Bedbugs :(((( | Imamother

amother

Bronze

Wed, Oct 26 2016, 8:51 pm

B"H

UGH! I moved into a new apartment with my family and within one day there were bedbugs in our clothes!!!! They have an extensive bedbug history (4 outbreaks in 7 months) and we are going to beis din.

I am posting because of the following. We are moving. My question is: what can I bring???? How do I prepare and ensure I don't bring them with us c"v? I can't live like this, they aren't treating it properly. Can I bring toys?? Documents?

LittleDucky

Wed, Oct 26 2016, 11:03 pm

When I had it, we were told to wash everything with fabric on it at a laundromat (on hottest wash and dryer settings the fabric can take) and bag it in new bags. dry clean what needs to be dry cleaned. Do not bring it back to your home....
Wash everything (toys) but they really like fabric. I would recommend just throwing out your mattresses and boxsprings... maybe even your couch. You can get expensive mattress and box spring protectors (and pillow covers too) and put them on and NEVER TAKE THEM OFF. EVER. Yes, you will rustle and your bedroom wont be silent but once you take them off you subject the new place to the bugs.
You can also pay for someone to come spray all your furniture (including picture frames...my pest control company did that) right before you move. It isn't cheap but that way you can take all your stuff and worry less.
I don't know about papers... they like dark spaces but maybe you can scan extraneous documents into your computer? We didn't get rid of them but we had a minor case where I only saw evidence on one bed and not everyone in the family was bitten. BH it was caught early.

Sorry to hear you have bedbug issues. I feel for you!!! It is a major headache and expense. good luck!!!

amother

Mistyrose

Thu, Oct 27 2016, 5:34 am

I got rid of a lot of my shoes when we had bed bugs, since I was not sure if I could treat them properly to get rid of.

Anything that can be washed on hot, or put in the dryer on high for a cycle should be OK. Agree, you should bag those things up immediately & not bring back to the infested area. I used a blow dryer on my mattresses & vacuumed like crazy & then put the mattress covers on. You should watch them, in case of a tear later- bedbugs can live a really long time even with no "food source"

I was whipeing down my laundry baskets with straight medicinal alcohol too, since I read that this will kill the eggs & bugs.

It is very good that you are able to move from the place.

It is possible to control an outbreak if you catch it right away, but if the whole apartment is infested, I think it would just be an on-going battle.

Sorry to post anon, but I still feel stigmatized from having bedbugs. It is one of the last taboo subjects. I hope you will be done with this parsha very soon! Heart

LittleDucky

Thu, Oct 27 2016, 10:57 am

amother wrote:

No taboo about it! My place is clean (maybe cluttered/disorganized but clean). We got it when I went on a trip out of town. Ends up where I stayed had them...

Bedbugs only mean you have someone in the apartment with a circulatory system they can feed off of!!!