The Professional Choice

A companion overview to the popular "Ask Mr. Handyman" radio program airing on Christian Talk Radio, KCRO 660AM Saturdays @ 9:30AM.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite!

Bed bugs. I used to laugh and joke about them as a kid but I never had any experience with them, nor had any of my family or friends knowingly had them.

They are real, they are a nuisance, they DO BITE, and they are a bugger to get rid of.

Most folks will revert to the professionals, an exterminator or try to DIY with some chemicals from one of the big-box stores. I have another solution that is very effective and very safe. The ONLY precaution is breathing of the dust when applying. It is Diatomaceous Earth, or DE. It can be purchased at any local health food store and is fairly inexpensive. There is no chemical smell and it is an all-natural "green" product.

Wear a dust mask and apply a ring around your bedposts, in any wall or floor cracks near your bed and dust along the decorative piping at the edges of your mattress. The DE will cut these little critters each time they crawl through the fine powder and they will eventually dry-up and die. You can put it down as a precautionary measure as well.

If you have visitors for the upcoming holidays I would dust all areas where they could unknowingly bring these awful critters into your home. There are huge outbreaks in the Manhattan, Chicago, Denver and Detroit areas as well as others.

If you travel and stay in a hotel I would take some precautions to ensure you do not pick up a hitchhiker. Inspect the bed you will lay your head down on. Keep your suitcase on the countertops or table tops and vacuum it when you return. I would put out the DE just to be safe.

Bed bugs are not known to carry diseases but they can leave you with some itchy welts and a lot of headaches. It is best to pre-treat with the safe DE and hopefully they never come for a visit.