AANY BLOG ~ Good Night, Sleep Tight

Frantic about the possibility of bedbugs? Contributor Kelly Moore finds them in her apartment and lives to tell about it…

My worst New York City nightmare came true.

About two weeks ago, I woke up and found a bedbug in my bathroom sink. Yes, my bathroom sink. The moment I saw, it I knew what it was.

My sister had bed bugs ten years ago before they were a nightly news story. She was sort of a bedbug “pioneer.” When she told me she had them at her apartment in Greenpoint, I didn’t understand—I thought bedbugs only existed in the saying “Don’t let the bedbugs bite.” One look at her mattress, and I knew they were very real—they were everywhere. To make a long story short: she was eaten alive in her sleep and spent a couple thousand dollars trying to get rid of them. They still wouldn’t go away, so she and her two roommates finally gave up and moved to California.

So when I saw the bug in my sink, I flipped out. I tore my bedroom apart looking for more, but I found nothing. I promptly ordered an encasement for my pillows from Amazon.com (if you need one, you should comparison shop—Sleepy’s was charging $200 for the same cover that I bought on Amazon for $80). Then I tried to forget about the whole thing.

A couple days later, I was walking my dog when I ran into the super from my building. He asked me if I have been seeing anything strange in my apartment. “WHAT, LIKE BEDBUGS?” I shouted. Yes, he said. Apparently, the lady in the apartment above me was having the exterminator come the following day to treat her place. Fabulous. I knew at that point that I was screwed.

I learned that our building (which I will not name and which is not on the bedbug registry site) has been having issues for the last couple of months. I was told that a woman on my floor had them, but she didn’t mention it to the rest of us, which I don’t think is very neighborly. She wanted to keep it quiet, which I disagree with completely. I told my neighbors right away so that they knew what was going on. I’m not ashamed—bedbugs are everywhere and there’s not a lot you can to do prevent them from coming your way.

The super advised me to catch the next one I saw and show it to him immediately. The next day I saw two on my kitchen wall. Such odd places! I put one in a plastic bag and ran to the super, who agreed with me that it was indeed a bedbug. We immediately called building management to schedule a visit with the exterminator, who showed up the next day. My husband and I sat down with him to explain the problem. I swear he didn’t believe me when I told him where I saw the bugs or that I caught them during the daytime. He had never treated an apartment without seeing the bugs first. I explained to him that I had no doubts whatsoever and that I didn’t want to wait for them to multiply, come into my bed, and bite me. We scheduled the treatment for a few days later.

In the meantime, I had to wash and dry all of my clothing, put it into heavy garbage bags, and then move it out of the apartment and into our storage unit in the basement (thank goodness we have one). Same thing for all sheets, towels, blankets—anything made of cloth. If it couldn’t go in the dryer, I had to steam it (again, good steamers at reasonable prices are on Amazon). I had to take all our books off the shelves, spray them with 91% rubbing alcohol, and bag them. All shoes needed to be sprayed with alcohol and then removed from the apartment. All our furniture had to be moved to the centers of each room. What a nightmare!

The exterminator came and spent about an hour spraying and powdering and vacuuming. He found no trace of bedbugs and still doubted whether I actually saw them or not (I did!). Now we’re just putting everything back. It’s like we moved out and moved right back in.

It was a ton of work, but obviously worth it. I ran into the lady upstairs, and she’s now free and clear too. Good stuff. And the exterminator gave me a little tip. He told me that if he goes to the movies, he sprays his seat with 91% rubbing alcohol first, which kills the bugs and their eggs. It’s a tip I’ll probably take, so if you see a crazy lady with a spray bottle in the movies, it’s probably me.