BCBedBugExpert: You say DE is a health “hazard”, then you brag about how your version of DE is NOT edible, thus more toxic? So it is okay for him to use DE as long as it is your more toxic version? So the one you can get for cheap at home depot is both “dangerous” for humans and “ineffective” for bedbugs at the same time? But using your more toxic version is fine?
“If this powder works like people think then all heat treatment and pest control companies would be out of business when dealing with bed bugs”
Totally false.
That is like saying if baking soda worked so well cleaning a tub, then Lysol would be out of business. Or if ikea furniture is so great, then Ethan Allen would be out of business. Utterly ridiculous. There are always people willing to overpay for stuff they could easily do themselves. If you can fool them into thinking they need it.
For example, there was a lice breakout at my kids school. They had an “expert” company come in and for $150-$300 per kid, they would de-lice the child’s head. They put out scary pamphlets about how if you DIY with conditioner and a fine comb you may not get it all etc, etc. Many parents that used these “experts” and good for them spending hundreds, when we spent $12 on a lice comb and did it ourselves, no chemicals no $150 per head. And we got it all, just like we got all the bedbugs with the diatomaceous earth.
“there is no chemical that can kill a bed bug egg”
Correct, however once it hatches and goes through DE, it will dry out and die like the adults. It takes a while but it worked for us and the extra time was totally worth saving $2000 to $4000 bucks. There is nothing wrong with him going to Home Depot and trying it out as a first step. There is a high probability it will work. And if he is in the 5-10% where it does not, he can call the guy Lawrence mentioned above as a second step.
Your only useful suggestion is heat treatment, which costs $2000 per room. No one should resort to something like that as a first step, when he may not even have bedbugs in the first place. Dayenu with these irrelevant details about eggs and chemicals!
The poor guy is in a panic, and all the naysaying about a perfectly safe and cheap product like DE that he can get at Walmart or Home Depot are no doubt causing him more panic. If he wants to DIY with DE he should, so stop naysaying and conflating the issue, it’s rude.