bed bugs

my good friend and neighbor just today found out there were bed bugs infesting her couch. late last night she called me in a panic needing help. her 92 yr old  friend who was staying over was attacked by the bugs and she tried to push the couch out the front door and it got jammed in the doorway real good. I pulled it out into her yard. then this morning dragged it into a trash pile she has. she bagged some of the hungry little bugs and an orkin man that was in the area identified them for her.
any suggestions on how she can rid her place of these pesky pests without expense or risking herself or her indoor cat and dog.

Old time remedy for bed bugs is alfalfa. I can’t vouch for its effectiveness, nor guess at the mechanism.. but I clearly remember reading this in “Healing Herbs of the Upper Rio Grande”.

DE - Diatomacious Earth

https://permies.com/t/24190/Diatomacious-Earth-Bed-bugs-Cimex

https://permies.com/t/44658

I don't know about expense, but enough heat or enough cold will kill bedbugs.

I believe it is like 120F for 90 minutes will kill all adults and eggs.

And I believe if you freeze them at about 0F for a few days, it will kill them too.

Neither is easy, but they are sure less toxic than chemical methods. I'd be interested to hear about the alfalfa option too.

Ooo a topic I have experience in 😂😭

We got bed bugs in our apartment maybe two years ago, and it’s a special kind of psychological horror. Knowing that- learn what you do have control over; learning about the problem and act!

List of studies from Reutgers and Dr. C. Wang from the Mark Rober video: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/bed-bug/research.php

They feed at night, they feed where you sleep, and they live (and procreate) close to where you sleep. They are probably going to live in the seams of your mattress, on the bed frame and/or in the wall near your bed. Move your bed about a foot away from the wall (you don’t want anything touching your bed probably) to limit their way to access you in your bed. We bought bug interceptors/traps to put on the feet of our bed, which blocks their access.
👇👇👇

Anne Miller wrote:DE - Diatomacious Earth

https://permies.com/t/24190/Diatomacious-Earth-Bed-bugs-Cimex

https://permies.com/t/44658

👆👆👆

Heat and DE kills bed bugs.
Some are resistant to poisons, so heat and DE are the way to go IMO. If you can get a little duster, that makes applying it much easier. Tumble drying your clothes and sheets on high heat kills bedbugs, so does steaming. Be mindful that steam (moisture) is going to make your DE cake up and not be affective.

I’d recommend-
• Bag your sheets to quarantine them, wash them and then dry on HIGH heat.
• Move the bed away from the wall.
• Get a bed bug mattress cover and keep it on for a year.
• Vacuum around your bed and by the walls close to your bed (make sure to empty the vacuum outside and take that trash away).
• Dust diatomaceous earth around your bed (floor by the wall, floor under your bed and we dusted the underside of our mattress for fun)(reapply maybe every couple of days).
• Then put some interceptor/bedbug traps under the feet of the bed frame to keep them from getting more food!

Mark Rober has a good video with a specialist, it explains well how Diatomous Earch works, and some of the other tricks

the world needs more people like mark rober

Some studies by Dr. C. Wang who was in the Mark Rober video- https://njaes.rutgers.edu/bed-bug/research.php

And this is a really informative guide that I found back when we were dealing with bed bugs at my place- https://njaes.rutgers.edu/bed-bug/methods-to-control-bed-bugs.php

Go to Hobby Lobby and buy a bag of Silaca for drying flowers. Put it in a blender and powder it. Wear a mask. Dust everything with a lite coat. Nonpoisonous to people and pets. They sell it for 20.00 for four ounces on line to kill bed bugs. This is the same thing only cheaper. Works in 24 hours

Hi Roxie,

Welcome to Permies.