Bed Bug Control
Once thought of something that you usually only encountered in less – developed countries, bedbugs have fast become one of the more prominent and frequent pests that have infected homes across the country.
The increasing globalization of our world and the travelers that crisscross our planet are suspected as being among the prime movers behind this new infestation. When these travelers stay in hotels the bedbugs often migrate from their clothing or luggage onto other visitors, who then carry them across the nation. It’s also believed that some types of bedbugs may begin feeding on their human hosts if their main food supply (like bats or mice) are eliminated. Regardless of the reasons behind this pernicious insect’s colonization, the reality is that once you discover bedbugs habituating in your home the faster you need to act upon their eradication.
Telltale Signs of Infestation
Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to discover bedbugs in your home – you may find welts or bug bites around your midsection, or even red spots from your blood on your bed linens or clothing. Bedbugs like to feed on human beings, and their feeding habits are quite similar to mosquitoes. Also similar to mosquitoes, you won’t feel their bites while they’re feeding, and you may discover their shedding skins on your bed – they also tend to remain dormant for up to a year, so getting rid of them quickly can be a problematic exercise at times. Bedbugs are brownish and usually are flat and less than 4mm in length, which makes them hard to see before they run off and hide in the cracks in fabric or wood, which often can be found in our bedding and furniture. Simply put, ick.
Eradication Steps
To begin with, you have to completely inspect the furniture where you’ve found the bedbugs – and since this usually means your bedroom, you must dismantle your bed frame and look into the crevices and cracks in order to find out where they’re hiding. Also inspect the desk and dresser, as well as your box spring and mattress. Next, use your vacuum and crevice tool to suck out the bugs in the furniture, paying particular attention to the baseboards and any other cracks that you can find – do this in every other room in your house, then seal the bag when you’re done and dispose of it outside in your trash immediately.
You then have to thoroughly wash all of your cloths and bed sheets/linens in hot water, and dry them in the “hot” setting in your clothes dryer – this drying needs to last at least one hour, lest the bugs survive with their eggs intact.
Eradication without Pesticides
If you’re willing to buy a steamer, you can use this regularly to clean your mattress, taking care not to miss any crevices or cracks each time you use it – you must steam clean your mattress for at least once a week for nine weeks in order to be sure you’re completely free of the bedbugs.
Wash everything, even your carpets. Items and clothing that cannot be washed have to be sealed tightly in plastic for at least two weeks, and if you have a freezer available, use it to store items as well for the two – week period. Carpets must be vacuumed thoroughly and also steam – cleaned to ensure that the eggs that are hibernating in the fibers are eliminated.
What if I Still Have an Infestation?
If you find that the problem still exists, then you’ll have to get rid of your mattress, and also probably use a professional pest control company. However, if the above steps are followed faithfully, these cases are rare – all it usually takes are the cleaning procedures being enacted over the course of a number of weeks.
Along with the need for air purification in our homes, the goal for a completely clean home environment necessitates the immediate removal and extermination of bedbugs, as soon as their presence is detected.
Relevant Posts:
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