I never thought I had to deal with bed bugs in my life, but yes I did and I got rid of them completely. It was a horrible experience, having infested my whole apartment with bed bugs. I take contract jobs around the States and often I am moving after 1-2 years. I mostly try to buy used furniture, so that I would not mind throwing or giving away them later when I have to leave the place.
I bought a couch and a leather futon from one person, then a bed set from another person only a few days apart. This was my first experience buying things from Craigslist. I was kind of afraid if there was something wrong with the furniture. I even asked the sellers if their house had bed bugs, but both said no. Later I realized it was the couch that spread the bugs. In the Craigslist post the couch looked so beautiful, but when they brought it to my home, it was not as good as the post. I could not say no because seller brought it all the way to my apartment. Later I wished so much that I would have said no and paid them for the inconvenience.
When I buy used stuff I clean them for a few days with vinegar water, rubbing alcohol, essential oils, baking soda, all-purpose cleaners, everything I could get my hands on, then only I would start using them. I cleaned those furniture so good for almost a week and started using them, everything was okay at first. I did not use couch because I wanted to buy a cover for it. I would just stay in the bed most the time as I was still looking for other furniture. I started waking up in the middle of the nights because of the itch. I ignored it, thought my dry skin or ants or dust mites might have caused it. Could not take it anymore, so one night just woke up lighted the room, just could not believe what I found. I googled about the bed bugs and inspected bugs I found, yes they were bed bugs.
A few days later it did not matter day or night in any room I would see bed bugs crawling. Couch was worst of all, it seemed like couch has been infested with bed bugs for years. I would sleep on the floor, hoping bugs will spare me, but no. I would sleep only a few hours a day. I became so restless and was a mess at the office. I would only wear full sleeves and long pants all the time on hot summer days to cover bug bites. I could not explain the reason to my colleagues and friends why I am always tired those days. It would be so embarrassing to say I have bed bugs in my home. It was one the worst experiences of my life.
I thought of leaving the apartment and throwing everything I owned. If I leave the apartment before the lease expires I have to pay two months’ rent as a fine which was almost two thousand dollars. I called bugs exterminators, they said they would not take 100% guarantee and their price was too high. Leaving the apartment became last option and exterminators became a second last option. I was looking for a help to throw away all of my furniture as I would not be able to carry those furniture by myself. At the mean time, I decided to try Food Grade DE Diatomaceous Earth (DE). I choose DE because it is natural, no harmful chemicals, food grade and no side effects at all. I did not go with pesticides because they had bad reviews and I knew they were not permanent solutions and just a waste of money and time. Also, I do not prefer chemicals over natural solutions. Click here to check out yourself, go through the reviews you will be surprised to see how much people love it.
When I decided to try DE I was so skeptical, but gave up on all other possible options and waited for DE to arrive via mail. My place was infested so bad I thought I would need lots of it, thus bought ten pounds of it. Only ended up using a few ounces of it. The recommendation was steam clean furniture, then use DE. Because of no sleep plus painful rashes, I could hardly do anything physical. I just skipped the intense cleaning part and scattered DE all around the apartment, every inch of carpet and furniture. DE is very fine like a dust, so I really had to be careful to avoid dust allergies. Within a week I was not waking up at nights. I washed and dried all of my belongings in hot water settings. Only after two weeks, there was no sign of any bed bugs. Yay! It was a miracle for me. Even the couch had no bugs on it. Now, almost after two years still cannot believe that I got rid of all bed bugs without throwing away anything and not spending hundreds of dollars. I stayed in that apartment for 18 months and there was no sign of bed bugs or any other insects after that. I really loved that apartment and all the furniture, even though the beginning was horrible.
These days I do not buy furniture from Craigslist or flea markets. I buy brand new furniture no matter what and sell them when I am moving, or give them to friends or family, or take them with me. While leaving that apartment, I sold everything but the couch. I trashed the couch, although it looked good.
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