Can I Eliminate Bed Bugs By Myself?
Ever had the experience of trying to catch some sleep, but you wake up with irritating small red bite marks on your arms, legs, and body? That could be the work of blood-sucking bed bugs.
Bed bugs are household pests that feed on blood, mostly while humans are asleep. They can cause itchy and red bites to both humans and warm-blooded animals.
These infestations are known to spread by “traveling” with a host by attaching themselves to clothing and bags. They can be in any public place like schools, offices, hotels, stores, trains, and more.
Because they are tiny, it isn’t easy to see them on your belongings, bed, or other furniture. They tend to hide in the creases of furniture, between bed frames, inside cracks, under the carpet, or somewhere similar.
How to Check for an Infestation
The most common way to identify a bed bug infestation is when you see black, brownish, or rusty spots on your bed sheets, pillows, walls, or furniture. These spots are their feces. Another clear indicator is when you start seeing bite marks on your body that are small, reddish, and swelling into small bumps. They may be in small groups or lines of three or more.
Their bites are painless at first, but they become itchy and irritating later on. They can also leave traces of eggshells or skin which are visible to the naked eye.
How to Identify Bed Bugs
Bed bugs have oval-shaped, flat bodies before they do their feeding. They are noticeably engorged after they ingest blood from their host.
Bed bugs are tiny and can often go unnoticed. An adult bed bug can measure between 5 mm to 7 mm in length, about the size of an apple seed. They have a reddish-brown color that, after each feeding, turns crimson red. They can’t fly, but they can crawl at a rapid pace.
Controlling a Bed Bug Infestation
Getting rid of bed bugs can be a grueling experience depending on the size of your home. It requires a lot of time and patience to fully eliminate bed bugs. Remember, they can survive for a year without feeding. If some of them are left behind, the infestation will continue.
The best option is to call a pest control professional or an exterminator to effectively get rid of every single bed bug in your house. However, there are ways you can do the clean-up on your own. Here are some tips for you to remember.
Check Areas Where They Can Hide
Check every corner of the house, every wall and furniture crack, wooden frames, and any other nooks and crannies.
Use a flashlight or a magnifying glass to see if little critters are moving in hard-to-reach places, then clean these spots with cleaning solutions and scrub pads or brushes to remove eggs and live bugs.
You can also steam these areas using steam irons or heat blowers set at the highest temperature. Then seal any cracks to prevent possible survivors from coming out.
Bed bugs can hide in between mattress seams, so if the infestation is severe, it’s best to discard the mattress and purchase a new one.
Wash Everything in Hot Water
To eliminate bed bugs, remove all the bedsheets, linens, comforters, blankets, pillowcases, and clothes and wash them in hot water.
Dry them at the highest temperature. Those items that can’t be directly washed in the washing machine can be placed inside the dryer on the same high setting.
Remedies for Bed Bug Bites
Bed bug bites usually don’t require any treatment, but some people may develop allergic reactions that can be severe.
If that happens, go to a doctor immediately. Otherwise, you can wash them with soap and water, then apply a cold compress if it gets too itchy and uncomfortable.
You can also use some corticosteroid cream on the affected area to help ease the itchiness and redness. These creams are generally available at your local drugstore.
More Preventive Measures
If you are traveling and staying in hotels, be sure to check for signs of any bed bug infestation. There are also websites where you can check whether the hotel you’re staying in has had any problems with bed bugs previously. When returning home, be sure to immediately wash everything, including what you’re wearing, in high heat. That step will not instantly eliminate bed bugs, but drying them at the highest temperature can.
While it’s beneficial for you to know the steps you can take to eliminate bed bugs, it’s still better to always call for professional help to get rid of them completely. Heat treatment is generally the best choice to eliminate bed bugs due to the inescapability of heat. It permeates every crack and crevice that bed bugs might be hiding in.
Do You Need Heat Treatment to Eliminate Bed Bugs?
If you think you have bed bugs or are interested in a bed bug heat treatment, contact Bed Bug Barbeque, LLC in Lakewood, Ohio! We use heat treatment to eradicate bed bugs and we offer entire home sanitation heat treatments as well as bed bug heater rentals. This safe, effective treatment is completed in less than 12 hours, and Bed Bug Barbeque, LLC offers a 60-day warranty so you can achieve peace of mind knowing your bed bugs are gone. Contact Bed Bug Barbeque, LLC today for a FREE quote at (216) 400-5379.
