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nycgirl, thanks, I've heard that about heat too. Sometimes I aim my blow dryer on hot for a few minutes at a spot they may be hiding. I'm hoping my landlord will go for the heat treatment.
I work at a hospital and if a patient comes in with them the housekeepers have to use a steamer to clean the room. I wonder if a clothes steamer would work? I think you can pick one up for $40 or so? They may even be cheaper than that.
The clothes bring to the laundromat and steam the bed, couch whatever. If you have carpets maybe rent a steam cleaner for the day?
I have heard that the heat treatment costs thousands, I wonder if they would offer that go you being that your apt isn't the source in the building. Maybe get in writing that the LL will reimburse you for the carpet steamer rental, laundry costs, etc.
Have you actually seen the bugs, are you getting bitten or is it because they are present in your building that you are treating your apartment?
Landlord is COMPLETELY responsible no matter the source of the bugs. So get him involved IMMEDIATELY...and keep a good paper trail, it may come in handy if the situation escalates.
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I wonder if a clothes steamer would work?
That would be my first line of attack on the mattress, spring, and bed and might give you some relief from morning bites and I think that wet heat (steamer) will work better than dry (hair dryer) But view it as only a partial temporary band-aid because they will be all around the room (and you certainly don't want to steam electrical outlets.)
I would try to get my rooms over 120 degrees for several hours if I were trying to get rid of them on my own. (They die easily in heat, eggs included.)
Has anyone successfully gotten rid of them and have an exterminator they liked a lot? Thanks.
I researched this some time ago, and found the increase in incidence is largely due to our social choice to use spray and wipe cleaners, rather than good old fashioned scrubbing. Present day cleaning practices only hit the surfaces.
It turns out that these little bugs crawl into tiny cracks in woodwork, carpets, etc. and lay their eggs. The eggs are sticky, so you need some sort of solution to break the "stick" and let the cleaner kill them. If your place is carpeted, a heavy duty steam cleaning would be a good idea. Better would be to have the carpet removed and replaced with hard floors.
Bed bugs can be removed effectively with hot soapy water, a scrub brush, and elbow grease. That's right, get yourself a bucket, some cleaner (I like Pine-sol), a scrub brush, and start scrubbing every nook and cranny in your apartment -- and every thing that has a nook and cranny, or any cracks.
Apparently, more than one cycle is necessary.
Also, the bugs travel in your possessions, so it's a good idea to scrub out your luggage, etc after traveling.
I researched this some time ago, and found the increase in incidence is largely due to our social choice to use spray and wipe cleaners, rather than good old fashioned scrubbing. Present day cleaning practices only hit the surfaces.
It turns out that these little bugs crawl into tiny cracks in woodwork, carpets, etc. and lay their eggs. The eggs are sticky, so you need some sort of solution to break the "stick" and let the cleaner kill them. If your place is carpeted, a heavy duty steam cleaning would be a good idea. Better would be to have the carpet removed and replaced with hard floors.
Bed bugs can be removed effectively with hot soapy water, a scrub brush, and elbow grease. That's right, get yourself a bucket, some cleaner (I like Pine-sol), a scrub brush, and start scrubbing every nook and cranny in your apartment -- and every thing that has a nook and cranny, or any cracks.
Apparently, more than one cycle is necessary.
Also, the bugs travel in your possessions, so it's a good idea to scrub out your luggage, etc after traveling.
I've never had bedbugs *knocks on wood* but when this epidemic started a couple of years back, I got pretty paranoid and read everything about them, and once thing I can tell you for sure; Scrubing with soapy water won't do a damn thing to get rid of these creatures.
Exterminating, (or ideally demolishing the place and building a new one), is THE ONLY solution. It has nothing to do with the cleanness of your place, of course having clutter around thus giving them more hidding spaces doesn't help, but it's not about higene like it is with other NY pests (roaches and mice).
Even the most ritzy and pristine places in Manhattan have had reports of bedbugs
They also make steam cleaners for hardwood floors, I'm sure they can be rented.
Let's make a plan of action where everyone contributes to this:
Do the laundry, sheets all that stuff in the manner mentioned above. Seal up the clean laundry in several garbage bags so they aren't recontaminated when you are bringing them home.
Steam clean floors and carpets, take the clothes steamer to mattress and any hiding places you can find.
Many of the carpet cleaners have an attachment for furniture, if so I would steam clean any couches.
Tight plastic mattress cover after steaming. I would throw away pillows and get new ones once everything is clean.
If you have pets see if you can have him/her stay somewhere else for a few days in order to not give the bugs an easy host while you are cleaning. I have read that frontline and other pet pest preventatives don't work for bedbugs.
I have both seen them and been bitten by them. Exterminator came by and said it wasn't considered an infestation -- but I still think it's a lot of bed bugs. He's sending the estimate to the landlord. They do a combo of stuff, including heat/steaming. It really makes me want to get rid of everything except my pets and move, because from what i read on the internet they're really hard to get rid of, even with a really good exterminator.
Exterminator came by and said it wasn't considered an infestation
If there are enough to be seen, and there are enough to bite you, it IS an infestation. Perhaps the landlord has told the exterminator to NEVER use the word around tenants.
Buut the city calls it what it it: "a vermin infestation."
Proper cleaning according to an informed source is treatment of the infected apartment and ALL the apartments that abut the infected apartment. That's why it gets so pricey.
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), is THE ONLY solution. It has nothing to do with the cleanness of your place, of course having clutter around thus giving them more hidding spaces doesn't help, but it's not about higene like it is with other NY pests (roaches and mice). 
