How Do I Do It?

In my most recent post, an anonymous commenter said the following:

Wow! You do not own a vacuum? I've read that 2 of the most important things to do to rid one's home of an infestation is to vacuum, vacuum, vacuum and hire a pco to put down chemicals. Those 2 you are not doing. So how is it that your bb population is going down? Are you spraying chemicals yourself? Maybe you can let us know what you do so as to help others who are also poor and who cannot afford pcos.

This problem is getting worse, not better. You can get rid of everything you own to get rid of bbs and then go to a movie, ride a subway or sit on a subway bench, etc. and get reinfested all over again. But, we must live our lives, as you said. Heck, you can even get them from your job. FoxNews has them and so does lawfirm Cravath on 2 floors.

I hope you keep this blog going for bb sufferers. I know that the other anonymous poster sounded ignorant, but do not let that stop you from keeping this blog going. Yes, this blog has been around for awhile and yes, you still have bbs. That doesn't mean that you are not helping out people who are suffering w/bbs. You are being honest with your situation. There are a lotta people out there who hire pco's and go through the bagging and purging and other stuff and get rid of their bbs in a few months. Well, I feel that there should be no "time limit" on how long a person should have bbs or try to get rid of them. You and everyone else is trying their best and that's all anyone can do in this situation.

How am I getting rid of bed bugs?

Since I do not own a vacuum cleaner, M and I do a lot of sweeping and mopping. We have bare linoleum floors and we do not own have carpets or rugs. I would have to imagine that carpets and/or rugs would have to be great hiding places for bed bugs. We mop about twice a month. The experts who say you have to vacuum rigorously and religiously say so because they can't imagine an American who doesn't own a vacuum cleaner.

I also purchased Suspend AC, a pesticide specifically made to kill bed bugs that I bought from www.domyownpestcontrol.com and it does seem to work; it claims to be a residual pesticide, which kills bed bugs long after the solution dries. The label does claim that even inhaling fumes from the concentrated pesticide may be fatal, so I have to dilute it with water before applying it as directed. I also have a gallon hand-operated pressure pump which I also bought from the abovementioned website. It kind of works like a Super Soaker, where you have to manually pump pressure into the jug so its hose attachment can spray the watered-down pesticide. I'm not too comfortable spraying chemicals in my home whose fumes alone can be fatal to humans, so I spray every other month or so.

I also got rid of a lot of wooden furniture (which were doubling as bed bug colonies), often using crates to hold up my TV, stereo, DVD player and other items. I bought plastic dressers from target.com and plastic laundry hampers from a 99 cent store (I have two, one for colored clothes and one for white clothes). I've become increasingly concerned about my heavy window curtains becoming ground zero for the next great bed bug population explosion. I was actually considering trashing the cloth curtains and replacing them with shower curtains, but that's way too tacky, don't you think? Plus it probably wouldn't keep light out that well.

Eradicating bed bugs when your funds are limited is like any other aspect of life; you have to get creative and find alternatives for the things you can't afford. To me, if an expensive exterminator who charges $300+ per room can't even guarantee 100 percent bed bug eradication, you might as well do your own deep cleaning, furniture replacement and overall lifestyle changes and save a few hundred bucks, considering you even have a few hundred bucks to save!

Killing bed bugs directly can be quite enjoyable if you're down for playing Bed Bug Barbecue (hint: it requires a barbecue lighter!) and you have a linoleum floor. Each charred bed bug equals one point, and the game ends either when you've scored one million points or have not seen a bed bug in two months.

The whole lifestyle change and deep cleaning routine helps in case your home becomes re-infested. You'll be ready, your home will be ready and the bugs won't be alive in your home for very long.

Yeah, that anonymous commenter was kind of a douche, suggesting among other things that I advocate just settling for getting bit less and not working towards the lofty goal of total bed bug eradication. For the record, eradication is possible and it should definitely be attempted over and over again. I agree with you that there should be no time limit on how long it should take a person to rid their home of bed bugs. It's a long and arduous goal, but it's one that a person should strive for no matter how long it takes. I mean, if you don't get rid of your bed bug infestation in say, six months, should you just give up and let the bed bugs take over? Just spend the rest of your life with hundreds of little red bites on your body and just have bed bugs everywhere? Would that whacky Aussie commenter say that bullshit to a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy? "Dude, if the cancer doesn't go into remission by November, you should, uh, just give up."

And yes, I'd gladly have cancer if I knew I'd never have to see another bed bug again! I'll move to Canada, do the chemo, puke my brains out and smoke all the medical marijuana I want. At least cancer sufferers don't have to be afraid their friends, family and co-workers will find out they have cancer, or worse, that they'll spread cancer by going to someone else's house or other people coming over to theirs.

If you read enough of this blog, you'll see there have been sporadic surges of bed bug sightings after weeks of seeing very few. I often wonder if I've unknowingly re-introduced bed bugs into my home.

This post has become waaayyyyy longer than I initially expected it to be, so I'll wrap up now!

Thanks for all the kind words, and I'm glad to know that Bugged Out is still helping people cope a but easier with their bed bug problems, even though one commenter apparently feels my time is up! I appreciate all the feedback you guys send me, and I'm sure a lot of other people feel the same way. Your comments really compliment Bugged Out and are just as full of insight, news, tips, stories and information as this blog.

Later.