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Bedbugs

avenirv

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http://www.thestar.com/staticcontent/787805

i've seen this map in toronto star. is this true ? if yes, toronto downtown is a very bad place to live.
what defenses do we have against them ?
787805
 
I've had 'em. They suck. Got them from a hotel in NYC. Took three rounds of spraying to get rid of. What a nightmare.
 
Who did the spraying and what was sprayed? Thx.

Can't remember, and no idea. It was just an exterminator. They know what to use. The guy was good, I thought. We didn't have them very bad. Not a full infestation, but they are still very stubborn to get rid of.
 
There was this co-worker of mine who got them by picking up a discarded bed mattress on the street and boom! His place was infected. What's the lesson here?
 
Can't remember, and no idea. It was just an exterminator. They know what to use. The guy was good, I thought. We didn't have them very bad. Not a full infestation, but they are still very stubborn to get rid of.

No legal chemicals will kill bedbugs... he probably steamed them to death
 
No legal chemicals will kill bedbugs... he probably steamed them to death

No - chemicals of some sort are used. Unlike something like Raid which would kill on contact, Raid doesn't last but the chemicals used by an exterminator lasts for several days so it continues to kill the bugs it comes in contact with. The problem is bedbugs can hide in tiny cracks or scatter into electrical/cable lines and can live for up to two years without feeding which makes them so damn resilient. Two treatments are usually necessary (sometimes three) so long as everything is washed and dried in a hot dryer (or dry cleaned), mattress discarded or zipped into a bed bug proof cover, all walls, cracks and outlets sealed with caulking and move most other things (books and nick-nack items) sealed and put into storage as they could be home to a bed bug nest. They can also be inside your electronics too, such as an alarm clock so get rid of it and check behind things like curtains, pictures on the walls, and carefully inspect the bed-frame for any baby bugs in tiny cracks. Vacuum all along the walls each and every day to collect the dead and dying bugs then discard the vacuum bag immediately and you should win the war. Once your sure your bed and frame is clear put any kind of glass or plastic jar around each leg and coat the interior of the glass/jar with Vaseline as they can't move through that or buy those sticky bug traps and put it under each leg which will stop them from getting into your bed again - if you have a ceiling light above your bed be sure & caulk it and keep your bed a few inches away from the wall. Bed bugs cannot fly or jump, they can only climb & crawl.
 
I had them when I lived on Homewood. This was back in 2006 before the coverage was so widespread in the media, so I had no idea what the heck these bumps forming on my arms were from - at first I thought I was allergic to a new bottle of Febreze I had bought.

Finally after a month or two I saw one of the little buggers on my pillow and killed it very gently to preserve the look of the thing - then searched the internet until I found the right bug.

I got an exterminator in, and he did two rounds of spraying to kill everything. They do use chemicals, and those chemicals are bad for you. That's why it's a real hassle when they spray, you have to wash everything afterwards to get the chemicals off. Used to be, they used DDT, so they would spray once and everything was dead. The chemicals they use now don't kill the eggs, only the hatched bugs, so that's why they have to spray twice and sometimes three times (if some hatch and then lay eggs before you spray the second time).

I had just moved into my unit and then went on vacation to China, so I have no idea if I brought them back or if they were already there.
 
Rather than spraying them, put all of your clothing, rugs, towels, and bedsheets in a dryer. High heat kills them very effectively.

What do you guys think should be done with a mattress in this case? Toss, or spray with toxic chemicals?
 
You can get bedbug-proof bags to put your mattress in. They will be trapped inside and should starve in a few years. You can try steaming to kill most of them.
 

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