This site is dedicated to assisting people dealing with bed bugs or helping others deal with bed bugs. We want to help you:

• Shorten the bed bug learning curve
• Eradicate your infestation as quickly as possible
• Help you understand why bed bugs are so difficult to kill
• Provide tools to avoid expanding the infestation to your car or workplace
• Give you tools to select a competent pest company
• Assure you that you can succeed in eradicating bed bugs from your home

It took six months and five pesticide treatments to get bed bugs out of my house."

During my infestation, I was able to work with our County Public Health, Vector Control Department to form a task force of individuals and agencies to find solutions to the growing bed bug problem in Portland, OR.

The county is now looking for ways to provide information and education in addition to resources for treatment. Since then most public housing agencies now provide excellent and responsive care for those who report bed bugs. This can include free laundry or dryer services, pest-strips, assistance with removing clutter, and treatment.

I have used nearly all of the products advertised on this site. They helped me tremendously with solving my bed bug problem. I can say that my Packtite and vapor steamer were especially useful. If you can afford one of those, I would suggest the Packtite. I wish I had gotten one sooner.

Prepping for pesticide treatment means washing and bagging everything. This is done to contain any bed bugs and/or eggs in your possessions and clothes. I put books, papers and anything I couldn't washin in giant ziplock bags (they're clear and you can heat them in the packtite, unzipped). The PCO came and sprayed pesticides all over my home. I purchased bed bug proof mattress encasement covers. They cannot get in or out of the zipper. I'm still sleeping on the same mattress, with the encasement on, almost three years later (as of this writing).

I wish I would have bought the Packtite sooner than I did. It wasn't cheap, but it immediately provided a way to kill bed bugs in shoes, paper, purses, hats, belts, jackets, backpacks, books, and other possessions you can't wash in a dishwasher or the laundry.

The first pest company I hired did not solve my problem and turned out to be a very bad choice. Don't be fooled as I was by fancy PowerPoint presentations. I used two other companies after that, one because I was able to get treatment, gratis from our management company, and the last treatment from Dave the Bug Man, who was very detailed and the last treatment I had.

I had isolated my new bed by then, laid down DE under the baseboards on top of the residuals left by the previous pest company, and caulked every baseboard crack I could see. I also had some furniture including my sofa and computer treated with Vikane in a rental truck.

In June, Sprague's bed bug sniffing dog April came to inspect and declared the house and the building's common areas clear, including my neighbor's previously infested unit, and two empty units adjoining that one. April came back in November 2009 to check my house again. All clear!

If you rely on facts and science, and do the most you can, you can get rid of bed bugs too. Information and behavior play a huge part in getting rid of bed bugs. I am a member of the newly formed Citizens Bed Bug Advisory Task Force in Multnomah County.

Our goal is to research and provide advice and education on the best practices to manage and eliminate bed bug infestations locally, but the same information can help you. That is what this site is about, helping you eliminate bed bugs from your home and your life.