I get asked many questions about bed bugs since I work at a laundromat. So I figured I would share my knowledge with you guys.
- Bed bugs are quite hard to kill without professional help.
- They can live up to a year without drawing any blood.
- They do NOT only live in beds. They can be found in bed posts, curtains, shelves, bed wheels, drawers, and closests.
- They can easily be attracted in places where USED clothing is being transported. Rarely in big department stores.
- During the summer time, it is hard to distinguish a bed bug from a mosquito. Best way to identify a bed bug bite is by "breakfast, lunch, and dinner"... A bed bug normally bites in three different spots near eachother and the bites are not as round as a mosquito bite.
- "Baby" bed bugs tend to itch more than adult bed bugs because of the bed bug saliva.
- When hiring a professional, remove everything material wise from your room and wash it on hot as well as drying it on hot for an hour. Of course this might cause shrinkage of clothing but... do you really want to live with bed bugs? I think not...
- Once the professional finsihed spraying the room, do not enter it for 24 hours and when you do, clean the room. DO NOT USE BLEACH. IT WILL DEACTIVATE THE CHEMICAL.
- Make sure you have your mattress bed in a ZIPPERED MATTRESS COVER and the same for your pillow. This will eliminate future problems.
There is a posibility where you can attract bed bugs again after this but if you are careful, you should not have a problem. Ask your laundromat what their protocol is when they THINK they are infested with bed bugs. They will most likely lie to you because half of them can not be bothered. At our laundromat, we spray every 3 months and when we suspect a customer brought in bed bugs, everything gets cleaned and washed extremely well. Normally I can spot a customer that is infested with bed bugs for obvious reasons. One give away is the big black plastic bags mounted in a cart. That is a dead giveaway. PLEASE DO NOT JUST PUT YOUR CLOTHING IN THE DRYER ON HOT. YOU NEED TO WASH YOUR CLOTHES ON HOT TOO! I have seen many customers do this and the week after, they come up to me and ask me how to get rid of them. My first question to them always is "did you wash your clothing first?" and they say "no". Well, there goes your problem. Bed bugs are attracted to heat but they can not handle heat after a certain degrees and time. Hence why the hour on the dryer is a necessesity, especially on hot.
Do not be shy to ask questions about bed bugs. Its very common now and when I had spoken to an exterminator, in his words he said "blame the yuppies with their backpacking and wearing used clothing."... He mostly named Beacons Closet and Buffalo Exchange. Mostly Beacons Closet though. I find that quite funny.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
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You should forward this repeatedly to a certain two people until they get the memo. Just spam their inboxes with it. Seriously. I find it amusing you tagged Beacon's clost in the key words.
ReplyDelete"One give away is the big black plastic bags mounted in a cart." Really??? Because I always carry my laundry like that, not because of bed bugs (I've never had them, nor known anyone who has) but because I can never find laundry bags that are big enough for all my sheets and sweaters.
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact, a LOT of people in my neighborhood and income bracket do the same. Its called being poor. Its nice to know of some of the weird, unfair judgments strangers make. I'm not saying you shouldn't have a protocol at your job to err on the side of caution, but to get on the internet and publicly cry "people with the plastic bags are ALWAYS carrying the bugs!" is just plain inaccurate and mean. >:-/
Calm down. Obviously no one was trying to be "mean." Plastic bags are a key indicator because people use them with bed bugs as they are disposable. This has zero to do with being poor. First, buying a laundry bag isn't expensive. In fact, it is cheaper than going through plastic bags. My laundry bag cost $6 or $7, and I've had it for over 5 years (and it's still in great shape). I would have spent more than that on plastic bags as they can only be used a max of a few times before they rip and need to be replaced. I think people get this. I also live in a low income area, and I've never seen people use plastic bags for their laundry.
ReplyDeleteWhy do some people just love to get nasty for no reason? I'd say, if anything, you're the on being "mean." Laundry girl was trying to help prevent people from getting bed bugs. You're just being crazy because you feel like yelling. You could have at least chosen a better accusation. The one you gave is ridiculous.
I work in an institutional setting where we deal with bed bugs all the time. We are constantly told NOT to wash the clothes before drying them. Washing them doesn't kill them, and can leave them in the washer for the next unsuspecting person (who may not be planning to dry their clothes on hot). That is a good way to spread them.
ReplyDeleteAlso, all the literature says 15 minutes on hot is sufficient.
Glad I read these posts. I have bed spreads and things that I was thinking about taking to the laundromat because their too big for my washer at home but I've been afraid because of the bed bug issue. I've been imagining people taking their infested items in and using the facility without letting the proprietor know and leaving critters behind for the "next unsuspecting person" and it appears that it can and does happen. No laundromats for me - don't need to expose my household. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI caught bed bugs from the laundromat I work for. There are 2 apartment buildings in the immediate vicinity of the laundromat that are both infested with bed bugs. The tenants of these buildings do their laundry at my laundromat all the time. Suddenly I have started getting bites. I'm almost positive it's bed bugs. The bites are popping up out of nowhere while I'm indoors. I'm wondering if I can sue my employer for this and get worker's comp and have them pay for the treatment. My landlord should not have to do this as I know where they came from.
ReplyDelete