Free As a Bird
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- April (2013)
Interesting responses. Buen Camino to
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That is for clothes. On a backpack or sleep sack, which probably don't get washed, you can make it through a whole camino.One treatment will last up to six washings or six weeks before clothing has to be treated again
Anniesantiago said:I'm probably one of the most sensitive persons in the world to chemicals with my MCS. And the smell alone of these sheets make me sick. But for a normal person, they should be no problem.
You are not "wrapping yourself up" in the sheet if you get the kind you just lay on the bed, then put your own sleeping bag on top of.
And for the other people, using it for a few days probably won't hurt most people. Our bodies do a good job of chelating chemicals unless they're broken like mine.
Also, I would not use this with a child (the sleeping bag one) but wouldn't hesitate to put it UNDER their sleeping bag.
I probably would not wrap myself up in a sleepsack, even if I did not have MCS, if it were impregnated with permetrin, but that's just me...
That's just my opinion.
Hola!manoll said:High Endeavors, it's great to know that as bed bugs go, you have one less thing to be concerned about. Enjoy your Camino.
Ultreia!
Mary
geordiewanderer said:I've bought a 'mosquito net treatment kit' which I'm going to treat my sleeping bag liner (as directed for the mosquito net), then will spray the inside of my sleeping bag, and the inside and outside of my rucksack before I leave for St Jean next week....I've had bedbugs in hostels in Morocco when others in the room were fine, although I'm looking forward to (possibly) much worse....early mornings, snorers, aches, pains, blisters etc!!
Protecting yourself is more important than ever. BugsAway® is a complete line of insect repellent clothing using Insect Shield® technology to convert apparel and gear into long-lasting, effective, and convenient bug protection. Treated with Permethrin, BugsAway clothing and gear is effective through 70 washings against mosquitoes, ticks, ants, flies, chiggers and midges.
What is this "bedbug season" of which you speak? Do you mean that if I'm walking in March and April, I don't really have to worry about the little darlings?Pieces said:well bedbug season hasn't really started yet...
falcon269 said:Regular Tyvek is the construction vapor barrier you see. It does not soften much with washing. Soft Tyvek comes without the printing, and gets softer when washed. Try eBay or a Internet search for roll end quantities. A whole roll is expensive.
Caminomary525 said:What has been peoples' experience with clothing, other items sprayed with pyrethrin? Is there residual odor? Different "feel" to cloth? Thanks.
Anniesantiago said:Bounce won't repel or kill the bedbug but it is highly toxic to humans.
I would guess that the bedbugs are in all of those albergues, and many more. When they are in one, they are in places all down the line! Antihistamines can reduce reactions to the bites. Report the bites to the next albergue, and you may find yourself kicked out, so treat you equipment if you can so you don't spread them, but don't make a big deal out of it. If you know for sure what albergue has bedbugs, the hospitalero there would appreciate knowing about them.
My wife is reporting that she has mild case of bed bug bites
Given when she told me, I suspect she got them at either the albergue in puente la reina or in public youth hostel in estella, the latter being more likely.
She did stay in the private albergue in Torres del rio and Navarrete too, so there is a possible chance one of these places has bed bugs.
Has anybody seen or heard about bed bugs at any of these locations?
Denis...Dear friends,
thanks for many replyes, I was already scared about this problem, but now is better, I hope that my only problem will be totaly tired, and I will not bring any unvanted travelers... now is time to set up my plans, and start looking for tickets and another "important" thinks...
Thank you and maybe we will meet us somewhere on the way.
Denis
Bed Bugs are a worry for me too but I cannot bring myself to wrap myself in toxic chemicals every night. Now while, if desperation sets in, I may resort to that I am not making it my default position. So.... after some online research I have made my own natural repellant. It won't kill them but I am hoping it will make me the least attractive pilgrim in a dorm full of bodies. Will let you know how it goes.
I have never seen any "trace" of bedbugs in the places where I have found live bedbugs, so a mattress inspection does not come with any guarantees!
"Go not to the elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes.'" Gildor to Frodo
All-natural bedbug sprays have little bite
The Healthy Skeptic
Products such as Rest Easy and Bed Bug Bully claim to be highly effective at controlling the insects, but researchers say there aren't yet any consumer products proven to keep bedbugs away.
October 25, 2010|By Chris Woolston, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Bedbugs combine all of the bloodsucking annoyance of mosquitoes with the survival instinct of cockroaches. No bigger than apple seeds, the adult bugs hide in ingenious places — inside electrical outlets, behind baseboards, deep in carpet fibers — during the day and attack their victims during the night. You may never know that you have a bedbug problem until bites start showing up on your skin. Bedbugs don't spread any illnesses, but still. Ick.
The bugs are tough, they're devious and they're gaining new ground in homes and hotel rooms across the country, says Susan Jones, an entomologist at Ohio State University in Columbus. "They are the worst insects that we've ever had to deal with in an urban environment."
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As worry about bedbugs grows, it's no surprise that many people are taking pest control into their own hands. Do-it-yourself exterminators can choose from many different sprays that claim to kill the bugs and prevent infestations.
Some products, like Rest Easy Bed Bug Spray, are sold as all-natural alternatives to traditional pesticides. Rest Easy, manufactured by the RMB Group, contains essential oils from cinnamon and lemon grass, among other ingredients. Bed Bug Bully, produced by a company called My Cleaning Products, claims to be 100% natural. The company website doesn't list any ingredients, but a sales manager reached by phone said that the spray ingredients include tea tree oil and lavender. The company didn't respond to a request for more information.
A 16-ounce spray bottle of Rest Easy — sold at many Walgreens, Ace Hardware and other stores — costs about $16. The company website instructs users to spray Rest Easy on "dressers drawers, closets, along baseboards, behind headboards, and around any other furniture you want treated." The site advises against spraying the bed directly. "If bed bugs are present in the bed," the site says, "call a professional for extermination."
A 32-ounce bottle of Bed Bug Bully, available at many drugstores, retails for about $50. A video tutorial on the company website encourages users to spray "wherever you think bedbugs may be."
If you want a little more punch in your spray, you might consider buying a product that contains an EPA-registered pesticide. Steri-Fab, a spray from Noble Pine Products, contains alcohol with a small amount of d-phenothrin, a common pesticide often found in flea and tick products. It's sold online — Amazon is one option — and at many professional cleaning supply outlets. On Amazon.com, a 1-gallon bottle sells for a little more than $40. According to the company site, a gallon is enough to cover eight to 10 pieces of upholstered furniture or six to seven mattress sets.
The claims
The Rest Easy website says that its "optimized blend of natural ingredients has been universally recognized for thousands of years as a means for controlling insects." In a phone interview, company President Howard Brenner said, "We are all-natural and highly effective." He also said that people who have a serious and obvious infestation should call an exterminator. "Our product is for people who think they might have bedbugs or are paranoid that they might get them."
The Bed Bug Bully site says the product is "by far the best bed bug treatment you can get on the market today." It also promises "the same results delivered by pest service without evacuation."
The Steri-Fab website says that, "unlike any other product available in the U.S. and the world," Steri-Fab kills bedbugs, fleas, ticks and lice along with bacteria and viruses. The site also says it "dries in 15-20 minutes and leaves no residue." The FAQ section explains that the product kills bugs on contact but becomes essentially inactive once it dries. In a phone interview, company Vice President Eric Bryan said his product "isn't a panacea" but does have a proven ability to kill bugs. "Those all-natural botanical products" are baloney, he added.
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The bottom line
Gail Getty, a research entomologist at UC Berkeley, says she'd love to see a day when people could quickly solve their bedbug problems on their own. "I want to encourage new research. It would be great if there was something that was safe and effective."
Unfortunately, she says, no consumer products on the market today have been proved to completely remove bedbugs from the home. Because bedbugs are so adept at hiding, and because any bugs you can target with a spray are going to just be the tip of the infestation, it really takes a professional exterminator to get rid of the bugs, she says.
Jones, the Ohio State University entomologist, is especially leery of "all-natural" products. "If you think that using these sprays is going to get rid of your bedbugs, you are sorely mistaken." Jones points out that pesticide-free products such as Bed Bug Bully or Rest Easy aren't required by the Environmental Protection Agency to prove that they are actually effective against bugs — all that matters is that they are considered safe.
And while d-phenothrin, the pesticide in Steri-Fab, definitely has some killing power, Jones says many populations of bedbugs are developing a resistance to that chemical.
Jones adds that even professional exterminators armed with industrial-strength chemicals generally need several hours to clean out an infestation. "If somebody goes in and out in 15 minutes, you just wasted your money."
when I reached Santiago, I wisit that big carrefour, and bought anti bed bug spray and spray all my stuff, and have no more problems, even I didnt have bedbugs, this was my bulletproof, that I will not bring them home. anyway, they wasnt there allmy way, so dont panicDoes anybody have any experience with using oil of oregano to ward off bed bugs ?
I finished the Camino Frances on October 7th 2013 starting at St Jean PDP on September 6th. I carried a Permethrin impregnated fitted sheet and then one evening at an Albergue which I thought was clean and nice neglected to use the sheet. The little buggers got me at least twenty times that night and got into my kit. It was at least a week before I got to a place with a clothes dryer that was hot enough to kill them. While enroute I saw several people who were severely bitten to the extent of several dozens of bite welts on their legs alone. We heard of one Pilgrim who had to be hospitalized due to severe allergic reaction to multiple bites. They are definitely there and Permethrin does the trick.Hello everybody,
I found many discussions about this, but most of them was solved by Permethrin, but I can not find it in Europes stores. Is this problem really so hot on Camino Frances, or are there just few rare cases in concrete albergues? Thank you for answers and sharing your experiences. I will travel from SJPP in half of April.