Bed bugs can get to be a real nuisance. So there’s no wonder that we need to know some of the best bed bug treatment options available to better handle this situation. In the following article we will be concentrating on the same.
Have you ever been bitten by bed bugs? I have, and not once, but four times. Also, not from the same place (Coz duh! I would’ve avoided that one) but from different places. They just found me, what can I say. What was out of the home I could not help, but then there was this bed in the attic which I realized was infested with bed bugs, and you know what they say about bed bug infestations, right?
That once there are bed bugs, it is very difficult to get rid of them because not much affects them. Not to scare you though, that wasn’t my intention. Not to worry, there are ways in which we can get rid of these pesky creatures and make your home bug-free. Following are some of the best bed bug treatment options that are available. Go through these and make all of them work for you.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are chronic pests because they travel effortlessly from one point to the other – in your clothes, luggage or anything else. Once there is an infestation, it can just keep on escalating and that is why there is a need to take matters into your own hands. The choices for bed bug treatment run over an extensive course and include solutions that focus on varied options at one time. Let’s get into more details of how to get rid of bed bugs.
Inspection of Property
The first thing that needs to be done? Inspect the entire property to find the spots where they might be hidden. Bed bugs do not make an entrance during the broad daylight, so you’ll have to really look. Favorite spots include mattresses, wooden crevices in the bed, carpets and clothes, windows as well as wall cracks. Once you know the areas that you need to target, it’ll become easier.
Steam Cleaning
This is one of the preliminary and widely used options. Steam cleaning involves using the steam to either kill or at least flush out the bugs from their hidden spots so that they can then be killed. The heat drives the bugs out and usually kills them in all stages of their life cycle, which includes eggs as well. Using steam has the basic advantage of being chemical and pesticide free and therefore not dangerous. Which then directly translates to the fact that it can be used anywhere without having to worry about the consequences.
Chemicals and Pesticides
Another very effective way of getting rid of bed bugs is that of attacking them with the use of chemical insecticides and pesticides. This treatment option is usually used when there is a very dense bed bug population and major infestation. And while there are several options available when it comes to choosing the right pesticide, it has to be understood that proper research needs to be done about the chemicals to use and the amount that is safe for usage. It is always better to get a professional pest control management team to do the job at hand.
Freezing the Bugs
Another method that is used quite frequently is that of freezing the bugs. This is done since the bugs cannot survive very low temperatures any which way. The disadvantage is of course that this cannot be used all over the home. This method comes in handy when there are stray pieces of clothing that needs to freed of the bugs. In which case the clothes are put into a plastic bag and the bag frozen for at least 3 weeks.
Vacuum Cleaning
The bugs that have been killed with the chemicals, steam cleaning and freezing need to be gotten rid of any which way, correct? This can be done with the help of a vacuum cleaner. Along with getting rid of the dead bugs, a vacuum cleaner can also target the crevices and cracks and suck the bugs out of their spots. Of course, it has to be ensured that the bugs are discarded in the correct manner thereafter.
Sun Drying
As mentioned earlier, bed bugs do not come out during the day time because they cannot tolerate the sun. What you simply do then is to put out all the affected furniture, clothes and carpets out into the sun. The sun’s rays will effectively kill off the bugs.
Other Bed Bug Treatment Options
The other ways in which bed bugs can be ridden is to use a specialized clay called diatomaceous earth. This causes their bodies to dehydrate and thus kills them. Apart from using all these methods, it has to be also seen that all the clothes and mattresses, and carpets have to be washed thoroughly with really hot water so that the bugs are effectively killed and the eggs washed off.
These were some of the options that you can tap into when dealing with a bed bug infestation. Now that you know what these are, you can choose to use these and get rid of that annoying pest infestation.