Bedbug Epidemic here in NYC

[MrMachine]

Any of you guys getting customers coming in to wash all their laundry due to bedbugs?

There is a bedbug epidemic here in NYC, and we are getting people coming in with big loads to dry only. That's because they know that heat over 130 degrees will kill bedbugs.
I would love to advertise that we can kill bedbugs in our HOT commercial dryers, but I risk freaking out all the other customers.
Plus, I'm getting worried that I'm going to accidentally bring them home myself, those little buggers, ha!

Sleep tight......Don't let the bedbegs bite, lol....

[Adamski]

Paul,

Wouldn't you think that a customer who is trying to rid his laundry of bed bugs would want to wash and dry everything for best results? To bring everything in and then merely dry it sounds ridiculous to me. I mean, like ... what about the bed bug poop? There's that word again. Does the poop shake out in the dryer? I doubt it.

If we had an infestation around here, which we don't; I'd consider putting up a 2' x 3' sign that says something like: "BED BUGS? SEE ATTENDANT FOR HELP." Then I'd have a printed sheet with wash/dry recommendations to give to anyone who inquired about the problem. If it made sense, I might even label a few front load washers specifically for handling bed bugs. I'd do this until the general bed bug issue dies down.

[MrMachine]

Paul,

Wouldn't you think that a customer who is trying to rid his laundry of bed bugs would want to wash and dry everything for best results? To bring everything in and then merely dry it sounds ridiculous to me. I mean, like ... what about the bed bug poop? There's that word again. Does the poop shake out in the dryer? I doubt it.

If we had an infestation around here, which we don't; I'd consider putting up a 2' x 3' sign that says something like: "BED BUGS? SEE ATTENDANT FOR HELP." Then I'd have a printed sheet with wash/dry recommendations to give to anyone who inquired about the problem. If it made sense, I might even label a few front load washers specifically for handling bed bugs. I'd do this until the general bed bug issue dies down.

Larry,

Not only that, but what about the eggs?
The only thing I can figure as to why some people don't wash as well as dry is because of the extra expense. Many of these people are not regular laundromat customers, so I guess if they are bringing everything in they want to cut corners. I do know that some bedbug info states that hot dryers will kill bedbugs. They don't often mention washing.
I had a woman yesterday who just dried, and she loaded all her bed linens into one dryer! I told her she won't get the heat to all the bedbugs. She said she did it before. So I said if you spread them out, you might not have to do it again. That advice fell on deaf ears.

I'm thinking that a more subtle way of promoting bedbug removal is to advertise that our dryers are HOT at 180 degrees.

[kees]

I'm getting itchy.

Suzy
:cool:

[Adamski]

... Not only that, but what about the eggs?

Paul,

I know ... send the eggs to Suzy!

[kees]

Paul,

I know ... send the eggs to Suzy!

Now I'm scratching! My 7 year old daughter would call you a "meanie bikini"!

Suzy
:cool:

[mmurra]

I would want to avoid the whole thing by telling the customer that my competition is the "bed bug laundry". Mark

[Adamski]

Guys,

I vaguely remember reading an article about a dump of a laundromat that had wood tables with laminated top and edge surfaces. The tables were in bad shape with cracked and broken laminate. The resulting exposure of the raw wood allowed for decay and over time, holes formed within these raw surfaces.

Well, as luck would have it, a customer who had bed bugs threw his clothes on one of those decaying tables. Some of the bed bugs crawled out of the laundry and sought shelter in the dark crevices of the table's edge. Later, when a different customer was folding on that table; the bed bugs would come out and get into this customer's laundry. The end result was an entire neighborhood was becoming contaminated with bed bugs.

So, if your laundromat is in the New York area and you have damaged tables beware of this potential problem. On the other hand, I just wanted to make Suzy itch some more.

[MrMachine]

Guys,

I vaguely remember reading an article about a dump of a laundromat that had wood tables with laminated top and edge surfaces. The tables were in bad shape with cracked and broken laminate. The resulting exposure of the raw wood allowed for decay and over time, holes formed within these raw surfaces.

Well, as luck would have it, a customer who had bed bugs threw his clothes on one of those decaying tables. Some of the bed bugs crawled out of the laundry and sought shelter in the dark crevices of the table's edge. Later, when a different customer was folding on that table; the bed bugs would come out and get into this customer's laundry. The end result was an entire neighborhood was becoming contaminated with bed bugs.

So, if your laundromat is in the New York area and you have damaged tables beware of this potential problem. On the other hand, I just wanted to make Suzy itch some more.

Larry,

It's not just NY. Coming soon to a City near you....BEDBUGS!
They're just itchin to get ya!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/25/eveningnews/main6805735.shtml

[SonomaJoe]

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/08/20/dont-let-the-bed-bugs-bite/

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/b/bedbugs/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=bed%20bugs&st=cse

[michelleA]

You can use heat 120 degrees to kill them. Or freeze them to death.