Category: Bed Bugs

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Don’t Let the Bed Bug Cure Be Worse Than the Problem

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a chilling report yesterday (Sept 22, 2011). The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report concerns illnesses and fatalities associated with using insecticides to control bed bugs.

Bed bug infestations have increased, and there are many theories why. Contributing factors may include more travel and resistance to commonly used pesticides.  As a result, the bed bug cure (insecticide) is becoming a real problem.

The Center studied data from 7 states participating in the Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks (SENSOR) pesticides program during the time period 2003 to 2010.  A total of 111 illnesses associated with bed bug pesticides were identified.

While 81% were of low severity, there was one fatality.  Most of the cases were associated with the use of pyrethroids and pyrethrins. Only 12% of the cases were considered work-related (either pest control operators or hotel workers who entered recently treated rooms) but interestingly included two emergency medical technicians who responded to a treated scene.

The remainder fell mainly in the categories of people who applied too much insecticide, didn’t wash treated bedding, or failed to notify others of the pesticide application.  The bed bug cure probably caused more of a problem than the bed bug itself.  Bed bugs won’t kill you; insecticide will.

People are making themselves and others sick by trying to kill bed bugs. Getting rid of bed bugs does no good if you aren’t going to live to enjoy a bug-free room.

An editorial note to the report reminds the reader that the CDC and Environmental Protection Agency promote integrated pest management strategies for bed bug control. Their non-chemical methods include encasing mattresses and box springs with bed bug-proof covers, vacuuming, steaming, laundering, and even disposing of infested items.

We agree!  We have provided bed bug-proof covers for many years. As the problem has grown, we added the Vapamore Steam Cleaner with 17 tools so our customers can do the CDC-recommended steaming in ALL nooks, crannies, and crevices of their infested areas.

We don’t recommend spraying insecticides on your beds and bedding when there are chemical-free ways to treat the problem.  Don’t be a statistic, be safe!  Don’t let your bed bug cure be more of a problem than the bed bug

Til Next Time!
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Do You Need To Cover All Pillows

A lovely young couple was in the store last week.  He had just been diagnosed with allergy to dust mites.  The doctor had sent them to us right away with instructions for allergy-proofing their bedroom.

They were on a tight budget (aren’t we all) and were looking to spend where they would get the most bang for their buck.

He asked why it was necessary to cover all pillows on the bed with a dust mite proof pillow cover, not just the one he slept on.  It is a very common question.  I mean if you aren’t sleeping on it why must it be covered?  Why do you have to cover all pillows to get allergy relief?

In order to answer the question, you have to understand how you are exposed to dust mites.  These microscopic creatures and their feces are in your mattress, pillow, and comforters.  Every time someone moves on the bed, a cloud of microscopic particles is blown into the air and the allergic person inhales these particles.  So, if person A (the person with allergies) is laying in bed with their covered pillow and person B is laying on the bed with a pillow that is not covered, every time person B moves, they will send up a cloud of particles that will rain down on person A.  Person A is not protected from B’s allergens.

The other scenario is that you sleep on two or more pillows.  If you only cover the pillow on which you lay your head, every time you move your head the other pillows release their cloud, right there by your head.

What I recommended to this couple was something I do myself.   The pillows that are used to cradle the head are the pillows where you put the most expensive and comfortable covers.  For example, if you have 6 pillows on the bed (1 for each person’s head, 1 to go under each person’s sleeping pillow, and 2 for decorative shams) then the pillows that are used for sleeping should have a microweave pillow encasement made from Pristine Luxury or AllergCare Cotton.  The other pillows can be encased with coated fabrics like the Bed Bug Solution fabric, which are totally effective just less expensive.  That way you can cover all pillows and stretch your allergy control dollar.

Just another way to get the protection you need without spending more than you need.

Til Next Time
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Undiagnosed Allergies?

Got a great note from a customer today.  She purchased our zippered bed bug covers for her vacation home.  The real estate agent that handles her rentals suggested that the beds be protected against bed bugs “just in case”.

We hear a lot of that lately. And the real estate agent is correct. In the long run, it is cheaper to zip up the beds and protect them against bed bugs than throw the mattress and box spring out later when they are so infested with bed bugs that they can’t be salvaged.

But that wasn’t the point of her note.  She wrote to let us know that she just returned from spending a week at her vacation home and noticed that while she was there she did not wake up with a stuffy nose or a headache.

Seems she has been waking up to a stuffy nose for so long that she didn’t notice it until it was gone!  Sounds like undiagnosed allergies doesn’t it?

The first night back in her year around the home and the stuffy nose and headache returned.

She has never been diagnosed with an allergy to dust mites and has been waking up stuffy for so many years that it had become a “normal” part of how she felt every day. It was only when she slept in the beds that had the zippered dust mite and bed bug-proof covers did she realize that she didn’t need to suffer.  Her undiagnosed allergies were undiagnosed no more.

She discovered relief.

Needless to say, she will be purchasing dust mite-proof covers for the beds at her year-round home and sleeping soundly and waking without a headache or stuffy nose. Now she knows she doesn’t have to feel that way.

We hear time and again from people that buy dust mite-proof mattresses or pillow covers because someone in the house is diagnosed with allergies and they discover that even the “allergy-free” household members feel better.

If you stop to think about all the dust mites and dust mite feces that collect in your mattress and pillow, you know that it can’t be a good thing to breathe those particles while you sleep.  Even people that have never been diagnosed with dust mite allergy deserve a good night’s rest and they often find it by accident when they purchase our zippered mattress covers.

Cheryl