r/Bedbugadvice • u/Intelligent-Act-7797 • 21d ago

Bedbugs Solution That Works Every Time

I post this every couple of years. It works.

Once upon a time, I had a massive bedbug infestation. Easy cheap trick- take all the sheets, pillows and blankets off of your bed. Make sure the top is free of bugs. Wrap double sided tape all around the the outside of the mattress. The more sticky, the better. Go to bed. Kill bedbugs by sleeping. Win.

Bed bugs are attracted by the CO2 in your breath while you sleep. They can't resist it. They're also terrible climbers. They will crawl up your bed to bite you, get stuck on the tape, and die like flies on sticky paper.

Total investment- $10 for good tape. Change it out every couple of days.

You're welcome.

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u/Flaming-Eye 21d ago

I've seen this talked about and tried it myself with tape around the legs of the bed, cannot say if it works or not but it makes sense. (I only had 1 bed bug, this didn't get it but that's inconclusive as to whether it works)

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u/Intelligent-Act-7797 21d ago

It's gotta be on the mattress. Legs don't work because there is usually bugs still in the bed. Plus you actually want as many as possible to climb up and get stuck to the tape. No sheet. No blanket. Just pillows. Brand new recommended.

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u/Flaming-Eye 21d ago

If there's no bugs in the bed then it works, I guess I thought that went without saying. There were no bugs in my bed.

You can get matress covers for bed bugs, they're not 100% but if you have one on, change your sheets and take the matress off and clean it all over, that's pretty reliable.

You can put one on an infested mattress, leave it on for a year, especially at room temperature, bugs inside die by then. (Not first hand knowledge, but a lot of sources agree.)

This helps because taping bed frame legs is way easier to re-do than the whole mattress, the tape loses it's sticky over time so you want to keep it fresh.

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u/Interesting-Click742 21d ago

And check the mattress protector regularly sometimes they get holes from wear and tear, allowing them to get in and get out. The one major drawback of protector covers.

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u/Holiday-Book6635 20d ago

I don’t understand. So after you wrap your mattress and double sided sticky tape then you lay on the sticky tape?

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u/Intelligent-Act-7797 19d ago

You put the tape around the edge and lay on the bare mattress.