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Here's a hint. They still make those ancient "No Pest Strips" under the name Hot Shot or Nuvan. It is an insecticide called Vapona, aka DDVP, and it acts in a vapor form.
Find the biggest baggie you can and put in one of the Vapona bars. Then anything you want to fumigate goes into the bag and the bugs are killed in a day or two. An airtight closet would be wonderful.
Watch out though, you don't want too breathe in too much of this stuff, nor do you want to handle it without gloves.
If I ever got bedbugs, I think it would be about 30 of these all over the apartment and a 1 week vacation away: think gas chamber. (You can have the stuff mailed to New York State but not, I think, NJ.) I have put a couple pieces inside my walls as a precautionary measure.
I just went through this ~ much to my horror. Found live infestation on a bedrest pillow, the kind you sit up in bed & read with ~ I took photos, sent it to my pest control vendor & they confirmed. I told my housemate ~ she didn't believe me & said she didn't have them...I decided to move and am in process. Had to toss my brand new (8 months old Sterns & Foster queen mattress & box spring), my dresser - wood, my bed frame - wood, my end table - wood & am in the process of getting rid of mostly everything I own. I do not want to bring them on a free ride with me to my new home.
I've never had a bed bug infestation, but have had the huge waterbugs that fly come into my apartment. I honestly don't know which fear is worse! The mental trauma of those big roaches is too much to bear!
I just thought those huge roaches deserve an honorable mention!
Diamataceous Earth Powder (food grade) gets rid of them and also prevents them from coming in. Line your doorway and door hinges with this product. It does not harm pets either. Bed bugs, if they are in your home, will eat it and it kills them by dehydrating them from the inside. Excellent stuff.
Diamataceous Earth Powder (food grade) gets rid of them and also prevents them from coming in. Line your doorway and door hinges with this product. It does not harm pets either. Bed bugs, if they are in your home, will eat it and it kills them by dehydrating them from the inside. Excellent stuff.
Yeah, when I saw the water bug I went mentally kablooey! I got the earth powder and sprinkled it on all corners of my apartment and left it there for months on end.
For the people who don't want to get it through Amazon, you can also get it at Home Depot.
After seeing the waterbug, I wasn't about to sit down and patiently wait three days for the dam thing to arrive.
Hello, I have an apartment in a farily large sized apartment building and so far we have been lucky enough to not hear about any infestations.
What can I do to prevent bedbugs from invading my apartment in the first place?
We have hardwood floors throughout. Is that a good thing?
I am paranoid about these critters.
For a couple months I made carbon dioxide lures and traps: yeast plus sugar slippery containers that any bugs would be drawn to, fall in and not get out. Nothing, tank God. Spread all over the bedroom. The fermenting mead smelled like a brewery.
The reason for the panic was I was bitten several times. I conjecture it was in an Upper West Side theater that shall remain nameless for fear lawsuits. (but I won't ever go back.) The bites were only on unclothed areas.
I looked at every entry into the spaces behind the drywall. I took off electrical plates and checked around pipes. Into each accessible hole I put a piece of Hot Shot (concentrated vapona insecticide) and then resealed all these holes. I keep my apartment slightly overpressured so the gas will stay in the walls and infiltrate up and down.
Net effect: a mini gas chamber in the 4 inches space between drywall.
You might get a similar effect with mothballs...but any leakage into the apartment might be very annoying to inhabitants.
Hardwood, unless sealed to a glasslike surface is not great because bedbugs, once infected, can live in the tiny crevices between the planks.
Sidebar thought: Roaches die in a few hours at 113 F. Phoenix yesterday went to 118F. So Phoenixites would need only to open all their windows to get an effective bedbug extermination.
Last edited by Kefir King; 06-21-2017 at 08:11 AM..
As I am in the move process, I've washed & dried my clothes in extreme high dryer prior to bringing in my new home, I've had the few framed family photos in garbage bags in my car since Sunday per Pest company - heat of car to kill them but am terrified of bringing those into the home without just removing the photos. Thoughts or suggestions?
Fan Lady,
Buy a Vapona stick (Hot Shot at Home Depot) and put it in a chest or tightly closed closet. Put any questionable items like those pictures in the enclosure for a day or two to kill adults, or a week to kill eggs.
Alternatively, put a Hot Shot in your car along with the items to be fumigated.
<Make sure to air the car out well before you go for a drive. Vapors are not very healthy for people.>
Fan Lady,
Buy a Vapona stick (Hot Shot at Home Depot) and put it in a chest or tightly closed closet. Put any questionable items like those pictures in the enclosure for a day or two to kill adults, or a week to kill eggs.
Alternatively, put a Hot Shot in your car along with the items to be fumigated.
<Make sure to air the car out well before you go for a drive. Vapors are not very healthy for people.>
Thank you ~ I'll definitely try that ~ I have one final item to go through before I move ~ a pirate type chest from the 1890's. It's filled with childhood scrapbooks & misc. items. The chest is wood & leather & has been next to the bed in my bedroom with the critters. I do not want to bring it into my new home unless I could be certain it's clean. I could drop a Vapona in & leave it in sun? I'm a bit nervous to put the Vapona in the car as I drive it during the day along with my 92 year old mother in the car & the fumes would not be healthy for her...?!
The items in my car have been bagged for almost a week. I'm thinking that any papers I bring will go into store-tight plastic containers...
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