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

[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.