Bed Bugs and Our Audio Gear and Source Material
Today I want to address the risk of exposure to bed bugs that comes from taking in used equipment. When we purchase or pick up items that have been in the homes of others, we just don't know what the conditions were in the homes that they are coming out of. There is such a stigma associated with having bed bugs that most folks will simply not tell you that they have them. Some items are coming out of estate sales and commodity auctions. What were the conditions they are leaving behind. At stores specializing in selling donated or used items, what were the conditions they are leaving behind? What is the intake treatment policy of the store, particularly regarding bed bugs? We just don't know. When you purchase from folks on CraigsList, or eBay, what were the conditions where those items are coming from? Again, we just don't know. What about items that are found out on the curb? Just WHY are they out on the curb? You get my point.
When a person comes down with bed bugs, large areas of their dwellings will have to be prep'd for treatment. Items will have to be removed from the areas being treated, and this means disposing of them, or relocating them. Also, such items will have to be treated before bringing them back into a house, or area, that has been declared clean. If items are removed from an area of the house to be treated, and simply moved to a different area of the house, there is significant risk of spreading the infestation beyond the area(s) to be treated, making treatment more difficult and more expensive.
If items are removed to storage units and companies, there is a significant risk of spreading the infestation to others. Because of this, I do NOT suggest storing your items in temperature controlled public storage units, because these are indoor storage facilities and the bugs will go searching for hosts, and move around the facility. This is simply morally wrong. If you use public storage facilities, please limit your selection to those with outside access only, via garage-type doors or regular doors, with pad locks. Also, to minimize the risk to others, you should hang bed bug certified pest strips (see below) in that storage locker, so that bugs exiting your items or packaging will be exposed to the control chemical. Don't use these strips in an indoor facility, because the volatilized chemicals will remain contained, even if they get out of your locker. In outdoor lockers, the chemicals will dissipate into the air as soon as they leave your locker.
Here is my personal experience. The back section of my house is literally filled with vintage high end Pioneer audio gear of all kinds, stacked up everywhere. I also have stacks of speakers taking up space. All of this is my personal inventory, awaiting restoration and relocating to new homes. I did not have to in my case (so far), but if I had to treat that part of my house, disposition of those items would have to be made, one way or the other. Because of the potential for getting someone else infested, I would be morally constrained from doing any of the following: giving the items away, selling them, dropping them off at recycling or Goodwill centers, or placing the items out on the curb. I am limited to personally taking these potentially infested items to the landfill, or transferring them to one or more storage units (expensive over time). Please note that others may not be as constrained as I am: mentally incompetent because of age-related degeneration or metal illness, don't much care about others, or don't really believe there is any danger to others, etc. Some folks don't even know that they have bed bugs, because they do not show reactions to their bites (about 20% or the population).
OK. So now I have some items that MAY contain bed bugs and/or their eggs. I want to continue to own them and bring them (back) into my house. How can I do that safely? That is what this post is intended to address, in addition to warning my friends here about the exposures related to new acquisitions of old/used gear.
The bed bug Achilles heel is heat. 120 degF for 30 minutes will kill all life stages, including eggs. Higher temps are effective in less time, up to 180 degF which should kill on direct contact. Steam is one way to apply heat. Another is a 30 minute dryer cycle on high heat setting. Another option is portable commodity heaters that come in various sizes and internal volumes. There are companies that will actually heat your entire house. The problem with heat is that the equipment we are concerned about, our audio gear may have problems tolerating the required heat for the time required to ensure complete heat penetration.
Another option is fumigation with Vikane gas (a gas that works very well and leaves no residue once properly aired out). There are companies that have big truck trailers set up to soak household items in Vikane gas. You can even have your whole house tented and treated. This is generally an expensive option, and not available in all areas. It is also not an option for those onsey-twosey acquisitions that you may want to treat before bringing them into your house.
There is another option that, although not fast by anyone's standards, is effective and safe, if done properly. This method is to place items in a sealed plastic bag or container, at least 2 mil thick, and drop in a bed bug certified pest strip. There are 2 kinds, and I recommend the Nuvan Pro-Strip. The other is made by Hot Shot. Your items will need to be left in the bags for 3+ weeks ( I do 6 weeks), to ensure effectiveness, longer if the temperatures are low where you store the bagged items (it's a parts per million thing). The active ingredient is DDVP (diclorvos), an unfriendly organo-phosphate, so you do not want to store the bagged items inside where you live and hang out. When the time period is up, simply open the bags, remove the items and let them air out for several hours. There will be no chemical residue left behind, as DDVP is volatilized (turns to a gas) as it leaves the pest strip. The strips are effective for 3 months, once removed from their containing package. The package of strips is zip-locked, so you can use them as you may need to, and leave the unused ones for later. Handle these with latex gloves and wash your hands after you are done.
Here is where you can get it, and it comes in volume, since it is intended for pest control professionals:
https://www.amazon.com/Nuvan-ProStr...?ie=UTF8&qid=1543614506&sr=8-1&keywords=Nuvan
Here are a couple of videos discussing the topic at hand:
Let's be careful out there,
Rich P
This is Leo the gecko and he belongs to my grandson. I'm not sure whether he has the run of the house but I know he's out of his aquarium quite a bit. This pic is from last August and I've heard he's grown quite a bit.
Kidding of course.
If we remain clean for 6 more weeks, we will be declared clean, and begin the 3-month warrantee period, during which they start all over at no extra charge if anything is detected (live bugs or bites, etc.). In 6 weeks, my music collection may be coming home. 
