Effective quick bed bug killer

[LakeMcD]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before. Put clothes or sleep liner without metal in a microwave for 30 seconds. Kills them in all stages.

edited by mod to add: Putting bedbugs in a microwave may very well kill them, but if you read some of the later posts in this thread, you will see that this technique is likely to ruin the clothes that you put in there.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before. Put clothes or sleep liner without metal in a microwave for 30 seconds. Kills them in all stages.

Very interesting. I just did an internet search and it seems to be true. The main negatives that I see are that they would hold only a few items at a time and in a shared kitchen I doubt others would like seeing you doing that. Otherwise apparently a very simple solution.

 

[martin1ws]

Really good advice... at least for the things, that fit into the microwave.
Here is a link:

How to kill bed bugs in portable items: Unconventional non-chemical approaches

 

[Kanga]

To kill the bedbugs they have to be exposed to the microwaves generated by the oven. The experiments I've read relate to bedbugs in books, or dry foods like rice. I can't find scientific data about bedbugs in clothes, and to be useful for us we'd be talking about a packful of clothes, not just one or two items.

Microwave ovens are generally between 20 and 40 litres, so theoretically the contents of a 30 litre pack would fit into a large microwave oven. I'd expect the bedbugs would be hidden within the seams of clothes, so not immediately exposed to the microwaves. The usual instructions are that the greater the volume of contents, the longer the cooking time. I assume that clothes would absorb some of the microwaves, so if the oven is full of clothes, will 30 seconds still be enough?

 

[wisepilgrim]

I don't own a microwave, and I am fresh out of bed bugs to test on, but I imagine that for the greatest efficacy you may want to zap/rearrange/zap. Surely not all of the space inside a microwave gets blasted by waves; such a design would be great for bugs but mighty wasteful for food.

 

[dick bird]

Brilliant. At what point do your clothes get hot enough to ignite? Is it heat or the action of the infra-red waves that kills them? Does it kill the eggs as well? This does sound like a brilliant idea though. Thanks.

 

[trecile]

Here's some information about using microwaves to kill bed bugs

How to kill bed bugs in portable items: Unconventional non-chemical approaches

And a contrary view

Bed Bug FAQ - Bed Bugs Northwest

FAQ Facts and resources about bed bugs to help you end your infestation quickly. DIY treatments sometimes succeed with determination and discipline.

www.bedbugsnorthwest.com

 

[Rebekah Scott]

As someone who oversees albergues, I can imagine it now: high-tech fabrics melted onto the inside of the microwave. Or an oven and kitchen scattered with roasted insect carcasses.
Nice. I hope someone tests this and reports back, before the Pilgrim Geniuses go to work on our microwave ovens.

 

[Mito]

Heat also kills bedbugs. If it's summer when I get home, I put my bag and anything else that can't be washed on high heat into a black plastic bag and set it in the sun for a few days. If it's winter (as it will be this year), cold also kills. I live in Maine and so I can leave my pack, etc in the garage or barn over the winter and feel confident no creepy crawlies have survived. I worry less about living with bedbugs on my trek and more about bringing them home!!

 

[Perambulating Griffin]

Brilliant. At what point do your clothes get hot enough to ignite? Is it heat or the action of the infra-red waves that kills them? Does it kill the eggs as well? This does sound like a brilliant idea though. Thanks.

Ooooh… and the sparks from some of the synthetic fibres that have traces of metals in them! (I have a favourite dress that always sets off security alarms!).

 

[good_old_shoes]

I once read an article about alpine mountain huts in Germany/Austria using microwave ovens to treat hiker's sleep sacks / liners to prevent bed bug travel. So that seems to be a thing.

Only works with cotton/silk though, I guess, if you don't want molten fabric and/or sparks. But for a silk liner or a 100% merino shirt, why not?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

After reading these newest replies, I think I'll stick with the black garbage bag method; either in the sun or tossed in snow. Thankfully I've not yet needed either.

 

[good_old_shoes]

After reading these newest replies, I think I'll stick with the black garbage bag method; either in the sun or tossed in snow. Thankfully I've not yet needed either.

I wouldn't rely on snow. To kill bed bugs by freezing, it apparently takes 3-4 days at -17°C or lower. If it gets warmer than that during the day they might survive, even if you leave the bags outside for a week.

A chest freezer with controlled temperature would be a good choice though. Toss in the whole backpack, leave it in there for a week or two, voila!

 

[Marbe2]

There are reports on-line of electrical problems from metal such as zippers. Apparently synthetics go up in smoke much faster than cotton and fires have been reported. Couldn’t find how long it takes before clothes start melting? .

 

[trecile]

Bottom line - if you want to try this only do it in your own home in your own microwave.

Don't use albergue microwave ovens for anything other than their intended use.

 

[bullingtonce]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before. Put clothes or sleep liner without metal in a microwave for 30 seconds. Kills them in all stages.

Please consider your fellow pilgrims. The sight of someone microwaving their clothes is somewhat disgusting. In addition, they will imagine that some of the clothes have not been washed. Please use other ways to deal with bedbugs; there are so many options.

 

[Marcus-UK]

Brilliant. At what point do your clothes get hot enough to ignite? Is it heat or the action of the infra-red waves that kills them? Does it kill the eggs as well? This does sound like a brilliant idea though. Thanks.

A microwave is basically a radar transmitter using a wave guide to direct the energy into the oven cavity. The whole lot is placed inside a Faraday cage which stops the energy from escaping into the kitchen and cooking the operator.
The radio frequency of the broadcast energy has an effect on Fats and Water which resonate and cause local heating to the point of sterilisation/cooking.
This effect will kill bugs, while most clothing is transparent to the broadcast RF energy. Since you are not heating up a Sunday joint, the penetration of the RF energy is fairly uniform and will only require the clothing to be moved 90 degrees or so in the cavity to ensure adequate penetration.

 

[Hiawatha]

For many decades I have collected and restored old books . Silverfish are a terrible pest when it comes to vintage papers . I microwave books to kill unseen and inaccessible larvae and eggs lodged in spines and binding crevices .
All books treated in this way ; including those that had suffered infestations have remained completely insect free.
Microwaves work by exciting water molecules , vibrating them until they boil , in any living organism this ruptures cell walls and causes death .
Even the proverbial ' Nuclear radiation proof ' cockroach will succumb to this .

 

[peregrina2000]

I remember staying in the Cornellana Albergue years ago. Two Portuguese guys thought they could dry their socks by putting them in the microwave. It burnt holes in the socks, so I’m not sure it’s a very good way to try to kill bedbugs —at least not if you want to wear the clothes afterwards.

 

[jenn1]

about

They don’t bite you?

 

[Kathor1]

I once read an article about alpine mountain huts in Germany/Austria using microwave ovens to treat hiker's sleep sacks / liners to prevent bed bug travel. So that seems to be a thing.

Definitely a thing in Alpine huts owned and managed by German and Austrian Alpine associations. 30 seconds at 600 W according to a reliable news article when these projects were started for the 2019 season; current websites for some huts say "for 1 minute" or just "obligatory" at check-in and "optional" at check-out; used for Hüttenschlafsäcke which have been obligatory for as long as I can remember and are usually liners made of cotton. Obviously done in microwave ovens dedicated for this purpose, anything else would be rated high on a scale ranging from not appropriate to not hygienic / absolutely disgusting.

 

[Anamiri]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before. Put clothes or sleep liner without metal in a microwave for 30 seconds. Kills them in all stages.

I can see this being handy so you can quickly zap enough clothes to wear, whilst you deal with the rest of your gear. Providing of course no metal zips or buttons.

 

[cbacino]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before. Put clothes or sleep liner without metal in a microwave for 30 seconds. Kills them in all stages.

Just use a clothes dryer for 30 minutes at high heat.

 

[Kanga]

As someone who oversees albergues, I can imagine it now: high-tech fabrics melted onto the inside of the microwave. Or an oven and kitchen scattered with roasted insect carcasses.
Nice. I hope someone tests this and reports back, before the Pilgrim Geniuses go to work on our microwave ovens.

It could be a lot of fun. "You said ten minutes" he said as all the smoke alarms went off and he manoeuvred the tongs to pull the smouldering wheat bag out of the microwave. "No, I didn't - I said TWO minutes".

Just last week. The kitchen still stinks.

 

[WGroleau]

Brilliant. At what point do your clothes get hot enough to ignite? Is it heat or the action of the infra-red waves that kills them? Does it kill the eggs as well? This does sound like a brilliant idea though. Thanks.

The microwaves come from a magnetron on the top or side of the cavity. Any part of the contents very close to it gets a much higher dose than the rest of the contents. The idea some have that it "cooks from the inside out" is inaccurate. The waves do penetrate, but some of the energy is absorbed as they pass through things. The denser the material, the more is absorbed. The more absorbed, the hotter that material gets. So, if the furthest stuff from the magnetron gets enough, what's close to it gets much more.

For both radiation and sound, there is the "inverse square law" saying that the intensity received is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. So if something is twice as far, it gets one-quarter of the intensity; if 3.16 times as far, it gets one-tenth of the intensity. Turn that around and … if it is one-third as far, it gets ten times as much radiation!

The moral of the story is that if you squeeze too much stuff into a microwave, synthetics will melt and cotton will burn. (And metal will possibly reflect enough radiation back into the magnetron to blow a fuse that requires disassembly to replace!)

If you think you have bugs, ask a hospitalero for help. At our place, we would loan the pilgrim some clothes and launder all of theirs at 60°C. Or you could do it yourself at a laundromat in a larger city.

 

[trecile]

If you think you have bugs, ask a hospitalero for help. At our place, we would loan the pilgrim some clothes and launder all of theirs at 60°C. Or you could do it yourself at a laundromat in a larger city.

And it's not necessary to wash the clothes in hot water, or to wash them at all before treating them with heat in a hot dryer for half an hour. Some more delicate fabrics will do better to be put into the dryer while they are dry. You can then wash and dry them according to their care label if you wish.

 

[Damien Reynolds]

All I know is I once put my socks in the microwave at an Albergue to "help" them dry. They were synthetic and they melted. I was young and foolish. A long time ago on the Camino Frances.

 

[chinacat]

All I know is I once put my socks in the microwave at an Albergue to "help" them dry. They were synthetic and they melted. I was young and foolish. A long time ago on the Camino Frances.

My mother used to put socks to ‘air‘ (dry) on top of the gas grill.
She frequently forgot they were there…

 

[Tincatinker]

My grandmother used to make “proper” toast- throw a slice of bread onto a lit gas jet or the grid over a fire; scrape off the black bits and serve.
Socks were slightly more precious

 

[chinacat]

My grandmother used to make “proper” toast- throw a slice of bread onto a lit gas jet or the grid over a fire; scrape off the black bits and serve.
Socks were slightly more precious

I remember my fingers getting hotter and hotter as I held the toasting fork close to the fire …

 

[Tincatinker]

I remember my fingers getting hotter and hotter as I held the toasting fork close to the fire …

A crumpet is ready when you can’t hold the fork anymore. First go is crispest crumpet

 

[wayfarer]

Worst case of bedbugs I've encountered.

 

[DeansFamily]

I laughed so hard!! .....brilliant!!!

 

[cbacino]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before. Put clothes or sleep liner without metal in a microwave for 30 seconds. Kills them in all stages.

Find a laundromat and use the drier at high setting, 30 minutes. Bedbugs are more likely in your sleeping bag and pack than in your clothing. I’d hate to think the mess (melting and burning) of putting fabric with synthetics in a microwave, not to mention that stuff not fitting in a microwave. Not a good idea.

 

[Former member 92300]

Overall - sounds like an idea that would probably work. That said - I would be extremely annoyed if people were putting bed bug ridden personal gear in a microwave in a communal kitchen. That is - even if the microwave DOESN'T destroy the material of whatever items you put in the microwave (picturing a nasty mess with some materials). Also - beware of metal such as zippers! I would think that using the dryer for 30 minutes on high heat would be better for the machine, the material, and definitely for the hygiene of communal kitchens/microwaves! (I am imagining someone's underwear in the microwave before I heat up my meal - GROSS!)

 

[Bristle Boy]

While I have no doubt it is an effective killer as microwaves cook/heat from the inside out I would not advise this to anyone.
To use any household appliance in a way it wasn't designed for is ill advised.
Any stray metal will produce sparks and fluff in pockets is a recipe for fire.
If anyone were to try this I would suggest checking your household insurance first and ensure it is up to date.

 

[MaryLynn]

Worst case of bedbugs I've encountered.

View attachment 133916

Now I get it

Worst case of bedbugs I've encountered.

View attachment 133916

Now I get it!!!! Love the yellow one - it's just like my '65 VW bug, only smaller!

 

[Tincatinker]

I’ve always found two of these to be very effective. Time, patience and persistence are required and accuracy around the fly-zip area but the method has a near zero power requirement

 

[chinacat]

A soggy bar of soap catches them … and might help avoid self-harm ...

 

[chinacat]

Love the yellow one - it's just like my '65 VW bug, only smaller!

Mine was the cream one …
Always wished for a yellow one …

 

[Damien Reynolds]

Mine was the cream one …
Always wished for a yellow one …

I had a teal one (1970), lowered, with a killer sound system... back in the day...

 

[dougfitz]

I had a teal one (1970), lowered, with a killer sound system... back in the day...

I had a really dodgy 1966 model in pale green in the early 80s as my get to work driver so my wife could have the 'big car' for daytime use.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Well, since this thread has been allowed to continue with VW Bugs as the new focus, I'll add a post. My boyfriend had an old 1967 pale green one before the newer bumpers came out. They were notorious in the winter for frosting up that little flat windshield on the inside even with the heater on, so I would continually use a small handled ice scraper so he could see enough to drive.

 

[Damien Reynolds]

So I got bit. F'ing last night in Muxia this year. (Like days ago) It was a nice pension. Since home I've washed and dried all my shit and treated with permithium.