By Doctor D on April 15, 2013
3- Since it was, thankfully, the early summer days, I was able to sleep without covers throughout the weeks in which I did the treatment. All bed covers, blankets, pillow cases and the like were sealed in bags in which I also applied the dust. I kept those tightly sealed for a good 3 months.
4- By the second week, I had come across and killed close to 23 of the suckers, but began seeing some dried out remains of what looked like dead bedbugs, but these could also simply be shed skins from molting, so I still did not remove the dust. I was no longer being bitten.
5- By the fifth week the bedbugs were not coming out anymore, but I did not remove the dust.
6- Three and 1/2 months had passed and it seemed the problem was solved, yet this parasite had me so paranoid that I kept waking up in the wee hours to see if anything was making its way towards my bed from anywhere around the room. I looked around the hiding places and found several of the dried out remains of the bedbugs. Success?
7 – By the fourth month I got tired of having a room full of dust and felt confident that my strategy had paid off, so I vacuumed the room. Took out the bags with bed covers, blankets and the like and found some more dried out shells of former bedbugs, picked them out of there and then put all that stuff in the washing machine.
6- Five whole months had passed, and even though the bedbugs had long stopped coming out, the trauma of having had a bedbug infestation kept me waking up at dawn and turning on the lights for a few minutes form many months. But to date (that’s April 2013) there is no sign of them anywhere in my bedroom or anywhere else in my apartment, and even spider beetles (which can sometimes be confused for bedbugs but are not blood parasites) have disappeared.
My bedbug problem happened a year ago and I was able to solve it in a matter of weeks, but it took me this long to write a review of the DE dust solution because of the fact that bedbugs can last a year without feeding, so in a worst case scenario the problem could have reappeared. But with a full year of bedbug freedom, I am confident to recommend Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth as a natural pesticide that did a wonderful job while being extremely cheap and non-toxic to boot. I only had to use less than a quarter of the bag (in fact, the duster still has some left-over dust from the one and only time I sprayed it). Note, however, that an effective treatment of eradication requires diligence. These parasites can hide anywhere, so you have to do your best at identifying their hiding spots, learning their schedules and taking precautions to not let them spread out anywhere else. Also, I do not suffer asthma, so I had no problem sleeping in my room while the dust sat on the floor, but if you do suffer from any respiratory issues, I would suggest staying in a different room or a different residence if possible for a few weeks. Every once in a while I still apply the dust around the bed, just in case, and ever since I started using it, I’ve never felt any discomfort, irritation, or any health issues at all, so from my perspective, this stuff is harmless. Remember, too, that this is the FOOD GRADE Diatomaceous Earth, not the stuff used for swimming pool filters.
Hope this helps.
