Did I infest my apartment with bedbugs?
July 4, 2010 5:54 PM Subscribe
I just arrived in NYC from a vacation in South Africa where I had accommodations that varied greatly in quality. I picked up a few bug bites along the way but now upon further inspection and googling I am worried that they may be bed bug bites.
I used one large backpack for the entire trip. I live in a small studio apartment with a wooden floor in a sort of oldish WWII building - clean but lots of cracks where the floor meets the walls etc. I walked in and put my bag down in the center of the room along with some of the clothes I was wearing. After 5-10 min I realized what may have happened and I took the bag over near my door, away from my bed and couch. I opened the bag and put all my clothes in my laundry bag, and threw away some paper and other things. I took the bag into the shower and tried to wash it - I don't have a vacuum. I took a shower myself and also washed off all the bottles of toothpaste and toiletries that I had. So now this laundry bag is sitting next to my door, inside a garbage bag sitting on the ground. I can take it to the laundromat in the morning, but I have nowhere else to put it. My backpack is hanging in my shower drying. Is there anything else I can do? Is it already too late?
I used one large backpack for the entire trip. I live in a small studio apartment with a wooden floor in a sort of oldish WWII building - clean but lots of cracks where the floor meets the walls etc. I walked in and put my bag down in the center of the room along with some of the clothes I was wearing. After 5-10 min I realized what may have happened and I took the bag over near my door, away from my bed and couch. I opened the bag and put all my clothes in my laundry bag, and threw away some paper and other things. I took the bag into the shower and tried to wash it - I don't have a vacuum. I took a shower myself and also washed off all the bottles of toothpaste and toiletries that I had. So now this laundry bag is sitting next to my door, inside a garbage bag sitting on the ground. I can take it to the laundromat in the morning, but I have nowhere else to put it. My backpack is hanging in my shower drying. Is there anything else I can do? Is it already too late?
Hmm.
Did you have bed bugs in your apartment before you left?
If not, you probably don't have them now.
The essential thing to remember about bed bugs is that they despise light of any kind. It actually seems to give them pain. So their habit is to crawl out of their hiding spot deep in the night, bit you, fall off, and crawl back to the same hiding spot.
They are utterly unlikely to hitch-hike and travel in your backpack, if that's what you're worried about.
posted by koeselitz at 6:11 PM on July 4, 2010
Did you have bed bugs in your apartment before you left?
If not, you probably don't have them now.
The essential thing to remember about bed bugs is that they despise light of any kind. It actually seems to give them pain. So their habit is to crawl out of their hiding spot deep in the night, bit you, fall off, and crawl back to the same hiding spot.
They are utterly unlikely to hitch-hike and travel in your backpack, if that's what you're worried about.
posted by koeselitz at 6:11 PM on July 4, 2010
(What I'm saying is: even if you did get bedbug bites on your trip, unless you were carrying a couch with you they probably didn't find their way back to your apartment.)
posted by koeselitz at 6:13 PM on July 4, 2010
posted by koeselitz at 6:13 PM on July 4, 2010
Response by poster: Well I don't know for sure but wanted to take precautions anyway. The bites are small red ones that itch a little bit. The thing that makes me nervous is that they are clumped together in a few patches, and in one spot they appear in a little row, which I thought was a warning sign.
posted by solmyjuice at 6:15 PM on July 4, 2010
posted by solmyjuice at 6:15 PM on July 4, 2010
Response by poster: Ah, ok. No, I did not have anything in my apartment before I left. I was worried about the backpack because while I was out and about it sat on the floors of hostels day and night for two weeks with my increasingly unwashed clothes inside.
posted by solmyjuice at 6:19 PM on July 4, 2010
posted by solmyjuice at 6:19 PM on July 4, 2010
Actually, you CAN transport bedbugs. There have been far too many incidents of people visiting NYC hotels and bringing home bedbugs in their suitcases. As well as heartbreaking tales of people going elsewhere to ditch bedbugs and bringing them along with them.
Not trying to cause panic (every time I get a bite anywhere, I am in BEDBUG PANIC myself), but there are so many other things you could have picked up enroute to, in, and coming home from SA that I wouldn't panic just yet.
http://bedbugger.com/ seems to be picking up where the Bed Bug Blog left off. That could make you feel better, or worse.
posted by micawber at 7:36 PM on July 4, 2010
Not trying to cause panic (every time I get a bite anywhere, I am in BEDBUG PANIC myself), but there are so many other things you could have picked up enroute to, in, and coming home from SA that I wouldn't panic just yet.
http://bedbugger.com/ seems to be picking up where the Bed Bug Blog left off. That could make you feel better, or worse.
posted by micawber at 7:36 PM on July 4, 2010
Well, it's possible to pick them up, yes – it's just not as likely as most bugs, for example things like fleas. I don't want to understate the possibilities, and you should probably have everything dry-cleaned or something, but just having a backpack on the floor doesn't necessarily mean bugs are going to hit it. Also, if you were rummaging in the back with any frequency, they'd be less likely to want to; it doesn't really matter if your used clothes were in it (they don't really care about odors, they like clean places just as much as dirty, as long as they can be close to humans) - but it sounds like you caught it far before they would be likely to jump off your bag and onto your floor, too.
Yes, bites in a row - typically three - is a standard sign. But of course you can get three bites in a row often and easily.
I'd say dry-clean your stuff, be careful for now, and wait. But unfortunately there's really no way for you to know before a week or two goes by. You've just got to wait and see if you get more bites.
posted by koeselitz at 7:43 PM on July 4, 2010
Yes, bites in a row - typically three - is a standard sign. But of course you can get three bites in a row often and easily.
I'd say dry-clean your stuff, be careful for now, and wait. But unfortunately there's really no way for you to know before a week or two goes by. You've just got to wait and see if you get more bites.
posted by koeselitz at 7:43 PM on July 4, 2010
Yes, you could have easily picked up bedbugs. They don't usually hitch a ride on your person, but they (or their eggs) could easily be on/in your luggage if you stayed in an infested room during your trip.
A "wait and see" approach is inappropriate given how catastrophic an infestation can be, and how relatively easy it is to prevent it at this stage.
Your bag and all of its contents need to go in sealed trash bags until you can wash them in hot water tomorrow (a hot water wash, followed by -- most importantly -- a thorough high-heat machine-drying until they are bone dry, is guaranteed to kill any bedbugs and their eggs).
In order to get rid of any bedbug eggs that may have fallen off of (or out of) your bag, you need to clean down every surface that your bag (or its contents) have been on or over -- a vacuum is recommended, but use whatever you think will pick up the almost-microscopic eggs. Then, whatever you used to pick up the eggs (vacuum cleaner bag, rags, mop), discard it or wash it thoroughly in water hotter than 120 degrees.
This procedure isn't foolproof, but it's the best you can do. And it's much better than having to clean, steam, or throw away everything in your apartment if it turns out your bag was indeed infested.
posted by Dimpy at 8:42 PM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
A "wait and see" approach is inappropriate given how catastrophic an infestation can be, and how relatively easy it is to prevent it at this stage.
Your bag and all of its contents need to go in sealed trash bags until you can wash them in hot water tomorrow (a hot water wash, followed by -- most importantly -- a thorough high-heat machine-drying until they are bone dry, is guaranteed to kill any bedbugs and their eggs).
In order to get rid of any bedbug eggs that may have fallen off of (or out of) your bag, you need to clean down every surface that your bag (or its contents) have been on or over -- a vacuum is recommended, but use whatever you think will pick up the almost-microscopic eggs. Then, whatever you used to pick up the eggs (vacuum cleaner bag, rags, mop), discard it or wash it thoroughly in water hotter than 120 degrees.
This procedure isn't foolproof, but it's the best you can do. And it's much better than having to clean, steam, or throw away everything in your apartment if it turns out your bag was indeed infested.
posted by Dimpy at 8:42 PM on July 4, 2010 [1 favorite]
Yeah, Dimpy is right – my advice above is pretty much totally wrong. Don't just wait and see. That's the only way to know for you're if you got 'em – but by then it'll be too late.
posted by koeselitz at 10:20 PM on July 4, 2010
posted by koeselitz at 10:20 PM on July 4, 2010
To kill bedbugs off, you could:
* stick the empty backpack in a clothes dryer for (IIRC) 30 minutes
* bag it & leave it in your freezer for a day
* spray rubbing alcohol on it, though that's on contact only
If you want to set up a trap for them, there's a $20 DIY bedbug detector (Google quickview of a mirror) you can build using dry ice as the bait.
posted by Pronoiac at 12:57 PM on July 5, 2010
* stick the empty backpack in a clothes dryer for (IIRC) 30 minutes
* bag it & leave it in your freezer for a day
* spray rubbing alcohol on it, though that's on contact only
If you want to set up a trap for them, there's a $20 DIY bedbug detector (Google quickview of a mirror) you can build using dry ice as the bait.
posted by Pronoiac at 12:57 PM on July 5, 2010
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posted by dfriedman at 6:07 PM on July 4, 2010