Get Rid of Bed Bugs

Bed bugs were once a common public health pest worldwide, declining in incidence through the mid 20th century. However, bed bugs have undergone a dramatic, worldwide resurgence since they have now evolved resistance to common insecticides. Bed bugs are one of the great travelers of the world and are readily transported via luggage, clothing, bedding and furniture. To get rid of bed bugs, act at the first signs of infestation and use an integrated pest management approach involving prevention, sanitation, and chemical treatment. Bed bugs can be persistent, so you'll need to demonstrate a greater level of persistence if you want to eliminate them.

Steps

Recognizing Signs of Bed Bug Infection

  1. Recognize signs of bedbug infestation. You most likely know a bedbug infestation by a rash that resembles a mosquito bite. Most often these come at night but in an serious infestation they can occur during the day. A bedbug bite unlike a mosquito bite swells and spreads out. Also the bites can come in lines and also burn unlike a mosquito bite. A mosquito bite stays round and neat looking.
  2. Watch for other signs of bedbugs. Things to look for are the bugs themselves and the light-brown, molted skins of the nymphs (young bugs). Dark spots of dried bed bug excrement (blood) are often present along mattress seams or wherever the bugs have resided. There's also a smell of rotten raspberries, or dried blood.
  3. Don't let the name bedbug fool you. Bedbugs can be found any place humans rest and lounge and nearby. Bedbugs can be found under school desks, restaurant benches, on computers in the library, chairs, hospital beds and curtains or on a store wall. The same goes for carpets. Many times a brush against a wall in on infested area can lead to bedbugs in the home. Bedbugs are very good at clinging onto fabrics. Transportation hubs such as airports, train stations and bus terminals are also key infestation stations to be wary of.
    • They can also cling to curtain rods, air conditioners, fans and also inside electronics.
  4. Don't believe the stereotype that bedbugs occur in only poor dirty houses and communities. Many affluent communities and households also have bedbug problems. Many business trips to airports and to the companies themselves have led to bedbug infestations.

Finding the Bed Bugs

  1. Dismantle the bed and stand the components on end. Oftentimes, the gauze fabric underlying the box spring must be removed to gain access for inspection and possible treatment. Cracks and crevices of bed frames should be examined, especially if the frame is wood (bed bugs have an affinity for wood and fabric more so than metal or plastic).
    • Successful treatment of mattresses and box springs is difficult and infested components may need to be discarded.
    • Alternatively, place a bed bug proof mattress cover over an infested mattress to trap the bed bugs inside and starve them to death. This will eliminate the need to purchase a new mattress/boxspring and make treatment and future inspections easier. (Starving the bugs CAN take up to 400 days, so make sure your cover stays sealed for at least that long.) [1]
    • Bed bugs also hide among items stored underneath beds.
  2. Empty nightstands and dressers. Examine them inside and out, then tip them over to inspect the woodwork underneath. Oftentimes, the bugs will be hiding in cracks, corners and recesses.
  3. Check upholstered chairs and sofas. Pay close attention to the seams, tufts, skirts and crevices beneath cushions. Sofas can be major bed bug hotspots when used for sleeping.
  4. Check other common places. These include along and under the edge of wall-to-wall carpeting (especially behind beds and furniture), cracks in wood molding and ceiling-wall junctures. Bed bugs tend to congregate in certain areas, but it is common to find an individual or some eggs scattered here and there.
  5. Use a flashlight. Inspectors sometimes also inject a pyrethrum-based "flushing agent" into crevices to help reveal where bugs may be hiding.

Treating and Controlling Bed Bugs

  1. Follow an integrated pest management (IPM) approach. This involves multiple tactics such as preventive measures, sanitation, and chemicals applied to targeted sites.
  2. Bag and launder (122°F/50ºC minimum) affected items. Smaller items that cannot be laundered can sometimes be de-infested by heating. Individual items, for example, can be wrapped in plastic and placed in a hot, sunny location for at least a few days (the 122°F/50ºC minimum target temperature should be monitored in the center-most location with a thermometer). Bedbugs also succumb to cold temperatures below freezing, but the chilling period must be maintained for at least two weeks. Attempts to rid an entire home or apartment of bed bugs by raising or lowering the thermostat will be entirely unsuccessful.
    • Wash all linen on hot, dry on hot setting. Gather all linen, cloth and leather bags, mattress covers, clothing, teddy bears... etc. Machine wash on hot - wash the laundry bag also. Tumble dry on hot. Steam kills bed bugs. Some metropolitan areas offer bed bug laundry and dry cleaning services which have the added benefits of proven methods for killing bed bugs and bagging or storing cleaned items so they do not become re-infested while the home is still being exterminated.
    • If something cannot be washed or discarded (such as a valuable leather purse) spray with non-toxic bed bug spray (such as diatomaceous earth), seal in a plastic bag and leave for a few months.
    • Dry clean to remove odor if need be.
  3. Point steam on them. You may get a simple device capable of generating steam at your local hardware store. You may also convert a simple electric kettle to a steam machine by attaching a flexible tube. Steam should kill all bedbugs and the eggs. Thoroughly spray steam at all corners and seams.
  4. Vacuum your house. This will remove bugs and eggs from mattresses, carpet, walls and other surfaces. Pay particular attention to seams, tufts and edges of mattresses and box springs, and the perimeter edge of wall-to-wall carpets. Afterward, dispose of the vacuum contents in a sealed trash bag. Steam cleaning of carpets is also helpful for killing bugs and eggs that vacuuming may have missed.
    • A vacuum with a HEPA filter is especially effective.
  5. Repair cracks in plaster and glue down loosened wallpaper to eliminate bed bug harborage sites. Remove and destroy wild animal roosts and bird nests when possible.
  6. Consider using insecticides. Residual insecticides (usually pyrethroids) are applied as spot treatments to cracks and crevices where bed bugs are hiding. Increased penetration of the insecticide into cracks and crevices can be achieved if accumulated dirt and debris are first removed using a vacuum cleaner. Many readily available aerosol pesticide sprays will cause bed bugs to scatter making eradication more difficult. Dust formulations may be used to treat wall voids and attics.
    • Repeat insecticide applications if bed bugs are present two weeks after the initial treatment. It is difficult to find all hiding places and hidden eggs may have hatched.
    • Beware of insecticide "programs"(which require repeats) in local stores which can be unnecessarily messy and toxic. Many of these "programs" are also not very potent at all and can become a money pit. Look for other options.
  7. Enlist the services of a professional pest control firm. Experienced companies know where to look for bed bugs, and have an assortment of management tools at their disposal. Owners and occupants will need to assist the professional in important ways. Allowing access for inspection and treatment is essential and excess clutter should be removed.
  8. Discard affected items. In some cases, infested mattresses and box springs will need to be discarded. Since bed bugs can disperse throughout a building, it also may be necessary to inspect adjoining rooms and apartments. Pay it forward: chop up and/or damage the items you discard so nobody will be tempted to take them home and spread the problem further.
  9. Apply silica gel. Grind up some crystal silica gel and apply it all over in your bedroom. Put some on your mattress, around the bed and along the wall. The fine silica gel will get stuck to the bug and it cannot be shaken off, causing the bug to dehydrate and die. [2] Be careful not to inhale it.
    • Diatomaceous earth has similar effects to silica gel and can be used around mattress seams and along the rails of the box spring. The sharp micro fossils cut into the soft bugs making them bleed.
    • If you have a cat, change the cat litter (crystal silica gel) every 5 days so the newly hatched eggs will dehydrate too. Repeat for 5 weeks.
  10. Use tea-tree or ti-tree oil to clean with. This oil can eradicate bedbugs in the house.
    • Clean the house thoroughly, top to bottom.
    • Wash all bedding and clothing, with a few drops of tea tree oil added.
    • Vacuum and wash all carpets.
    • Take all beds apart. Spray them all down with tea tree oil.
    • Apply pest control spray around the entire home, inside and out. To make this spray: Mix 18 oz of water with 18 drops of tea tree oil and spray the entire house with it––the carpets, beds, and furniture.
    • Use wintergreen alcohol to kill bedbugs and their eggs instantly. It's very inexpensive and easily accessible. Pour the wintergreen alcohol full strength into a spray bottle and spray directly on the bedbugs and nests. The wintergreen burns the bugs on contact. You can also drench your mattress and box spring with this as well.

Preventing Bed Bugs From Entering

  1. Fight against littering and illegal dumping. Bedbugs love to hide in dump sites which and if one is near your home the bedbugs might find their way into your house. It also looks and smells bad for everybody in the community.
  2. Use precautions in your own home. Keep the plastic covering that comes on your mattress when purchased new. Purchase special bedbug covers for you mattress and box spring. Make sure that they are quality ones with heavy duty zippers and constructed with special fabric that doesn't rip easily. Don't buy the cheap versions which are not thick enough to prevent the bedbugs from sticking their feeding tubes into the skin through the cover.
  3. Be wary of acquiring secondhand beds, bedding, and furniture. At a minimum, such items should be examined closely before being brought into the home.
  4. Examine beds and headboards for signs of bed bugs when traveling. Laws in the U.S are now requiring all bed and breakfasts, hotels, motels to have and maintain bedbug bed covers installed on their mattresses and box springs.
  5. Elevate your luggage off the floor.
  6. Be vigilant. Warehouses, storage facilities, trucks and railroad cars may be infested so common bed bugs can infest homes by stowing away on new furniture stored or shipped from these places. Familiarity may help to avoid infestation, or at least prompt earlier intervention by a professional.

Tips

  • Bedbugs are often found in mattress corners. Inspect those areas carefully.
  • Depending on your own individual tolerance for the bites, you may not discover you have been bitten for days, while some people know it immediately or within a few hours.
  • The bed bugs appear dead when you see them hiding, but they aren't. They don't move usually until you hit them with the steam. Make sure you steam them until they stop moving.
  • Apply witch-hazel to the skin to stop the itching caused by Bedbug bites.
  • Occasionally check for new bites. This could prevent future problems.
  • Bed bugs are rarely seen in daylight. They emerge from their hiding spots at night.
  • If disposal isn't an option, encasing the mattress and box spring will be helpful if bugs are still present (allergy supply companies sell zippered bed encasements for dust mite prevention). Vacuuming and brushing will further help to remove bugs and eggs from mattresses and box springs that cannot be discarded. Some pest control firms also treat beds with portable steam machines. The technique is useful, but does not kill bugs or eggs that are hidden inside the box spring or mattress.
  • A thorough treatment of a home, hotel or apartment may take anywhere from several hours to several days.
  • There are restrictions on how beds can be treated with pesticides. Some pest control firms treat seams, tufts, and crevices of bed components, but they will not spray the mattress surface, bed sheets, blankets, or clothing. For these reasons, pest control firms often recommend that infested beds be discarded.
  • Use a bed frame to elevate your mattress and box spring off the ground and put the legs in containers with any type of oil. This will help keep them from climbing in and out of your bed. Store away any bed skirts. Keep sheets and blankets from hanging from the bed to the ground until the infestation is gone.
  • No insecticides are labeled for use on bedding or linens. These items should be dry cleaned or laundered in hot water and dried using the "hot" setting. Use certain labeled insecticides on the seams or folds of the mattress. Do not spray insecticides on the flat surface of the mattress, where you lay down.
  • Bed bugs can drown. soaking infested clothing, completely submerged, can kill many bugs but can cause eggs to hatch faster. Be sure to use a dryer on high and throw out all fabric covered furniture immediately. Upon doing so you will immediately experience a very large drop in the number of bites.
  • A plastic sheet 3 mil in thickness will create a barrier between the bedding and or infected furniture. Because the barrier can not be penetrated, in time the bed bugs will starve to death.
  • To prevent getting bedbugs: After coming home from an outing (movies, restaurant, public transportation, etc), remove all clothing and put into a garbage bag or straight into the washing machine. If going on vacation, before re-entering the home, leave all luggage outside. Put all clothes into a garbage bag and wash as soon as possible. Also, remove all clothing as soon as you enter home. Bedbugs can hide in smallest of places...prevention is key. Also, never place worn garments on beds.
  • When buying a bedbug sheet, inspect carefully what the bed dimensions are, since a lot of mattresses outside the states have custom sizes that differ from the standard.
  • A wallpaper steamer is a cheaper alternative to steam machines and are more powerful.
  • Bed bugs can live for up to a year without feeding on anything. If you plan on using only a covering for your mattress, it would have to be on your mattress for quite some time.
  • Check the creases along curtain seams. It's one of their favorite hiding and breeding places.

Warnings

  • Bed bugs can live three months or longer without food (blood) and thus stay in their hiding places.
  • After repeated bedbug bites, a person’s skin may become sensitized to the saliva of the bedbug, and subsequent bites may cause an allergic response, resulting in itching and inflammation. It is important not to scratch the red, itchy spots, as they can become infected. If you think you may have been bitten by bedbugs, talk to your doctor. They may prescribe antibiotic or antiseptic creams to prevent infection and corticosteroids and antihistamines to treat allergic reactions.
  • Bed bugs can travel long distances and survive in suitcases, clothing, vehicles, aircraft, cruise ships and other modes of transportation.
  • Bed bugs are often not killed on the first few attempts to rid your house of them. You will need repeated attacks on them to finally get rid of them all, so be persistent. You may need four to five treatments.
  • Don't be a bed bug spreader. Do not sleep anywhere else but your own bed. If you must travel, buy a new bag and pack it outside the house, perhaps in your car, using clothing that has been thoroughly cleaned and inspected for bugs.
  • Don't use or purchase pesticides known as "bedbug bombs" which don't penetrate the bugs' hiding spaces. Also these bombs put a lot of additional toxins and chemicals in your home and are a serious fire hazard.
  • Bedbug venom can build up in the body and years later there may be a delayed reaction in some repeated bite areas.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/how-to-get-rid-of-bed-bugs-c-39_95.html
  2. ↑ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090602133555.htm
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