I was plagued by bed bugs but got rid of them for good in three steps – my Amazon buy saved the day
A CALIFORNIAN who suffered from a plague of bed bugs has found herself in the unusual position of offering advice to others in repelling the unpleasant invaders.
After being the victim of these bloodthirsty visitors, she shared her experience with her TikTok followers.
She was clearly one of many suffering the ordeal of these beasties, including this viewer, who made a plea.
“How do you know you have bed bugs and what’s the process of getting rid of them?” they asked Aly Kima (@alykima), who has 147,000 followers.
She was surprised to find herself in the role of bug buster, but she had learned a few things from her experience.
“I never thought my page would become a bed bug awareness channel, but here we are,” she said.
“Three things I did to finally get rid of bed bugs,” she began her post.
The first step, call in the professionals: “I know you don’t want to hear it, I know it’s expensive.”
Not just any professional either. This problem required proper focus, she wrote.
“Choose a company that specializes in bed bugs and not just general pests.
“One that treats with heat and not chemicals. Heat treatment is preferred over chemicals because it kills them instantly.”
Aly had learned the hard way that chemical treatments were not effective quickly enough: “I was basically human bait for another two weeks.”
The second step was to be consistent in the treatment and post-care instructions.
“Every week I would strip my bed and throw everything in the dryer.”
She also recommended Ortho Killer from Amazon for $14.08: “I’d spray my bed down with [it].”
Finally, don’t get casual – you have to stay on top of the problem, said Aly.
“Stay vigilant. You should be using white sheets to look for residue and also be looking out for bites.
“I kept a log of every bite that I got, the location of it, what it felt like, how long it took to heal.”
In a hopeful sign-off, she said: “Praying this never happens to anyone else. Stay safe.”
Her post unleashed some horror stories from commenters, including this person: “Lift up the mattress, that’s what I did and found their nest. I felt so disgusted.”
Another said: “I ended up finding a company that made a cover you put over your bed so they would be trapped there.
“Seriously I hear you, babe. F*cking traumatic.”
There was some advice from this person: “Hoover the bed a couple of times a day and sleep elsewhere for four weeks.”