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Basil Hallward's avatar

Get your hairdryer out. I'm serious, these little bloodsuckers are killed by temperatures above 60 centigrade (about 140 f) so set your dryer to the hottest temperature which will be about 70 C and go all over the mattress, both sides, especially around and seams or piping where the buggers like to hide. Go closer with the dryer than you would when drying hair but not so close that the dryer will overheat. About 3 inches will be OK I think.

Obviously it's best to get professional pest control in but this is not always possible (are bedbug eradicators exempt from lockdowns?) so I can tell you the hairdryer technique works in my family's Mediterranean apartments which are rented out in summer so mattresses have to be debugged regularly. Check that temperature though, if you have a thermometer put the hairdryer on it for a few minutes and make sure it gets above 60C

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