10 Different Ways To Kill Bed Bugs By Yourself - Or At Least Manage Them
Killing bed bugs oneself is a challenging task. They'll hide beneath base boards, the back of dresser drawers, behind light switches... almost anyplace. The mature bed bug is approximately the size of an apple seed and flat, until they feast anyway. Although bed bugs aren't a heath hazard (do not carry or transmit disease), they are more than enough to keep you awake in the evening simply thinking about them. One single bed bug bite can be mistaken for a mosquito bite and written off as such allowing them time to multiply. Once you discover one you can rest assured that you have hundreds or even 1000's more.
In the long run, a full blown infestation might require a certified exterminator. After all, how many will be to many? Before you decide to do something, there are actually a few things to bear in mind. Bed bugs can easily survive a year without feasting on a hosts blood (normally you). A grown-up female can easily lay 200 - 700 eggs throughout her lifetime. It generally takes an egg 60 days to mature. So no matter if you're a do-it-yourselfer or find a pro, it will need several treatments and continuous observation. Having said that... If the problem has not gotten to much out of control there are numerous strategies to win the fight against bedbugs. The first 3 listed here are necessary no matter what you choose to do next.
1* Clean everything in site in the hottest water you can find. Begbugs begin dying off at about 114 degrees F. Then use a dryer on its hottest setting. Not out on the line to air dry. Temperature is essential. In very hot, dry climates (Phoenix for example) it is just as efficient to put your bedsheets and cloths inside a black trash bag and place it out under the sun for an afternoon.
2* Vacuum. Vacuum each and every nook, crook and cranny. Vacuum the blinds, the box springs, the furnishings, etc. Vacuum like your life depended on it. Bed bugs are not unclean critters. They don't care about food crumbs or old food like cockroaches. Nonetheless they need vacuumed up after which take the whole vacuum cleaner outdoors to switch bags... Vacuum again.
3* Steam Clean. Now that you have their attention, merge #1 and #2. Put very hot, HOT water in the steam cleaner and go over the bedroom just as before.
4* Just as effective as high temperature is, cold works too. Problem is that it has to remain below freezing for 2 weeks to be effective.
5* Biological warfare. Before WWII beg bugs had been all but eliminated. About that time the government banned DDTs. Sense then there numbers have been increasing and required tamer chemicals and traps. There are many chemical compounds on the market but practically all of them are not intended to contact the skin. These are best although intended for non-traffic areas, box springs, draperies, etc.
6* Mattress Bags. Depending on the degree of bedbug infestation, your best bet may perhaps be to discard the mattress all together. For less severe situations, the chemicals from #5 may be sprinkled on and shot into the mattress just before you seal it in a watertight mattress bag. They start off at around $60 and go up according to the dimensions required.
7* Diatomaceous Earth. Here is the alternative to tough chemicals. It is an all natural dust ground up from small tiny fossils of single-celled algae. They even use it in dog food as a preservative. On a microscopic level it has jagged sides which cut and kill the bedbugs as they crawl across it. Basically it's only dirt.
8* Tape and Traps. This is more for monitoring but flypaper, roach traps and stuff like that allows you to keep an eye on on how effective your time and efforts have been so far. And then from virtually any shipping supply store you can pickup double sided sticky tape to wrap around the edges of the mattress. Yet another way to snare and observe bed bug traffic.
9* Thyme and tree leaf oil. These are a repellent more then anything else. It doesn't kill them. They get a whiff of it and run the opposite direction. But remember that bed bugs might survive a year without eating so they are still reproducing.
10* Natures neem. Neem essential oil and neem extract. If you find that you have been bitten by bed bugs, this will sooth the itching and hydrate the skin. Matter of fact it is wonderful for your skin no matter if you have bed bugs or not. Bonus is that it keeps the bedbugs away from you while sleeping.
There we have 7 ways to kill bed bugs and a few ways to keep tabs on your progress in managing bed bugs. The more you blend the above suggestions the better luck you will have before the need for an pest control man. Just a word of warning though... if you break down and have to use an exterminator, they're going to request you to clean up anyhow before they even show up. Do away with mess. ' ziplock ' bag all cloths, bed linens, sheets, and so on. Vacuum and basically do everything already stated in 1 though 3.
In conclusion, realize that before starting, it will require weeks and months of constant cleaning, washing, monitoring, vacuuming again and again to properly kill the bed bugs throughout there whole life cycle. And hopefully you can catch it before it spreads through out the home. All it takes is a few stowaways in the laundry washing, suitcase, sleeping bags or any clothes that you tote around.
In the long run, a full blown infestation might require a certified exterminator. After all, how many will be to many? Before you decide to do something, there are actually a few things to bear in mind. Bed bugs can easily survive a year without feasting on a hosts blood (normally you). A grown-up female can easily lay 200 - 700 eggs throughout her lifetime. It generally takes an egg 60 days to mature. So no matter if you're a do-it-yourselfer or find a pro, it will need several treatments and continuous observation. Having said that... If the problem has not gotten to much out of control there are numerous strategies to win the fight against bedbugs. The first 3 listed here are necessary no matter what you choose to do next.
1* Clean everything in site in the hottest water you can find. Begbugs begin dying off at about 114 degrees F. Then use a dryer on its hottest setting. Not out on the line to air dry. Temperature is essential. In very hot, dry climates (Phoenix for example) it is just as efficient to put your bedsheets and cloths inside a black trash bag and place it out under the sun for an afternoon.
2* Vacuum. Vacuum each and every nook, crook and cranny. Vacuum the blinds, the box springs, the furnishings, etc. Vacuum like your life depended on it. Bed bugs are not unclean critters. They don't care about food crumbs or old food like cockroaches. Nonetheless they need vacuumed up after which take the whole vacuum cleaner outdoors to switch bags... Vacuum again.
3* Steam Clean. Now that you have their attention, merge #1 and #2. Put very hot, HOT water in the steam cleaner and go over the bedroom just as before.
4* Just as effective as high temperature is, cold works too. Problem is that it has to remain below freezing for 2 weeks to be effective.
5* Biological warfare. Before WWII beg bugs had been all but eliminated. About that time the government banned DDTs. Sense then there numbers have been increasing and required tamer chemicals and traps. There are many chemical compounds on the market but practically all of them are not intended to contact the skin. These are best although intended for non-traffic areas, box springs, draperies, etc.
6* Mattress Bags. Depending on the degree of bedbug infestation, your best bet may perhaps be to discard the mattress all together. For less severe situations, the chemicals from #5 may be sprinkled on and shot into the mattress just before you seal it in a watertight mattress bag. They start off at around $60 and go up according to the dimensions required.
7* Diatomaceous Earth. Here is the alternative to tough chemicals. It is an all natural dust ground up from small tiny fossils of single-celled algae. They even use it in dog food as a preservative. On a microscopic level it has jagged sides which cut and kill the bedbugs as they crawl across it. Basically it's only dirt.
8* Tape and Traps. This is more for monitoring but flypaper, roach traps and stuff like that allows you to keep an eye on on how effective your time and efforts have been so far. And then from virtually any shipping supply store you can pickup double sided sticky tape to wrap around the edges of the mattress. Yet another way to snare and observe bed bug traffic.
9* Thyme and tree leaf oil. These are a repellent more then anything else. It doesn't kill them. They get a whiff of it and run the opposite direction. But remember that bed bugs might survive a year without eating so they are still reproducing.
10* Natures neem. Neem essential oil and neem extract. If you find that you have been bitten by bed bugs, this will sooth the itching and hydrate the skin. Matter of fact it is wonderful for your skin no matter if you have bed bugs or not. Bonus is that it keeps the bedbugs away from you while sleeping.
There we have 7 ways to kill bed bugs and a few ways to keep tabs on your progress in managing bed bugs. The more you blend the above suggestions the better luck you will have before the need for an pest control man. Just a word of warning though... if you break down and have to use an exterminator, they're going to request you to clean up anyhow before they even show up. Do away with mess. ' ziplock ' bag all cloths, bed linens, sheets, and so on. Vacuum and basically do everything already stated in 1 though 3.
In conclusion, realize that before starting, it will require weeks and months of constant cleaning, washing, monitoring, vacuuming again and again to properly kill the bed bugs throughout there whole life cycle. And hopefully you can catch it before it spreads through out the home. All it takes is a few stowaways in the laundry washing, suitcase, sleeping bags or any clothes that you tote around.