Bed bugs in rental property

One More Toy

Been in a rental flat about a year a discovered a handful of these feckers this morning

What should I do?

shrapnel222

One More Toy wrote: »

Been in a rental flat about a year a discovered a handful of these feckers this morning

What should I do?

kill em. kill em all!!

whippet

One More Toy wrote: »

Been in a rental flat about a year a discovered a handful of these feckers this morning

What should I do?

If your there about a year .. It would seem that you introduced them to the property so it's up to you to remedy

fineso.mom

Hoover your mattress and change your bedding on a regular basis.
Are you in Ireland or are you talking American style bed bugs?

One More Toy

fineso.mom wrote: »

Hoover your mattress and change your bedding on a regular basis.
Are you in Ireland or are you talking American style bed bugs?

Ireland!

Gatling

Get on to rentokil bedbugs spread fast and can be a serious pain to get rid off .

They feed on you while you sleep

messy tessy

One More Toy wrote: »

Been in a rental flat about a year a discovered a handful of these feckers this morning

What should I do?

There goes sleeping for the rest of the week :eek::eek:

I heard sprinkling bread soda on the mattress and then hoovering it after a hour. Probably get a new mattress though?

stoplooklisten

Hoover, steam and wash all soft furnishings and bed clothes. Flip your mattress. Clean up more often in future. Rented or not, it's your dirt!

ed94

get a new bed

Gatling

messy tessy wrote: »

I heard sprinkling bread soda on the mattress and then hoovering it after a hour. Probably get a new mattress though?

Extreme heat or cold or chemicals is the only way to get rid of them.
Check the seem of your mattress you might have a nest some where

Boater123

They don't just live in the mattress, they can be in the base, carpet, electrical sockets, anywhere that is warm and dry in the vicinity of the bed.

Get in a pest controller sooner than later as they can become an infestation quickly.

If you can't afford pest control, dump the entire bed (preferably and if thats where you found them), use a recommended insecticide spray on everything else.

Sometimes a steamer will kill some bugs and larvae, but I don't know about bedbugs and don't use this on electrical sockets.

My skin is crawling just typing this. I'm typing one hand, scratching myself with the thoughts of them.

Happened once in a bedsit I owned 20 years ago, and yer man never bothered to do anything about them (thats if he even noticed them). I threw out everything .

kupus

Have you been travelling recently. Where were you. What bags did you have. WHere are you bitten. Are the bites in a line or are they all over the body.
what time do you see them.

If it is bugs then you are going to have a hard time getting rid of them. THey can be anywhere there is an opening or crack. even in your headboard. electric points, radiators etc.
Best thing is wash everything at 50 degrees plus. Steam clean floor walls roof. throw out entire bed and headboard. and seal up all holes.

zoobizoo

Are you sure they're bed bugs?

Did you get a line of bites?

The Randy Riverbeast

Some steam mops have attachments for mattresses. You'll need to wash and dry everything at once, pillows, bedsheets, whatever you wear to bed at a higher temperature.

stoplooklisten

zoobizoo wrote: »

Are you sure they're bed bugs?

Did you get a line of bites?

Scabies?

messy tessy

Gatling wrote: »

Extreme heat or cold or chemicals is the only way to get rid of them.
Check the seem of your mattress you might have a nest some where

I think this advice was for general cleaning of mattresses, I will do doing this tonight anyway as my skin is crawling at the thought of them...

Speedwell

Bedbugs aren't "dirt" and they don't respect a clean house. They certainly can and do migrate from other flats within the same building or even infested things stored in or near the building. Do not mess around with home remedies. Get an exterminator ASAP.

stoplooklisten

If your going to start throwing out everything, you need to discuss it with your landlord first. I presume it's their furniture

Polo_Mint

Hoover, Steam, Hoover, Steam , Hoover, Steam, Hoover, Steam, Hoover, Steam, Hoover, Steam

McG

We had a lot of hassle with them a few years ago when renting, turned out our Italian flatmate's bed was riddled with them but she didn't tell us and just left when problem got bad.
We taped down the carpet to the skirting board, got rid of our bed and mattress just in case, hoovered twice every day (putting hoover bag in sealed bin bag), put insect poison over the threshold to each room (discoloured the carpet a bit but worth it), washed everything and vac packed any clothes not in use, put the legs from our new bed into small containers with water effectively creating moats they couldn't get past. All this eventually either killed them from starvation or they buggered off to another apartment. Either way they were gone but it took months.

They were a nightmare to get rid of, didn't bother me too much but my now wife was waking up mornings covered in lumps from the little feckers.

McG

stoplooklisten wrote: »

zoobizoo wrote: »

Are you sure they're bed bugs?

Did you get a line of bites?

Scabies?

No, they tend to bite, then move along in a straight line and bite again. They can leave a line to bites on their victims

Cuddlesworth

They can migrate from other apartments or terraced houses, as they are attracted to carbon dioxide.

They can stay dormant for well over a year waiting for a good meal.

Very little at this point works on them in terms of insecticides.

Call a professional.

Cuddlesworth

McG wrote: »

No, they tend to bite, then move along in a straight line and bite again. They can leave a line to bites on their victims

Line of perfectly spaced bites or a perfect triangle.

2012paddy2012

Can you see these with the naked eye ? Didn't think you can...I get itchy time to time in bed but put it down to too much washing powder ! Never saw any " bugs" tho

athtrasna

Off topic posts have been deleted. Please remember what forum you're posting on, when in doubt, read the charter

Mod

Cuddlesworth

2012paddy2012 wrote: »

Can you see these with the naked eye ? Didn't think you can...I get itchy time to time in bed but put it down to too much washing powder ! Never saw any " bugs" tho

Some people react, some people don't. Like Mosquito.

newacc2015

OP turn your mattress upside down. If there is red spots on it, it is bedbugs.

You have noticed immediately if they were there when you moved in

Inquitus

They are a scourge, I encountered them when backpacking round SE Asia, fortunately whenever I encountered them I didn't bring them along with me, though I did get eaten alive a couple of times.

You can pick them up in hotels and bring them home, be brought in if you purchase 2nd hand furnishings, or they can migrate from neighbouring dwellings, they are incredibly hard to get rid of without professional help.

A lot of good advice in this thread.

Gatling

What to look for bed bugs

Inquitus

Gatling wrote: »

What to look for bed bugs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObVqT9daRuc

fixed

One More Toy

stoplooklisten wrote: »

Hoover, steam and wash all soft furnishings and bed clothes. Flip your mattress. Clean up more often in future. Rented or not, it's your dirt!

I'm ocd about cleaning so it's not due to bad hygiene!