subject: 10 Tips On How To Kill Bed Bugs Yourself - Or At Best Control Them [print this page] Trying to kill bed bugs yourself is a challenging task. They are able to hide underneath base boards, the back of dresser drawers, behind light switches... almost anyplace. The adult bed bug is approximately the size of an apple seed and flat, before they feed that is. Though bed bugs usually aren't a heath danger (don't possess or transmit disease), they're enough to keep you awake at night 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 there are hundreds or even 1000's more.
In time, a whole blown infestation might require a certified exterminator. After all, how many will be to many? Before you decide to take action, there are actually a few things to be aware of. Bed bugs can easily thrive a year without the need for feeding on the hosts blood (typically you). An adult female can easily lay 100 - 600 eggs in her life span. It generally might take an egg fifty days to mature. So even if you're a do-it-yourselfer or find a professional, it will need several treatments and continuous observation. Having said that... If your problem hasn't gotten to much out of control there are lots of ways to win the battle against bedbugs. The first 3 listed here are necessary no matter what you do next
1* Wash everything in site in the hottest water you can find. Begbugs start dying off at around 114 degrees F. Next use a dryer on its hottest setting. Not out on the cloths line to air dry. Temperature is important. In hot, dry climates (Phoenix for example) it is just as effective to put ones bed linens and cloths inside a black trash bag and place it out under the sun for an afternoon.
2* Vacuum. Vacuum each and every corner, crook and cranny. Vacuum the drapes, the box springs, the furnishings, etc. Vacuum like your life depended on it. Bed bugs aren't dirty creatures. They don't care about food crumbs or old food like roaches. But they will need vacuumed up and then take the entire vacuum cleaner outside to switch bags... Vacuum again.
3* Steam Clean. Now that you've got their attention, mix #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 heat is, cold temperature works also. Trouble is that it needs to stay below freezing for 14 days to be effective.
5* Biological warfare. Before WWII beg bugs were all but eliminated. About this time the federal government banned DDTs. Sense then there numbers have been increasing and required tamer toxins and traps. There are many chemicals that you can buy but nearly all of them are not meant to contact the skin. These are most reliable although intended for non-traffic areas, box springs, draperies, etc.
6* Mattress Bags. Depending on the level of bedbug infestation, the best option might be to throw out the mattress completely. For milder conditions, the chemicals from #5 may be sprinkled on and injected into the bed mattress before you seal it in a watertight mattress bag. They start at approximately $60 and go up based on the size needed.
7* Diatomaceous Earth. This is the alternative to hard chemicals. It is an all natural powder ground up from small tiny fossils of single-celled plankton. They actually put it in dog food as a preservative. On a microscopic level it has jagged sides that cut and kill the bedbugs as they crawl across it. Basically it is only dirt.
8* Tape and Traps. This is more with regard to monitoring but flypaper, roach traps and stuff like that allows you to check on on how successful your efforts have been thus far. And then from any shipping supply store you can pickup double sided tacky tape to wrap around the sides of the mattress. Yet one more way to snare and check 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 head the other way. But remember that bed bugs can survive a year without feeding so they continue to reproducing.
10* Natures neem. Neem essential oil and neem extract. If you realise that you've been bitten by bed bugs, this can sooth the itchiness and moisturize the skin. Matter of fact it is good for the skin whether you have bed bugs or not. Bonus is that it keeps the bedbugs away from you while sleeping.
There we have 7 approaches to kill bed bugs and a few solutions to monitor your progress in controlling bed bugs. The more you mix the above suggestions the better luck you'll have before needing an pest control man. Just a word of warning though... if you do break down and need to use an exterminator, they will request you to clean up anyhow before they even arrive. Do away with mess. ' ziplock ' bag all cloths, bed linens, sheets, and so forth. Vacuum and basically do everything stated earlier in 1 though 3.
To summarize, understand that before beginning, it will require weeks and months of regular cleaning, washing, 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 few stowaways in the laundry washing, suitcase, sleeping bags or any clothes that you carry around.
