Bedbug panic, and how to deal with it
July 27, 2013 6:07 AM Subscribe
I found a single bedbug in a library book. I think I contained it and handled the situation, and should probably not be worrying, since it's been a month and no evidence of bedbugs. I need help determining if I should do anything further, and how to stop worrying and just accept my bedbug-fighting future if that's what's going to happen.
I took a library book home without looking closely. I left it in my bag with other library books and some personal items for three days on the floor of my room. Nothing was touching anything else; it was about three feet from my bed. This would have been four weeks ago. I transferred my phone to another bag, but I'm pretty picky about my phone and wipe it with denatured alcohol every couple of days just out of random germ-phobia.
I took the bag with me after taking another library book out and putting it on the floor. Once I opened the book and discovered the lonely bedbug, I shut the book and bag and immediately went home. I contained the bedbug-book in a plastic bag and took the book to the library and told them about it. (The desk staff were really nice about the whole thing, actually. I'm sure they've had worse.) I dropped off the other, uninfected library books from another location in the house/different library trip. It never occurred to me that Agatha Christie could spread bedbugs before relatively recently, so I hadn't worried about those, but noticed nothing out of the ordinary while reading them.
I emptied the personal items out in the bathroom and checked them for anything out of the ordinary, and threw out anything porous except for a five-dollar bill that looked OK and was in a different pocket of the bag. I was left with pens, a lighter, an unopened tube of sunscreen, a case with plastic earplugs, the fiver, and a Nalgene that I then dumped out and washed. My swimsuit/goggles were in a closed Ziploc bag in a different pocket, so I figured they were OK. Didn't think I would have any issue from my shoes, so didn't worry about them.
I then washed (hot) and dried (45 minutes on hot) the bag, and every other cloth item in my house except for those things I had not touched in three days in deeper storage in my closet. I have since done this again, and have for several months made it a policy to wash all my bedding and dry it on hot for at least 40 minutes just out of paranoia. I showered well while laundry was working, and shower pretty thoroughly at least daily as a habit. I added the clothes I was wearing to the laundry of that day and wore something from deep storage to do the rest of the laundry, although I couldn't remember what I was wearing at the library when I picked out the book (though I'm certain it was in the laundry pile and hadn't been on my bed/in the closet since exposure.)
My bed and pillows have bedbug-proof covers on, and so does my boxspring (they have for several months before the scare.) I scattered diatomaceous earth throughout my room a few months ago, but have since swept/mopped (though it's likely there's some still kicking around, I doubt it's effective any longer. I did the insides of cabinets, bedframe, between the matress and box spring, and a straw chair seat, too. Didn't do bookshelf or desk.)
Nothing is biting me. There is no evidence of bedbugs anywhere in my home (stains, blood, bugs, etc.) Nobody else I live with is getting bit. We have hardwood floors that are well-sealed. There has never been evidence of bedbugs in my house-- I'm just freaked out by the news and my roommate's bedbug paranoia, which is more extreme and less practical than mine.
So that's the background. Here's my question:
1) How much do I need to worry? Could they suddenly show up? Am I screwed? Is it a "even just one" situation? Or do you think my odds are pretty good at this point, after a month of nothing? Or do you think they crawled away and I only found the last one? What if eggs fell out of the book and are hatching right now? Part of me wants to add: "...in my HAIR?!" to that, which is ridiculous and should tell you what my next question is...
2) How do I stop worrying about it? Part of it is the fear of sudden homelessness should my roommates find out, which is somewhat realistic. But how do I sleep at night knowing that something might be hatching? How do I get over it and accept that I might have to deal with bedbugs at some unknown time in the future? The media makes a mountain out of a molehill, right?
Thank you for your assistance.
I took a library book home without looking closely. I left it in my bag with other library books and some personal items for three days on the floor of my room. Nothing was touching anything else; it was about three feet from my bed. This would have been four weeks ago. I transferred my phone to another bag, but I'm pretty picky about my phone and wipe it with denatured alcohol every couple of days just out of random germ-phobia.
I took the bag with me after taking another library book out and putting it on the floor. Once I opened the book and discovered the lonely bedbug, I shut the book and bag and immediately went home. I contained the bedbug-book in a plastic bag and took the book to the library and told them about it. (The desk staff were really nice about the whole thing, actually. I'm sure they've had worse.) I dropped off the other, uninfected library books from another location in the house/different library trip. It never occurred to me that Agatha Christie could spread bedbugs before relatively recently, so I hadn't worried about those, but noticed nothing out of the ordinary while reading them.
I emptied the personal items out in the bathroom and checked them for anything out of the ordinary, and threw out anything porous except for a five-dollar bill that looked OK and was in a different pocket of the bag. I was left with pens, a lighter, an unopened tube of sunscreen, a case with plastic earplugs, the fiver, and a Nalgene that I then dumped out and washed. My swimsuit/goggles were in a closed Ziploc bag in a different pocket, so I figured they were OK. Didn't think I would have any issue from my shoes, so didn't worry about them.
I then washed (hot) and dried (45 minutes on hot) the bag, and every other cloth item in my house except for those things I had not touched in three days in deeper storage in my closet. I have since done this again, and have for several months made it a policy to wash all my bedding and dry it on hot for at least 40 minutes just out of paranoia. I showered well while laundry was working, and shower pretty thoroughly at least daily as a habit. I added the clothes I was wearing to the laundry of that day and wore something from deep storage to do the rest of the laundry, although I couldn't remember what I was wearing at the library when I picked out the book (though I'm certain it was in the laundry pile and hadn't been on my bed/in the closet since exposure.)
My bed and pillows have bedbug-proof covers on, and so does my boxspring (they have for several months before the scare.) I scattered diatomaceous earth throughout my room a few months ago, but have since swept/mopped (though it's likely there's some still kicking around, I doubt it's effective any longer. I did the insides of cabinets, bedframe, between the matress and box spring, and a straw chair seat, too. Didn't do bookshelf or desk.)
Nothing is biting me. There is no evidence of bedbugs anywhere in my home (stains, blood, bugs, etc.) Nobody else I live with is getting bit. We have hardwood floors that are well-sealed. There has never been evidence of bedbugs in my house-- I'm just freaked out by the news and my roommate's bedbug paranoia, which is more extreme and less practical than mine.
So that's the background. Here's my question:
1) How much do I need to worry? Could they suddenly show up? Am I screwed? Is it a "even just one" situation? Or do you think my odds are pretty good at this point, after a month of nothing? Or do you think they crawled away and I only found the last one? What if eggs fell out of the book and are hatching right now? Part of me wants to add: "...in my HAIR?!" to that, which is ridiculous and should tell you what my next question is...
2) How do I stop worrying about it? Part of it is the fear of sudden homelessness should my roommates find out, which is somewhat realistic. But how do I sleep at night knowing that something might be hatching? How do I get over it and accept that I might have to deal with bedbugs at some unknown time in the future? The media makes a mountain out of a molehill, right?
Thank you for your assistance.
1) They don't live in your hair. That is maybe the only good thing about bedbugs. It sounds like you did good. One thing you can do to ease your paranoia: put tape on the sides of your bed; this can function as a trap and let you know if you are infested.
2) Getting over it. Time heals especially all wounds, especially ones caused by an exposure to bed bugs that is then followed by bug-free time (imo I wouldn't tell your roomies unless you find one, which may seem like a dick move but if you have homelessness as a consideration -- I'd keep it on the dl until/unless you know for sure)
Good luck!
posted by angrycat at 6:39 AM on July 27, 2013
2) Getting over it. Time heals especially all wounds, especially ones caused by an exposure to bed bugs that is then followed by bug-free time (imo I wouldn't tell your roomies unless you find one, which may seem like a dick move but if you have homelessness as a consideration -- I'd keep it on the dl until/unless you know for sure)
Good luck!
posted by angrycat at 6:39 AM on July 27, 2013
When I had my bout with bedbugs, the exterminators put these plastic bowl-like things under the feet of my bed and couches. Any bedbugs trying to climb up to bite me would get caught. It was reassuring to be able to look in the bowls and know there were no bedbugs. I kept those things for more than a year until I felt calmed about the whole situation.
posted by capsizing at 7:53 AM on July 27, 2013
posted by capsizing at 7:53 AM on July 27, 2013
I once volunteered at a place where we found a single bedbug - virtually certainly a hitchhiker from a client who lived in an apartment owned by our local slumlord. We did not get an infestation. It is possible. (What's more, I bet we had other hitchhiking bugs, because we had lots of clients from that place.) I really think that bedbugs do not spread quite as easily as is feared, because they would be in literally every house by now if they did.
Think of it this way: if it really was just one bedbug, and it was hanging out in your book when you found it - it's super unlikely that the bug emerged, fed (which is the only reason it would have emerged) and then returned to the book instead of hanging out near its great new food source. Even if you are one of those people who do not react to bedbug bites and thus would not have noticed getting bitten, it seems very unlikely that this bedbug crawled out and bit you. And no crawling means no egg-laying, right? Even if it was a female bedbug. Also, if it had laid eggs, you (or your housemates) would virtually certainly have noticed bites by now - there would be enough bedbug nymphs that they'd probably be getting into your housemates' stuff and even if you don't react to bedbug bites, someone in your house would be itching.
A lot of websites will be all "there's no such thing as a single bedbug"...but actually that's not true.
posted by Frowner at 8:20 AM on July 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Think of it this way: if it really was just one bedbug, and it was hanging out in your book when you found it - it's super unlikely that the bug emerged, fed (which is the only reason it would have emerged) and then returned to the book instead of hanging out near its great new food source. Even if you are one of those people who do not react to bedbug bites and thus would not have noticed getting bitten, it seems very unlikely that this bedbug crawled out and bit you. And no crawling means no egg-laying, right? Even if it was a female bedbug. Also, if it had laid eggs, you (or your housemates) would virtually certainly have noticed bites by now - there would be enough bedbug nymphs that they'd probably be getting into your housemates' stuff and even if you don't react to bedbug bites, someone in your house would be itching.
A lot of websites will be all "there's no such thing as a single bedbug"...but actually that's not true.
posted by Frowner at 8:20 AM on July 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
This happened to me a year ago (see my ask here), so I truly understand your paranoia.
We wound up bringing in a bedbug expert. In my case, the bedbug had sort of limped across the page before underpetticoatrule killed it. (I was busy screaming big girly screams.) The bedbug expert said that if the bug wasn't moving at high speed then it was near death. It was also about as flat as the paper it had been between, another sign that it was near death. He told us that we had nothing to worry about, and I can attest that we do not have a problem.
Your description makes it sound like the bedbug wasn't moving. If that's the case, then it was either actually dead or was on the verge of it. Either way, you have nothing to worry about.
I don't know if you have a car, but the advice said expert gave me is, if we were really worried, we could just leave items in the car in the sun for a day. If the outside temperature is above 75 or 80 the car will heat up enough to kill bedbugs in a couple of hours. Please note: not advised with videotapes or chocolate bars. (In Los Angeles this is a year-round solution; in Boston probably less so.)
posted by rednikki at 10:31 AM on July 27, 2013
We wound up bringing in a bedbug expert. In my case, the bedbug had sort of limped across the page before underpetticoatrule killed it. (I was busy screaming big girly screams.) The bedbug expert said that if the bug wasn't moving at high speed then it was near death. It was also about as flat as the paper it had been between, another sign that it was near death. He told us that we had nothing to worry about, and I can attest that we do not have a problem.
Your description makes it sound like the bedbug wasn't moving. If that's the case, then it was either actually dead or was on the verge of it. Either way, you have nothing to worry about.
I don't know if you have a car, but the advice said expert gave me is, if we were really worried, we could just leave items in the car in the sun for a day. If the outside temperature is above 75 or 80 the car will heat up enough to kill bedbugs in a couple of hours. Please note: not advised with videotapes or chocolate bars. (In Los Angeles this is a year-round solution; in Boston probably less so.)
posted by rednikki at 10:31 AM on July 27, 2013
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posted by Ideefixe at 6:18 AM on July 27, 2013 [3 favorites]