Bed bugs: Ewwww!

agnes

agnes

agnes

Soldato
Joined
1 Dec 2006
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Location
Amsterdam, NL
So, after getting back from India I noticed my sleeping bag had indeed been infected with bed bugs on the last couple of days after being bitten by them on my legs and feet. This was due to staying one night in what I can only describe as a hell hole at Jogg Falls... For example, the pillow cases were stuck onto the actual pillows by mould. I was tired and just decided to caccoon my self in my sleeping bag and get it over with.

Anyway, the sleeping bag was used and no other bed bug bites came from it after that one night. I have washed the sleeping bag in the washing machine and hopefully that will kill them off (or so I hope). If indeed there are any.

However, my sleeping bag was inside my backpack with all my clothes which are still in that bag away from any other fabrics or clothes to reduce the risk of them spreading.

Some of those clothes are rather nice and I am probably being far too safe here, but I don't want to risk the chance of them spreading if the clothes are infected.

Can I use that bed bug powder stuff on the clothes before washing them? Is there any point?

Thanks!

P.S. That night was one of the worst, in my entire life. I woke up with a cockroach climbing up my arm in my sleeping bag and another inside my tshirt. Everywhere else I stayed was fairly decent and 'clean' by India's standards. So no, I am not saying the whole country is that bad, just this paticular hostel. Which I will NEVER visit again lol. The view of the waterfall was nice in the morning which made up for it however...
 
The best thing to do is double bag the bag of clothes. At least that is the advice you get from people that have had bedbugs. If you have anything that can't take a very hot wash then you can freeze them instead.
 
Ok, so there is no sort of powder I can coat the stuff in?

At the moment, they are all in a black bag outside in the carport. I wore the clothes for a week and a bit after that night and never received a bite since that night. But again, I want to be safe and make sure nothing is there.
 
Is it still freezing in the UK? I remember when we had to get a flat fumigated the council guy told us that they hate temperature extremes. A sealed black bin bag outside at minus whatever might not be a bad temporary solution till you speak to a professional.
 
Throw your sleeping bag, throw your clothes, throw anything which could have been contaminated from that trip. Forget trying to clean it up.

This will save you a lot of potential agro as their eggs or them could be in anything you brought back not just the sleeping bag.

Do not assume anything you brought back will be fine.
 
Osprey said:
This is true, however the price of replacing all the stuff might outweigh that of hiring a professional, should the pests survive the cold.
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Not if the stuff brought back has already gone into the house like the backpack, clothing etc. Once you get a couple of those in the house it is game over and a serious hassle to get sorted.

By the time you realise you have an infestation there may be 10s of the things and you will have to do a full fumigation and throw stuff out anyway.

Then comes the months of paranoia of every bite from a mossy or gnatt at night and wondering if the bugs are back.

Worked with someone who goes abroad a lot and has had this issue and made the mistake.
 
Scrutinize said:
Not if the stuff brought back has already gone into the house like the backpack, clothing etc. Once you get a couple of those in the house it is game over and a serious hassle to get sorted.

By the time you realise you have an infestation there may be 10s of the things and you will have to do a full fumigation and throw stuff out anyway.

Then comes the months of paranoia of every bite from a mossy or gnatt at night and wondering if the bugs are back.

Worked with someone who goes abroad a lot and has had this issue and made the mistake.
Click to expand...

None of the stuff has been in the house. Washing machine is outside so the backpack had been sat outside in a black bag since I got back.

A few items of clothing mean a lot due to being purchased out there. I will ring a pest control guy tonight and get some advice.
 
I'd be tempted to bin everything and put myself in the freezer for a few days tbh. Judging by that other guy who had them in his flat they sound like they can be a nightmare to get rid of.
 
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