I would just say to be smart about what you're buying and from whom. I don't go to obviously dirty houses and you can tell from the outside usually what it would be like inside. Haven't found too many things at yard sales that would harbor bugs but I guess you never know. I always wash any fabric items from any place other than a store.

We had the same ant problem ,Ortho home defense spray is what I used it doesn't smell stopped the ants and they haven't come back .

One of the reasons bed bugs are spreading is that they used to have an insecticide in mattresses. They removed it several years ago because someone decided it was a carcinogen. Looking at where you buy is not a good indicator of bed bugs. My sisters in laws got bed bugs from a really fancy bed and breakfast. One of the fanciest hotels in New York city is infested with them. You need to inspect everything and check for signs.
The whole thing totally grosses me out.

My thoughts exactly. That only leaves things like pottery and vases or glassware.

No joke... But as a rule I do not buy any thing in yard sales etc. that I can not put in the dish washer or washer. And if a sale looks icky I don't stop

"But changes in water pressure wear out swimwear faster than regular clothing" - I don't understand this sentence. I can understand not wanting to buy a used swimsuit, but what the heck do they mean by changes in water pressure? in my experience it is the chlorine that does in your swimwear.

Also, she forgot older corningware coffeepots- the kind with the handles - they can come off suddenly and drop your pot of hot liquid. Save them for watering plants.

I have to share this story (my own and very true). It was a long long time so I chalk up to ignorance on my part.
We stopped at a yard sale and bought a blender. It looked clean. When we got it home and started it up, roaches came crawling out from underneath. (Ugh I know...makes me sick even thinking about it.)

It has always modified my thinking on what to get used...you never know. I should have put it a plastic bag or something first I guess. But of course, I had already bought it.

Anyway just my story.
Serita

Around here, the yard sales seem to have a lot of baby clothes and glassware/decorative items.

My brother is an exterminator, he has always loved his job. Having said that the bed bugs are ruining it for him. They are tough to find,.and hard to treat. As someone already said they have taken the chemicals away that did a great job. Something else to think about is all the college kids come. YIKES! Also where you live or how clean your house is has NOTHING to do as to whether you might get bed bugs. They don't discriminate the love everyone.

My understanding is that the insecticide DDT was effective against them, but its use was banned decades ago.

I have read that even ritzy hotels get them. Don't know how to avoid them, but we've been lucky thus far. We were in a hotel that had a sign saying they used dogs to detect bedbugs and their hotel had been declared bedbug-free. I guess that would be true until someone checked in with bedbugs in their luggage. Perhaps the dog comes a couple of times a week.