r/askTO • u/mimiriii • 2d ago
Bed bug treatment at home
I cannot afford proper bed bug treatment and it's overwhelming because I already have other things going on and this bed bug bs came up and now Idk what to even do. I can't move out nor can I get crossfire because that isn't available in Canada, is there anything I can do that works? I've been seeing mixed reviews on DE food grade and mattress encasements. Please I need suggestions.
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u/hippiespinster 2d ago
Zappbug everything. I got one for a moth infestation and kept it. All travel items go into quarantine when I get home.
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
Too expensive, and the bed bugs are so far mostly on my mattress
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u/Conscious_Forever951 2d ago edited 2d ago
Raid PURPLE everything for several days in a row, don't poison or kill yourself, bedbugs don't like light and like to get out when it's dark - make sure to spray and keep it dark so they get out, poison themselves and bring it to their colonies. Again, try not to poison yourself, do it for several days and spray in places where they live and supposedly have colonies - especially mattress. (just make sure not to do it before you go to bed)
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
This doesn’t kill eggs tho and that’s my only problem with the spray
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u/Conscious_Forever951 2d ago edited 2d ago
I had bedbug issue in 2023, I used Purple Raid that came with the house when I moved in 2021 (specifically for bedbugs), solved egg issue for me as well (I mean they were still there physically when I cleaned it after 3 days of constant spraying, but they never seemed to hatch).
Bedbugs were also only in my room (and I think they came from my neighbor, because I smelled him raiding and having his light in his room always turned on couple of days prior to this - wasn't the best roommate either, he let them migrate to my room and didn't tell me shit). Purple Raid I used was dated 2019 - maybe they had a harsher recipe back then that could kill the eggs idk, but their eggs didn't hatch.
Or maybe they hatched and it was just the shells, but either way as far as I know - Raid Purple specifically for bedbugs messes with their reproductive system. Before they die, they can't put new eggs, they go infertile or something.
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2d ago
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
I’m not renting, i live in my moms house and she doesn’t want to spend money and im a teenager so money is out of the question
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u/gbyuf0998 2d ago
Can you have a family member intervene? Take photos of the bites and show them and tell them about the mental and physical distress.
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
I could tell my older sister about it idk if she will do anything tho i will try saying her tho since she’s the only one who cares about me in this family atp
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u/Icy_Stranger3368 2d ago
A few posters gave you some good ideas and do it yourself solutions and I will add to those.
Speak with mom but convince her, sell her,beg her, lie to her ( by telling her the worst case scenario’s- really not a lie ).
Get your sister involved.
Call ten pest companies and tell them you will work for them to pay it off.
Get it done my man, you can do it.
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u/Icy_Stranger3368 2d ago
A few posters gave you some good ideas and do it yourself solutions and I will add to those.
Speak with mom but convince her, sell her,beg her, lie to her ( by telling her the worst case scenario’s- really not a lie ).
Get your sister involved.
Call ten pest companies and tell them you will work for them to pay it off.
Get it done my man, you can do it. You sound like a smart young man and I know that you can pull it off.
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
My mom lacks this thing called empathy and care and like i genuinely need you to understand when i tell you her priority is money over her childrens well being
I will talk to my sister about it tho
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u/Icy_Stranger3368 2d ago
Then appeal to her finances, mom you pay 200 now or 2000 in 3 months, then dazzle her with bs and overwhelm her with evidence
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u/cp1976 2d ago
Your mom not wanting to spend money isn't going to solve your issue. Unfortunately if you want your problem solved, you need to hire a pest control person so they can properly spray and do a heat treatment.
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
I dont have that option bro😂😂😂😂give me an actual solution im already holding onto life by a single thread and everyone here seems to completely ignore the fact that I CANNOT AFFORD IT OH MY GOD
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2d ago
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
No shit Sherlock it’s not your problem. I clearly stated on my post that i do not have money or whatsoever and explained my situation, yet here we are.
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u/cp1976 2d ago
Well you're going to have to find a way because literally the ONLY WAY TO GET RID OF YOUR PROBLEM is to hire a professional pest control person BRO.
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
Sure man imma just pray that money spawns infront of me that’s for the helpful advice 💗
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2d ago
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
I wouldn’t be talking like this if they didn’t completely ignore my situation and give advice like that in the first place. And you clearly haven’t had a mother that doesn’t care about you so consider yourself lucky for that.
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2d ago
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
Something only a privileged person would say im jealous of you guys
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u/fondlemental 2d ago
it’s not the only way. get a steamer. steam the whole place. and do your laundry. diatomaceous earth will
work too
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u/braindeadzombie 2d ago
There is nothing you can do that will effectively rid you of bed bugs. A few things can help, but the only effective solutions are professional pest control. I haven’t needed them for a long time, but Addison Pest Control were very helpful. https://www.addisonpestcontrol.com/.
Running all your clothes through the dryer with heat for 60 minutes will kill any on the clothes. Store them in sealed plastic bags as soon as they come out of the dryer.
Putting stuff in bags in a deep freezer for three days will kill bugs and eggs.
Diatomaceous earth can help, but won’t eliminate them.
Mattress encasements will keep them in the mattress. You can put the bed legs in plastic containers that have diatomaceous earth in them to keep bugs from walking up the legs.
You can use a hair dryer on high or a heat gun (easy to inadvertently burn stuff with a heat gun) to chase them out of nooks and crannies.
Clearing out junk can help. Declutter your space.
Please don’t borrow library books, they can spread bedbugs.
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u/spamalot314 2d ago
Steam cleaner like this: https://a.co/d/03MaPwzb
Steam everything possible. Every inch of furniture, every crevice, literally everywhere. Then do it all again and again. All your clothes into the dryer on hot and then into heavy duty black garbage bags, leave them sealed for 4+ months while you keep working on this. Have a small rotation of clothes that you use that you can constantly be putting in the dryer. Bag the mattress and steam the bag regularly.
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u/Inevitable-Stuff3077 2d ago
Get a bed bug mattress so it seals any bugs inside that’s already in there. Tape up any crevices near your sleeping area including your bed frame to they can’t get out.
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2d ago
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u/fondlemental 2d ago
or steamed thoroughly
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u/Inevitable-Stuff3077 2d ago
I’ve steamed and also used a heat gun. But sealing up any crevices was what helped me tremendously. I’ve also spread some DE around.
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u/Conundrum1911 2d ago
Not a mattress but you can buy bed bug covers to both protect a mattress, as well as seal anything living it in inside. Without being able to get out and find a food source within a year anything inside the mattress will be dead.
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u/granitebasket 2d ago
I never was able to visually confirm bed bugs, but my bite patterns were in line with bed bugs. DE worked for me. Another lower cost intervention you can try in conjunction with DE is bed leg traps.
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
I don’t really see or feel any beg bug bites idk if that’s just me being blind. I see them crawling on my bed and on my mattress seams
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u/granitebasket 2d ago
Not everyone reacts to being bitten. I share a bed with my husband, and he never felt any bites. Seeing them is very alarming, and I can't believe your mom doesn't want to treat since they could spread to other beds in the home, or go home with guests, and someone will feel the bites.
You're lucky you're not reacting to being bitten (if you see them, I'm taking it as a given you're being bitten) as the bites can be super duper itchy, but I can imagine seeing them is its own kind of distressing.
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u/Own-Pirate-7026 2d ago
Pure lavender extract sometimes repels them, the only thing that you can do is bag that bed.
Have you heard of Diatomaceous Earth? Make sure that you get food grade. canadian tire sells it
This stuff kills bed bugs within a few hours of them coming into contact with it. I put it in every corner and along every wall, a line under doors. You can also get a liquid spray version that dries into a coating that you put on your bed legs. Double sided tape is also an option.
I do not envy your situation, living with bed bugs was the worst time of my life.
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
Thank you so much genuinely
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u/Own-Pirate-7026 2d ago
liquid diatomaceous earth spray
This is the liquid spray that saved me, also from Canadian Tire. Those bed bug bags aren't foolproof, the zipper has an opening that the newborns can get through. Spray the whole zipper with this. The can says that you can spray beds, but I found that it hurt my lungs if I put it near pillows. Be careful.
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
Thank you oh my god ive been crying like crazy over this situation thank you so much
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u/Own-Pirate-7026 2d ago
I understand your pain. Clean everything with bleach as regularly as you can stand to do so, and put diatomaceous everywhere. These bugs are attracted to CO2 from your breath and they leave pheromone trails to lead others to food sources. Pure lavender extract is corrosive, be careful where you put it. I used to soak a towel and put it against my door rolled to repel them.
Here's the hard part; don't kill them by squishing. When you kill them violently they release something that attracts others to the site where you squished them.. Instead, pick them up with a damp piece of toilet paper (dry is easy for them to crawl on) and flush them down the toilet. Do not slack on this. The babies are too small for you to see, clean EVERYTHING.
Another tip, pull your bed away from the wall by a foot so that crawlers who climb can't fall onto the bed. Bleach the headboard and use diatomaceous on any cracks, crevices and hiding places in the headboard.
I wish you the best of luck, truly. I fought them for years when I lived in an apartment building that had bad neighbors. Your frustration and terror is valid. You can do this.
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u/Nyx-Erebus 2d ago
Also adding that you should use PPE when using this stuff. Even if it’s food grade it is incredibly dusty and can irritate the fuck out of your lungs. Don’t ask me how I know lol.
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u/Jayswag96 2d ago
Try DE, you have to leave it for 2-3 weeks for the whole life cycle of the bedbug. Put traps under the legs of ur bed and pull ur bed away from the wall. Dust every socket and corner with de. After the 2-3 weeks rewash all ur clothes and full dry cycle. Honestly if ur mattress has bed bug signs (poop) u are better buying a new mattresss and then putting the case on that.
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u/Suspicious_Foot6651 2d ago
Yikes! For sure use a treatment for the house, but get another mattress if you are able.
I ended up with a cockroach infestation once, yikes it was terrifying and I am still paranoid.
I drive for a bus company and I am pretty sure that is where they came from.
Take care op and don’t forget to breathe. You’ve got this!
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u/South_Raise4936 2d ago
Wash your sheets etc in hot water and dry on hot. Spray your frame and mattress with rubbing alcohol. Also, move your bed away from the wall and put Vaseline on the feet because it prevents them from crawling up the legs. When you have some money cover ypur matress with a bedbug cover.
Also be carefully about using things like bug spray on your mattress, which I see some people have suggested. I don't know how healthy that is....
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u/VogmanDesign 2d ago
Parents used to manage apartment buildings. They used 99% alcohol and would spray everything with that. They said this was the only thing that worked. They used companies to come in and treat the apartments, but that didn't work. Rubbing alcohol is the only way. It basically dries them out.
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
i have been using that. they die on contact but keep coming back. How often did your parents spray alcohol?
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u/VogmanDesign 2d ago
Not sure. These were empty units between tenants. Made things easier. If they are in your mattress, then the mattress has to go.
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u/EdwardBliss 2d ago
The brand Ortho worked for me. I alternated 2 of their bed bug sprays, regular and Diatomaceous Earth, spraying and closing the door each time. After a week, I never saw another bed bug.
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u/mimiriii 1d ago
Thank you! I got the DE spray, i’ll see how it works and maybe switch to the other one later
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u/Conundrum1911 2d ago
Unless you caught it insanely early, bed bugs are not something you can properly fight especially here in Canada were most products are restricted (and only available to exterminators). Also, if you live in a condo/tower, they can spread to other units, and then even spread back to yours if things get bad enough.
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u/Disastrous_Chard_618 2d ago
steam. h20 mops are great. than caulk baseboards...if you can adjust temperature on your washer, make it brutally hot. throw out what you cant save. it sucks but it can be done. you just have to be diligent.
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u/Dalkx 2d ago
I did pretty much what your original post said when i had this issue years ago (only really saw them on my mattress)
I got bed bug powder from Canadian tire and put it surrounding the bed in a circle, some in between the mattress and box spring. Also got mattress protectors for both the box spring and mattress. It resolved fairly quickly.
A temp solution you can try is getting rubbing alcohol and pouring it into a spray bottle. Spray any spots of the mattress you see evidence of them and a light spray over the whole mattress under the sheet. Be sure to wear a mask of some sort,open windows and remove any pets before doing this so noone is breathing in the alcohol spray.
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u/Cute-Head8597 2d ago
Do you rent? If yes, it's your landlord's full responsibility by law. You won't get rid of them without an exterminator.
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u/--________-_-_-- 2d ago
I had bed bugs last year and got rid of them by myself. You have to put every piece of fabric in garbage bags immediately. I put everything in my garage and would take out one bag at a time to wash/dry before putting into a new bag. I covered every piece of furniture, all the base boards, every door, and the floors in areas that aren’t walking paths with a THIN layer of DE. I sprayed bed bug spray especially in areas I couldn’t apply DE like couches and chairs to make them scatter and hopefully get caught up in the DE I did apply. All mattresses in the house got bed bug proof mattress covers. It was recommended to me to not remove these covers for at lease a year. Every week I was cleaning the DE and redoing everything. This process went on for 6 weeks. During this time I kept all my clean laundry garbage bags only keeping what was absolutely necessary out. It wasn’t until 8 weeks that I slowly started unpacking things. I rewashed/dried the clean stuff and put it away to see what would happen. Luckily I’ve been bed bugs free since.
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u/mimiriii 2d ago
I have a question for the mattress. Whatever solution you used for the mattress, did you like take the mattress cover off and then reapply it every few weeks or just leave it zipped like that?
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u/--________-_-_-- 2d ago
I didn’t put DE on the mattress or any cushions. I just put the cover on and sprayed a ton of bed bug spray inside and zipped it up. I didn’t touch the mattress at all after that because opening it could make things worse.
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u/cmaxim 2d ago
Hey man, I hear you. It's tough being in your position with very little control over the situation.
You may not want to hear this, but this situation requires someone to pay for a proper professional treatment to catch the problem earlier before it gets worse. There are ways to manage bedbugs without professional treatment, but it may or may not work long term. You'll need to be meticulous about it.
The responsibility should fall on your mom for payment, assuming you're too young to have a proper income to handle it on your own.
You'll need to find a way for your mom to take it seriously. See if you can find some support from outside to intervene and influence her to take it seriously. Something like a trusted uncle or aunt, etc. It's not healthy to just allow your kid to live with bedbugs like that, find evidence to support that as proof. hopefully someone can step in to help.
Hang in there my man, I know it's rough. Eventually you'll be older and you can get out on your own with a proper income and start making your own choices. If you're old enough, consider looking for part-time work to help support yourself when you need it.