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tameara Asked February 2016

I am trying to find help for a senior whose house is infested with bed bugs. Suggestions?

I am trying to find help for a senior whose house is infested with bed bugs

jacobsonbob Feb 2016
If you have a sufficiently large freezer, some items can be put into plastic bags and then put into the freezer to kill the bugs. Depending upon the size and fluffiness of an item, this could take a few days. I have used this technique with many kinds of insects. (I have two degrees in entomology.)

BarbBrooklyn Feb 2016
Just had this myself. Get encasements for their matress for starts. Until you can find an exterminator ( and yes, you need an exterminator ) you can buy a couplevof pounds of diatomeaceous earth at home depot and dust the baseboards and crevices. Buy a large bottle of alcoho ( medicinal, not drinking), put it in a spray bottle and spray any bugs you see ( kills them on contact).

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calicokat Feb 2016
MIL just went through this. DON'T "bomb" the house yourself - this only drives the bugs into the cracks and crevices where they can hide out for months.

Nothing we tried on our own worked, we finally had to call in an exterminator. He said that most of the "over the counter" treatments won't work, and some will make the problem worse. Perhaps if you call around, you can find an exterminator that will give you a good deal since it's an older person.

It is also important to try to figure out where the bedbugs came from. In our case, my SIL's family had them and drug them into Mom-in-law's home. If you don't address how they got into the house, the same people may infest it all over again.

pamstegma Feb 2016
Your local health department. Call them.

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