I’m sure you won’t like suffering from urticaria
or erythematous rashes. These heavy medical terms are associated with the biting
of tiny insects known as bed bugs which may be your disguised neighbours living
in your bed and surviving on your blood. In severe cases, it may also cause
anemia, delusional parasitosis, stress, anxiety and anaphylactic shock to you. There
is nothing to worry about as here are some effective ways to get rid of these
bloodsucking unwanted creatures.
Once you have found an infestation of bed
bugs in your home, you may decide to eradicate them by choosing any one option.
Either you do it on your own or hire a professional exterminator, but make sure
to exterminate them immediately as the development of new bugs is incredibly
fast.
Depending upon the severity of the
infestation, you can decide the method of extermination. Obviously, for hiring
a professional expert you will have to shell out some extra bucks but it is the
best option for an out-of-control infestation.
Once you decide to go for extermination on
your own, make sure you are armed with sufficient knowledge about parasites and
pesticides. Otherwise, these insects may run to other areas of your home to get
a cover and this will lead to their spreading to your whole home.
·
Washing
Fabhow advices
to do washing and vacuuming first in order to combat a bedbug infestation by
yourself. If you find that your clothes
or bedlinen have become infested, then by washing at 60°C or simply putting them
in a dryer on a hot setting for 30 minutes may kill the bugs.
·
Sucking by a vacuum cleaner
After
dismantling your affected bed and furniture, closely examine every crevice,
seam and joint by a bright flashlight. If you see any infestation, use a vacuum
cleaner with a hose to suck up these bugs.
·
Powder
You can buy cheap powders which are
composed of diatomaceous earth (tiny microscopic fossilized algae) that is
crushed in order to make them sharp edged good enough to cut up the exoskeleton
of the bugs. By cutting the outer shells of bed bugs, this powder kills bed
bugs as they get dehydrated. It is environmentally safe in comparison to
treatment of other pesticides.
How
to use:
Apply this powder to every part of your
bed, but before that cover the mattress, its seams and the box spring base of
your bed properly. You should also apply this powder to the area around the
bedposts and along the bottom of walls so it will prevent the critters trying
to crawl up your bedpost.
Precautions:
Keep this powder away from your nose (or
tie a cloth on your nose) as by inhaling this powder may cause complications.
·
Traps
Applying Vaseline: Make a trap by
applying Vaseline to the legs of your bed. The bed bugs will not able to escape
from this sticky trap.
Carbon dioxide trap: In this trap
scents, carbon dioxide and heat may be used to attract the insects. The insects
will climb up a rough surface under the influence of this scent and then they
will land into a pitfall where they can no longer come out.
·
Insect Growth Regulator
You can use Insect Growth Regulator
chemicals like methoprene and hydroprene to stop the development of new eggs.
Though it will cease the further growth, it would be fine to use another
extermination method to kill the matured bugs which are already alive.
·
Mattress Encasements
This method is a bit expensive. Buy
encasements to seal your mattresses, box springs and pillows. As they are
sealed, bugs will not be able to infiltrate them. In case, they are caught
inside then, it is likely that they’ll die of starvation. You need to keep the
encasements on for a year to make this method effective. And when bugs will not
be able to find hiding spots in the mattresses, they may hide in the cracks of
wall or furniture to suck your blood later.
·
Seal cracks and crevices
The bugs may be able to hide themselves in
your cracked walls, crevices and other damaged plaster area. So, repair the cracks in plaster or remove
any loose wall paper at the earliest. You can also apply caulk to seal crevices
and gaps in cabinets.
Professional
Extermination with Pesticides
·
Insecticides
In case there is a severe infestation, with
thousands of bed bugs around, you should take help from a professional
exterminator to prevent and eliminate them.
They may be using the following
insecticides to eliminate the infestation:
·
Dichlorvos
·
Resmethrin
·
Malathion
·
Propoxur
·
Hydroprene
·
Cyfluthrin
·
Permethrin
·
Pythrethrum
·
Chlorpyrifos
·
Fencalerate
Fumigation
You can get rid
of these pests by fumigating your home or fumigating the entire building if you
live in an apartment. However, they may climb up to the ventilation systems and
walls to affect the nearby areas.
Pyrethroid
sprays
Pyrethroid sprays
may be most effective against the bed bugs infestation. But you should take
extra care while using it especially when you have kids in home. Use these
sprays in places indicated on the label. Don’t use any liquid spray in
electrical outlets. Follow the instructions written on the label carefully.
Note:
Bed bugs are very smart. They can become
resistant to certain chemicals so any insecticide which was effective
previously may not be useful for the next time. Also, many of them can detect a
pesticide beforehand to hide deep inside the crevices or joints of furniture.
Some of them may vacate the sprayed area for some time to settle into another
part of home.
Seeing all these complications, professional
exterminators have adopted few more advanced methods to combat infestations.
·
Heat and Steam Treatments
As bed bugs cannot survive in extremely
heated environments, so steam exposure
may kill them effectively at all stages of development. Moreover, steam can
penetrate into hard to reach areas of your furniture and bed, cloth wrappers of
mattresses, joints, seems and box springs and eliminate bed bugs hiding there
as well.
You should use a commercial steamer with a
minimum capacity of 1 gallon because the steamer used by you to steam clothing
will not be effective for treatment of bed bugs. If possible get a steamer
equipped with a steam volume control.
Exterminators do heat or steam treatment by
exposing bedbugs to extreme heat over 46°C. In this way bed bugs would die
after just seven minutes.
·
Freezing Treatment
Luckily, you have got another technique to
get rid of these bloodsucking creatures. Just like hot temperatures, bed bugs
cannot survive in low temperatures either. So by using a cryonite freezing
machine, professional exterminators will make your room so cold (-32°C) that
the bugs will get killed within 15 minutes.
So these were few ways to get rid of bed
bugs. Make sure to act fast enough because even a few of these critters can
initiate a full-blown infestation leaving you distressed.
