Steri-fab

Steri-fab is a liquid spray used to kill off bed bugs. It's a good option if you want something portable that you can take with you when traveling, because you can spray all around the bed you're sleeping in and it won't leave an odor or a stain. It's not so great if you've got a problem in your own house. True, it can give you some relief from the biting. But it isn't a good long-term solution because it won't kill them all, and they can sit and wait for months at a time before they have to come out and feed. It also can't kill the eggs, so even if you somehow managed to knock off all the adults, you'd still have an infestation. That's not to say it's not a useful product - just that it's not a long-term substitute for an exterminator.

Sterifab's ingredients are mainly alcohol and a pyrethroid (an artificial chemical similar to a natural one produced by Chrysanthemums). Pyrethroids are very common in insecticides, because they kill insects but aren't generally harmful to people. The combination is lethal to bed bugs - one study found a 100% kill rate with adults - because while some are resistant to pyrethroids, all die from direct contact with the alcohol. Sterifab is often used by pest control companies themselves as part of their treatment.

If you're interested in using Sterifab, you can buy it online here.

Sources and Useful Links:

http://www.nixalite.com/PDFs/SterifabBedbug.pdf

http://pct.texterity.com/pct/200701/?pg=32

http://www.techletter.com/Archive/Technical%20Articles/bedbugcontrol.html

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