tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post8711192014240252727..comments2023-04-03T08:08:53.677-05:00Comments on The War on Bedbugs: Caulk, caulk, caulk!Frankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00847310369699411544noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-7587360671988807602008-11-06T09:56:00.000-05:002008-11-06T09:56:00.000-05:00Hi, thanks to everyone for the posts. I'm moving f...Hi, thanks to everyone for the posts. I'm moving from an infested apt, which has been treated and will be treated again (so far no bites), and wanted to save my wooden furniture. I had thought I would use wood filler and polyurethane, so I was glad to see your post. But have you tried it? Will it definitely kill everything?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-36898156066224400982007-09-24T18:39:00.000-05:002007-09-24T18:39:00.000-05:00Hi Frank!It took me a long time to see these comme...Hi Frank!<BR/><BR/>It took me a long time to see these comments. I just want to clarify that the DDT thread on Bedbugger.com was not closed because of the heated nature of debate. It could have been, but wasn't. I ended it like this:<BR/><BR/>"Nobody's in trouble, everyone's okay, right? Maybe the pied piper will help us "move on." get it? ;-)<BR/><BR/>I am closing this thread because it's gotten pretty long (did anyone else hate clicking for page 2, or am I just lazy?) and Bugalina asked me to. You can talk about DDT again when you're inclined, but just start a new thread."<BR/><BR/>Yes, there was an uncivil tone which people were asked not to engage in. But the thread had also gone from being about the issue to being about how the issue was being discussed. So I did ask people to start a new thread if they wanted to say something more about DDT. No one took me up on it.<BR/><BR/>I think that's a good thing, and I think you're right that peoples' passions about DDT get in the way of a factual discussion. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, I hope you are not thinking much about bed bugs now, and are enjoying life thoroughly. We often refer people to this site, especially your wonderful advice on caulking.<BR/><BR/>Any suggestions for something that can be used to seal the spaces around heating pipes? <BR/><BR/>thanks again,<BR/>nobugsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-51402039239736943392007-06-12T13:14:00.000-05:002007-06-12T13:14:00.000-05:00Nyjammin,You do need to do the whole floor. Polyur...Nyjammin,<BR/><BR/>You do need to do the whole floor. Polyurethane is like paint, it forms a durable coating and consequently covers all the small cracks. There are oil-based and water-based urethane. Oil-based urethane is more durable, but has strong odor that could last for days or even weeks. You can do one room at a time. <BR/><BR/>For wood filler manufacturer, it is better to ask your local hardware store. But be sure to get one that matches the color of your floor. <BR/><BR/>FrankFrankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00847310369699411544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-29839908655193583712007-06-11T11:50:00.000-05:002007-06-11T11:50:00.000-05:00Frank, so I don't have to polyurethane the whole f...Frank, so I don't have to polyurethane the whole floor just the cracks? Can you please give a manufacturer who makes wood filler or do I just go to the hardware store and would they know? Thanks.nyjamminhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16631036250239400787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-12125173632073772052007-06-11T08:12:00.000-05:002007-06-11T08:12:00.000-05:00Nyjammin, I would recommend wood filler and Polyur...Nyjammin, <BR/><BR/>I would recommend wood filler and Polyurethane for wood floor. Fill the big gaps with wood filler first, and then cover the small ones with Polyurethane. <BR/><BR/>I almost used latex caulking exclusively. The only place that you might want to use silicone caulking is the kitchen and the bathroom, since silicone withstands extreme temperature better than latex. <BR/><BR/>For windowsills, I used clear latex caulking. It becomes almost invisible once dried.<BR/><BR/>FrankFrankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00847310369699411544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-55871198736438150512007-06-09T15:35:00.000-05:002007-06-09T15:35:00.000-05:00Frank, what kind of caulking did you use. I used ...Frank, what kind of caulking did you use. I used the silicone caulking, clear and it takes almost 2 days to dry. I did the metal bedframes and I also did parts of my wood floors but the caulk dries to a rubbery hard and I want something less rubbery. My wood floors became sticky when I tried to caulk them. I was wondering what do I use on them? Polyurethane is so much work done by myself (my whole 2 bedroom apartment has wood floors) and too expensive to have someone else do it. What do you recommend for caulking around window sills, etc. Thank you.nyjamminhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16631036250239400787noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-27424415306479136592007-04-23T14:10:00.000-05:002007-04-23T14:10:00.000-05:00Frank, thanks for referring me to the blog on DDT....Frank, thanks for referring me to the blog on DDT. I want to apologize for I did not even realize that there were arguments so drastic about DDT that an actual web site had to be closed. But, sometimes people need to fight for the good of the people. Sometimes fighting solves and educates people. I mean fighting without violence or obsenities is healthy. People should not insult or judge anyone. We are all in this together, trying to fight one cause.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-45903820506964952282007-04-23T10:22:00.000-05:002007-04-23T10:22:00.000-05:00nyjammin,Correct me if I am wrong, but I think the...nyjammin,<BR/><BR/>Correct me if I am wrong, but I think the old pesticide that you referred to was DDT.<BR/><BR/>There was discussion about DDT that led to personal attack on the Yahoo Bedbugger message board in the past, and that was the reason why the board is being censored. There was heated argument about DDT on www.bedbugger.com recently, and the site owner had to close the thread. <BR/><BR/>I totally understand some people's desire to find a quick and easy solution to this bedbug epidemic, but it becomes dangerous when they get so obsessed with their own conclusion that is based on personal opinion and preference, while ignoring all the facts and experts' advice, since any inaccurate information will only mislead others and make a bad situation worse. <BR/><BR/>I have no intention to start another discussion about DDT here. You can see this latest discussion on Bedbugger yourself: <A HREF="http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/53" REL="nofollow">http://bedbugger.com/forum/topic/53</A><BR/><BR/>I might talk about DDT briefly in my next post on heat and cold treatment. For the time being, just keep in mind that while there has been controversy over DDT's side effects, there has been no controversy over DDT resistance. That is a fact. <BR/><BR/>By the way, without education and knowledge, we wouldn't have had DDT in the first place. And had we had some knowledge and education about pesticide resistance, we wouldn't have used DDT the way we did, and it might have remained a very effective pesticide today. <BR/><BR/>FrankFrankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00847310369699411544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-52109263977560249802007-04-22T17:31:00.000-05:002007-04-22T17:31:00.000-05:00This is nyjammin. Hello, Frank. I have questions...This is nyjammin. Hello, Frank. I have questions and comments. First of all, how did our ancestors dispose of bedbugs? Do you think that they had vacuums and steam cleaning and did they double-bag everything? I think not. Poor people used to sweep everything and vacuuming was only for people who had wealth. What about washers and dryers? Did our mothers and fathers have those? Probably not. We have so much new technology these days that we are using and the bedbugs still come back. I believe we need pesticides that were used from the 1950s until they were "outlawed" in the 1970s. We need to douse these little critters in poison. I truly believe that is our answer. We need to bring back older pesticides that actually work and we need to exterminate our houses every month until there are no more. I have no facts, but this is my opinion. Do you think that our mothers and fathers had alot of education like we do. I do not think so. A lot of us are first generation high school and college grads. So, with our mothers and fathers so uneducated and having limited technology, how did these little critters almost disappear? The government needs to get involved and only then, I believe, will these bugs begone us.<BR/>Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-9965522201630538882007-02-26T07:56:00.000-05:002007-02-26T07:56:00.000-05:00One last thing that I would like to add is that, j...One last thing that I would like to add is that, just because I suggested the use of boiling water as an alternative measure, does not mean that you should start pouring boiling water on everything, because it could potentially injure yourself, damage the item, and excess humidity could lead to other problems such as dust mite and mold growth, and provide hospitable environment for many pests.Frankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00847310369699411544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-64497519961454503222007-02-24T08:02:00.000-05:002007-02-24T08:02:00.000-05:00Anonymous said... Ok, figured it out.Can you pleas...<I>Anonymous said... <BR/>Ok, figured it out.<BR/>Can you please explain how boiling water works to combat bed bugs while also caulking? Thank you.</I><BR/><BR/>I have answered your question on <A HREF="http://bedbugger.wordpress.com/" REL="nofollow">http://bedbugger.wordpress.com</A>, as copied below:<BR/><BR/>Sorry to cause you confusion. The use of boiling water has nothing to do with caulking, I was only suggesting it as another alternative control measure. <BR/><BR/>Heat treatment may be more effective than we originally thought. According to some recent experiments by Dr. Michael Potter, both washing and drying on hot settings killed all stages of bedbugs. In his experiment, it only took five minutes to kill all the bedbugs in a clothes dryer at 175 degrees Fahrenheit. But this is only one single experiment, some individuals may be more resistant to heat than others. Just to be on the safe side, I would suggest you to do a full dry cycle. <BR/><BR/>The thermal death point for bedbugs is 45 degrees Celsius, and the temperature of boiling water is 100 degrees Celsius. Therefore, in my opinion, boiling water is more lethal than any pesticides, but of course, it has limited applications. I used it on my chair and vacuum cleaner. You may even use it to treat your furniture and bed frame, but don't use it on anything expensive, especially the outside surface, since it might cause damage to the finish.<BR/><BR/>FrankFrankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00847310369699411544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-21599156008836175672007-02-23T20:12:00.000-05:002007-02-23T20:12:00.000-05:00Ok, figured it out.Can you please explain how boil...Ok, figured it out.<BR/>Can you please explain how boiling water works to combat bed bugs while also caulking? Thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35619182.post-20936767035870771202007-02-22T22:34:00.000-05:002007-02-22T22:34:00.000-05:00Very comprehensive! Nice work!Very comprehensive! Nice work!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com