I wouldn't be worried about it unless it is upholstered. You should be able to clean up anything that is hard before bringing it into your home. Upholstered on the other hand I would stay away from. Make sure you clean all crevices etc. really good though as I think that is where they like to hide.

Good question. Any experts out there on how to make sure this will be sterile enough to bring inside? I like the beagle idea;)

I would be worried only because once you get those things in your house, it is darn near impossible to get rid of them. Is it worth the risk? Only you can answer that.

Personally, I believe that when we have second thoughts about something, it's our intuition kicking in to save us from a situation we need to avoid. I don't know about you but whenever I ignore my intuition, I always seem to regret it later.

I asked our exterminator about bedbugs - not such a big problem in our area, but seeing more than they used to. They told me a heat method is the best way to get rid of them. If you really want the bed, and if it's bothering you, I'd check with a professional, see if there is a way to treat it.

tina

unless you are taking the old mattress too, i don't think it would be an issue! i don't think i would take home anyone's old mattress, bedbugs or not...! a solid bedframe won't have bedbugs.

they are pretty easy to spot though from what i understand, so if you are taking a mattress, check it thoroughly before buying!

What Busybee3 said. :)

I actually bought a bed (NOT a mattress!) from someone on Craigslist. It was a discontinued model from Restoration Hardware that I was just mad about. I couldn't believe I actually found it on Craigslist, at half the price and less than a year old. The owner was moving into her boyfriend's house across the country.

I asked lots of questions and inspected the bed but again it was a frame not a mattress so I wasn't concerned. Plus, it was NYC so it may have felt risky but it all worked out in the end. Good luck.

bedbugs can get in wood pieces also (according to the exterminator). I forgot to add - they showed me how to look for them. It is best to do so in a dark room - using a flashlight. They used a nightstand as an example and looking inside drawers. Cracks/joints/crevices would probably be the only spots in a sleigh bed.

Let us know what you decide!!

tina

Here is a publication from NYC where the problem first got out of control.

Here is a link that might be useful: Getting Rid of Bedbugs

I would at least spray the joints with a bedbug spray.

New furniture can have bedbugs too...they get them up while on the boat or trucks.

I would think that the chance of a wood bed that has been kept in storage without a mattress or humans sleeping on it to feed off of having bed bugs would be close to zero.

Spray insecticide into the joints, then wipe it off all the exposed wood (so the finish isn't messed up). Storage units are never a sure thing because these critters (and others) do travel.

Bedbugs can live for a full YEAR without having a meal.

Bedbugs can live for a full YEAR without having a meal.

Yikes!!

My understanding is that bedbugs can be killed by heat or by freezing. This past winter, I used to make dh leave his suitcase in the car overnight when he came back from business trips, figuring if there were any hitchhikers, they'd freeze to death in the cold car.

I'd imagine that if you live somewhere with decently warm summer temps, leaving the bed in a closed car on a sunny day would fry any uninvited guests. So that's what I'd do....I don't think I'd be comfortable spraying insecticide on something I was going to sleep in for the rest of my life.

Good luck!

If you really want the bed, and if it's bothering you, I'd check with a professional, see if there is a way to treat it.

Here is a link that might be useful: petty

Petty, including a link to your soil paintings is still spamming.........

Honestly--if you really want it and are worried...there are a couple of ways to handle this...or so say the intrawebs!

1) Wrap that puppy up in black plastic(landscape plastic or big contractor's bags) and duct-tape the seams. You are creating one big black plastic garbage bag. Leave the whole shebang out in the sun on a hot day. An hour at 140F will kill them...a whole day should be a gracious plenty.

Then vacuum the heck out of the thing, just to be sure.

I learned the above technique five years ago when one of my kids had bedbugs in a summer rental. We performed that ritual on his stuff before it was allowed to come into the house...and we were fine. Now, granted...I DID have him pitch the air-mattress he'd been sleeping on...but his computer, etc we treated that way. It was fine. (Caveat--we live in NC and had a couple of days of 95+ heat--with his stuff in black plastic garbage bags I felt certain we achieved the recommended 140F.)

2) Boiling water. Recommended for small pieces of wood furniture such as stools and chairs...don't see why it wouldn't work on a bed...not sure what it would do to the finish. (You pour it on the joints and seams.)

3) One of those shark steamer things. Aim it at the joints and such. Again...not sure what would happen with the finish.

Or call an exterminator.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Thermal Kill site

Oh, don't worry ..
Just think ~
When you order a new mattress, the free take away and free delivery sounds great.
But think~
Who's take-away did they just put in the truck next to your new mattress ?

I know my mind shouldn't think this way.
But I did insist on 1st morning delivery :)

If it's not the mattress and just the frame you are looking at just disassemble the bed and look in the cracks where the pieces come together .Maybe bring some white gloves to wipe it down with. You'll be able to see if anything but dust shows up.

New or old there's no guarantee .
If the pc. has been in a bug free storage location
seems it would be safer than a showroom floor
where God knows who has been climbing on it...

My SIL works for a pest control co. After hearing all of the horror stories, I wouldn't buy anything used at this point. That said, bedbugs are showing up in new merchandise from big stores as well.

The reason bedbugs have made such a resurgance is because the FDA has taken the chemical used to treat for them off of the market. The only way pest control companies can eradicate them at this point is to heat the entire home to 180 degrees for period of time, like 60 minutes. That is what is being done now to get rid of the bugs.

Personally, I wouldn't want my entire home heated to that temp as it would likely dry out any wood (including the hardwood floors throughout) as well as all of the antique pieces we've inherited over the years.

I think I would take a pass. JMHO not worth the risk.

Thanks everyone for all the great advice. And yes, all of the things several of you mentioned (the fact that they are practically impossible to get rid of, that they can live for a year without a meal, that they hide in furniture and not just mattresses, etc) - all of those things are why I was worried in the first place. Palimpsest, your brochure was the catalyst I needed and the info I was really searching for.

Everyone on this forum is always buying stuff from CL and I've never seen anyone mention bedbugs before, so I didn't know if maybe I am just super OCD or crazy or what.

This is the show I watched last year sometime that started my paranoia. Didn't help that the people in the show lived in NJ, either! And for sure, if I ever buy a house, you better believe having a bedbug inspection will be part of the deal. Ugh. If you're interested in knowing more about bed bugs or just skeeving yourself out for fun like me, you should try to watch it if you can. It's a really good episode that illustrates just how hard it is to get rid of them. Pretty horrifying, actually.

I also found a website last night with good info and even better photos of what to look for. Grody-matoady! Bedbugger Website

Several photos of bed bug evidence on a bedframe

So....did you get the bed? If so, pictures?

same here...I want to at least see the CL ad to see the bed...I wouldn't be worried about the bed-bug issue so much.

So, I went ahead and took a chance. Armed with a flashlight and a playing card, I drove to look at the bed that night. (And it's just the frame, not any mattresses, btw.)

It was so gorgeous and so cheap, I ignored my paranoia and bought the darn thing. (I DID peek briefly into the cracks with a flashlight and run the playing card between any seams.)

And really, you'd have to be a pretty horrible person to sell a bed to someone, knowing that you had had bedbugs, right? Of course, I guess it's always possible that you can have them and not know.

The bed is still outside. I spent a lot of time that first night running out there with a flashlight every so often, inspecting, inspecting, inspecting. Maybe I AM a crazy person! But so far, it seems to be bug-free.

And to top it off, the lady told me that she was surprised that she had gotten so many calls about the bed, because she thought that sleigh beds were out of style these days. Great - now I have something else to be paranoid about. Are sleigh beds "out"?

Whatever, I still love it.

I'll post some pics later on today. Thanks!

OK - here they are. Not the greatest pics, but you get the idea.

Very pretty bed! Congratulations!

Of course, you now have me paranoid about some antique walnut chairs I bought on Etsy that are being delivered next week-lol.

Anyway, enjoy that bed-it really is lovely and I hope you post pics of it in your room al set up!

It is a lovely bed and I'm glad you took the risk. I would still spray the cracks though with bedbug spray in case there's a stray egg.

That won't go out of style. If it does, you'll just be better than everyone else.

Now go to the library and check out "King Rat".

I would not waste my money on bed bug spray.

From what was explained to us, the treatment is safe for furniture, etc. I'm not quite sure how it is done though.

It's a lovely bed and I would think timeless. You like it, don't worry about it!!

tina

Nice bed! I have a King just like it - or at least I think I do - the small rope trim and the little emblem look just like mine.

Should we be concerned about bed bugs in beds only, or ANY wood piece. Do the little critters leave the beds and go into other room? Just curious.

Tuesday

Coming out of lurkerdom to say I don't think you can be too paranoid about bedbugs! I know someone who ended up with bedbugs, and what she had to go through to get rid of them was time-consuming and expensive. The costs involved in just a very small apartment were in the thousands of dollars. She had to wash all of her clothes, pack up her other stuff to have it specially-treated, and then also had to be out of the apartment for a day or so while they treated the walls/baseboards and furniture that couldn't be moved out. Those little buggers are very, very, VERY hard to kill. You can't just spray a can of Raid and call it a day....

And yes, they can show up in any piece of furniture or clothing. For awhile they were far more prevalent in just the NY area, but they are showing up all over the place now. :(

Jenswrens, That is a gorgeous bed in style and color and was worth taking a chance? Please post pics when it is put together.