Killing bed bugs with heat

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

Since moving to MA I've heard a lot about the scariness of bed bugs and why people don't often take used mattresses or cushion-y furniture. I heard and read a few unsupported claims that you could kill bed bugs with heat. I contemplated how I would heat an entire mattress up to extreme (non-inflammatory) temperatures. However, I recently found http://www.epa.gov/bedbugs/, which seems like a relatively trustworthy place to get such information, and apparently all it takes is 113F (45C) for 1 hour!? This is mind boggling. I can seal a mattress inside a plastic bag and slide it into the sealed bed of my truck on a sunny day to easily accomplish that.

Why isn't this a more commonly known/implemented solution?

Comments

[xuth.livejournal.com]

You would need to take some care to get the whole thing (or at least the whole surface of the thing) up to temperature. For instance, if you did try your truck method, I'm guessing the side that was down against the truck bed would be sufficiently insulated as to not heat up much at all. You would need to put the mattress on a grate of some kind and propped up a couple of inches so it had good airflow.

And of course without far better controls, this method would never be certified, but it's useful to hear that the necessary temperatures are so (relatively) low.

[squirrelitude]

Not to mention the inside of the mattress! A meat thermometer with a mattress-puncturing tip is probably called-for here.

[aedifica]

From what I've read it sounds like they don't always stay in just the mattress, so you'd probably want to heat up the whole room. A friend of mine did that by sealing up his apartment on a sunny day (this was in mid-summer) and running a space heater.

[user-deleted.livejournal.com]

this is both amazing and kind of scary. I'd worried that the space heater would explode.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

The required temperature is lower than the normal surface (let alone interior) temperature of a running radiant heater. It wouldn't even notice the change in environment.

[cheeseydreams.livejournal.com]

Do you have bed bugs, or is this a hypothetical situation?

I believe the references to killing bed bugs with heat refers to washing clothing and bedding in hot water and then drying in a dryer. You can't really apply it to a mattress because even if you manage to treat your mattress correctly with a heat method, bedbugs live in crevices in the walls, bed frame, and other furniture. To successfully treat a bedbug infestation without resorting to moving and replacing all of your furniture would be through a professional exterminator.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

I don't have bed bugs, but I want to take advantage of free/cheap used mattresses without risking a bed bug infestation.

[cheeseydreams.livejournal.com]

I've successfully gotten a bedbug free used cheap mattresses off of craigslist. The best advice I can give for that is try to look in affluent areas, they seem to have a lower risk of bedbug infestations. Definitely do not curb shop, especially not in areas with predominantly college student populations.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

I am skeptical of that assertion regarding "affluent areas". Bedbugs don't just depend on population density for transmission; they can travel in from hotels, etc.

[cheeseydreams.livejournal.com]

It is good to be skeptical of any source. In my personal experience, I've had more luck avoiding bedbugs when responding to ads in areas where there are more homeowners vs renters (i.e. Wellesley vs Allston). I've also have the unfortunate luck of experiencing bedbugs and I wouldn't wish it on anyone - a former roommate and ex took a box spring for his mattress off of the street and within a year, the whole apartment had a pretty bad infestation.

On that note, people should even be wary of buying mattresses from stores. Most have return policies and there is no way to guarantee that a mattress wasn't bought then returned from a home infested with bedbugs. Bedbugs are hardy vermin and they're extremely hard to get rid of on ones own.

[pywaket.livejournal.com]

This.

The assertion about bedbugs being a "poor person problem" has been proven false.

[joyeuxnoel.livejournal.com]

I believe you can also buy mattress covers/bed bug protectors as well. Most are supposed to be escape proof.

I've never used them so I can't give you a specific recommendation but it might be something to consider if you're getting a used mattress.

[greyling.livejournal.com]

This thing is true.

My mattress is a used mattress - I shopped around on Craigslist to find one. I went to the guy's home, saw the mattress in its original situation, inspected it thoroughly for signs of bedbug infestation, asked him to sit on it, etc. I wound up lucky. In hindsight, I probably should've bought a bedbug cover to go over it.

[geoffroi.livejournal.com]

A company that did a pre-purchase termite inspection mentioned they were doing heat treatment of bedbugs. http://www.yankeepestcontrol.com/heat-treatment

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

I thought companies doing home inspections weren't supposed to try to sell you anything extra.

[geoffroi.livejournal.com]

They weren't selling...we just were talking about the bed bug problem in general.

[anyee.livejournal.com]

I used Pure Heat and they were awesome. However, you probably want to do your whole room and/or apartment to make sure. http://www.pureheat.com/