How to get rid of bedbugs – bedbug control techniques

Bedbugs are stuborn and smart little insects that cause sleepless nights and health effects once the infest your bed and other furniture. Being tiny makes them hide in hard-to-reach areas within your furniture. Bedbug bites are painful, cause prolonged itching and swelling of the skin, once they start troubling you, the only desire is to get rid of them. This guide on how to get rid of bedbugs has begbug control techniques that shall completely do away with bedbugs.

Getting rid of bedbugs requires time and effort. You can use chemical, non-chemical or both to get this bloodsuckers off your place. Bedbugs might persist even when you’re putting every possible effort to remove them especially when you carry them with your language accidentally, after travel.

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How to spot bedbugs, what are the indicators

Check for these signs when looking for bedbugs.
Bedbugs; you shall easily identify live bedbugs by checking for tiny brown or reddish insects moving or chilled within your furniture.

Bedbug droppings; bedbug droppings can easily be identified as tiny black dots in corners and cracks of your furniture.
Check for red blood stains: if bedbugs have been disturbing you, you can check to find an area within the house where they have been accidentally crushed to leave reddish stains.
Look out for bedbug eggs; a healthy female bedbug can lay up to 500 eggs which are found in clusters within cracks and other points like we discuss below.

Check all the areas infested by bedbugs

Bedbugs, especially in early infestation, are hard to detect due to their small bodies. However, early detection makes corolling them easier. Heavy bedbug infestation shall be expensive to do away with. They are tiny and might call for using an aid such as a magnifying glass to see them. You can use your phone’s camera to check if you do not have a magnifying glass. Bedbugs like to hide in this places:

• Check-in cracks and joints of your furniture.
• Check-in between cushions and your coach
• Box springs and the tag of your mattress
• Inside sockets and other electric ports
• Check loose portraits, paintings, and wallpapers, bedbugs hiding in the space created between the wall and paper.

These are not the only places, check throughout any dark thin corners and joints plus any other places within your hose that you think can host bed bugs. If your house is infested, you should by now be finding a lot of bedbugs. For each that you find, it’s good to kill them by dumping them in the tin then add a little rubbing alcohol and seal. Squeezing bedbugs to kill them isn’t effective with their resistant tiny bodies.

Keep the infestation under control

So you’ve realized that you have bedbugs in the house. Before we go to getting rid of them, we first have to contain them. With a vacuum cleaner, you shall be ae to stuck-up most of these insects. Run your vacuum cleaner over the places of infestation. Now put the resultant content from the vacuum in a plastic bag and seal it then dump. Take all the clothing materials including sheets and others a put them in a plastic bag then seal it and keep them away for now.

Clean all the sheets and cloth material in a washer and dryer. Make sure you heat to the maximum possible point to kill the bedbugs. In case you have any un-washable furniture, you shall have to discard it. It is good to label the furniture with a warning so that no one takes trouble home.

Make preparation for treating bedbugs

For effective treatment of bedbugs, you have to do thorough preparation including cleaning up as said earlier. Also, seal any cracks within your furniture and do away with any irredeemable furniture. Remove any unnecessary piles of stuff such as books and so on. Ensure your wallpapers are well attached and don’t leave spaces. If you have open unused electric ports, it’s advisable that you seal them. Move your furniture from close to the wall to avoid this insects climbing into your bed again.

How to get rid of bedbugs – bedbug control techniques

We are all set and it is now time to get rid of the bedbugs once and for all. You can get rid of bedbugs using chemical or non-chemical methods. In thuis guide, we shall start with home non-chemical remedies.

How to get rid of bedbugs using home non-chemical remedies

Bedbugs have been proven to die easily using extreme temperatures, that is, extremely hot or cold temperatures. By heating up their hiding places to 47 degrees Celcius or cooling below 0 degrees celsius. So how do you do it?

How to get rid of bedbugs using extreme temperatures

1. Take all the beddings and clothes you kept away earlier and wash them using warm water. After this, put them in your drier and heat the using the highest heat for up to 30 minutes.
2. On the places that we identified as hiding places for bedbugs, use a steamer to heat up the place for about 30 minutes.
3. Take advantage of the natural heat of the sun. Pack all the infested materials in a black polythene bag and let it stay in hot sunlight. These methods shall work if you keep the bag in the sun consistently for up to three months. Summer is the best season to use this method.
4. Very cold temperatures can also kill bedbugs. To do this, take all the infested clothes and sheets and place them in your freezer. Make sure the temperatures are below 0 degrees celcius.

Chemical methods of getting rid of bedbugs

Pesticides are a good solution for controlling bedbugs. The only problem is the many counterfeit pesticides that have flooded the market. When buying chemicals for killing bedbugs, make sure they are specifically meant for bedbugs. To ascertain the quality of bedbugs pesticides, check for the EPA registration mark. We put together a list of some of the chemicals that can help you kill bedbugs effectively.

1. Neonicotinoids – This is good for controlling resistant bedbugs. They work by tampering with the nervous system of bedbugs.
2. Pyrethrin and pyrethroids – These is the most used and known pesticide for killing bedbugs. However, out of their long use, bedbugs have become resistant to them. If you have been using pyrethrins in vein, then we advise you to try and use neonicotinoids.
3. Desiccants – Dessicants are effective bud take a long time to completely control all the bedbugs. They work by eating away the outer protective coating of bedbugs making them dry away.
4. Pyrroles are also relatively effective pesticides that work by disrupting the cell of bedbugs.
5. If you are looking for a less toxic chemical solution, oil-based pesticides should work best for you.
6. Bug bombs and foggers – If you are having a hard time controlling bedbugs hiding in cracks and crevices, then these are the right pesticides to use. However, you need to exercise caution since they are toxic to human beings and pets. We advise that you read the labels carefully and also use them when leaving your house.

After controlling bedbugs, Its now time to monitor

Monitor the areas of infestation to access the effect of your efforts. Do a routine check of any signs of bedbugs in your previously affected areas. Preferably, check once after seven days for a long period of time, like 6+ months.

Repeat the treatment process

If the bedbugs are gone, you can move to the last step on keeping them away. However, we know that bedbugs are stubborn and resistant bugs, if they persist for you, try changing the method and chemical used then check the effect again.

Call in a professional

In case you have tried most of the methods without any good results, you shall now have to use the pro services of bedbug control agencies. Most of this agencies are well experienced and have the best chemicals that kill bedbugs instantly and in the long term also. They have specialized equipment that can even heat up the whole room. They survey your home and decide on the best methods to use.

How to prevent bedbugs – Keeping bedbugs out of your house.

If you have successfully gotten rid of bedbugs from your house using the above methods, it’s time to make sure the stubborn bugs never come back again. Here is what you should do.

1. Invest in a bedbug cover and zip it up around your mattress.
2. Avoid having piled up stuff such as magazines and other dirt in the house.
3. Make it a habit to always vacuum and wash your seats, sheets, bed, and so forth.
4. Check for bedbugs in public transport and hotel rooms. If you discover any, make sure you keep away those clothes and materials until you have cleaned up completely.
5. Correct all the cracks and crevices within your house.

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How to get rid of bedbugs – bedbug control techniques – Sources

Wikipedia – bedbug control techniques

The Ohio State University – Bedbugs control, heat and cold

United States Environmental protection agency – bedbugs, get them out and keep them out