A small bed bug infestation can quickly turn into a nightmare. Preventing it isn't enough - the only way to get rid of it is to kill all the adult insects and eggs in your home. You can try some do-it-yourself treatments, but in severe cases, you need to go to an exterminator. Here's how to do it.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: First Method: Using Heat
Step 1. Place infested clothing and bedding in the dryer after washing
Set it on the highest temperature for 10-20 minutes.
- Dry clean items can be placed in the dryer provided they are completely dry and the appliance is set to an average temperature below 71 ºC.
- Heat is an effective method of killing bed bugs, but clothes should be washed at a temperature of 49ºC for the treatment to be useful.
- Don't take your clothes to the laundry. Dry cleaning typically kills bed bugs, but the pieces will cause an infestation at the laundries as well.
Step 2. Expose the furniture to direct sunlight
The same goes for upholstery and other fabrics that cannot be dry cleaned.
- Softly wrap each item in plastic, perhaps black, so it will absorb heat better.
- Place the plastic-wrapped items in front of direct sunlight. Choose the sunniest and warmest day possible.
- Leave them like this for at least 24 hours.
- The internal temperature of objects wrapped with plastic should be at least 49 ºC.
Step 3. If it's winter, remember that you can still put the furniture outside:
the cold will kill the bedbugs.
- Wrap each piece of furniture with a plastic liner and place it in the shade. Choose the coldest day possible.
- This method requires more exposure than that of heat. If the temperature is -18 ºC, you will have to wait two to four days. If it is -7 ºC, you will have to wait about a week.
Step 4. Use the PackTite, a portable heating device used to kill bed bugs
However, it is difficult to find and it is not cheap.
- This tool is large enough to handle items such as suitcases, backpacks, clothes, sleeping bags, purses, pillows, and shoes.
- Place the items on the support rack inside the device and follow the instructions to heat it up.
- It will turn off automatically when the cycle is complete.
- Remember that it is ineffective for treating an entire room or large space.
Step 5. Call the experts
If you want to treat a room, contact an extermination company, which will use steam or heat based devices.
- The price of a session can vary between 400 and 1300 euros. The steam treatment is longer and the temperature reaches 71-82 ºC.
- One of the most effective treatments is the use of a heating system for the whole room. Industrial devices heat the air in the entire space to a temperature between 49 and 57 ºC.
- Ask the exterminators if you need to remove the beds and furniture before they arrive. Some companies will ask you to do this, others will do an inspection first.
- Raising the temperature in your home will not give the same results as a professional treatment.
Method 2 of 3: Second Method: Using Insecticides
Step 1. Find the right pesticide
Buy one specifically designed for killing bed bugs. The generic ones, used for other insects, are not effective in this regard.
- Choose a pesticide targeted for use in a specific location for best results. In general, there are products used for exteriors, for mattresses, for the whole house, for an entire room or for surfaces.
- Pesticides useful for this purpose should contain, among others, the following ingredients: bifentrin, boric acid, Neem oil, deltamethrin, tetramethrin and propoxur.
- If possible, buy a product that has been officially tested and found to be effective.
Step 2. Follow the instructions carefully:
read them on each label, as there is no general application method.
- Never use an outdoor pesticide indoors.
- Using a pesticide incorrectly can be dangerous to your health and useless in solving the problem.
- Throw away the instructions only after you have finished the product.
Step 3. Call a pest control company if supermarket-bought pesticides are in vain
The chemicals used by professionals are often more potent and the application techniques more uniform and expert.
Ask if you need to prepare the house before fumigation - it may be necessary to remove the damageable items from the chemicals
Method 3 of 3: Third Method: Unconventional Treatments
Step 1. Use the vacuum cleaner to remove visible bed bugs
During an infestation, you should use it regularly on all carpets, beds and other upholstered furniture.
- Although this remedy seems obvious, it is considered unconventional because it is generally not effective on its own, but it can be useful in combination with other treatments.
- It does not kill bedbugs because it cannot reach all the places where they are hidden.
- To be most successful, be sure to search everywhere and vacuum fabric surfaces to pull out any eggs or stubborn adults.
- Place the contents of the vacuum cleaner in a sealed plastic bag once you are done. Leave it in direct sunlight for several hours to kill any surviving bedbugs.
Step 2. Roll out some diatomaceous earth
Apply a thin layer of this powder around problem areas, both known and suspected. Rub it lightly on the rugs to work deeply.
- This product is made from crushed and fossilized shells.
- Bedbugs that come into contact with diatomaceous earth become instantly dehydrated and die within hours.
- Use diatomaceous earth that is non-toxic and non-hazardous to humans.
Step 3. Create a red bean leaf barrier if the problem is not severe
Arrange them around the bed, sofa, or affected spot to kill a bunch of bed bugs.
- This folk remedy comes from Eastern Europe.
- Red bean leaves have microscopic hairs that grab the legs of bedbugs at their weakest point. Those who try to escape are killed when the trapped leg is torn apart. Most get entangled. Leaves and bedbugs can be burned.
- Scientists are trying to develop a synthetic material that will simulate red bean plant hair while remaining safe for humans.
Step 4. Use a minimal dose of ivermectin to kill about 60% of bedbugs in a contaminated area
- This method has been indicated by some studies that began in December 2012 and, until they are officially accepted by the scientific community, your doctor may not necessarily prescribe a drug containing this active ingredient for a bed bug problem (http: / /well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/31/pill-could-join-arsenal-against-bedbugs/).
- Ivermectin is considered safe and is used in medicines used against worms, for both animals and humans.
- This remedy is based on a technique called xenointoxication. If you opt for this solution, you should take it before going to bed. Bedbugs will bite you while you sleep, but the substance, transmitted through your blood, will kill them.
