10 Ways To Kill Bed Bugs By Yourself - Or At Best Manage Them
Killing bed bugs oneself can be quite a tricky process
. They are able to hide beneath base boards, the rear of bureau drawers, behind light switches... just about anywhere. The mature bed bug is about the size of an apple seed and flat, before they feast anyway. Although bed bugs are not a heath threat (do not possess or transfer disease), they're more than enough to keep one awake in the evening simply thinking about them. A single one bed bug bite can easily be mistaken for a mosquito bite and written off as such allowing them time to multiply. Once you find one you can be assured that you have hundreds if not 1000's more.
Eventually, a full blown infestation might require a professional exterminator. In any case, how many will be to many? Before you decide to take action, there are a few things to keep in mind. Bed bugs might live a year without feasting on the hosts blood (usually you). An adult female may lay 100 - 700 eggs in her life span. It normally might take an egg 55 days to mature. So whether you're a do-it-yourselfer or hire an expert, it will require a number of treatments and constant observation. With that said... If the problem has not gotten to much out of control there are various methods to win the battle against bedbugs. The first 3 listed here are required no matter what you decide to do next.
1* Clean every thing in site in the hottest water you can get. Begbugs start dying off at about 114 degrees F. And then use a dryer on its hottest setting. Not out on the cloths line to air dry. Heat is important. In very hot, dry climates (Phoenix for example) it is just as efficient to put your bed linens and cloths in a black garbage bag and set it out in the sun for an afternoon.
2* Vacuum. Vacuum each and every nook, crook and cranny. Vacuum the blinds, the box springs, the furniture, and so on. Vacuum like your life depended on it. Bed bugs aren't dirty creatures. They do not care about crumbs or old food like cockroaches. Nonetheless they need vacuumed up and then take the entire vacuum cleaner outdoors to change bags... Vacuum again.
3* Steam Clean. Now that you've got their attention, merge #1 and #2. Put very hot, HOT water in the steam cleaner and go over the room again.
4* Just as effective as heat is, cold works also. Problem is that it has to stay down below freezing for 2 weeks to be effective.
5* Biological warfare. Prior to World War 2 beg bugs were all but eliminated. About that time government entities banned DDTs. Sense then there numbers have been climbing and required tamer chemicals and traps. You'll find so many chemical compounds in the marketplace but just about all of them are not meant to contact the skin. These are generally most reliable although intended for non-traffic areas, box springs, curtains, etc.
6* Mattress Bags. Depending on the degree of bedbug infestation, the best choice may be to discard the mattress altogether. For less severe conditions, the chemicals from #5 can be sprinkled on and injected into the mattress before you seal it in a waterproof mattress bag. They start at around $60 and go up according to the size needed.
7* Diatomaceous Earth. Here is the alternative to hard chemicals. It's an all natural powder 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 that cut and kill the bedbugs when they crawl over it. Basically it is only dirt.
8* Tape and Traps. This really is more with regard to monitoring but flypaper, roach traps and stuff like that will help you keep an eye on on how successful your efforts have been thus far. And then from almost any shipping supply store you can pickup double sided tacky tape to wrap around the sides of the mattress. Yet another way to trap and monitor bed bug traffic.
9* Thyme and tree leaf oil. These are typically a repellent more then anything else. It doesn't destroy them. They get a whiff of it and run the other direction. But remember that bed bugs might live a year without feeding so they continue to reproducing.
10* Neem. Neem oil and neem extract. If you learn that you have already been attacked by bed bugs, this can sooth the itching and moisturize your skin. Matter of fact it is good for the skin no matter if you have bed bugs or not. Bonus is that it keeps the bedbugs off of you while sleeping.
There we have seven approaches to kill bed bugs and some ways to monitor your progress in controlling bed bugs. The more you combine the above tips the better luck you'll have before the need for an exterminator. Just a word of caution though... if you break down and have to use an exterminator, they will ask you to clean up anyway before they even arrive. Do away with mess. ' ziplock ' bag all cloths, bed linens, sheets, and so forth. Vacuum and essentially do everything mentioned above in 1 though 3.
In closing, realize that before you begin, it will take weeks and months of constant cleaning, laundering, monitoring, vacuuming over and over again to successfully kill the bed bugs throughout there whole life cycle. And hopefully you can catch it before it advances through out the house. It just takes a couple of stowaways in the laundry washing, luggage, sleeping bags or any material that you tote around.
by: Brian McVey
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