If you’ve ever had bed bugs, you know how frustrating and costly it can be to eradicate them. They reproduce quickly, but they’re also resistant to many common pesticides. Data shows that up to 20% of Americans have ever had bed bugs. That’s why it’s crucial to know how to rid your home of bedbugs yourself. This article by Mid America Pest Control’s bed bug treatment experts will teach you how to choose the best bed bug exterminator for your home.
Before discussing bed bug removal, it’s essential to understand them.
Bed Bugs – What Are They?
Bed bugs are tiny, and flat blood-sucking insects typically reside in beds and other sleeping areas. These creatures can feed on warm-blooded animals: cats, dogs, humans, and birds.
While bed bugs are nocturnal, it’s not difficult to identify these pests on sight by their red-brown color and oval-shaped bodies. A single bed bug can lay 500 eggs in its lifetime, thus resulting in a large infestation exceptionally quickly.
Now that you understand what bed bugs are, it’s time to discuss how to eradicate them.
Locate The Infested Areas
It’s essential to inspect the areas where bed bugs are most likely to live. Since bed bugs multiply quickly, it would be best if you exterminate them before they start laying eggs.
Here are some areas to check for bed bugs:
- The seams of pillows and mattresses
- The cracks in nearby furniture
- Underneath all furniture, including sofas and chairs
- The crevices of window casements or door frames
- Any gaps in the floorboards or walls
Signs for the presence of the bugs you should look out for are tiny pale yellow eggs, dark brown stains of their excrement, small white nymphs, live bed bugs, and even shed skin.
Contain The Bugs
When it comes to bed bug infestations, you must take two essential actions: kill the bugs that you can see and, when those pesky creatures inevitably reappear, contain them, so they don’t make their way back into your home. The key to successfully achieving the first step is your vacuum. Your vacuum will help you quickly and thoroughly clean the affected areas of your home.
Ensure the vacuum canister has a bag attached and that the bag is sealed to prevent bugs from escaping. Once the bag is full, take it outside and dispose of it immediately.
Remove all exposed bedding from the infested areas- including mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and headboards-and place them in sealed plastic bags.
Exterminate The Bed Bugs
Finally, it’s time to kill the bed bugs. There are many ways you can go about this, including:
Killing Bed Bugs With Heat Or Cold
You can clean items, like beddings and clothing, in hot washers. Wash clothing with hot water and put them in a drier for at least 30 minutes. Alternatively, you steam items that cannot go through the washer.
You can also put clothing in a freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Deep freeze items that can’t go into the washer or dryer with cold temperatures for at least four days. The cold temperature kills bed bugs.
Kill The Bugs With Chemical Products
If home remedies don’t appeal to you, you can turn to insecticides. Some people may not like the idea of using insecticides when it comes to bed bugs. However, you should be aware that they aren’t harmful to people or pets. Examples of insecticides are Pyrethrins and pyrethroids.
Another thing to consider is resistance if you don’t use an appropriate insecticide. In that case, it can end up taking more than one treatment, and even then, you could still have some live insects lurking in your home.
Use A Desiccant
Desiccants work by dehydrating the bugs. You can buy silica or diatomaceous earth from many sources, including hardware and farm supply stores. These substances have a high kill rate, but they can be messy to use, especially with a large infestation. Their benefit is that bed bugs cannot become resistant to diatomaceous earth, as they cannot develop resistance to silica.
Work With An Expert
Hiring a pest control company is the next best thing if you’re not comfortable using chemicals to kill bed bugs. The pros will know how to eradicate them.
A professional will have a safer and more effective approach to controlling your problem; They have the proper equipment, products, and expertise to eradicate your bed bug problem once and for all so that you can enjoy peace of mind once more.
Bed bugs are a considerable problem for many people, and it cannot be easy to eradicate them. This blog post has outlined several ways to kill bed bugs- both naturally and with chemical products. It has also suggested hiring a professional pest control company for guaranteed results. No matter which method you choose, make sure to take the necessary precautions to keep yourself and your family safe from these pests.
