Unfortunately, the bed bug populations are increasing in North America, Europe and Australia, and reaching epidemic proportions. Considering that any climate below 48 ° C provides a thriving environment for bed bugs, your home may be the next to be infested with them.
These steps will suggest ways to prevent bed bugs from entering your home and to prevent an infestation if some do.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Understanding Bedbug Behavior
Step 1. Learn to identify them
Bedbugs are red-brown with a flat, oval body approximately 6.35mm in length. They often hide near a bed, but over time they can spread to other areas of the home.
Bed bug color can range from nearly white, after moulting, to light brown, dark brown, or burnt orange
Step 2. Although they are usually found on or near the bed, most of the insects you will find there are not bedbugs
Before starting pest control measures to specifically get rid of bedbugs, make sure it is precisely that insect.
Step 3. Know how they enter your home
Bedbugs enter your home in many ways, and the most common are in your luggage, computer or clothing when you have stayed in another home or traveled in a medium where they are present, such as public transport. A move is another time when they can enter the house, moving around in the boxes.
Step 4. Learn the places to find them once you enter your home
- Bedbugs can be found more frequently in buildings where many people sleep or where many people are passing through, such as a hotel or hostel.
- They tend to populate areas where people sleep more than any other part of the house. They love to hide in bed frames, mattresses and springs.
- Thanks to the shape of their body, they manage to hide in the cracks and crevices of walls, furniture and other objects.
- They can travel from one apartment to another using the spaces between walls, cables or pipes.
- They love the heat. They can fit into laptops, netbooks, and ethernet ports, all of which are items you might carry to other rooms or homes.
- Occasionally, be carried by bats and birds.
Method 2 of 4: Preventing Bedbugs from Entering the Home
Step 1. Check for bed bugs before unpacking when traveling away from home
Change your room or hotel right away if you prove their presence.
- Remove the sheets from the bed and look for bedbugs along the seams or small blood stains on the mattress.
- Search along the edges of the springs and in the seams of the blankets.
- Inspect the head of the bed and the space behind it.
- Examine wood or upholstered furniture, especially along seams and gaps. Bedbugs seem to prefer wood and fabric to plastic and metal.
- Don't put your suitcase on the bed. Use the space provided if there is one, or leave the suitcase in the bathtub or outside the room while you inspect it.
Step 2. Get rid of bedbugs that may have lodged on your clothes
- Separate the laundry in plastic bags so that the clothes can be placed directly in the washing machine without the bedbugs escaping. Wash and dry your clothes at the maximum allowable temperature or take them to a laundry.
- Undress on a hard surface and not a carpet if you suspect it is on your clothes. Bedbugs don't travel on people like head lice. Sweep the floor to catch the ones that fall out of your clothes.
Step 3. Inspect the suitcase and other personal belongings
Vacuum suitcases and items that cannot be washed. Hand wash other items with warm, soapy water. Use a brush to scrub items, especially those where bedbugs and eggs may be hiding in creases and seams.
Step 4. Be careful when buying used furniture and clothing
Wash your clothes immediately. You should carefully inspect the furniture before bringing it indoors.
- Check for cracks and gaps, behind moldings and other decorations.
- Avoid bringing used mattresses into the house.
- Wash and dry all soft furnishings, such as curtains, at a high temperature before using them.
Method 3 of 4: Recognizing the Signs of a Home Infestation
Step 1. Consider having bed bugs if a tenant of the house complains of being bitten during the night
Step 2. Check for signs of bedbugs:
- You can spot poop stains (dark brown or reddish spots) on the blankets, mattress and near the bed with the naked eye.
- A house with a heavy infestation might smell like coriander.
Step 3. Confirm the identity of the bedbugs if you are unsure
Bring a specimen to an entomologist for verification.
Method 4 of 4: Prevent Bedbugs from Spreading
If bedbugs have invaded your home, it is important to act quickly to limit the infestation.
Step 1. Take care of the bed
There are many things you can do to make your bed less palatable for bed bugs, and more difficult to reach.
- Vacuum mattresses and bed frames to remove them.
- Cover the nets and mattresses with a vinyl cover for at least a year, as the grown-up ones can survive up to a year without feeding. Seal all tears with tape.
- Move the beds away from the wall.
- Use ClimbUP, a commercial product to trap bedbugs. It is an object similar to a glass full of talc, to be placed under the legs of the bed that catches the bugs that try to climb. You can make a "homemade" version by using a plastic cup filled with mineral oil and placing it under each leg of the bed. Remember to empty them frequently.
Step 2. Take care of the blankets
Blankets must be treated and cared for appropriately.
- Wash the blankets in hot water and then dry them on a high heat every week. Put pillows and other items that can't be washed in the dryer for twenty minutes on a high heat.
- Make sure the blankets don't touch the ground.
Step 3. Remove bed bugs from carpets, fabric curtains and upholstered furniture by vacuuming every week
Immediately dispose of the contents of the vacuum cleaner carefully in plastic bags that can be sealed
Step 4. Minimize the number of bedbug hiding places
- Put some putty along the baseboards and moldings.
- Seal holes in areas where pipes or cables enter walls.
- Reduce piles of objects in the bedroom, especially near the bed and on the floor.
Step 5. Contact a pest control agency to periodically treat the home and prevent an infestation
- Ask for references before hiring someone.
- Ask for ecological solutions if you prefer.
- Talk to previous customers and check that they were satisfied.
- If you live in a rental, notify the homeowner right away and ask for the problem to be resolved.
Advice
You can put an infested computer in a plastic bag with poisonous shavings for a week
While they are unpleasant and sensitive people may have an allergic reaction to the bed bug bite, they do not transmit any pathology. Some bedbugs in Vancouver and Washington have been carriers of drug-resistant staph infections
Carpet cleaners and steam floor cleaners help prevent infestations and can fight them
Warnings
- Infested furniture can be treated and cleaned to remove bedbugs. Don't panic and don't throw away your furniture - you'll just spread the problem and have to replace it. Take that time to get rid of the bugs and you can still use that furniture. If you no longer want to keep them, take them to a landfill, so that no one else takes them into their own home. Remember that they could be picked up by your neighbor.
- Read and understand pesticide labels. Don't use pesticides without permission - let a professional use them.
- Boric acid or diatomaceous earth can reduce the bed bug population, but will not be enough for complete pest control.
