How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Yourself

By Magssno

Bed bugs are taking over the whole country, they have even been discovered in the Empire State Building for Gods sake! Thankfully any problem you find yourself having with these miniature vampires will be on a very much smaller scale but it can still be very disconcerting non the less.

To start with there are the itchy, red welts on your body, some people don’t display any reaction to the bed bug bites but for the majority the unbelievable itching just makes a bad situation seem a whole lot worse. Next, you have to face the fact that your property has an invasion of bugs and you have to decide how to get rid of bed bugs as quickly and effectively as possible.

There are a few uncomplicated steps you should follow which will hopefully get rid of your bed bugs. However, if you are faced with a large infestation, in more than one room you may need to seek professional help.

Okay, here is how to get rid of bed bugs the do-it-yourself way!

1. De-clutter and clear the room. Get rid of anything you no longer need such as newspapers, magazines, books etc. Pile all this “stuff” into plastic bags, seal them securely and dispose of them.

2. Remove all bedding, clothing etc. and place these in sealed plastic bags also. Launder everything at as high a temperature as items can withstand. Items which cannot be laundered can be placed in your tumble dryer on a high heat setting for around 10 minutes. As an alternative you might use a steam cleaner to get rid of bed bugs in garments unsuited to laundering or tumble drying. Once items have been treated place them in fresh plastic bags, seal them securely to avoid recontamination. REMEMBER – you will have to check and treat drawers, closets etc. because bed bugs will hide out everywhere.

3. Once the room is completely clear, vacuum everywhere in a methodical, thorough manner this should include the bed, soft furnishings, curtains, inside furniture, even less obvious places like smoke alarms, light switches and alarm clocks have to be checked. It is essential that you empty the contents of your vacuum cleaner into a plastic bag and seal it closed as soon as you complete this part of the task.

4. Repeat step three this time with a steam cleaner. Bed bugs cannot survive heat and a steam cleaner gives an immediate and intense source. This should get rid of bed bugs at all stages in their development from eggs and nymphs through to full grown adult bugs.

5. If you find any small cracks or crevices in walls or floors now is a good time to have them repaired. This will get rid of bed bug hiding places!

You could take no further action and hope that you have got rid of all the bed bugs. However, if someone asks me how to get rid of bed bugs I always advise taking things a step further.

You can obtain a wide variety of bed bugs sprays and treatments but one which I personally have used and had a good outcome with is Bed Bug Patrol. It is 100% non toxic and works really quickly to get rid of bed bugs who may have escaped the vacuum and steam cleaners. From the same company you can also purchase fossil shell dust and bed bug traps. These are relatively inexpensive but will effectively get rid of bed bugs. In fact you can buy everything you need in a kit.

These steps show you how to get rid of bed bugs, but completing this routine once may not be sufficient. You may have to repeat the whole thing a few times before you can declare your home a bed bug free zone!

GOOD LUCK!

About the Author: Bed bugs are everywhere! Make sure you know how to get rid of bed bugs successfully.

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=841902&ca=Home+Management

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Bed bugs are tiny insects with a flat body and may appear to have a brownish color. Unlike other small insects, they have no wings but do have mouth parts which they use in sucking blood. Treating bed bugs is easy when you know how to distinguish them from other insects and also being aware of their hiding places.

Once the bugs bite to suck blood, they usually introduce their saliva which mixes with the blood of the person. As a result, the person will scratch at the particular spot since the skin will have been irritated by the sucking insect. The scratching is very strong and will cause the skin to swell and it can be painful.

To know if the bugs have invaded your house, normally you notice you have been bitten and you scratch a lot at the spot. There may even be traces of some blood on your bed sheet. When you check on some corners of your mattress you may notice that they have left their laid eggs there and some of their waste products.

When it comes to eliminating the bugs, you need to be quite observant in noticing these small details which will eventually lead you to finding out their hiding places. A careful observation will lead you from one place to another. You may begin by checking out your mattress and especially on torn areas. Proceed into checking the bed stands and corners, and rest assured you will find them hiding there.

Apart from the bed and the mattress, the bugs like to hide beneath your carpet where they comfortably leave their laid eggs and on your clothes especially the ones that are folded. Inside your wardrobe and even around your house, try to see if there are some cracks. Again if you are keen you will notice their presence there.

After you are very sure the bugs are present, the next thing to do is to find ways of eliminating them completely. For this you will not only need to have a recommended insecticide for killing the bugs, but also you need to be armed with warm water, vacuum cleaner and some other tools. Begin by removing the mattress from the bed, and work seriously on it first. Try to separate the bed into parts by undoing the areas joined together. For this you may need to have tools like screws to undo the fastening. Put the bed stand aside, check out those holes and also look around for any visible cracks on the stand. Using the insecticide, spray on those holes and cracks thoroughly.

When the bugs are on the mattress, it is hard to completely get rid of them since they most certainly lay so many eggs in different areas of the mattress and so their presence is also very high. Therefore, it is best to take the mattress outside and burn it. You may sprinkle some paraffin just to make sure it burns down completely. To effectively do away with the eggs of the bug, take a brush and sprinkle the insecticide on it. Like one doing some painting, use that brush to do the same on the eggs. After you are done spraying all areas, take other infected items like clothes, curtains and dip them in extremely hot water. For items which are not possible to be washed, take them out and lay them to dry in the hot sun. Other items infected but not useful can always be burnt.

Using your vacuum cleaner, vacuum the carpet, furniture and walls. In fact you can practically vacuum the whole house so as to eliminate any eggs that have been left by the bugs. If you also have containers around, check inside for any visible signs of the bugs. If found either take the container out and clean it or if not needed just discard it too. For cracks in walls and other areas, you should find a way of filling them up or if you have the necessary tools you may try to fix them.

In as much as the bed bugs do not spread diseases, their presence alone is very annoying. When you consider the damage they do to your skin, causing all the itchiness that at times may result into wounds, it is important that you follow the above in treating bed bugs. If at times you find it a bit hard for you, always engage the services of an expert to help you eliminate the bugs completely.

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They usually hide away from the daylight, so it’s possible for them to hide in mattresses, furniture, carpet and bed frames. Bed bugs usually stay close to their host and will only move as far as 100 feet away from their hideout to feed.

Detection of Bed Bug Infestations
They can be found when you see black stains on your bed, which are usually their poo. You can also spot them if there are red stains because some of them may be accidentally crushed by you, leaving the blood stains it has sucked previously.

When they are crushed, you can even smell a sweet scent in the air. Bed bug bites usually happen in a straight row of 3 or 4 bites. This can be caused by an interruption when they are in the process of sucking. It will then have to continue in another area near to where it previously sucked.

How To Control Infestations?
It is hard to control their growth. Once you bed bugs decide to stay in with you, they can be hard to find and even harder to get rid of.

They can practically hide around anywhere that is large enough to accommodate them. Although their name is bed bugs, but they can stay in places away from beds too, such as the floor cracks, wall panels, behind wallpapers and closet places.

A good practice would be frequent vacuuming of the house, especially in hard to reach places. Pay special attention to any cracks or crevices when vacuuming. Seal them up if possible to reduce the possibility of them moving inside the cracks and staying in.

If your house has already been infested, it is advised to consider experts in pests extermination. If it is a bad infestation, the neighbour’s house should also be included. This is to prevent from spreading to even more households.

Bed bugs are bad parasites. They may not cause any direct danger, but the frustration they cause can lead to lots of spending money to get rid of them.

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Here are some methods you can use to stop the itching:

1. You can buy Corticool and apply the cream on your bites so that it relieves itching.

2. Use Benadryl

3. Apply calimine lotion

4. Wash affected area with warm soapy water. Apply anti-itch cream afterwards.

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1. Isopropyl Alcohol
Mix a 1:1 ratio of isopropyl alcohol together with water. Find tiny cracks and crevices on the walls, floors or ceilings and spray the mixture. When bed bugs come into contact with the mixture, they will die immediately.

2. Heat
Some pest control experts use heat to exterminate the bed bugs. It causes less mess and doesn’t require any chemicals.

To use this method, you can use a hair dryer and blow a full blast with the highest heat settings on your bed, hiding places of bed bugs and clothes. Run the hair dryer for at least 5 minutes. Be careful that some material may cause fire when receive too high of a temperature.

3. Steam
Heat a pot of of water to its boiling point. Then, get the materials that are infected to be covered over the pot. The steam that is produced will be hot enough to kill the bed bugs.

Aternatively, you can use an iron to go through your entire bed.

4. Use double sided tape and place it around your bed. That is a cheap way to make a bug trap. This can reduce the number of bed bug bites.

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2. Look around and see if you can find egg cases of bed bugs, fecal stains, or shedded skins of baby bed bugs in cracks in the house.

3. If you have red spots that are darker red in the middle, causes intense itchiness, arranged in a rough line, then those bites are from bed bugs.

4. Count the frequency of your bites. If you get bites everyday, those are bed bugs bites. If you get bites randomly throughout the week, it might have been mosquitoes or other type of insects.

5. When are you getting the bites? If you find new bites every morning, chances are those are bed bug bites. They have their feasts at night and if they have set their target on you, they will suck your blood evrey night.

6. On which part are you getting the bites? If it’s usually on your back or your arms, you have a high chance of being bitten by bed bugs.

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When staying in a hotel room, you should use a mattress cover specifically made to fight off bed bugs. By putting a layer of the mattress cover, you can prevent the bed bugs that are beneath to come up and bite you. Yo do have to be careful of the type of material your mattress cover is made out of. Since bed bugs are strong little creatures, they will bite through anything just to get to your blood.

Silk or light fabrics won’t do the job well so choose one that is thick and tightly woven.

Although they are called bed bugs, that doesn’t mean they only live in beds. They also stay in small little protected areas around the room. Even if you have a mattress cover, you will still get bitten by them once they crawl up to you.

If the bed bugs in your room are staying outside of your bed, another method you can use is by placing those sticky flytraps type of paper at places where they will need to get pass to reach you. This would usually be the legs of the bed.

Depending on how large the colony is, the ones that aren’t caught might walk on the ones that are caught, so they don’t get trapped and reach you.

You can also prevent this by minimizing the area of your exposed skin. Wear a long sleeve and long pants pyjamas, cover up your hands and feet with socks and mittens.

In conclusion, bed bugs are annoying creatures and it is best to get experts help as soon as possible.

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The only way to prevent from wasting money is by taking precautionary steps right now so that bed bugs don’t get into your house. Here are a few steps that can reduce the chances of your house from being infested by bed bugs:

1. No Used Furniture
If you saw a used furniture that still looks good and new thrown out, do not take it. There might be reasons for the owner to throw it away.

If his house was recently infested by bed bugs, most probably the furniture is a nest of bed bugs. If you really have to take it home, use a bed bug spray on it before taking it home. Leave it under the afternoon sun to kill the bed bugs first before moving it into your house.

2. Check Bed
If you travel a lot, check for signs of bed bugs before settling in a hotel room. If there are red or black stains on the bed sheets, do not take any chances and request for a room change. It could be a sign that bed bugs have previously bit someone in the room before.

3. Buy Mattress Covers
To prevent your bed from being a hiding spot of bed bugs, invest in a mattress cover made by pest control experts. Mattress covers that are designed to combat bed bugs will usually have a different material. It should be able to prevent the smallest bed bug from entering into your bed.

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Bed bugs are like nocturnal creatures, they come out and hunt for human blood at night. Since they hide in crevices and cracks, they would need to travel up to your bed before reaching you. So, we can first separate the bed far from any other furniture to shortlist the possibilities of their hiding places.

Then, we can apply vaseline or oil on the legs of the bed. A moating of silica aerogel or chalk can be laid around the bed posts too.

Drawing off the first method, we can also use sticky tape and put them on the bed posts to capture bed bugs. Double sided tape or anything sticky like glue can be used too. If you are still in the stage where you are just trying to identify if there are existence of bed bugs in your place or not, this would be the best method.

If you have the time, you can physically find bed bugs and their eggs on your bed too. People think that they are unseen by the naked eye. In fact, they can actually grow to the size of an apple seed. They usually hide in the day so it’s no wonder that people think they can’t be seen.

You can also find crevices and cracks on walls, floors and ceilings. Cover them up so that the bed bugs that are hiding within will die because of lack of oxygen and food.

If you prefer to vacuum them out first, be sure to heat the vacuum bag before disposing of them to make sure the bed bugs are dead. If not, they will find a way to crawl back to you for revenge.

You can even use the various organic insecticides being sold on the market today. They are biodegradable and environmentally friendly and won’t harm your children as well.

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Pest control companies are usually called in the deal with the bed bugs infestations. They normally use insecticides which are both harmful to human and nature. In the end, it is very hard to kill the bed bugs because doing so will harm everyone else as well.

Companies understood the need to have their products become environmentally-friendly. So, long gone are the days where chemical-filled insecticides are the only solutions to get rid of bed bugs. There are more and more organic bed bug sprays that claim to save the environment and wont harm humans at the same time. Most of them are fragrant in odour and don’t have the dreaded chemical smells of insecticide.

Before using products like these organic bed bug sprays, you have to first inspect the surroundings of where you sleep. Look for crevices and cracks around your bed. These places may seem tiny to you, but they are the perfect spot for the bed bugs to hide when they are not out sucking your blood.

If you avoid the bed bugs by sleeping in another room, it will only get worse since they will start to infest the next room also. They do this by following your heat and the scent of carbon dioxide released by your breath. They will just follow you to get blood out of you for their meal.

It would be wise to get rid all of your stuffs where the bed bugs could be hiding. If there are things that cannot be thrown away, consider using a hair dryer and blowing it at your belongings at the hottest temperature. The extreme temperature may succeed in forcing them to leave their hiding spots. If they don’t, they will die inside as well.

Apart from that, you can use Bed Bug Bully which is a non-toxic formulated spray that can help you kill bed bugs.

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