This review is targeted towards people who have had an ongoing issue with mites and are desperate to hear from someone who has tried something that worked. I have spent thousands of dollars on various methods over the last ten years to try to get rid of my bug problem. I have tried: moving house, fumigation, throwing out all bedding, beds, linen, various chemicals and powders, vacuuming daily, showering twice a day (washing my bedding daily), listerine, menthol crystals, diatimacious earth, neem oil, baking soda, windex... you name it, I''ve tried it.
A couple of years ago I kind of resolved to learn to live with the problem. But this year I found some websites on the internet with information from people who had beaten the problem so I spent 6 months trying a range of products that they recommended. I purchased many of the products on the internet and had them posted to me from America to Australia at great expense.
I tried so many things that I cannot be certain whether it was the combination of products that worked in the end or not. But what I can tell you is that this product seemed to make a very radical difference very quickly. It is the only product that I am certain kills the bugs in the wash. This is important to me as my clothing and bedding seemed to be the last battleground with the mites. After ten years I had mostly eradicated them from other areas of my house but I found that I kept reinfecting myself until I started using kleen free. I have only been using kleen for around one month.
I wish I had received this advice when I first got the problem. In fact one of the websites that I followed said that Kleen Free didn''t work for them so I didn''t bother to try it until I read testimonials on the Kleen Free website that sounded truthful. I doubted that it was going to make a shred of difference though when I bought it.
Again, I''m not certain it will work for you. We are all amateurs out there trying things through trial and error and I''m sure there are a million bugs out there that respond to different products differently. I just know that it worked for my bugs. The fact that it is non toxic is so important. I was using products that I knew were toxic but I had decided that I would take the risk and use the other products anyway because I was so desperate to get rid of the bugs.
If I had to start from scratch again, I would do this:
Cover your mattress and pillows in mattress and pillow protectors that are properly sealed (ones recommended for bed bugs etc, not the flimsy dust mite ones), or wrap in thick plastic and seal with thick tape. You''ll get nowhere until you start doing this. Spray the mattress with Kleen Free first though!
Get rid of anything that is non-essential that you could live without (furniture, clothing, books etc.). And when I say "get rid of", I mean throw in the bin do not donate to charities or sell on ebay don''t pass the problem onto someone else. I threw out 95% of my clothes and ALL my furniture. This was hard to do because I collect vintage clothing and it is hard to replace. I threw out all furniture because the bugs can go in deep and it seemed too hard to keep cleaning, vacuuming my favourite couch etc. I don''t regret it. But I highly recommend not buying any new furniture until you have full confidence you have eliminated the problem, and if you do buy something, choose something you can wipe down with few crevices (like plastic chairs etc). (I did this before I came across Kleen Free)
Think of the creatures as you would dust. Wherever dust can reside, so can they. However difficult dust is to eliminate, so are they. This may seem extreme, and if you''ve only had the problem for a short while, you might think my advice is over the top it is not. This "dust" also likes to breed! And can do so very quickly. What may start off as a minor problem can become a major and expensive problem within a week. Think of them as breeding dust that can lay eggs that can survive for years. When they do hatch, it takes them around a week to mature and start breeding again. So do the math... you could have millions within a week. And these are worse than dust because you can''t see them and they can scurry away very quickly.
Vacuum clean EVERY DAY and everywhere. Use a vacuum with a hepa filter. Throw the bag out everyday if you can afford it. If not, put the bag in a plastic zip-lock back and put that bag in another zip-lock bag and put that bag in the freezer. (My experience makes me think that freezers kill mites but not their eggs). Handle the bag with disposable gloves.
Note: Try not to reinfect anything (as a general rule).
Wash your bedding everyday (in kleen free). Only use towels and clothing once and wash immediately. Put washing in a freezer (or sealed bags) until you can wash them.
Clean (with Kleen free) all areas where you plan to put your clean clothes, bedding etc. (cupboards, drawers etc)
Vacuum your whole house including floors, walls etc as much and often as you can. (This includes shoes).
Tell yourself that this will take you six months to beat! And that it requires planning, persistence and patience (make that your mantra when you think it is unbearable and no believes you!!!). If it takes less than 6 months it will be a bonus. Also, tell yourself that it might take a month of mad cleaning before you start to notice a difference.
Follow the instructions on the kleen free bottle bathe in it, spray the whole house etc for the first week then every second day in the second week.
Even if you don''t buy this product, the vacuuming and washing of clothes (or disposal) is absolutely essential.
In fact, when I got bitten while wearing an item of clothing (before I discovered Kleen Free), I would take the item of clothing off immediately and throw it in the bin. I also did this with bedding. I would ask myself whether it is worth the trouble of trying to wash the bugs out or not... what is more costly? I bought myself heaps of cheap blankets, sheets and pillows I was willing to throw away every so often... but with Kleen Free, hopefully you won''t have to do that. (I stopped doing it when I discovered this product!) I threw out expensive woolen coats etc. too. It''s best to wash your clothing in the hottest water possible and in the hottest drier, so I started buying synthetic clothing that could handle such temperatures. Try to buy cheap, synthetic clothing and don''t buy too much... throw it out if you''re getting bitten too much.
Psychologically, what worked for me was that I tried to keep some kind of tally of how many bites I was getting on a daily basis. At first it was 50, then 20ish then 5, etc. As annoying as five new bites a night is, as least you know it''s less than it was last month, so what you are doing is working, so persevere! I remember I used to count how many bites I''d get on the way to work... usually three or four, then down to two, then one. Then one day I remembered that I hadn''t counted them for a couple of days. That equalled NO BITES on the way to work! Sure, I was being bitten at night still, but they were disappearing VERY slowly but surely.
As I write this review I am awaiting another bottle of Kleen Free to come from the USA. I didn''t follow the instructions correctly when I first bought the product and I ran out of the product very quickly. I also didn''t take the baths etc. (because I don''t have a bath) I just bought myself an inflatable one on ebay! I have been getting the occasional bite (one these last three weeks). But I know it''s because I have reinfected myself with something I haven''t treated. I only wash my clothes in Kleen Free now, and I''m saving all that I have left for my washing. When I do the whole program properly, I will amend this review.
I''m writing this review because I feel compelled to help people who need somewhere to start. I know if I post on a bird mite board somewhere people might think I work for the company and not take my review seriously, so I''m posting here.
Good luck to those of you who have had the misfortune of a bird mite infestation!
Later edit:
I just read the review above mine that talked about a bedbug crawling straight through the product. I agree that that would be extremely disconcerting. My bug problem was probably a type of mite, not a bedbug. I don''t know if that makes a difference to the effectiveness of the product. If you do have an "invisible" biting mite problem like I did, I would chance this product... it''s a relatively cheap low risk. I''m only adding this footnote because if I had come across the negative review and not given it a go that would have been a shame and I wouldn''t be experiencing the relief I''m experiencing now.
If you want to check out the ingredients of this product for product comparison''s sake, do a google search by including the name of this (or any) product with "MSDS" (Material Safety Data Sheet). All companies by law, must list the ingredients and safety requirements of the product. You will then have the knowledge to make your own judgement. This information is abundantly available on the internet.
Even later update (Oct 2011):
I have practically eliminated the problem and I have run out of Kleen Free. All I do now to maintain my sanity is clean my clothes and bedding in hot water and dry them in a hot (laundromat/gas) dryer on a weekly basis. I also vacuum clean once a week. And this seems to be good enough. I had not been bitten for some months though. I recommend maintaining your routine until you haven''t been bitten for three months. Just to be sure!
I recently walked into my garage and stepped on some old furniture and by the end of the night I was being bitten again. This time I didn''t panic! I knew that if I stuck to my usual regime I would get rid of them eventually... and I did after two-three weeks.
But I am adding to this review because I came across another additional product that I believe assisted me on my journey and that is orange oil. I read somewhere that if insects lay their eggs too deeply in the skin of an orange, the eggs do not survive. Apparently when they come into contact with the d-limonene found in the peel of oranges (and some other citrus fruits) the eggs die. When I read that I decided to try dabbing orange oil wherever on my body I felt a bite. Be warned, this stuff is used as a cleaner because it is very corrosive. 99 % of the time I had no reaction to it but on occasion I did. It stung me and I believe it can burn your skin. So if you choose to try it out like I did use it very cautiously or mix it with another oil. I purchased it from a health food store and then in bulk from an essential oil supplier. Be very careful!!
But I do think it helps. You won''t notice its effect immediately because I think it only kills eggs... but I think it does help in time.
Good luck to you all and I''m glad my review has assisted some of you.
Later addition, 11 October 2012:
I started a blog way back in 2009 to discuss my processes. But I was so overwhelmed with trying to defeat the problem, that I did not add anymore entries. Additionally, I felt silly blogging about things that weren''t working.
As this review has turned into a kind of forum, I thought I''d direct you back to my blog so that you can add things not related to the review of this product there. The blog is called The Mite Wars. I hope Amazon allow me to keep this info on this review. I''m not sure if I''m breaking any rules here.
Please comment or ask questions there! I did not copy and paste any comments from this review as they are not my own, and I do not have the right to do that.
If anyone wishes to start a forum (instead of my blog) please feel free to do so.
I didn''t know I had scabies until six months into having them. The skin specialist said I had a rash and the treatment wasn''t working. My internal medicine doctor was the one that told me I had scabies. I never heard the name before so when I got home I went onto the internet to find out what they were. I never new such a bug and wish I never did but I had to continue to read and learn as much as I could so I could find a way to get rid of them. Rumor has it that lying in the sun can help get rid of them but that isn''t true. You want to get rid of them use Kleen Free. Your nightmare will be over. Before I knew about Kleen Free, I tried another expensive product to get rid of the scabies but the treatments it required just wasn''t doing the trick. It only called for 2 or 4 oz to be added in the tub verses one cup of Kleen Free. My first treatment of Kleen Free by adding one cup in the tub, I could feel it working. It is hard to say into words, but I could feel the enzymes killing them on my skin. Scabies lay their eggs in your skin and when they hatch they like fly or flutter around your body and you can feel them for a while before they enter back into your skin and turn into adult scabies and make more eggs and the cycle starts all over again. The enzymes kill them before they have a chance to re-enter your body and produce more of them. As time goes bye, less and less of them are hatch and the cycle stops. Your Kleen Free of scabies. When you only use 2 or 4 oz of another brand, it takes forever or weeks before you get rid of them. You are only teasing them and not really getting to the problem effectively. Using Kleen Free, and using what is recommended, one cup in the bath water, and soaking for 1/2 hour in the tub was more effective. I would purchase two gallons of Kleen Free which lasted a lot longer than the other competitor product. I also use Kleen Free in my wash, my bed, rugs, furniture, my car seats and floor, and I even washed my makeup cosmetic pad in Kleen Free. I would spray my shoes or put them in a freezer bag over night. Everyday, I would change and wash my sheets and comforters. The same goes for my towels and dish towels. I wished I came across Kleen Free sooner. I spent a lot of money purchasing the other product and you get a lot more for your money with Kleen Free. After using the other product after five weeks, I still had them, but when I started using Kleen Free and after two weeks I could hardly tell I had them anymore. By the third week, I was Kleen Free. And even though I don''t have them anymore, I still keep on hand some Kleen Free just to maintain. I don''t ever want them back again and your mental state is Kleen Free, too. Happy Ending.
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Great natural cleaner and pest killer amazingly good at dealing with bug infestations on plants (like those neffy Japanese beatles) and actually, truly works to kill scabies which I can, sadly, personally attest to.
We had a scabies outbreak where I used to work (wholesaler/retailer in the garment district; source was likely a contaminated goods delivery). Just my luck, I was one of the people infected. Let me tell you, these things are vicious and can be really, really difficult to get rid of. They are invisible to the naked eye and to most magnifying lenses (10x and under useless), breed and spread rapidly and become immune to treatments very quickly. Unfortunately, I (and most of my fellow sufferers) did not realize what I had until it had spread in my home; these things love paper, cardboard, cloth, anything porous of that type, and can even get down in the floor boards. Basically a nightmare. The prescription medications I received worked at first, but I kept getting re-infected while trying to deal with infected bedding, clothes etc. and, unfortunately, within one week these hideous little things had spread in my bedroom and become immune to the topical medicine. Doctors were no use (initially told me I didn''t need to do anything to clean the environment, not even wash my clothes, which was just moronic!).
I was getting desperate so I did what I should have done in the first place and searched for advice from other sufferers on the internet. I found a lot of information that scared me to bits, but also some good product recommendations and protocols for dealing with this infestation in my home and on my body. I bought all of the products that seemed to be most recommended the one that worked to kill the mites off my body and in my bathroom and most of my bedroom was Kleen Free. This stuff gave me relief and got me (and the worst affected areas of my house) clean of the nasties; apparently it kills them by dissolving exoskeleton of the mite so the mites have no chance to develop immunity, thank goodness (and no, the Kleen Free did not damage my skin and I have VERY sensitive skin). I did NOT use the Kleen Free on upholstery, rugs or clothes, but I did use it in bathe water to decontaminate myself and I used a diluted solution to wipe down floors, walls, furniture and personal possession I handled all the time, like cellphone, keys, etc. Once I and the immediate environs were creepy critter free, I put on some clean clothes one of my sisters brought for me (sealed in plastic) and went to stay somewhere else while an exterminator bombed my home (internet search told me this was possible and what should be used). I then purchased a few of those environment suits with plastic linings at Home Depot (for cleaning basements, etc.) and my family and I wore them as a precaution to go back into the house. Per the information I found on the internet, anything in the affected areas which could not be laundered and dryed at high heat for at least 30 minutes was bagged and disposed of, including papers, books (sob), mattress, carpets, some upholstered furniture and shoes. To be on the safe side I disposed of all clothes except my favorites. Clothes I couldn''t bear to part with were washed and dried in a hot dryer for a minimum of 30 minutes and then double-bagged to be left un-opened for 2 months and then re-washed and re-dryed before being worn again; there were some suits that could not be washed which I cleaned with those dry-cleaning sheets you can use in your dryer the important thing was to expose them to high dryer heat for at least 30 minutes to kill any possible remaining infestation. There were some books and papers I couldn''t bear to part with which I sprinkled with diatomaceous earth, sealed up in plastic bags and put aside to store for a minimum of 2 years (erring on the side of caution different sources gave different time periods I was horrified at how persistent mites apparently can be). We then sprinkled diatomaceous earth on all floor surfaces (this stuff cuts up the exoskeletons of all insects and is non-toxic, although you do NOT want to breathe it we used face masks). My home was then left vacant for 2 weeks and then bombed again at the end of the 2 weeks this was to give the mites nothing to eat during the next lifecycle and to kill the next round of any nasties (from egg to adult). I confess I was so paranoid by that point (listening to the horror stories of my co-workers and from what I read on the ''net) that I waited another 2 weeks and bombed one more time before moving back in. In the meantime, I continued to bathe using the Kleenfree as a just in case preventative. Anyway, this worked and my home and I were both scabies free (although there was a lot of clean up to get rid of the diatomaceous earth, but it was worth it for the peace of mind!)
There is a codcil here. A bad attack of scabies will continue to cause incredibly severe itching and irritation for months after, as it takes time for the skin to purge out all the contamination from these creepy things. It is also typical to develop a skin yeast infection about a year or more later as a side affect of the scabies attack (yes, the gift that just keeps on giving). For these reasons, combined with the fact that the scabies mites are invisible, people often think they are still infected with scabies long after they have gotten rid of them. The first 6 months after the initial infestation were rough for me; taking a bath with Kleen Free once in a while during that period helped keep me calm and sure that I was "clean". Let me add that the oral prescription drug ivermectin is an effective way to get rid of scabies if the skin medications don''t work for you; there are some dangerous possible side effects but most of the people I worked with who were infected ended up having to take this and were ok you take one dose and then another 2 weeks later. Altogether, having scabies was one of the worst experiences of my life and I honestly don''t know how I would have made it through if I had not found Kleen Free.
Note that this stuff is highly concentrated; a couple gallons was enough to see me through the whole ordeal and the 6 month period after (with enough left over to use on the japanese beatles in my sister''s garden).
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I was interested in this product because we have bed bugs to get rid of and the product is made from natural ingredients, no chemicals. I could tell right away that it had vinegar in it. I think vinegar acts as a repellant to bed bugs but does not kill them. I sprayed the carpet and our bedding and floor boards. I regret to say we still have bed bugs so we must move on to other methods.
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I used this spray after I got a bed from some friends who were moving. Turned out that the bed (mattress and box springs), which previously sat unused in their spare bedroom, was infested with bedbugs. Nothing killed the bugs; I used Raid, bug bombers, probably tried ten different products from local retailers. I was utterly miserable because the bugs were migrating into the rest of the house from my spare bedroom, and I was getting bit. It was a living hell. In desperation I found this. IT WORKED!!!!!! I diluted the concentrate a little on the heavy side and sprayed everything. Twice. I laundered the sheets and blankets in it and I also soaked in the bath for the bites, which worked like a charm. Within two days my house was clear of bedbugs. I am buying another bottle this year to treat for fleas on the dogs because Frontline isn''t working as well as it used to.
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This filter was rated highly by Comsumers Reports some years ago, and it''s very effective. It does everything advertised: removes odors and improves taste. However, the faucet is cheap: it''s plastic and feels flimsy. Replace that with a metal one and you''re in business. The filter also allows easy access if you keep the water lines long! Then the filter just lifts up from the attacment screws and you can then have plenty of room to remove the case and replace the filter. More info: The product is made by Ecodyne, and the filter replacement part # has been chnged from SEARS PART NUMBER: 42-34373 to Substitution: 3437327.
