Popcorn Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 A completley un-related chicken topic, which I have been suffering with for some time, and have not found any answers. Thought I'd ask you lot I'm having terrible sleepless nights as I think I have some sort of beg bug living in my matress that bites me in the night. More often than not I was getting up once or twice in the night, as I had the feeling I was being bitten, to pull back all the bed covers and check the mattress for signs of life. No actual signs of life found, but I did find, and have been finding them regularly ever since, sharp bits of splintered wood sticking up out of the mattress. I have no idea where they come from, or how they get there. I've done everything I can to my mattress to make it bug free, (sprays, beatings, vacuuming, twice weekly changes) and yet I'm still woken up in the night from scratching my legs on these splinters. They never appear in the same place twice either. Does anyone know of any sort of bed bug that moves bits of splintered wood around inside a mattress (how ridiculas does that sound) that I might be suffering with. I'm at a complete loss, and am feeling like I'm going crazy as my husband never feels anything! I've now taken to sleeping ontop of two thick towels ontop of the mattress so I don't feel the scratches Am I going mad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Bed bugs would cause little red bite marks to appear or small spots of blood on your sheets. Not that I've had them but I grew up in a wonderful area where half the class was regularly getting fumigated etc It might be there's some stuctural damage to your matteress and there's wood in there caught in the stuffing .Sounds to me like you need a new mattress either way : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted July 18, 2005 Author Share Posted July 18, 2005 Looks like I'd better blow the cobwebs off my purse then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Are you sure it's splinters of wood Gina? - not stuff like horsehair? They can be irritating but I didn't think manufacturers still used anything like horsehair It's not a mattress that's been passed down through the family is it ? You could buy one of the mattress toppers you can get now - cheaper than buying a new mattress.. There is one on Sky shopping channels which is apparently very good. A colleague at work has one but I couldn't get one as our bed is 6'6" square and the cost was too prohibitive! If you can't sleep Gina - you can always interpret some more of my dreams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Ikea sell mattress toppers quite reasonably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted July 18, 2005 Author Share Posted July 18, 2005 Good idea. The mattress is only 3 years old, and we paid good money for it, so I'm not sure what it is! With it being fairly new, I shouldn't imagine that they used horsehair anymore. It's quite alarming in the middle of night when it wakes you up though! I had visions of something like army ants moving stuff around in the mattress. I needed an excuse to go to Ikea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 I get bitten by houseflies at night if we've had the windows open all day I usually try to sleep with a sheet to cover me but it's been too hot and I've been bitten. Perhaps it's those and not bedbugs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyndz Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 gggrrrr!! i hate them flies! i have to have my window open else it gets too stuffy but i always wake up with some bites anyway, i hope you solve the mattress mystery bedbugs, wood splinters or horsehair!! L xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Would be a good idea to turn the mattress over before you put on the protection sheet. If nothing else, the splinter things will have to work their way up again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 I have an upholterer friend and I was bending her ear the other day about an old chaise I've just bought that needs recovering. She said that she can get horsehair if the stuffing needs some TLC or else they do a modern (presumably synthetic) alternative though I don't know what it is. I didn't ask but I suspect horsehair is more expensive. Hope you get the matress problem sorted soon Gina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motherhen Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 If you think you may have any sort of creepy crawly in the mattress, you can get rid of it by using a household steam cleaner on the mattress. If not, try using a steam iron - it will just take a bit longer and the mattress will be a little damper so will need properly airing. Add a topper or mattress cover and problem should be solved. Probably worth steaming top, bottom and sides of mattress to be thorough. Also wash all bedding at at least 60 degrees C and duvet as hot as it will take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 The horsehair alternative is coconut coir (like doormats) I used to do upholstery classes You can get horsehair my teacher used to buy really old matresses and wash the stuffing in a pillow case to clean it and then use it. Incidentaly bed bugs don't actually live iin the bed but they hide behind the wallpaper in old houses and come out at night to feed a bit like the red spider mite does with the chooks - yuk yuk yuk So I doubt that is the problem unless the wallpaper is really really old. I get eaten alive and where I am is midge heaven this year so if windows are open I get mobbed by them. I react very badly so other people also getting bitten as much don't show it so I expect you are not alone in the bites you are just a sensitive soul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna 1 Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 You could also try putting some cotton wool pads with lavender and tea-tree oil on them under your mattress protector. The smell is soothing for you but the bed bugs are sure to hate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted July 19, 2005 Author Share Posted July 19, 2005 Some good tips there guys - thanks Strangely - I've been turning the mattress nearly everyday (you can see how this is getting to me) and there are still splinters. I was chatting to my hubby about it last night, and he thinks that the splinters may be coming from the wooden battens that the mattress lies on, so even though I am turning it, the splinters will always be there. Going to have a thorough look tonight. Then if I need to, I will steam, wash, beat, turn, cover, jump up and down on screaming, before I go out a buy a new mattress I can handle splinters actually - it was just the thought that something was living inside it. No bite marks at all on us. Phew! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted July 19, 2005 Author Share Posted July 19, 2005 You could also try putting some cotton wool pads with lavender and tea-tree oil on them under your mattress protector. The smell is soothing for you but the bed bugs are sure to hate it! I like the idea of this Anna. I sprinkle lavendar oil on the pillows at night too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Thanks folks I hadn't thought of those topper things a great idea. I had a fright with things in the bed the other night too, turned out to be a cat claw. Every so often when they sharpen their claws the old tip comes off, like a hollow cone, exposing new nail underneath. They can be a bit sharp, especially when the stab your tender bits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna 1 Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Mmmm lavender - LOVE it. There's a great place in Winchester called Long Barn who make the yummiest lavender products including a big galss bottle of linen water which I put directly into my iron to iron all my sheets with. They smell really lovely. And don't get me started on tea-tree. I use it for EVERYTHING... I suspect I'm a bit of a 1940s housewife too (when I have the time) as I like doing things the old-fashioned way too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted July 20, 2005 Author Share Posted July 20, 2005 Anna, my husband takes the rise of out me with teatree too He says to me in his most poshest 'advertising' voise... "Teatree, 1001 uses" I use it for everything too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna 1 Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Husbands! Who'd have them???!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted July 20, 2005 Author Share Posted July 20, 2005 Give me chickens anyday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna 1 Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 At least you can keep chickens outside and they don't answer back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted July 20, 2005 Author Share Posted July 20, 2005 I'm not so sure about the answering back Anna. My chooks give it a good go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna 1 Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 True, very true! Mine are pretty vocal too - although the MOTH is definitely more so - especially when viewing items such as credit card and utility bills... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted July 20, 2005 Author Share Posted July 20, 2005 Oh, yes. Wouldn't it be a much more pleasureable experinence if you could take the chooks shopping instead. I'm sure they wouldn't remark on the price of handbags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
