Records and Bed Bugs

RAJ

Tenacious Local
Staff member
May 5, 2025
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So my wife's cousin has bed bugs and the exterminator said they most likely got them from bringing in old records.

Does any one have any vinyl / bed bug stories or can vouch for the validity of this?
 
there's only one way to solve the problem:





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joking!





I've never heard of bed bugs traveling via records, and I did some research back during the Great Bed Bug Scare in NYC (2005 - present?). I guess theoretically they could get into the record covers and whatnot, but since they feed on people they tend to live by their hosts, so usually bed, clothes and furniture you sit on.





to bring them in via records seems like a real stretch, unless he recently scored a collection from some mangy person who slept on top of his collection. Probably picked them up from visiting a place that was infested (like a crappy hotel or shady whorehouse), or they could've come over from his neighbors depending on where he lives, or via house guests.
 
That sounds odd. Anyone bring any used furniture into the house recently or travel? That's more of the chance.





I guess there is the chance if records have been store somewhere that was infested like in a garage. Look inside the record covers for any small black dots. That's a sign...





I had a problem years ago when a roommate took a couch from someone who was storing it in the garage (I never except used shit from anyone now unless it's been thoroughly inspected). Now anywhere I travel I always look at the wood (And any mattresses) in a room for small black dots. Once came across it while in Japan and broke the fuck out.





Shit will look like this








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I've had over a million records pass through my NYC doors over the years and am pretty sure that none of them had bed bugs - I've definitely never seen signs of them.





Possible, but unlikely I would say.
 
Before doing any additional research, you might want to check out the exterminator's bona fides. Just sayin'.





arachnophobia2.jpg
 
This could be a new hustle.





1. Rent exterminator costume


2. Go door-to-door with a concerned demeanor


3. Stack raer!
 
Herm said:This could be a new hustle.





1. Rent exterminator costume


2. Go door-to-door with a concerned demeanor


3. Stack raer!




!!!
 
I saw my first bed bug in Ceasar's in Windsor the other day. Now I'm afraid that everything has bed bugs.
 
At my old place I had silverfish and the exterminator blamed them on the records. It's just a cop out because they couldn't fix the problem. I recently moved across country and didn't see any while packing up my records and now in my spot for 8 months haven't seen one silverfish.
 
Theoretically, it's possible, but not particularly probably. I've had bedbugs (and yes, it was in NYC), and while for us it turned out that the building was infested so they just moved from apartment to apartment, all of the resources we checked had second-hand furniture, hotels, and clothing as the most likely carriers. They need to have their possessions gassed post-hatse. That was the only solution that worked for us.
 
Just picked up a collection that was laid out next to a mattress that displayed tell-tale signs. I am being EXTREMELY careful inspecting every jacket and inner sleeve.





I had a scare in my apartment a couple months back (turned out to be a dead German Cockroach) the exterminator was really informative. Basically, the only time you should ever worry about bed bugs in records is if they're stored next to a bed for a long time (see above, maybe). Bed bugs are attracted to your sleeptime exhalations, they can smell it from far away. They wait until you are asleep, and do not generally move around in the light. If you were to bring one in on your shoe, or bag, or what have you, it would travel the length of your place until it found the bed, sometimes taking weeks. Singular minded and smart little bastards. All of which is to say, they are not just going to be hiding out in some records. They are really about that bed life. They don't eat or live in cardboard (like some other household pests).
 
Jonny_Paycheck said:They are really about that bed life.




while very much a true statement, I regrettably can inform people that in many instances they do not live in beds at all. Depending on where your bed is located in the room, they can live very comfortably near the bed and do all their harm at night, without any signs of actually living in the bed.





I unfortunately can attest to the fact that exposed brick (and the various crevices that exist in walls) is a popular hangout for these bastards. Also, bed boards and other furniture near your bed is another place they enjoy to stay.





lastly - sleep tight in knowing that these bastards can live for up to 12-18months without feeding on you. So even when you think you solved a problem (and spent $ thousands trying to do so), they can just as easily chill out for a year and come back to haunt you again.





very good idea to be vigilant in looking out before you score a bunch of records from a place that might have bed bugs. I'd gladly pass up a Skull Snaps if it meant not having to live with the plight of these bugs - not worth it.
 
jlee said:they can live very comfortably near the bed and do all their harm at night




are you saying they only come out at night


the lean and hungry type?
 
Come on, knock this shit off, it makes me feel itchy.

Yeah, this has me buggin!





Really though, I am about to move. And my records have been stored in a former, empty barn hey loft. This has me thinking I should quarantine them before letting back inside. Yikes
 
CratesGatsby said:
Come on, knock this shit off, it makes me feel itchy.

Yeah, this has me buggin!





Really though, I am about to move. And my records have been stored in a former, empty barn hey loft. This has me thinking I should quarantine them before letting back inside. Yikes




You really don't have to worry about bed bugs if they were in an unoccupied hay loft. Now black widow spiders...
 
DB_Cooper said:You really don't have to worry about bed bugs if they were in an unoccupied hay loft. Now black widow spiders...




even more dangerous is if those black widows mate with an aggressive new species of spider brought over from the tropics inside the coffin of your old entomologist neighbor.
 
jlee said:Jonny_Paycheck said:They are really about that bed life.




while very much a true statement, I regrettably can inform people that in many instances they do not live in beds at all. Depending on where your bed is located in the room, they can live very comfortably near the bed and do all their harm at night, without any signs of actually living in the bed.





I unfortunately can attest to the fact that exposed brick (and the various crevices that exist in walls) is a popular hangout for these bastards. Also, bed boards and other furniture near your bed is another place they enjoy to stay.







that's right, I didn't mean to say that they're only in beds - just that they're gonna be in that neighborhood. They're not gonna go hang out in the record room.





I'd gladly pass up a Skull Snaps if it meant not having to live with the plight of these bugs - not worth it.




Then you are not a true fiend! :zooted: