Diatomacious Earth and Bed bugs : Cimex lectularius Linnaeus (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cimicidae)

I recently moved some books, clothing and boxes that had been stored at my dads house to a new location. Within a few days, I had red, itchy bites on my feet, lets, belly, and arms. I found out that he had bed bugs several months ago, and had an exterminator come out and he said there weren't any more bugs. Apparently they travel. I am now trying to figure out what to do. Orkin states that I have to remove all the clothing, bedding, everything out of the main room where I was sleeping, and take it to the dry cleaners, or laundromat and dry on high for 20 minutes. The other issue is I have a cat that has wandered the house, and have heard that the bugs can catch a ride, and be all over the house.

So, has anyone used Diatomacious Earth on bed bugs? And how did you go about it?
Thanks so much! This is a mess! I am really freakin out that these things are feeding on me at night....slept with the lights on since I heard they are nocturnal...not sure if that will deter them or not!

Hi, Barbara and welcome to Permies even if it is under these circumstances!
While you wait for a response to your post, you could check out the topic that shows at the bottom of this page called "Organic bed bug control". It discusses DE and other options.

Barbara - Try this link, this is what I've done to irradicate and further prevent ~ http://www.earthworkshealth.com/get-rid-of-bed-bugs.php

Ollie's link looks helpful - though I only took the time to do a quick skim.

Judith mentioned this thread: organic bed bug control (providing a link in case that's easier).

Just recently, someone I know posted a peer-reviewed, well-researched article on bed bugs, including using DE, at http://nursing.advanceweb.com/Continuing-Education/CE-Articles/Bed-Bugs.aspx. If I had more time, it would be interesting to compare the info at Ollie's earthworkshealth link to Anna's article at nursing.advanceweb.

Here's hoping the links and info help.

Hi Barbara:

My condolences. I had bed bugs last year it took months, seven to be specific, of trying all different types of things to get rid of them. First thing I tried was Diatomacious Earth. I did not do the trick. I had the exterminator come in, and he could not find them. However, he gave me some very useful information. I finally got rid of them by taking all, I really do mean all, of my furniture out of the house and letting it set in the hot sun for a week, what I could cover with black plastic I did so that I could use it as a solar black heat absorber, to heat up the temperature of the furniture, even more. I put all of my clothes hampers everything out of the house. I then sprayed with some natural stuff for bed bugs. They can get into the electrical wires and go through the house. I refused to throw our my expensive mattress and box spring, so I encased them in a bed bug cover, which need to stay on over a year - the suckers are cannibals and can stay alive for a year in a closed environment. Even with all of this I still had bites - What helped the most was I used a thick track of petroleum jelly all around the bottom of the bed posts, all around the bottom of the night stands, around the electrical sockets and anywhere else I thought they my be living. The petroleum jelly was the thing that worked. They crawl into in and cant get out. My exterminator also told me when I go on any trip leave my suitcase outside for a few days before bringing it and it's contents into the house. Somehow the bed bugs have a problem with exposure. FYI - I got the bed bugs from a $400.00 a night fancy hotel in Pittsburg. Now I travel with a large plastic bag to keep my luggage in while I am in a hotel, or other room. Another trick is to keep you luggage in the bathtub. Write me back if I can help you in any other way. One last ditch effort I was going to try was getting ants into the area, they are a natural enemy of bed bugs. Thank gosh the petroleum jelly worked before I tried the ant trick.

Diane

Barbara:

I should have mentioned I tried diatomaceous earth for about 4 months. I had it thick all over the place. It did not work.

Best of Luck Diane