Step One: Stop the Bites

95%+ of the bedbugs are in the bed and most bedbugs feed at night.

A barrier to protect you when you sleep is the first step.

So if you cover the bed with a barrier that no bedbug can go through, it will stop all the bedbugs in the bed from reaching you and biting you.

It will also stop any other bedbug in the room from reaching you by keeping them from climbing up on the bed.

It is the first thing to do.

Stop feeding the bedbugs and you will get rid of them.

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A simple sheet of plastic draped over the whole bed stops all bites at once.When you put traps under it, the whole bed becomes a bedbug trap while you sleep soundly on top of it without a bite.

This procedure is the first of four steps to bring complete elimination of the bedbugs in your home.

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You must isolate the bed and keep it from touching anything else

Move each bed away from walls.

Allow nothing to touch the bed, including electrical chords or furniture items.

Remove all bedding, including the dust ruffle if you have one for the bed.

Check your pillow(s) carefully for any bed bugs. Generally your pillow(2) will not harbor bed bugs; however, it is recommended that you toss your pillow(s) into the dryer and run the dryer on high heat for 20 – 30 minutes.

Place your pillow(s) in a sealed plastic bag until the bed is to be made. Launder the bedding and dry. Leave the dry bedding in the dryer and set your dryer to high heat and dry for an additional 20 – 30 minutes to ensure all stages of bed bugs that may have been in the bedding are dead. Leave the bedding in the dryer or place it in a plastic bag (seal it shut) until you are ready to make the bed.

Follow the below set of instructions before making your bed.

Next, the entire bed must be covered with plastic with the plastic allowed to drape almost to the floor. You will need a plastic sheet large enough to completely cover the entire bed. including the headboard. A big roll of painter’s sheeting available at most stores that carry paint products works well. Depending on the size of the bed you are covering, as a general rule, a 10 foot by 15 foot of plastic sheeting should prove enough for the job. If you cannot afford to purchase plastic sheeting, use large plastic garbage or leaf bags, cut and taped together to reach the desired size. If you use this method, be careful not to leave any holes between the tape and plastic. Using 2 inch clear wrapping tape works well.

To correctly cover the bed, begin on the back side of the headboard or mattress starting at the floor. Leave a few inches of plastic on the floor at the back of the headboard. The plastic eventually will be trimmed. Drape the plastic over the top of the headboard and down well past the mattress and/or box springs between the headboard and mattress. If your bed does not have box springs, simply allow the plastic sheet to curve down past (but not touching the floor) the base of the mattress before bringing the plastic back up to cover the top portion of the mattress. Continue to cover the entire top portion of the mattress. There should be enough plastic draped over the sides and bottom of the bed so that the excess plastic flows onto the floor. This will allow you to trim the excess with scissors. Before trimming the plastic, use strong twine or rope to tie the plastic to the bed. Place the twine in the space between the mattress and box springs and wrap it around the entire bed, then tie it off. Also use another piece of twine or rope to tie the plastic around the bed with the twine or rope placed on the box springs. If you do not have box springs, tie the twine or rope around the center of the mattress. Now, trim the plastic with scissors to allow approximately 2 inches between the edge of the plastic and the floor. At no point should the plastic come into contact with the floor. This procedure provides a barrier between you and the bed bugs while you sleep.

Interceptors on the bed feet are suggested. The interceptors are not necessary at first to rid your home of bed bugs; however, you will want them to prevent possible future infestations. You can use any plastic food storage container to set the bed feet into. Sprinkle talcum powder in each container to stop climbing. If your headboard or foot board have feet, interceptors will need to be installed on them. To further discourage climbing, ½ inch or larger clear packing tape should be wrapped around the bed, headboard, and foot board legs. Wrap the tape just above the area where the talcum powder is present in the interceptor. It is very difficult for bed bugs to grasp onto slick tape and becomes impossible when the tape is also brushed with talc. ___ see Bedbug Barriers

The bed can now be made with the freshly laundered bedding.

Be careful in not allowing any bedding material to be in contact with the wall and/or the floor at any time.

Bed bugs have been known to climb walls and drop from the ceiling onto the bed below as you sleep. A step to prevent this is not difficult. Place painters tape (to prevent damage to the painted surface) on the ceiling of your bedroom. The tape should be placed on the ceiling at the point where the wall meets the ceiling. Cover the entire perimeter of the room. Then, place clear Scotch tape on top of the painters tape with the shiny side of the tape exposed. Bed bugs cannot grasp the shiny surface of the Scotch tape and will drop back down the wall to the floor.

Instructions for building bed bug traps will follow in Step Two

Step Two: Build the trap

The trap you are going to build is not a dry ice trap. The CO2 emitted by dry ice is highly voluminous. It over excites and blinds bed bugs. Using dry ice has major advantages in the battle against bed bugs, but its use as a trap does not work! Dry ice traps lasts 8-10 hours only. A trap has to last longer than the bug.

A Co2 emitter in a pitfall easy for bedbugs to climb from the outside, and slippery in the inside to keep them from climbing out.

Climp Up Interceptor are molded cut-outs of smooth plastic with painter’s tape or similar, on the outside and brushed with talcum powder in the inside

A dry ice trap is the basic idea behind active monitors actually on the market. They detect the presence of bedbugs by catching a few on the floor. They are useless to catch bedbugs in the bed or any scattered dormant bedbug hiding somewhere in the room.

Dry ice traps are so easily made that they are the least expensive and the most available bedbug detector that anybody can get.

They demonstrate beyond the shadow of a doubt that bedbugs are attracted to Co2.

A basic understanding of bedbug behavior is important.

Bed bugs see in the infrared (they have thermal vision), and CO2 absorbs infrared. To bed bugs, carbon dioxide appears as dark smoke, and your body heat glows in their vision. Bed bugs find a place to hide close to their food source (you in your bed) and remain as motionless as possible until they detect the heat and CO2 produced by your body. The CO2 exhaled from our breath excites bed bugs and they begin moving toward us. We are the superior attractant to bedbugs and they can see us so well at night. Daytime, they are blinded by the light and erratic.



Think about this: A screen in the window will keep mosquitoes from coming in and biting you, right? Well it is the same thing for bedbugs and since bedbugs are in the bed, we put a plastic sheet over the bed. It is an impenetrable shield for bedbugs who get caught underneath it without a single chance to have a bite.

The plastic drape over the bed serves two purposes. Bedbugs within the bed will crawl from the mattress, box springs, headboard, or frame onto the innerside of the plastic. As they travel down, they will reach the edge of the plastic near the floor. A bedbug can arch up but cannot curl down, its body does not bend that way. This results in a loss of grip and the bedbug drops down to the floor. The plastic sheet also provides protection from drafts in the room thereby allowing the trap to work more efficiently.

Trap are placed at the corners, under the bed and behind the legs. The traps provide subtle trails of CO2 that bedbugs easily see and follow. The traps works round the clock for weeks on end. Bed bugs will follow the CO2 trail, climb toward the CO2 source within the trap and….OH NO…..slip off the edge, fall into the trap, slip and slide, then die. RIP you nasty creatures!!!

Does the trap work? Field trials conducted for over a two and one half year period of time have resulted in tens of thousands of dead bed bugs from hundreds of people who are now permanently free of bed bugs. This proves the trap’s effectiveness. I have experienced no failures. The traps will starve the bed bugs to death, one by one, in as little as two weeks’ time. Smaller infestations take less time. The traps are renewable and can act as sentinels against re-infestation. After the elimination of bed bugs, your home now can become bed bug proof.

The very first bedbug trap

(The sealed wooden ball next to it is my little animal that got killed from pesticides)

BUILD YOUR TRAP

You will need:

A 2 liter plastic container (a 5 cents empty soda bottle works well)

plastic container (a 5 cents empty soda bottle works well) Scissors are best to make a hole in the cap of the bottle. twist your scissors until you have the right size of hole. (have extra caps for practice)

A soup bowl in which the 2 liter bottle will fit in. Hard plastic, porcelain or glass are to slippery for bedbugs to climb out when the inside is brushed with talcum powder.

Scrap cloth or paper towels on the outside to make it easy for bedbugs to climb into the trap.

Glue

Talcum Powder (baby powder generally contains cornstarch for baby safety. Baby powder with talc although is available. Read the ingredients listed on the baby powder before purchasing.

Small piece of plastic to act as a tent to cover the one liter bottle. A plastic garbage liner works well.

Rubber band or String

Scissors

Instructions:

Remove the cap of the 2 liter bottle. Carefully bore a hole in the center of the cap. The hole need be no larger than the tip of a ball point pen. Replace the cap.

bottle. Carefully bore a hole in the center of the cap. The hole need be no larger than the tip of a ball point pen. Replace the cap. Cover the outside of the bowl, used to hold the bottle, with scrap cloth or cloth tape. This will allow the bed bugs to climb the outside of the container. Do not cover the inside of the container. Glue the cloth to the upper edge of the container.

Sprinkle lightly the inside of the container, used to hold the plastic liter bottle, with talcum powder. As a precautionary measure, avoid breathing in the powder.

Place the one liter plastic bottle in the cloth-covered container.

Drape the plastic garbage liner over the top of the one liter bottle.

Wrap the rubber band or tie string loosely around the plastic draped over the one liter bottle approximately half way down the bottle. Allow the plastic drape to hang over the sides of the container.

Trim, with scissors, the plastic drape just above floor level.

You have now completed the simplest and most cost effective bed bug trap available.

The following page, Step Three: The Recipe, will provide the ingredients and preparation instructions for the CO2 generating liquid that you will use to fill the one liter bottle.

Four (4) traps per occupied bed will be required to effectively eliminate all bed bugs.

The mixture should last 2-3 weeks

A video is included on this page to further assist you in building the trap.

Step Three: Recipe

As stated, a CO2 trap using dry ice does not work. Bed bugs and their nearly identical cousins, bat bugs, originated in bat infested caves. This is an opinion widely accepted. The rate of CO2 released from a trap, in order to effectively work, must mimic the rate of CO2 exhaled by a bat or very small animal. Enter the idea of fermentation.

Fermentation produces ethanol and CO2 in very small quantities over a long period of time. One of the basic methods is to combine yeast and sugar in lukewarm water. Lukewarm is the same as our body temperature and will not feel either cool or warm, lukewarm is 100F. Water too warm stops fermentation and the brew turns flat. The amount of yeast and sugar will determine the rate and duration of CO2 generated. Slow fermentation will last longer than the life cycle of a bed bug. We now have the perfect combination. A host (you as the lure) emitting the perfect body heat easily seen by the bed bug. You also emit the elusive and hotly debated pheromones that attract bed bugs. You are the securely protected gourmet delight by means of the plastic sheeting. Four (4) traps under each corner of the bed emitting small whiffs of CO2 is seen by the bed bug as an appetizer. Climbing the wall to drop on you is useless when the bed bug keeps dropping back to the floor. Willingly, each and every bed bug within your bedroom will, one by one, crawl from their hiding place to their last meal, while you sleep soundly and undisturbed.

THE RECIPE:

You will be doing yourself a big favor if you read through the entire recipe and familiarize yourself with it before proceeding to prepare it.



The following recipe (to be poured into your 2 liter empty bottle) will continuously and slowly release CO2 sufficient to guide bed bugs to the trap for two (2) weeks.

NOTE: Yeast is a fungus. Its greatest enemy, that will stop its growth and the release of CO2, is BACTERIA. Sterilization is paramount. Before preparation of the mixture, the water, the 2 liter bottle, a cap (without a hole in it), the cap (with a hole drilled in it), a fork, and funnel must be sterile. To accomplish this, bring to a rolling boil 6 cups of water. Dip the funnel, both caps, and fork in the boiling water and set aside on a clean paper towel. While the water is boiling, rinse the bottle well with tap water. Use the funnel, and carefully pour the boiling water into your empty bottle. Place the cap which does not have a hole drilled in it on the bottle. With care…the bottle will be hot.. use pot holders or a towel and shake it vigorously.

Ingredients:

1 – two(2) liter bottle

1 cap for the 2 liter bottle with a hole drilled in it

1 cap without a hole drilled in it

1 8 ounce drinking glass

1 fork

1 small clean funnel .



2 cups sugar – set aside for use later.

1 tablespoon dry active yeast (or the content of a 7-8 gr envelope)

2 liters (lukewarm water…not hot) (One liter is approximatively a quart.)

Directions:

Fill your 2 liter bottle as directed above in the highlighted Note Section. Remove the cap from your 2 liter bottle of hot water. Use the funnel and add the 2 cups of sugar. Shake vigorously.. Allow the hot water in your 2 liter bottle to cool to lukewarm. Loosen the cap to allow steam to escape. It is very important that the water not be hot. Lukewarm is approximately 100 degrees F. Remove the cap and pour 1/2 cup of the lukewarm sugar/water mix into a clean 8 ounce glass. Add one tablespoon of dry active yeast into the 1/2 cup of lukewarm water and stir briskly with a clean fork to dissolve all the yeast. Add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar into the 1/2 glass of water/yeast mixture. Stir gently. Allow the glass of yeast/sugar/water to sit 10 – 15 minutes. At the end of that time an inch of foam should be present floating on top. This is a very important step, so be patient. If no foam forms, the yeast is out of date (check the date on package), or the water was too hot. Repeat this step with new yeast until foam appears on top. While waiting, rinse the funnel in very hot water. Do not use soap. Using the clean funnel, pour the yeast/sugar mixture into the 2 liter water/sugar bottle. Shake bottle gently in order to mix. Rinse the glass from which you poured the yeast/sugar mixture into the bottle. To rinse the glass correctly , pour from the 2 liter bottle about 1/2 cup of the solution back into the glass. Gently swirl it around to pick up any yeast left, and then, using a funnel, pour it back into the 2 liter bottle. Take the cap (with no hole in it) off, and replace it with the cap that you drilled a hole into. Cover the 2 liter bottle with dark cloth or a sock. Place the full 2 liter soda bottle into the talc dusted bowl or container and drape the plastic over the bottle as directed in Step Two. Your trap is ready to place at a corner of your bed.



Note: If the space under your bed will not accommodate the height of a 2 liter bottle, place the bottle to the outside corner of your bed. Use plastic air tubing. Measure the distance required before cutting the tubing length. It’s best to have more than you need for proper placement of the bottle, than too little. Insert one end of the tubing into the hole of the bottle’s cap. Do not allow the tube to enter or touch the liquid within the bottle. Use tape or silicone to seal the edges of tube entry in cap. Run the tubing to the center of the cloth-covered container coated with talc. The container can then be placed under the bed at the corner with the 2 liter bottle to the side of the bed. If possible, place the bottle on the inside portion of the plastic sheeting. If the bottle is placed on the outside of the plastic sheeting, it must not touch the plastic sheeting on the outside because it will create a bridge for the bed bugs to crawl up the outside of the plastic and gain access to you. This also applies to the tubing. If necessary, tape the tubing to the floor so that it does not touch the bottom edge of the plastic, then guide the tubing to the talc dusted container . Take care not to accidentally knock the bottles over.

Four (4) Traps are required per occupied bed.

The traps will remain active for 2 weeks. Check the traps daily to view your bed bug catches. There is no need to remove the dead bed bugs during the two week duration.

When it’s time to refill the traps, pour all contents out of bottles and rinse well with water. Dump the talc and dead bed bugs from the container. Re-dust the container with talc. Refill your 2 liter bottles according to the above directions.

You will continue with this procedure until no bugs are present in the traps for a period of one to two weeks. Step Four will guide you through the steps you take to prevent future infestations.

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The best reference to make DIY Co2 generators is

John Levasseur’s Treatise

on DIY CO 2 Systems

www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html

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The CO2 mixture should be cloudy and you should see a few tiny bubblesslowly rise to the surface of the brew and form a ring of tiny bubbles

STEP FOUR: FINAL KILL AND CLEAN UP

Following 1-2 weeks of no bed bugs present in the traps, and no bites, it is time to clean up and kill all stages of any bed bugs left in your bedroom. It’s dry ice time.

Dry Ice will be used safely to create an environment that will completely kill all remaining bedbugs in the bed.

___ The traps on the floor caught all the bed bugs within the room .

. ___ The trap also caught all the bedbugs that came down from the bed.

Bedbugs are still present under the plastic shield. There are about ten times more bedbugs than you caught left in the bed. They are hungry. Be careful, you have the entire bedbug nursery inside the plastic shield.

Do not remove the plastic from the bed(s), used to shield you from bed bug bites, before you kill the bed bugs present in the bed(s)

You will need :

· three (3) pounds of dry ice, · plastic sheeting, and · 2 inch clear packing tape, · A measuring tape, scissors or a sharp knife.

Procedure:

You are going to place plastic on the floor under the bed. The sides of the plastic will be brought up to overlap the plastic shield on the bed. The overlapping pieces of plastic will be taped to form an airtight bag.

Remove traps.

Do not open or remove the plastic off the bed for this operation . Leave mattress and/or box spring encasements in place for this procedure. Later, there is discussion related to leaving the encasement on or removing them.

. Leave mattress and/or box spring encasements in place for this procedure. Later, there is discussion related to leaving the encasement on or removing them. Before proceeding, you will need a large sheet of plastic cut to a size to cover the entire length and width of your bed. Add 12 inches additional length to all four (4) sides.

Enlisting the aid of a friend makes this procedure an easier task. Each corner of the bed will need to be lifted

Roll the cut piece of plastic to make spreading it under the bed easier. Roll the plastic lengthwise.

Place the roll of plastic at the foot of the bed. Allow 12 inches of the plastic to act as a lead before lifting a corner (or both corners) and rolling the plastic under the bed feet.

Continue to roll the plastic to the head of the bed. Lift the corner(s) at the head of the bed and roll the plastic underneath the bed feet.

Bring the edges of the excess plastic on the floor up to overlap the plastic used to shield your bed. Tape these two pieces together. Leave no gaps.

Continue this taping process all the way around your bed.

Using a sharp knife, slice open the plastic where there is an open space closest to the floor large enough to insert the three (3) pounds of dry ice. With insulated gloves to protect your skin, you will place the dry ice inside the plastic. To act as protection against frost bite, place the dry ice on a folded thick towel. Securely seal the opening you made with 2” clear tape.

the opening you made with 2” clear tape. With a needle, make 20-30 tiny holes in the highest point of the plastic encasement to let out the air that will be replaced by the Co2 from the dry ice.

The dry ice will “melt” in the next few hours and the Co2 it gives off, being heavier than air, will push out all the oxygen through the needle holes that you made. The Co2 levels will rise inside the encasement and bedbugs will start to suffocate when it reaches 20-30%. Let it rise until it reaches near 100% which is when all the dry ice will be gone. Let the Co2 permeate through all parts of the bed by letting it sit for 24 hours. No need to open the windows, or shut the door. No hazard is present .

At the end of 24 hours, open the door and the window(s) and cut the plastic open brushing off the bed of all dead bedbugs and discard outside.

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MATTRESS/BOX SPRING ENCASEMENT PROCEDURE:

There is no harm in leaving the encasements on the mattress and/or box springs, if you so choose.

A primary goal of this start to finish bed bug elimination process is to bring you back emotionally to a pre bed bug state of mind, and for you to view the bed bug as nothing more than a simple nuisance easily rid of. Removing the encasements is a frightening step forward, but one that will help bring your life back to normal.

You will need one (1) pound of dry ice for the mattress, and one (1) pound of dry ice for the encased box springs.

Remove the mattress and/or box springs.

Place the mattress and/or box springs against a wall.

Unzip the mattress and/or box springs and insert, using insulated gloves, one (1) pound of dry ice. Zip back up the encasement. .

Using a stick pin, place ten holes in the encasement material on the top portion of the encased mattress and/or box springs.

Add 3 more pin pricks to one side of the encased mattress or box springs.

Allow the CO2 from the dry ice to infiltrate the mattress and box springs for a period of 24 undisturbed hours.

This procedure can be done inside and poses no health hazard. Allow to set undisturbed for 24 hours. At the end of 24 hours, remove and discard the encasement(s).