Using the house hold oven as a heat sterilizer
As a contractor specializing in heat sterilizing belongings I have found the most useful temperatures to be between 140f and 155f. Anything lower than 140f and there are risks of not attaining core temperatures of 122f in a reasonable amount of time and there is no room for error. At 158f and beyond the risks […]
You found one bug in a new infestation – is that the only one?
One of the most difficult aspects of bed bugs is their ability to climb into the deepest crevice to hide. As such declaring a suite bed bug free with a visual inspection is impossible. But once in a while a bed bug is discovered on the clothes of a person visiting an uninfested suite. Would […]
When you first discover bed bugs the most important word is STOP
Most people, when they find a bed bug, are quite perturbed and panic sets in. Panic is not conducive to good decisions and most of the remedial actions taken in a panic induced state do more harm than good. The following are common mistakes: 1. Pull the bed away from the wall to expose […]
Hide a beds and futons are bad etiquette
My post entitled “host cues and feeding patterns of bed bugs” experimented with starving bed bugs being manipulating by withholding and providing a host. It was found that bed bug behaviour is in many respects host driven. The bugs usually remained in their harbourage until host cues were added to the room. I have […]
How the exterminator knows a tenant has been spraying raid
All the landlords I assist have been informed about the dangers of spraying aerosol pyrethrin in multi family settings. As such the tenants have been informed that they are not to endanger the safety of their building with those products. Once in a while I am asked to address a suite for bed bugs and […]
Questions to ask your heat sterilizer
We know that bed bugs die at 122f within 1 minute (actually the eggs hatch and the first instars then die when exposed to this temperature). We also know that to achieve 122f in the middle of a dense item that one must increase the temperature to about 142f as an average temperature to get […]
Internet filled with bogus bed bug remedies
Back in 2007 Sleep Tight Exterminators Ltd was being created. As a bed bug specialist I thought I had the perfect name. I paid money to reserve my corporate name and I thought others could not infringe on that. Since then I noticed many products with “sleep tite” name coming onto the market and they […]
The problem of selling chemicals to the general public
Most of the work I do is in multi family contexts and when I start a project with a new landlord I find that most of the tenants have been using aerosol pyrethrins, permethrin, or pyrethrin in dust format. I warn all my landlords about the dangers of those products and I have […]
Bed bug precautions face same social dilemma as smoking in the 70s
We have learned in previous blogs that bed bugs are often carried on clothing and other possessions. In my apartment block we have found that individuals that have no contact with friends that have bed bugs get bed bugs once every 35 years on average. Persons that have social contact in infested settings get bed […]
Attempts to make a modern “efficient” washing machine fill with water hot enough to kill bed bugs
A while ago my 5 year old GE washing machine broke down and the repair man suggested it would cost more to repair than it was worth. So I went out and bought a new Whirlpool washer as my repair man had previously suggested this brand in terms of easy repairs for my apartment block […]