Educational Bed Bug Video

[Dream A Way]

I'm not sure how many people are familiar with Mark Rober, but he is an ex-Nasa engineer and now has a science channel on YouTube. He recently did an episode on bed bugs. It is a bit disgusting, but also quite educational.

Mark Rober: Bed Bugs- What You've Been Told is Totally False

Here is some summary info ...

They Do Not Transmit Disease
Bed bugs do not carry or transmit diseases. They are really just a nuisance, but disgusting nonetheless.

Avoiding Bed Bugs
Check mattresses, cracks and corners for bed bugs or bed bug droppings before you sit down or lie down.

Do not put your clothing or belongings on the floor, on the bed, or in hotel drawers. Keep it in your suitcase / backpack, and on something like a luggage rack / stand if possible.

Deterring and Killing Bed Bugs
Bed bugs do not like strong smelling items like dryer sheets, moth balls, baking soda, essential oils, or insecticides. However they will happily crawl over these items if they smell blood or carbon dioxide (CO2) on the other side. Insecticides do nothing to kill bed bugs. Sonic noise emitters do nothing to kill or even deter bed bugs.

The best way to kill bed bugs when travelling is heat. Put your clothes / belongings in a dryer and heat them to 50 degrees Celsius. The bed bugs will die almost instantly.

Diatomaceous earth also kills bed bugs, but can take several days. Sprinkle in a fine dusting, not in piles.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

It was a brilliant video - I watched it just before heading out on the Inglès.
Mark also found that he was immune to their bites - no reaction - whereas the scientist in charge of the project wasn't!!
They only problem with a dryer@ 50 degrees C is that your merino won't fit afterwards.....

 

[J Willhaus]

Don't wash your clothes first to reduce the chance of shrinkage of your woolens. Just put them in the dryer dry. You can wash afterwards and then hang on the line, etc.

 

[dougfitz]

Insecticides do nothing to kill bed bugs.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this video. While your other comments seem fine, I don't agree that this one was supported. It is far too general a statement about what appeared to be demonstrations of specific commercial products. I don't recall being told what they contained nor how much of any active ingredients they had. More, we weren't told which of the four bed bug sub species was used. Only one is permethrin resistant, the others aren't, at least not yet. If that was the one used in these demonstrations, we may only have been seeing what we already knew about it.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Fair comment

 

[C clearly]

Good video.

 

[AbuelitaWalking]

Don't wash your clothes first to reduce the chance of shrinkage of your woolens. Just put them in the dryer dry. You can wash afterwards and then hang on the line, etc.

Also, 50 degrees Celsius is about the temperature inside a dryer on "low" setting. Both Darn Tough and Woolx say it is ok to dry their items in a dryer set on low. So if one does get bedbugs and must put everything in a dryer, everything may come out ok, even the merino wool.

 

[C clearly]

Also, 50 degrees Celsius is about the temperature inside a dryer on "low" setting.

Thanks for this reminder that it is not necessary to put items into a super-hot dryer. At a low setting, you might want to give a bit more time. Where you might only need 20 minutes at a hot setting, you might need an hour at a lower setting. (That is a rough approximation of what I recall, but I don't know the exact numbers.) Also remember that the clothes don't reach that temperature until they are dry, and only then should you start the timing.

 

[trecile]

Thanks for this reminder that it is not necessary to put items into a super-hot dryer. At a low setting, you might want to give a bit more time. Where you might only need 20 minutes at a hot setting, you might need an hour at a lower setting. (That is a rough approximation of what I recall, but I don't know the exact numbers.) Also remember that the clothes don't reach that temperature until they are dry, and only then should you start the timing.

And for delicate items it is best to put them in the hot dryer when they are not wet. Do the heat treatment for a half hour first, then wash and dry per the item's care instructions.

 

[AbuelitaWalking]

OK, so one more question for veteran walkers: Will there always be a commercial dryer available somewhere in the town where bedbugs are discovered? Or might I have to walk to the next town before dealing with the issue? Just trying to get my head around how I'm going to cope with this potential problem...it's the one remaining thing that still worries me! Thanks so much for all your input.

 

[J Willhaus]

Depends on the town. If there is no dryer, put your bag in a black plastic bag and let it bake in the sun a few hours.

 

[Stivandrer]

It is a hard one not breathing so as not to emit CO2...
It is here a carbon capture mask would come in handy....