Scratching That Itch

March 10, 2020 11:10 AM

“ Add all of these elements together, and you get a recipe for extreme panic. Many of Swan’s jobs start like this: It’s the middle of the night, and somewhere in Brooklyn, someone has woken up to the sting of bites or, worse, a confirmed bug sighting. And so Swan’s phone rings. If he’s up, he answers. Part of this is financial — desperate calls usually translate into work — but it’s also human decency. After ten-plus years into the business, he knows that while he can’t do anything about the infestation itself, he can make the situation less terrible. ” The Bed-Bug Whisperer Of Brooklyn
posted by The Whelk (7 comments total)

I feel that this is another thing that is getting worse because of airbnb.
posted by mumimor at 11:43 AM on March 10, 2020 [4 favorites]

There was just one problem (or, more accurately, many small ones): bed bugs were getting in from the other apartment, a rent-controlled one-bedroom that’s home to a family of five.

Swan has sprayed this apartment a handful of times over the past few years, but the infestation has never entirely gone away. The issue, he believes, is that the family is not following the proper protocol, which is extensive. It includes washing all bedding, linens, and clothing in hot water and then drying them; placing the items in garbage bags; vacuuming items that are not machine washable and putting them in sealed bins; unplugging all electronic devices; washing and vacuuming floors, carpets, moldings, electrical sockets, couches, and rugs; moving all objects away from the parameter of the room; and finally, taking apart the bed frame.

It really is intensive - and even then, you need reliable spraying. A relative of mine had bedbugs - all of the soft furniture (couch, chairs, mattresses) had to be discarded - they used air mattresses before finally finding bedbug proof covers so they could buy new regular mattresses. And then every day for months (years?), they had to bag up their sheets and pajamas for running through the dryer - it's the heat that kills the bugs. It was so much work to keep it under control - I can completely understand why a family of five living in a one-bedroom doesn't have the energy to keep it up.

I do highly recommend the encasement covers that they found, which are like the ones on this webpage. They won't stop you from getting bedbugs, but they keep the bugs out of your mattress so that you don't have to throw it out - you just get two covers for each bed and that way you can wash them without leaving the mattress unprotected. Also, they are pretty good general mattress protection, without feeling strange or rubbery under your sheet.
posted by jb at 1:34 PM on March 10, 2020 [6 favorites]

::itching::

Fascinating and engaging profile - they are both superheros in my book!
posted by esoteric things at 1:40 PM on March 10, 2020

People really do have violent reactions if you tell them that you've encountered bedbugs. I got bitten by bedbugs in a rental apartment in Granada, Spain (pre-AirBnB). Mercifully, they did not make the trip with me when I moved on to Madrid. The itching was MADDENING, and I had scratched my arms into a terrible state. I went to a pharmacy and begged for Benadryl. When I explained that I had been bitten by "chinches," the pharmacist went white as a sheet, took an involuntary step backwards, and wrinkled her nose in disgust. When I later told the story to some friends, one pulled me aside and told me, weeping, that she'd been battling bedbugs in her apartment for weeks and couldn't tell anyone and thank God now here I was, someone she could tell it to without shame.
posted by pleasant_confusion at 2:03 PM on March 10, 2020 [11 favorites]

I admit I'm a pedant, but nothing turns me away from a website like shitty editing. Or editors who don't know the difference between a parameter and a perimeter. "Through line" is not a phrase that means anything. A bequest is not the same as a request.
posted by adam hominem at 12:23 AM on March 11, 2020 [2 favorites]

One of my best buddies is an exterminator in the NYC area

Oh the stories.
posted by spitbull at 5:00 AM on March 11, 2020

I had a very mild case of bedbugs in an apartment years ago. Even having just a couple of bugs (that I think we brought in with us) and catching them very early meant a ton of work, stress, and anxiety (and the anxiety stuck with me for years). I have been thinking about bedbugs and my reaction to them a fair amount recently in the context of the Coronavirus outbreak. There’s something about a biological force spreading and growing unseen until symptoms emerge, along with the social stigma, panic, strict regimens of control and the fear of infecting others that really resonates.

I did learn a lot about bedbug lifecycles and habits. One thing that I found very helpful was putting the legs of our bed into ‘bed bug traps’ dusted with diatomaceous earth. The bugs get trapped and killed on their way to or from the bed.
posted by soy bean at 5:16 AM on March 11, 2020