Vacuums will help you to reduce the number of bed bugs in your home. In this article we will explain How to use vacuums for Bed Bugs.
Benefits of vacuuming against bed bugs
Vacuums are particularly efficient where there are groups or clusters of bed bugs to reduce their population in your home. You cannot 100% rely on vacuums to eradicate them but it will be one of your best tools in the process.
Here are some of the benefits of vacuums:
- Get rid of big of big chunks bed bugs grouped together rapidly or remove the isolated ones
- Eradicate bed bugs that are resistant to insecticide
- Its usage does not require use of any insecticide
- It will clean your room of any dirt, molted skin left by bugs as well as dust or other debris. Which will leave your room clean and facilitate the further inspection and the effectiveness of the insecticides
How to use vacuums for Bed Bugs
In this section we will see how to use vacuums to deal with a bed bug infestation.
Find the appropriate Vacuum
Best option is to look for a vacuum specifically designed for pest control, that has an HEPA Filter. An HEPA will filter allergens generated from bed bugs. It also ensures that those residing inside of your vacuum are perfectly sealed and cannot escape.
The vacuum you are looking for should also have high suction power as it will improve efficiency in the process and also helps to vacuum eggs, which are usually harder to suck up as they stick to the surface.
You also want to get rid of them after having vacuumed them so you choose a vacuum with a bag instead of a canister-only vacuum.
Your vacuums should come with:
- A stiff brush which will be useful to dislodge bugs and eggs
- A crevice tool which will maximizes suction power so you can suck up bugs in area where they like to hide such as crack and crevices
A Robot Vacuum Cleaner could also be interesting to vacuum during the night where the bed bugs are active. If you want to know more, you can have a look at our dedicated article on Robot Vacuum Cleaner and Bed bugs.
Where should you vacuum for Bed bugs?
Here are the places you should pay extra attention when vacuuming against bed bugs:
- Mattress
- Box spring
- Cracks and crevices within the bed frame
- Intersection of the floor and the baseboard (especially around the bed)
- Floor (especially around the bed)
- Curtains / Carpets
- Any other furniture in your bedroom
Vacuuming Tips
- Keep your home simple by decluttering (with as little items as possible) and put infestation-free items in sealed plastic bags. They will have less spots to hide and your eradication process will be simplified
- They can sometimes be trapped in your vacuum hose or brushes or in the filter. One tip is to vacuum a tiny amount of diatomaceous earth (Or any other powder insecticide) which will kill the residing bugs inside your vacuum.
- You can also seal shut your vacuum with tape over the nozzle to ensure surviving they cannot escape
- You should also use a dedicated vacuum for the affected area to prevent the spreading of the infestation.
- When you are done vacuuming remove the bag from the vacuum and seal it with a tape. Then you should trash that bag outdoors.
- For bagless vacuums, empty and discard the canister content in a sealed plastic bag. You should then wash the canister with hot and soapy water to ensure no bed bug survivors in this area.
- Filters should be discarded, then washed or replaced with a new one. Another option is to freeze them for more than 4 days as cold is deadly to Bed bugs during prolonged periods of time.
- Repeated vacuuming in infested areas will help control a bed bugs infestation.
We have seen how to use Vacuums for Bed bugs. Now we should select the right vacuum to proceed. But with all the products available, how can we find out the best one that will cater our needs ? This is why we have an in-depth Bed bugs Vacuums Buying Guide to help you select the best vacuums in the market today.