Removing bed bugs is complex and can last months, depending upon the degree of the infestation.
In this article we will show you how to get rid of Bed bugs by yourself.
Living with bed Bugs can have a toll on one’s mental health and this issue should be solved as soon as possible.
Follow these steps to get rid of bed bugs:
Learn about bed bugs
First Step is to know your enemy.
They are tiny, oval, reddish-brown insects that feed on blood. They cannot stand bright light and have flattened bodies so are to be found in cracks or crevices, close to the sleeping areas. They do not have nests like other insects, but do have a habit of congregating. Eggs are white and look like small rice grains and approximately are 1 millimeter long.
Habitually, bed bug bites don’t cause any serious health concerns and the bite marks vanish within a few weeks. They can however generate stress and anxiety as well as disturbing your sleeping routine and can also leave you with itchy marks due to their bites.
They are habitually active at night. During the day, they prefer to hide themselves close to where people sleep. When the night comes, they crawl from their hiding places onto exposed skin, inject a slight anesthetic and suck up a small quantity of blood. Majority of people never actually feel the bite. They need a blood meal to reach maturity and lay eggs. A female lays about 5 eggs daily and the eggs take about a week to hatch. They are fully evolved in about 6 to 12 months.
How did I get bed bugs?
They travel by hitching rides on clothing, bedding, or luggage for instance and can infect new homes. You may have had them from a stay in a hotel or an Airbnb for instance.
Signs of Bed Bug infestation:
Discovering those bloodsucking insects early is the key to stopping an infestation. Here are the most common signs of bed bugs infestation:
- Bed bug excrements: blackish spots (digested blood)
- A musty odor left
- Empty shells that bed bugs shed.
- Bites onto your skin – usually on body parts uncovered while sleeping, like the face, neck and arms
- Spots of blood on your bedding – from the Bed Bugs bites
Step 1 – Inspection and Preparation
Where to check for bed bugs?
Bed bugs mostly hide near to where they feed (=you) and where light cannot reach them. As a result they are frequently found close to where people sleep.
Preferred hiding places are: Mattress and box springs, head boards or bed frames. They also tend to live in groups; where you find a single bedbug, there may in reality be many.
You can also find them in other areas, such as sofas or wall carpeting. Anywhere there are cracks, crevices or holes in walls. Clothing or items stored in closets, under beds or elsewhere on the floor. Inside electrical plugs or electronic items: Computers, smartphones for instance.
Do not forget that young bed bugs are able to access hiding places by being no thicker than a sheet of paper so detailed inspection will be required.
Indeed, inspect your home thoroughly for them to know where they are located to maximize your success in getting rid of them.
Reduce Clutter
They excel at hiding, so the more items you possess the more likely they could hide there.
=> Try to maintain your home as simply as possible.
Gather non-essential items and seal them in plastic bags (preferably with Nuvan Strips) before putting them into storage for about a year. Those prevention routines will help you get rid of bed bugs from your home.
Remember the fact that they are able to survive several months without being fed.
Keep in mind that prior to moving anything from the infected area, seal it in a plastic bag. If that is not the case, you are taking the risk of transferring them to other parts of your home.
Fighting them is about being meticulous.
Launder everything you can to get rid of bed bugs by yourself
Any clothes and bed sheets showing signs of an infestation must be sealed in a plastic bag, up until they can be properly washed.
Wash and dry clothing and bedding at the highest heat possible as allowed by the washing machine manufacturer. It’s essential to use high heat when washing and drying due to the fact that they and their eggs die at a continuous temperature of above 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Water is usually not sufficient to get rid of bed bugs because they do not easily drown. After drying clothing and bedding, stock them afterwards in sealed plastic bags.
If anything cannot be put through the hot water, place it in a sealed plastic bag and leave it untouched for a year. Because they can survive a few months without being fed. The other option being freezing those items for a week.
Dismantle Bed Frames/ Remove Dresser Drawers
They like to hide in Bed Frames. So, you should dismantle those before thoroughly cleaning them (next step of this tutorial).
You can as well remove drawers from dressers because they could hide there too.
Pull every piece of furniture away from the walls, in the affected area.
Caulk and Seal
Apply silicone-based caulk to seal crevices and joints in gaps, that are a potential bed bug hiding site. Particularly within a 15-foot range of where you found bed bugs presence signs.
Step 2 – Vacuum and Steam
Vacuum the Area
The following step of handling bed bugs is to attack them with your vacuum, which can be very efficient. Vacuum affected areas every day. The best tool for this step is a HEPA PCO vacuum which will amass them into a sealed HEPA filter, ensuring that no bed bug is able to infest the vacuum in the process. In any case you should only use a vacuum with a removable bag to guarantee that they do not get out.
You want to focus on vacuuming your mattress and the area next to your bed. They can cling to fabric so you should use a crevice special tool available with the vacuum. The suction of the vacuum should be as powerful as possible.
Once you are done, seal the bag tightly in an additional plastic bag and dispose of it outside your home.
Vacuuming may remove particles from cracks in the room, this will also improve further insecticide penetration.
Steam
As we said previously, heat is deadly to Bed Bugs. (Around 120 degrees will kill them and their eggs) A steamer can let out steam at above 200 degrees – which would kill them instantaneously if any contact.
Steam with the nozzle-like attachment of your steamer into cracks and crevices of the room.
Remove your mattress from its box spring, to steam both. Indeed, you should pay special attention to those two (as any place you suspect them to be).
Steam frequently.
Step 3 – Encase and Isolate Your Bed
No need to replace your mattress. Indeed, buying a new mattress is expensive and does not guarantee that a reinfestation cannot happen as they could hide somewhere else.
Instead make the bed an island by encasing your mattress and isolating the bed.
Encase your mattress
To encase your mattress is very cost-effective it will make it impossible for them to escape through it.
Keep it encased for one year so that you can starve the bugs that may be inside.
Choose a bed bug custom mattress protector to ensure that they are not able to pass through it and its zipper.
Isolate your Bed
Insulate your bed from the rest of the room. The bed should not touch the wall and the bedding should be kept away from touching the floor. Place bed bug interceptor cups underneath the feet of your bed.
Now it should be impossible for bed bugs outside your bed to reach you for a meal.
Step 4 – Spray & Powder Cracks & Crevices
Let’s move on to the spray phase.
Check that the category of the chosen insecticide is for indoor use on its label. For any insecticide use, you should rely on the label’s instructions of the products you selected.
Contact killers will kill bed bugs and their eggs “on contact’, but it will not be effective for a longer period of time. Residual sprays on the other hand, last for 3 months but they take more time to get rid of bed bugs.
That is why we advise to use both in combination.
Use a Contact Killer Spray to get rid of bed bugs
The EPA describes in this article the different types of existing chemicals and their actions on bed. Depending on the contact killer, but usually Pyrethroid products are present with other kinds of insecticides. Do not forget to read labels and instructions to see where you can apply the contact killers sprays.
Start by spraying bed frames, around the bed legs and along baseboards as well as below drawers.
You should ventilate after application.
Apply a Residual Bed Bug Killer Spray
After applying the Killer contact spray step, a residual insecticide should be applied in the affected area.
A Residual Bed Bug Killer does not kill bed bugs instantly as a Contact insecticide would. But it will have a long-term effect against them, allowing them to spread the poison to other bed bugs. As a result, you do not have to spray it directly on them for it to be effective.
Bed Bugs can live for months without any food, and their eggs can take more than a week to hatch. So, you could be thinking that they are eradicated to find a few weeks later a new batch nesting and ready to propagate. Residual Bed Bug Killer will help you eradicate several generations of bed bugs.
You should target crack and crevices as well as bed frames, bed legs, dressers, etc. Places where you will not make any skin contact and where you suspect they can go through.
You should repeat this step 3 times by reapplying the contact killer and residual sprays every two weeks after the first round and two weeks after the second round. This will prevent any eggs from hatching after the first round of spraying, and help prevent a reinfestation.
Bed bug prevention
To prevent bed bugs you should be cautious about :
- Every item brought into your home, especially if they are second hand or previously used items.
- When traveling in hotels by not putting your luggage directly onto the bed. You can also use a small heater to heat your luggage when coming back from a trip to ensure you are free of bed bugs.
Conclusion on how to get rid of bed bugs by yourself
No matter what cleanup methods you use or pest control routine you have, some adults and eggs may still survive due to the fact that there are a few survivors in the colony. They excel at hiding, so it can be tough to entirely decimate every member of the colony.
Monitoring bed bug activity with “Volcano” type traps will help you determine if you need to repeat the process. Try not to be too disheartened if you repeat this tutorial, you will get to the point where you do now have to worry about bed bugs.
Repeat the steps in this tutorial in case of suspicion of reappearing of a new generation of Bugs.