Bedbugs are horrible and gross and nothing that anyone should have to deal with. That said, it's probably not a great idea to douse your mattress with gasoline in order to repel the critters. The FDNY has found a number of Queens residents who have taken to soaking their mattresses with gasoline - even children's mattresses - as a foolproof way of getting rid of bedbugs. Or even wiping it on themselves. Battalion Chief Robert Turner tells the Post, "Gasoline is very explosive - even static electricity from a rug can ignite it." Point taken, but we understand the desperation to get rid of the bugs.
The NYC Department of Health bedbug fact sheet and the Bedbug Blog, plus Gothamist on bedbugs.
