windowsill. So I cut off a few sprigs of this and gently rubbed it around the boxspring. (All my mattresses and box springs are covered with bedbug barriers and duct tape around the zippered parts. I then tossed the rest of the thyme on the floor in the corner to vacuum up the next time I vacuum.

    I also wanted to add that it is much better to try and combat these critters naturally instead of using a bunch of Raid or harmful chemicals, especially if you have children or pets!!!

    And for those of you who are freaked out, just remember that it could be much worse. Fleas are awful and can jump–plus they are not very easy to smush. Ticks are bad too, because they carry Lymes disease. And bedbugs hate light! So during the day is when you can go at it with cleaning and searching for their hiding places. At least they can’t jump or fly and you can see them!!! Take heart:-)

  152. margaret & dale has posted a tip on July 7, 2010, 4:40 pm

    hi okay so just not to long ago our home became infested with the bed bugs what we did was bag’d clothes sheets blankets pillows we dried the blankets sheets pillows we used every day only kept clothes we really needed and kept the rest in bags i then wrapped up the bags with duct tape making sure nothing makes its way out ….vacuum vacuum vacuum is what we do 3 to 4 times a day our beds we wrap’d up in plastic bed covers all our kids toys were boxes and wrapped with packing plastic wrap and kept out side …..so sorry i do not have real information but this worked for me …we may be living out of bags but i’d rather live out of bags then be itching all night …also another tip me and my boyfriend picked up was when looking for them in the dressers we used a lighter heated up all corners and watched the lil suckers run lol……………….good luck to you all

  153. Chris has posted a tip on July 7, 2010, 7:58 pm

    This is not a tip, cuz I just got’em, but a couple questions. This wouldn’t work for everyone, but will they not come out if I sleep with all the lights on and the air conditioning cranked up? And do they only feed between 3 and 5 am? If so, can I just deal with them more slowly in the rest of the apartment while focusing short term on securing the bed and isolating it by the above methods? I mean, if I am in the bed between 3 and 5 and they can’t get to the bed…? Or am I just foolin myself?

  154. Christian has posted a tip on July 8, 2010, 9:00 am

    Haha this was the funniest comments web page I’ve seen in a long time! Seem like bed bugs give little sense of humor too! Anyway, yes, I have them too – I’ve used scotch tape to catch them and clean mattress in the seam areas, I vacuumed, but they do return. So I’ll be buying “Diatomaceous Earth” powder, seems like it’s best solution and very low price too.(thanks to few people who noted it). No, I’m not buying whole new house, selling everything or moving on the Island as some recommended. (OK, island I did think about a little, but not because of bed bugs :-) ).

  155. r. hopkins has posted a tip on July 8, 2010, 2:25 pm

    Plz tell us about this “new thing” concerning using the banana peels to exterminate the bedbugs. “old home remedies” usually will work! Do they stick on there? won’t that just bring in the knats?? How many do you use?? (etc, etc.)

  156. robin has posted a tip on July 8, 2010, 4:24 pm

    The bugs will not cross a vaseline barrier. I put vasaline, with my finger, around the whole sides of my comforter near the top of the bed, and have slept bug-free since i did that. Pulled the bed from the wall, and put vaseline on the legs of frame. Also, keep ur comforter from hitting the floor, and don’t allow ur bedstuff {pillows, sheet, etc.} to cross over your vaseline barrier. {Note; I sleep on top of my comforter, with sheet and quilt on top of me.} I’m sure the bugs are there underneath somewhere, but they aren’t getn me at night. {If they can’t reach us to feed, shouldn’t they die off?) Am still gonna spray my alcohol fumigate, etc. And pray. i refuse to live with bugs !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  157. rick has posted a tip on July 12, 2010, 9:12 am

    -Use mattress and box spring encasements (not half covers) (duct tape on whole zipper as baby bed bugs can go thru zipper. I use a-”protect-a-bed” brand.. If you can’t afford, then use heavy duty plastic and tape to completely seal mattess and especially the box spring, this won’t keep bug away, it just prevents them from hiding inside the box spring and breeding and locks in any existing bugs that will die within 18 months without your blood
    -ISOLATE YOUR BED, its not a guarantee that no bugs will somehow get into your bed, but it will help, Get 2 plastic containers, put legs of bed in first smaller container, and then the smaller container goes inside a larger plastic container. Make sure edges of 2 containers are not touching each other. This two container system forms a mote, so bed bugs can’t climb up you bed legs. Use a cotton ball or tissue and very lightly coat the walls of the containers with baby power, this markes the plastic to slippery for them to climb. Use masking tape around the outside wall of the bigger container, we want the bugs to be able to climb in and get trapped. Wash these out once a month and re- apply the baby powder to the inner walls. For added security, apply a small amount of Diatomaceous earth or Pyrethrins insect powder to the bottom of each container to kill any bed bugs that enter.
    -A commercial version is sold on the internet called the Climbup insect interceptor.
    -isolate the bed and couch, keep bed and couch away from walls, do not let blankets or sheets hang and touch floor, as this will make a bridge for bugs to climb. You can also put the legs of your bed in the center on the large mouse glue traps, put a small piece of paper in the center, so your legs won’t stick to the glue board.
    -Only put clean bug free sheets and blankets on bed. HOT dryer will kill bed bugs, but clothes must be dried at least 15 min past the point of being dry. Put all hot dried clothes on new clear plastic bags. I place of clean clothes directly on my bed and fold them and place then in my bug free isolated clothes dresser. I installed 4 legs (I use castors) to elevate flat dresser off the ground. Then isolate dresser the same way I did with the bed with 2 container system. You can use this trick and isolate all you chairs too. For flat furniture, add legs or castors to elevate. Never put clothes on the floor.
    -Calk and seal baseboards, cracks and where electrical, water and radiator pipes enter. Calk around wall plug receptacles
    -You must get rid of clutter. Bed bugs love hoarders!
    -Vacuum often Do not store any items under the bed.
    - If you seen one bug, guaranteed you have lots more. Use the internet to learn as much as you can about bed bugs. Be informed and take action.
    -Be careful using pesticides, always follow label instructions.
    - For most infestations, home remedies won’t cut it; you must get a professional exterminator with experience with bed bugs.
    - I live in an apartment, I am taking precautions against bed bugs but my neighbors are not, so it is an endless battle. Only way out is to get a bug free house, and put “all” my stuff in sealed storage tugs for 18 months.
    - I hate bed bugs; I have had lots of emotional stress and sleepless nights because of these bugs from hell. I hope my tips help you!

  158. michelle has posted a tip on July 12, 2010, 8:13 pm

    its michelle i am bak, i am the one who put the clothes in the car in the sun….so quess what the best thats working for me is the DIATOMEOUS EARTH!!!!!!!!YES PEOPLE I GOT SOMTHING FOR THOSE LIITLE F**KERS NOW BRING IT ON BED BUG B**CHES. you guys stop buying spray and all dat shit you must get the d.earth and sprinkle it under your sheets in the corners in you draweres along caroet edges EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 this is the greatest thing out there for these bugs. i could not find out but went to LOWES and found the shit, after the employeee told me the dont carry i went and looked in the garden isle and there it was for $9 bucks for a ten pound bag!!!!! yes yes yes yes yes yes yes get it now i got three bags dont need that much but fuk it i am ready and armed. somebody please hit me up and let me know u hear meeeeeee pleeeeeeeeeaaaase HAHAHAHAHA its these little bugs r not gona win NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO WAAAAAUY!!!!!!

  159. rick has posted a tip on July 13, 2010, 5:01 pm

    DIATOMEOUS EARTH is not a poisonous chemical but it is un-healthy for your lungs if you breathe in the dust. Only use it in places where is not likely to get disturbed and become air bourn. Use it in cracks and crevices. Always where a duct mask when applying DE

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzItG6wBeRE

  160. michelle has posted a tip on July 13, 2010, 7:50 pm

    hey its michelle again, some 1 metioned that it will affect your lungs, not really maybe a little irritation in your eyes when you are putting down dont let it dust up too much, thats when u get an eye irritation but once its down you and your pets will be fine. now when i talk about D earth i am referring to the one for insect not the one they use to clean pools. there are two kinds so be carefull the D.E for pool cleaning is of a different grade and wont be effective in your home. but the effect the DE have on the insects is no way the same effect it will have on species that have their skeleton internally and before it even get to our lungs it has to pass through so much body fluids i doubt there will be serious harm done to us. again just make sure when you are applying it where a mask, once the dust settles you will be fine.

  161. Jannie has posted a tip on July 15, 2010, 3:15 pm

    This the the only answer:

    I discovered these horrible bugs in my bed…just one. I then
    found a few in my loveseats. I had been itching and to my horror
    bed bugs were the reason. This is the answer: buy a dry steam
    cleaner which reaches temps to 240 degrees and steam everywhere.
    I steam every day and vacuum and spray alcohol on everything..just
    mist over bedding and carpet with a spray bottle. I have spray bottles everywhere. This is not harmful to you or your animals.
    Just don’t spray it when they are too close to you.
    I have cats and they are my babies so using chemicals is out..
    even that bud bug powder which claims not to be harmful to animals
    is suspect as I took it to my vet and he said “No”. Any spray
    other tham alcohol should be checked by your vet.
    Vapormor steamer is great and costs about 300.00. They are shipping
    thousands of these to New York City which is infested big time.I have done hours of research and outbreaks of bed bugs are everywhere now. I know that 300.00 sounds like a lot of money, and it is, but it gives such piece of mind and kills them and their eggs and any other bug that might want to visit. I love to steam and kill them..It makes me feel so good. Have your carpets steam cleaned with hot soap and water with those big machines in addition to using your own steamer (the steamer is only a steamer, not a vacuum). ALSO, you must encase your mattress, pillows and loveseats, etc. Look everywhere, turn your home upside down and steam drawers and closets, walls etc. Wash everything and keep your clothes in jumbo ziplock plastic bags in your drawers. Keep laundry in plastic bags and never where your shoes in the house. Get rid of all wicker and make sure the wood you have has a varnish on it. Don’t leave your purse on the floor. Seal with strapping tape the outside of every wall outlet in your house and put those baby proof plastic plugs in the unused sockets. Put all your stuffed animals or toys in a hot dryer for 80 minutes on high.
    Check high and low with a big spotlight. I got a great one at Target. Only use vacuums with bags you can throw out.I lay out
    white throw rugs so I can see them.
    These devil bugs have changed me as a person. I am creeped out forever. They can be anywhere and are great hitchhikers. Be careful who you hug and who you let in your home. Make them take off their shoes. Never bring a suitcase in your home. Buy a cheap one and dump it when you come home from travel. I have a trip planned in November and the first thing I will do is check the
    resort for the devil bugs.
    This is tremendous work and extreme stress and I am sleep
    deprived. I have been through the emotions of this trama from terrified, crying til I couldn’t breathe to angry. The government should step in on this major problem and push for an answer. The fight is constant and you can’t get lax about it.
    Steam, vacuum, stray alcohol. This process has taken me over
    a month and I am bug free. On the bright side, I have lost 15 pounds and still losing, have pruged my house of things I really don’t need, and my house would probably win an award for the cleanest home ever. I pray to God for piece of mind for me and
    all of you. I hope my suggestions help. I know it is very hard
    work, but you will win in the end.

  162. charles s. has posted a tip on July 17, 2010, 8:42 am

    I see I’m not the only one who’s going crazy with these insects .I’m in an apt. building in a single room unit and was the last one in the bldg. to get them I’ve been here 5 yrs . I discovered my infestation last Nov. it took the manager until Feb for the first treatment I really think the guys did a poor job just to keep coming back also it didn’t help that I have a lot of furniture.I got rid of my mattress and box springs now I’m sleeping on a air mattress I bought a big jug of that Bayer bug spray, don’t waste your money. I saw that special dust online for $23 but first I’m going to try the alcohol being that I’m on a fix income. I can get alcohol at the 99 cents store.I have change my whole sleep routine and I’m starting to feel like a vampire.Like someone said I’m constantly looking for them every spot is suspect.

  163. Carrie has posted a tip on July 17, 2010, 8:37 pm

    Hi….like everyone else here I have bedbugs. I got them from my sister who got them from a cousin. My nephews were staying with me but visiting their mother on weekends so I guess they hitched a ride on the kids clothes. I have tried the powder DIATOMEOUS EARTH and found all it did was make everything a powdery mess. I’m not sure if I’m infested with them as of yet as I have only seen (and killed a few othem.) I did put plastic on my box spring and mattress and yesterday I took it off and removed the covering from the underside of my box spring and found the ba***rds hiding in my box spring. I bought this spray called “Good Night” from Home Depot and sprayed them and saturated the wood, folds etc with it and they died. I pray they all craoked. I have not seen any signs of them in my closet or in my drawers but did find them in my loveseat in the livingroom so I threw it away. It has been sitting outside in our 95+ degree heat. I sleep with my light on hoping the little nocturnal things will think it’s still daylight. I can only imagine what my light bill will be. I hate these bugs and hate having them. I want to go back to a time when I didn’t have them.

    Has anyone here gotten rid of theirs completely? I just want to know there is a light at the end of this tunnel. I hate bedbugs.

    Any tips will be greatly appreciated.

    Carrie

  164. nic has posted a tip on July 18, 2010, 10:47 pm

    No tip. Have realized these little buggers are the problem. My husband was not getting bit at all only me. We used the hot shot purple bottle thats says bedbugs and within 3 days of that 3 of our 5 children are now getting bit. it breaks my heart to see this happening. The bug bombs only make it worse. We called a professional, cannot afford the treatment and there is no guarantee, the contract states control of: notgood enough for me. I already ordered 100% DE waiting for that to come. This has been going on for about 4 months. didnt realize what it was until about 2 weeks ago. We were always outside at games and figured it was mosquitos. Just wish that I knew that this was a big problem, meaning: just this week, front page of our local newspaper a huge article about housing projects needing to be sprayed.
    I have no idea how they got here, Just wish they would leave.

  165. mr. awesome has posted a tip on July 21, 2010, 6:48 pm

    put rubbing alcohol and calamine lotion on each bite the stand in front of a fan spray alcohol on your bed then sleep on the couch after a thorough shower or at a friends house (not your girlfriends house or you will look stupid and be dumped maybe) also count your bites three times in a row then multiply that number by two now you just did some math also do something to occupy your self dont scratch if all else fails then cut each wound with tooth pick then squeeze wound until all puss is out. also tacos and doughnuts are awesome like me.

  166. martin has posted a tip on July 22, 2010, 3:22 pm

    I agree with RICK. Bed Bugs weren’t created by God, they come from El Diablo! I’m working on the non-toxic solutions like rubbing alcohol spray. Easier on the your lungs and your skin!

  167. louie has posted a tip on July 25, 2010, 9:25 am

    the best way to avoid being bit at night while you sleep is to keep the lights on

  168. charlene has posted a tip on July 25, 2010, 10:30 am

    bedbugs ehhh????keep ur house clean….keep off your pets inside ur bedroom…..

  169. Ryan n Jenni has posted a tip on July 25, 2010, 5:03 pm

    Just got the little f’ers in our girls room. Not to mention that they have been eating my whole fam alive every night. It sucks!!!! We have been vacuuming EVERY day, sprayed the whole apt with Black Flag, steam cleaned twice, washed all of our stuff with Hot WATER and dry it,we even pulled up the carpet and vacuumed, and spayed the pad with bug spray. We’ve been fighting these guys for a couple of days non-stop and so far, we’ve killed about 100,000 of them. (At least it feels like that many!) They are starting to die off like crazy. Hopefully, what we’ve been doing works for good!

  170. tina has posted a tip on July 27, 2010, 3:34 am

    omg im stressin real bad!! feel disusted,cant take it. cant stop itchn. :( ughhh.im scared 2 even sleep.i fear for te kids especially with the so called “bed time stories” sooo does rubbing alcohol damage?? or discolor?

  171. Christene has posted a tip on July 28, 2010, 1:11 am

    Has anyone got rid of them completely on these home remedies??? I got a bed from a friend over a week ago and had no issues til i woke up this morning. I did the research and sure enough found one of those buggers crawling across the bedding. On another site I seen someone say about a bug spray with a certain ingredient in it… which i did find at wal-mart, only the wasp and hornet spray contained it. Now before spraying it… i did not see any bugs anywhere for the exception of that one. I sprayed the whole bottle soaking my mattress on both sides and left the room for a couple hours. When i came back i killed about 10 that were high up on the walls (unsure if the spray affected them and they were the few who got away). I washed and dried all of my bedding. Ugh, eh I am itching thinking about them and totally bugged out.
    Now the saran wrap idea… hmm might have to go out and get some when my finances are back intact. I rent and and me going to the laundry mat daily would be too time consuming and virtually impossible for me to do. I’ll have to load up on D. earth and rubbing alcohol… i knew the empty closet here would come in handy for something in the future, but sure wasnt expecting this. If its not one thing… its another! Any one else want to chime in with some others “kill the bedbug” remedies??? There’s a lot of us who live paycheck to paycheck… I cant afford an exterminator and if tomorrow i hit the lottery, I’ll invite you all to an island. :)

  172. christene has posted a tip on July 29, 2010, 1:37 am

    I posted on here yesterday and today it seems to be gone. Has anyone completely got rid of bed bug with these remedies? I am itching like crazy!!!!

  173. chuck has posted a tip on July 29, 2010, 7:26 pm

    I was a missionary in the Philippines for nearly 20 years. I have battled bedbugs for decades. There is only one thing that I have ever found to work, and that is prayer. (I kid you not!)

    Do the other stuff if you want, and it may help to some degree. But whatever you do, PRAY! And may God give you good success!

  174. bug hater has posted a tip on July 31, 2010, 1:35 am

    I discovered these bed bugs two years ago and still have them I lve in condo and the property manager has the pros come in and it don’t work I have done everything my daughter’s playpin was infested we found over a hundred and my sons and. I get eaten alive but not my husband him and I sleeping on the couches we dont even remember how it feels to sleep in a bed take it from me nothing works I was watching the today show they Saudi u cant ever get rid of them. …someone help I’m gonna endup in a looney bin

  175. Linnett has posted a tip on August 3, 2010, 3:05 pm

    I would have guest and family over and would have bedbug problems I would always spray disinfectant spray mainly lysol spray when they leave. I had a small out break some months ago got rid of bed sheets and covers. sprayed my body nightly with the outdoor bug repellent OFF, and kept spraying my bed and couch with strong antibacteral lysol spray. The infestation did not get bad I cought the problem before it went through my home still have the bed and the couch. This worked for me Always spray couch and floor after guest and family. people they will not tell you they have bedbug infestation for fear you will judge them. And you wont want to be around them. It was the kids that informed me of their out break in their homes not the adults. So I used what I had didn’t know about any of the above treatments.

  176. Jenna has posted a tip on August 3, 2010, 6:40 pm

    Not everyone has the money to throw away everthing and buy everything again. You don’t want to buy a used bed right? A brand new bed costs way more than my apartment! I had to throw away a bed I had for five years, perfect condition and clean, now I have an air mattress cause I couldn’t afford a new one.

  177. karolkeshy has posted a tip on August 8, 2010, 12:54 pm

    omg this things are extremely bad.donno wat to do ,i cant sleep coz they are all over.
    trying all sort of remedies hoping to have a solution soon.
    pliz help, have tried almost everything and nothing is working.

  178. Cheryl has posted a tip on August 9, 2010, 8:15 pm

    Dose anyone know where u can buy Diatomaceous Earth, what stores carry it in Indpls,In

  179. Christene has posted a tip on August 11, 2010, 9:46 pm

    3 days and no bites…. whoa i am feeling better. Woohooo!

  180. Robert Erbach has posted a tip on August 12, 2010, 9:17 am

    Bedbugs the hate smell & oder of ammonia

  181. Melissa has posted a tip on August 14, 2010, 6:25 am

    I am soooooooo tired!!! I cant sleep. I am pretty sure my whole house is infected… have never had bug issues in my life until 2 months ago when these bugs decided to move in from someone in our complex.. pur management bug bombed about a month ago but they are back in full force… i have been doing alot of research and i did find this one website http://www.tallmanscientific.com/index.php they guarantee their product for 365 days… which is about how long it takes to starve a bedbug… i think that is saying something and its not very expsensive! they have the diatom dust and everything is environment and health friendly! I am checking them out asap… in the mean time I will be trying the rubbing acohol…. and maybe some double sided tape….

  182. Jen has posted a tip on August 14, 2010, 9:19 am

    I am with everyone on this site. I finally found a solution. Diatomaceous Earth. It’s amazingly safe for pets and children. A bag will run you about $8. Sprinkle it around the edges of your house/apartment. Sprinkle your bed with it and buy bed covers that zip up. Also alcohol works, but not well enough that it should be your only solution. I finally slept last night. The first time in months. THIS REALLY WORKS!!!

  183. Kim has posted a tip on August 14, 2010, 12:52 pm

    I used the alcohol and heat treatment after an exterminator failed to rid me of them i have my fingers crossed this will work…

    wannakilllindsae…I think you are very rude and nervy to blame this on your step daughter anyone can get them from anywhere….i think your BF should kick you to the curb for being an unfit step parent…. how would you like it if someone treated your child like that is that accepatable….your are worst than the bugs themselves…

  184. Roccadaboat has posted a tip on August 17, 2010, 10:53 am

    TIP: If have carpets, carpet cleaning is only going to keep them away for about 3 months. You really need to rip them up. If you want piece of mind do it.

    We had our home sprayed 3 times, and they still came back months later. We bought the expensive bed bug covers etc. But the issue was really our couch. The extermintor (finally got a truthful worker) said the poison only gets 1/3 into the fabric, anything living beyond that, if they do not come up to try and eat you…they will live. Can live up to 365 days w/out a blood meal. He continued to tell us, that by law, he can not tell us, what to do w/ our furniture..that was his way of saying..get rid of it! Just got the damn couches about 4 months and they were perfect looking for the shape of the room – everyone complimented them. Go f’in figure!

    We only saw 4 bugs by site, but you KNOW you have them, because you itch, and you have mosquito looking bites on you. ALL IT TAKES IS ONE BUG to send your world

  185. ME has posted a tip on August 19, 2010, 1:25 am

    had a minor problem with the buggers myself.

    Threw out mattress, and bleached,clorox whipe, and windexed my entire wodden bedframe, then taped up the cracks and corners.

    been two days, havent seen a bug since.

    I find windex works great for a lot of bug types. Windex brought the bugs out of their hiding spot, and the bleach killed them.

    Oddly enough I was never bitten. I only knew because I have two cats that found them wile laying on my bed. The cats werent bitten, though.

    I replaced my mattress with two thick foamies, that are workign great instead untill i can afford a new matress.

    I also put 3 extra blankets over the foamies.

  186. Cleanearth has posted a tip on August 20, 2010, 8:18 pm

    Years ago I stayed at a rooming house, got bites, told landlord, he said to put powdered sulfur directly on bed, then sheets over that. I did and never saw another bedbug. Don’t know if it killed them or just repelled them, but they were gone.

    Don’t know if you can buy powdered sulfur at the drug store today – maybe ask the pharmacist where you can get it.

    I’ve also mixed it with vaseline and put it on dog’s “hotspots” where he scratches and makes a mess. Works every time, probably because sulfur is something of a natural antibiotic. Hope this helps someone……..I haven’t had a problem in many years now.

  187. diane/s.philly has posted a tip on August 24, 2010, 5:51 am

    hi i also have that problem ,last year i seen them in my room and my childs [i tried everything,,,,nothing work -the big exterminators wouldnt even guarette it ] got rid of all the furniture ,re did the room ,,,while spraying ,now a year later i have them in my sofa ,im goin f nuts,but im seeing all ur post an like alot of u i cant afford $800 ,so im goin to take some advice from you all,,,if anyone whatches channel 6 they had it on the news this morning you can go to 6 abc.com and they have a live chat [NOT THAT THERE GOIN TO DO ANYTHING FOR US…..THAT SUCKS WISH EVERYBODY LUCK

  188. PanicNoMore has posted a tip on August 25, 2010, 8:29 pm

    I dealt with these horrible bed bugs about 4 years ago and I got rid of them… but I do believe in strong pesticides. I couldn’t afford an exterminator, so my Dad helped me out by going to the nearest exterminator store and asking what he could buy and mix himself in a 5 gallon spray canister to use to kill them. I don’t know the name of the stuff, but the store can recommend something specifically for bedbugs.

    I sprayed the bare beds, mattresses, especially along the seams (make sure it’s safe to spray on bedding directly) and also on the boxsprings. Then I covered with freshly washed sheets that I had bleached in hot water in the washer, and dryed on the highest setting on the dryer. I washed baseboards, dried and then sprayed them. I got every creak and crevice. I washed all clothes in the house, the same as the sheets. I threw away the sofa, which I used to crash on at night, finding out months after being bitten that it was bedbugs. The doctors at first said they didn’t know what the ‘rash’ was… and I was told to come back in a month for a biopsy after taking some steroids. Did that. They said come back in a month for the results! Of course I was sleeping with the sobs the whole time having no idea! Finally, the doc said to check for ‘buggies’… I felt like screaming at this point.

    It took me about 2 weeks to get rid of them and that was only because I sprayed obsessively… daily at first, then every 3 days, then once a week, and now, 4 years later, once a month.

    Keeping the beds incased in plastic is really smart. Keeping cleaned clothes in new trashbags and sealed up is the way to go… yes, live out of bags for as long as it takes.

    Don’t despair. They will go with constant battle. It’s you against them, so make sure you win. You will rest again, but it takes a while to get over the psychological trauma. Read, read, read and try all the tips.

    Good luck, there is hope.

  189. Yvonne has posted a tip on August 26, 2010, 12:27 am

    We have also been fighting this problem for almost 2 years. We rented a house that was infested. The owner knew it and did not tell us. Within a week of living there we were all getting eaten alive. The first thing we did when we found them was to call in the professionals. They came 3 times a month apart and all that did was empty our banking account. We threw away all of the mattress (we have 8 children so that is 9 mattress and box springs altogether), went out and bought everyone air mattress because we were told they can not climb plastic. We never thought about the bed frames at first but we did a few months after when we still were seeing them. So we got rid of all bed frames and my husband made new ones for everyone. We tried everything…we went out and bought a steam cleaner that did everything from floors to walls to clothing…it would have probably done the dishes if I tried it :) and that worked real well. We also moved after getting rid of 1/2 of our stuff. We put all of our stuff into the family room so I could clean everything with the steam cleaner and wash machine.

    Went up stairs to start steam cleaning the floors to find that this new house also has bed bugs..yaaaa us! I steamed cleaned everyday for like 3 months to kill everything I could. I steamed cleaned so much the darn thing stopped working. We have been vacuuming everything spraying everything down on a daily bases. I am running out of ideas. I started to think about new ways of killing bed bugs and came up with one that I have been testing. One day I was vacuuming one of our sofas and say bed bugs I was getting tired of putting stuff on the curb so I thought the best way to kill them is to put something down that would dry them out. So I took baking soda (I clean everything with it and have a lot in the house) and sprinkled it in the sofa and flipped it upside down and did the same thing. Flipped it over sprinkled some on the carpet around the sofa and left it over night. Went to vacuum the next day and to my surprise found little black dots in the baking soda on the carper. I was shocked so I flipped the sofa over and found dead ones on the underside of the sofa. Let me tell you how happy I was. So we went into all of the kids rooms and put everything we could in black garbage bags or the rubber made bins with lids and got everything out of the rooms except anything that was made of wood. we sprinkled baking soda all along the wall and wood furniture. I stayed up until 5 a.m last night I am sorry this morning just to check to see if it was doing anything at all or if the sofa and carpet was just a flew k.

    Well I saw that there were dead baby ones in the baking soda and some big ones were moving reallllly slow. So I left it all day today and have been in the rooms twice so far and see that some big ones are dead to. So I think it is working I just think it takes longer with to kill the bigger ones so I am leaving it until tomorrow and then we will vacuum it all up. I will go to the store tomorrow and buy some more and re spread it again after washing everything down with bleach. I am going to put some on the mattress as well. I wonder how long this is going to take before we get rid of all of them. We want to move out of this house and do not want to take them with us. We will be inspecting the new house with a fine tooth comb because we have had to infested houses in a row. There will not be a third. I know God will help us find something that works. If this baking soda thing works I know it was God answering my prayers. We are all so tired of them!

  190. Aneleh H has posted a tip on August 27, 2010, 8:23 pm

    I bought skin-applied insect repellent: Cutter Skinsations “with aloe and Vitamin E” – “moisturizes skin” and repels mosquitoes and biting bugs – an outdoor product for campers. I spray it on my body, more heavily where I get the most bites. It does help and I get less bites. Not very pleasant, though, to go to bed with bug-repellent on you. My bottle was running low, and I filled it up with rubbing alcohol, so I now have a half-and-half mixture to try. Hope it still works as well. And today, I received Diatomaceous Earth that so many of you mention. If it works, I will reorder. (The ITCHING is agony!)

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