Biting bugs in car's carpeting/seats? (best, spider, pump, road)
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It does sound like fleas. Is there any chance you have mice in there somewhere? They could bring in fleas. The hot weather will make a small colony of fleas explode. One single flea can lay 10,000 eggs.
You could try a carpet powder on the floor and vacuum it out the next day or try flea traps. They have traps that have lights in them and sticky stuff. You can set it up at nighttime and let the fleas have at it.
If it's fleas, and that does sound likely, I'd stop at a store and buy a cheap container of Sevin dust. Sprinkle it in the carpet and as far as you can reach under the seats. Leave it all night, then try to vacuum it up.
Might have to do it again in a week or so (depending upon the incubation period for fleas).
Your car is already infested and fleas spread all around so your belongings are most likely infested too.
When you do stop at rest areas and walk around, you probably bring more fleas with you into the car. People let their dogs out in rest areas. Not all dogs are clean...
At the hotels, especially the cheaper ones, there could be bed bugs infestation. When you put your clothes on the bed spreads (that are seldom washed) you help the contamination.
I don't know how we could help. Everything you have needs to be desinfected somehow, even your luggage and the total interior of your car. Is that an used car? Possibly previous owners could infested it too.
With all your allergies and sensitivities it will be very difficult task to clean everything you have throughout and long lasting.
Too many factors that contribute to infestation.
Generally mild and non-chemical treatments aren't very successful.
Bed bugs are hard to kill.
Bed bugs exposed to 113°F will die if they receive constant exposure to that temperature for 90 minutes or more. However, they will die within 20 minutes if exposed to 118°F. Interestingly, bed bug eggs must be exposed to 118°F for 90 minutes to reach 100% mortality.
Fleas:
Any temperature above 95°F (35°C) is lethal to adult fleas. They’ll die within two days unless relative humidity exceeds 75%.
Fleas, of any stage, can’t survive the laundering process. To kill fleas on clothing and bedding, it’s recommended to wash the items for 10 minutes at 140°F, and then dry at the highest heat setting.
That could work for your clothes, but not the luggage and upholstery in your car.
Other than buying a sleeping sack and washing it often, I don't see any solution for your sleeping arrangements.
Typical temperature set on high in public laundromat is about 110F. There is probably no way to expose your laundry to temps above that for at least 90 min. Same with air dryers.
Some greedy owners might set the temps lower to save on electricity and require user to spend more money. Usually dryers run in a 15 min cycle.
Any temperature above 95°F (35°C) is lethal to adult fleas. They’ll die within two days unless relative humidity exceeds 75%.
Fleas, of any stage, can’t survive the laundering process. To kill fleas on clothing and bedding, it’s recommended to wash the items for 10 minutes at 140°F, and then dry at the highest heat setting.
That could work for your clothes, but not the luggage and upholstery in your car.
Depending upon the temperature where the OP is, the interior of their car will regularly get up to 120°, 130° or even 140°F when parked in the sun for a few hours.
Either fleas or bedbugs... pets spread fleas and people spread bedbugs in hotels. Both are too small to notice on casual glance. I believe bed bugs are crawlers only and fleas can definitely jump as well as crawl.
I understand that using insect bomb will be difficult if you have asthma, but I don't think anything else will work, because you'll have to get effectively every single one or they can re-establish themselves. First try to figure out exactly what they are to help you select the most effective treatment. Maybe some kind of insect trap and examining the catch with a magnifying glass and compare against images on the internet. I do know that lights attract fleas at night.
Flea is shown at left in image below... bedbug at right is slightly larger, flatter, and has those big "whiskers", and he lacks the big back legs of the flea for jumping...
Still, even if you bake your car for several hours somewhere in the south, bedbugs will not likely to disappear. They might survive in folds. Also, they will survive when the humidity is high.
I wish, I could help you, Girl, but there isn't much you can do except wearing long sleeves and rubber band your pants at the bottom and just try to survive your trip till you get home.
Just make sure to place ALL your things in the bathtub or heavy duty plastic bags, first thing when you arrive and then start to wash your stuff in a hot water. Unfortunately some of your things will be damaged by this process.
The worst would be the luggage and the car. You most likely will need professional help.
I know, it's tempting, but don't buy luggage from a thrift store because you would never know what you bring home.
Car is very easy to fumigate..... I am not sure, why such obvious solution is ignored. As I lived in country with major bug problem and I KNOW how hard it is to rid of them. You fumigate sealed volume, you are DONE. Or, you WILL have them in your domicile later. And, end up fumigating car AND apartment or house anyway...
I first looked up pics of flea bites vs bed bug bites vs mosquito bites vs infected mosquito bites. The former 2 seem to come in clusters & are all over, but more importantly, most of my bites don't look small like that & they're mostly confined to the legs/feet in the car... in hotels, I can also get a few on the arms.
Mine look like the latter 2... if you google pics of the last (it's too gruesome to post), my bites quickly look like mild infected mosquito bites, not the ones that look like horror film stills. I must be highly allergic or more allergic than most, cuz my mosquito bites always look gruesome, as if they're infected. (As an aside, 1 sister also gets the same... the 2 of us look like we're trying to zombie break dance at an outdoor BBQ, smacking mosquitoes off ourselves, even though we're covered in clothing from neck to toe... must be something in the blood?)... it's annoying... I can't wear shorts or bare legs/arms in nature... but, because of that, I've gone on hikes where my face/hands are chewed apart by mosquitoes, cuz that's the only exposed skin. One sister is the same.
Mine are not as gruesome as most of the pics... just the mild ones... I'll have a large bite site, the size of a nickel or quarter & the red will spread out to the size of a tea saucer... no kidding. Some, like on knuckles/joints, will "weep"... don't want to get more graphic. Always been that way & as I mentioned before, I can be in a yard with 100 people (like viewing fireworks) & I'm mad slapping at stings & itches from bites & everyone else is fine. Even slathered in Skin So Soft, which smells horrendous so much so that it makes my eyes red & swell. Poisons make me very ill... so that addresses the few who keep bringing them up... no, so stop suggesting chemicals, pls.
Whatever... but, today I decided to clean the windows of the car & realized I always leave the doors wide open to air out the car, when at rest stops or when un/packing. I left all car doors open, as usual & when I dropped something, I realized there's a horde of mosquitoes living down near the pedals. They're fairly hearty, cuz it's brutally hot, just like everywhere in the US & they're alive after being locked in the car all night. I've squashed a few in the car before, but bugs are prevalent everywhere, so I didn't pay much attention 'til I started getting caniblized. I've now got 20+ horrid bites on my legs... all huge.
I squished a few & then realized, dope that I am, I left the hotel door open when unpacking the car, like usual if at a Motel 6 type place. Last night I woke up to stings as I was getting bitten by mosquitoes & in fact, smashed one that landed on my finger as I was typing this. I just draw them to me.
Thinking back, when at 3-4* hotels, I don't get bitten as there are no outside doors & you must enter through the lobby. But, as I've been in the middle of nowhere lately (I'm in Yellowstone now), there aren't any hotels, just motels... each with a door directly into the parking lot.
Also, I wrote about it years ago, but my bee/hornet infestation is back... I've got a hive/nest in/under the front car bumper... well, I guess, cuz the throng of yellow jackets are back. Had that a few yrs ago for 1-1/2 yrs... then moved to a cold place & they died off. But, now, as of 1-wk ago... bees/hornets are swarming around the front of the bumper again.
So, basically... I feel like Pigpen from Charlie Brown, but instead of a cloud of dust, I've got a cloud of insects around me.
Going to Walmart in a bit & will get some sort of mosquito spray to spray the driver's side of the car. I'm staying put for 1-2 days longer, so the smell shouldn't get to me before I take off. I need some service (broken windshield, oil change), so when I'm in Minneapolis in a couple of days & stop in for Honda service, I'll ask them to take care of the bees.
I am glad that I believe I'm not being flea/bedbug eaten (could be both, but I don't think so)... but, I'll get rid of them in the car, be more mindful of leaving car doors open (I won't) & will do the same when at hotels. I usually stay at better hotels, but sometimes it's not possible.
In any event... I'll keep ya posted on results. I'm just glad it's not roaches & rodents. Can't complain about a tiny vampire bug... just doing what comes naturally... well, until I hit it with chemical spray.
Thank you all for your help.
P.S. And, I just noticed... there are several mosquitoes flying about the room just now... they need to be eradicated, too.
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Update...
Can't complain about a tiny vampire bug... just doing what comes naturally... well, until I hit it with chemical spray.
