Advice needed re bugs in trailer

[bgula]

I've now been storing my 5th-wheel trailer down here for a year now, and what I feared might happen has happened. We're currently at FW for 2 weeks and when we opened up the trailer, we started seeing some bugs - some big ones as well. Didn't seem to have this problem at Christmas, but maybe there wasn't enough time for an infiltration or we just didn't notice.
Anyway, taking the advice of a person from CW, we set off some bug bombs (the kind you put in the glass of water) and then came back 6 hours later to find A LOT of dead or dying bugs out in the open. This was a shock to me and freaked out the wife and kids. We've been since cleaning up this mess and washing counters, dishes, etc. We're probably going to do another set of bug bombs in a few days to make sure, although we're still getting the odd big bug appearing on the floor dying.
My questions are:

1) Anyone else go thru this process? How did you deal with the fact that your rv might be full of bugs as we're still uncomfortable going to sleep at night wondering what might still be alive.

2) Do you go thru this process every time you take your rv out of storage? I'm back at Christmas and wondering if I'm going to have to do bug bombs every time I come here now.

3) I've heard that I should spread bay leaves or moth balls or dryer sheets around the trailer when we leave to deter the bugs from even coming in. Does this work? Any other suggestions?

4) How toxic is this bug bomb stuff? I tried to hold my breath as best I could running in and out of the trailer in order to open windows, vents, etc. Since I'm still finding bugs days later that are still in the process of dying, I'm starting to wonder if we should be living in here - especially if I'm going to be doing another round of this stuff in a few days.

That's all I can think of right now. Any help - even psychological - would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jherauf]

This is the stuff we use for the RV and Home. I spray every six months with this stuff and once a year I have the house and RV professional sprayed. You can find this stuff atmost home improvement stores and walmart. I also use this spray on the outside and throw some granules down around the tires and jacks. Look under the camper for any holes. Seal with GreatStuff foam and or Silicone caulk. Did you take all food stuffs out of the trailer?

ORTHO 1.33-Gallon Ready-to-Use Home Defense MAX Perimeter and Indoor Insect Killer

 

[luckycharm19335]

I have had very good luck spreading 'Bounce' dryer sheets all through the motorhome before putting in storage for the winter.
I should also say that I remove EVERYTHING from the motorhome before putting it away.
That way if we do get some critters, they can't do too much damage.
Also, hopefully removing the things that attract the little guests.

 

[sbnewhampshire1]

WE live up North and around Sept or even Oct before we store (in our backyard) the RV we always use MothBalls and Bounce to keep the critters out.Mice and chipmunks mostly.Spread the mothballs and bounce around ! (If you can't stand the smell neither can they!!!0 It works for us! When we open up to go to Disney (the fort of cource) all is well!!!

 

[AuntBJ]

This is the stuff we use for the RV and Home. I spray every six months with this stuff and once a year I have the house and RV professional sprayed. You can find this stuff atmost home improvement stores and walmart. I also use this spray on the outside and throw some granules down around the tires and jacks. Look under the camper for any holes. Seal with GreatStuff foam and or Silicone caulk. Did you take all food stuffs out of the trailer?

ORTHO 1.33-Gallon Ready-to-Use Home Defense MAX Perimeter and Indoor Insect Killer

This is what we use also. Living and camping in the south, we have learned to spray not only the camper & tires but also anything that touches the camper and the ground i.e. the electrical cord, water hose, etc.

Also, make sure no tree branches are touching the sides or roof of your camper. This is a perfect path for bugs.

 

[ChristusG]

We had our pop up closed up for about a year and a half before we used it in June.

Before we go *anywhere*, I always open it up to see what I see. If there's any evidence of bugs, I do something about it. There in NO WAY on this earth that I want to get to a campground and find out we are infested with bugs. I would completely freak out and probably would sleep in the Suburban.

When I opened up our camper, prior to going camping in June, there was little black dots EVERYWHERE (roach feces). I did major cleaning. I vacuumed the poop and sanitized every surface with Lysol wipes (floors, counters, even vacuumed and wiped the beds with Lysol wipes).

Then I removed everything that I could so that I could set off a bomb. I even took out the mattresses.

After the bomb, I wiped down every surface. I don't care how "safe" the bombs are, it is still a chemical and I don't want it on the surfaces that we are going to be touching.

While camping, the only thing we saw was a few teeny tiny roaches turn up dead.

From now on, I will open our camper EVERY SINGLE TIME before we leave. In fact, we are opening it up this weekend for that very reason.

Edited to add.....after we've set off a bomb, I leave the camper open to air out for a few hours before I go in and wipe down the surfaces. I want to start doing something as a preventative measure instead of dealing with that mess before heading out camping.

 

[bgula]

Thanks for all the posts so far. We're handling the few bugs that are still appearing with grim determination. Hopefully we'll be able to do another bug bomb in the next few days and are hoping that we won't find too many bugs this time, which will make the wife feel better about the situation. I've been thinking about spending the extra money and maybe putting the trailer in storage at a place that has indoor rather than outdoor storage. This would hopefully make it harder for the bugs to reinfect the trailer and also take the weather out of the situation.

 

[Disney Bunny]

I would really check your propane detector to ensure that it is still operating properly and clean it really good to get any residue off of it. The detectors really don't like any type of aerosol product from what I have read and can be damaged from the use of them inside the RV.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Our company had a diesel pusher and 19" trailer (for furniture/tables/etc.)
2) We used it during the year for customer outings as a Hospitality House
. . . Indy-500
. . . NASCAR (Daytona, Bristol, Pocono, etc)
. . . Auto/Truck conventions
. . . Bike Weeks (Daytona, Sturgis)
. . . a few company picnics
3) We always had bug problems
. . . sometimes the rig sat for 2-3 months at a time
. . . frequently, the motor home was not cleaned well
. . . there was always residue left on patio furniture hauled in the trailer
4) One of our guys came up with a fix that worked like magic.
5) Even when the units were not cleaned after use
6) PRESTO !
7) No more bug problems.

8) The Fix (both when stored and when parked at events)
. . . dissolved moth crystals in a 5-gal bucket of warm water
. . . bought several 2'x3' carpet samples (remnants)
. . . soaked the carpet samples in the water solution
. . . parked the MH and trailer wheels on top of the carpet
. . . now, the wheels did not touch the ground-grass-pavement
. . . put two of the carpet remnants inside the MH and trailer
. . . 30-minutes of air-out & Frabreze cleared the smell from inside the units

 

[doombuqqy]

We live in he Florida panhandle and have had a massive infestation of BROWN WIDOWS. I had no idea they even existed! It takes special insecticide to kill them so read the labels.It was a booger to get rid of them, they gave me the heebee jeebees

 

[tiggerdad]

Vaseline! I know this sounds weird, but bugs will not cross it. Put it around base of jacks, water hose, electrical cable, sewer hose, anything that touches ground. Put it complerely around wheel axles just behind wheel, between it and the spring. We have used this trick for years and it lasts a long time because everything you put it on is under camper and doesn't get washed off by rain. It's weird, but I promise if you leave no gaps, you will not have bugs, especially ants.

 

[bgula]

Vaseline! I know this sounds weird, but bugs will not cross it. Put it around base of jacks, water hose, electrical cable, sewer hose, anything that touches ground. Put it complerely around wheel axles just behind wheel, between it and the spring. We have used this trick for years and it lasts a long time because everything you put it on is under camper and doesn't get washed off by rain. It's weird, but I promise if you leave no gaps, you will not have bugs, especially ants.

Interesting - I'll have to think about this one. Quite easy to do.