SLEEP ZONE
How to Get Rid of Bedbugs
Bedbugs are those reddish, ¼-inch long insectsthat you never want inside your home. Although you call them bedbugs, they cancrawl into every corner of your home to get on your nerves.
However, you can get rid of them if you takeproper measures. The medium can be natural, chemical, or professional.
If you still don’t know what to do, then check the tricks and techniques here. These can help youdestroy the bedbugs.
Here are some signs that the bedbugs come with.
Signs of the infestation
Here are some signs that the bedbugs come with.
• Live bedbugs that are easily visible.
• Dark black or rust-colored spots that are about the size of a marker’s dot. These are their droppings.
• Fecal spots.
• Yellowish skins, small eggshells, and pale yellow eggs that a young bug sheds.
• Red stains on the mattress from the crushed bugs.
• Musty odor that emits from the scent glands of the bugs.
Spot all infested areas
To do the inspection, you can hire a professional or look for the bedbugs yourself. The small, narrow body of the bedbug allows it to get into tiny spaces. These include
• In folds of a curtain
• Inseams of couch or mattress.
• In the cracks of the headboard and bed-frame.
• In tags of the box spring and mattress.
• Around the peeling wallpaper
• In between the couch cushions
• In the baseboard.
• Beneath the poster and painting on the wall
• Inside electrical outlet
• In the joints of the furniture.
Time for mass-murder
Initial measures
• Wash bedding, clothing, curtains, and linens in hot water. Dry them with a dryer in the highest setting. Put shoes, stuffed animals, and other items that you cannot wash in the dryer and run for 30 minutes on high.
• Scrub mattress seams with a stiff brush to kill bedbugs and eggs before you vacuum.
• Frequently vacuum your bed and surrounding areas. Then, immediately put the dust bag of vacuum cleaner in a plastic bag and throw it into the trash can outdoor.
• Encase box springs and mattress with a tightly-zippered cover so it can keep the bugs from escaping or entering. Usually, these bugs live up to a year without feeding. So, it’ll be wise if you keep the cover on the mattress for a year to ensure they are dead.
• Remove clutters from your home.
• Repair all the cracks in plaster. Make sure to glue down loose wallpaper to prevent the bugs from getting into it.
Heat
Washing in hot water is one of the most efficient ways of killing bedbugs on fabrics. These little creatures die when their body temperature goes beyond 113-degree Fahrenheit or 45-degree Celsius.
So, expose them for an hour to a temperature higher than 140° Fahrenheit or 60° Celsius. It will kill them rapidly.
However, make sure to avoid heating rooms. Otherwise, the bugs will move towards cooler spots and spread the infestation.
Cold
Temperatures below 0° Fahrenheit or -18° Celsius can kill the bedbugs fast. If the bugs are in smaller items, then keep them in a place under these temperatures. Remember, it takes at least 4 days for the cold to penetrate the items and kill the bugs and their eggs. And this duration increases when the items are bulkier.
Although you can put the smaller infested objects in a home freezer, it’s not cold enough to kill the bugs. Even if it does, it may take a longer time.
Insecticides
Insecticides help destroy bedbugs. However, when buying the products, make sure they are EPA-registered, and particularly marked for bedbugs.
Here are some pesticides to try:
Pyrethrins and pyrethroids
They are very common chemicals used for killing bedbugs. However, some bugs can be resistant to them.
Carbamates
Two examples of carbamates are propoxur and bendiocarb. You will find them more efficient than pyrethrins and pyrethroids.
Pyrroles
Pyrroles like chlorfenapyr are very slow-acting insecticides. However, they work to disrupt the cells of the bugs and kill them.
Neonicotinoids
Such a chemical is a manmade version of nicotine and helps damage the nervous system of the bedbugs. It works great on bugs that are resistant to other insecticides.
Desiccants
Such substances help destroy the protective outer coating of the bedbugs. They dry out and die without this coating. Two instances of desiccants are diatomaceous earth and silica aerogel (CimeXa and Tri-Die). One great thing about desiccants is that the bugs cannot become resistant to them. Although the insecticides work slowly, they can kill all bugs within a few months.
Foggers or bug bombs
These products do kill the bedbugs but they cannot get into infested cracks and crevices which can be a small downside. Moreover, foggers or bug bombs can be toxic to you if you don’t use them correctly. For this, you must read the label very carefully. Not just that, ensure leaving the room before setting off a bug bomb.
Plant oil-based products
Natural-based products like Bed Bug Patrol are and EcoRaider is less toxic than the chemical counterparts. They can efficiently kill the bugs too.
Get the pros
Time to get the professionals involved if you can’t wipe them out yourself. One advantage of pest control companies is that they have more effective treatments and chemicals that are not easily available. Not just that, the professionals have the pesticides that reach complex areas and kill the bugs.
Moreover, the pest control companies use heat treatments in the entire room. They have special equipment that helps heat the room to the temperature of 145° of Fahrenheit. That’s enough high to kill the bedbugs.
The pest control companies will usually give you instructions to prep up your home before they arrive. Make sure you follow every direction carefully.
However, it takes 2 to 3 visits for professional treatments to begin working. So, it’s advisable to stay out of treated rooms after each treatment for a few hours. Wait for the insecticides to dry and then get back.
Conclusion
Now that you know all the tricks and techniques, getting rid of the bedbugs can be easy for you. However, make sure that you take preventive measures to stop future infestations.
Don’t forget to keep monitoring the spots occasionally so you can take measures right away.
