A woman eliminating bed bugs by vacuuming the carpet.

What Can You Use To Get Rid of Bed Bugs In Your Home?

When you find bed bugs in your home, you might have a moment of panic. That’s understandable. Bed bugs are no fun to deal with, so it’s natural to want them out as soon as possible. You might end up running around your house, trying to find something, anything to get rid of the bed bugs so that you don’t have to deal with them anymore. While you won’t be able to eliminate all of the bed bugs with items from around your house- you’ll need a professional pest control service to do that- here are a few things you can use to keep them under control until the pros arrive.

Rubbing Alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol can kill a small number of bed bugs on contact, and it can be found in most home medicine cabinets. It’s typically used for cleaning cuts, scrapes, and other minor injuries, along with hydrogen peroxide. In terms of using isopropyl alcohol for bed bug control, it’s a substitute for other chemical contact sprays. You’ll need to dilute the rubbing alcohol in water first. Put it in a spray bottle and spritz the bed bugs several times. They should die on contact. Again, remember that this will not eliminate an entire infestation, but it may help you control small numbers of bed bugs until a professional treatment can be done. 

Double-Sided Tape

People sometimes use double-sided tape to keep bed bugs from climbing up the legs of their beds until a professional pest control company can come and eliminate the infestation, sort of like a makeshift bed bug trap. Whether or not this will work depends largely on how many bed bugs you have. It might stop a small number of bed bugs from getting up into your bed, but for larger infestations, you may still end up with bugs near you while you’re sleeping. Overall, double-sided tape probably isn’t the best method for bed bug control. 

Clothing Irons and Hair Dryers

Since bed bugs can’t survive high temperatures, using an iron to eliminate them is generally an effective method of small-scale bed bug control! Bed bugs tend to die at about 120 degrees Fahrenheit and irons can heat up to 428 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature, the bed bugs will die pretty much instantly. If you run an iron over a piece of furniture with bed bugs very thoroughly, you may be able to eliminate the majority of the bugs on that particular piece of furniture. Be very cautious when using heat and be sure to turn the iron off and unplug it when you’re done. On the other hand, using a hair dryer may or may not work. A hair dryer may get hot enough to get rid of bed bugs, but it also may blow them away before the heat has a chance to eliminate them. 

Vacuum Cleaner

A vacuum cleaner, much like an iron, can be an effective means of small-scale bed bug control. If you notice bed bugs on your carpet, you can run a vacuum over it to suck up the bugs living there. However, bed bugs are very small creatures. They can hide in the tiniest cracks and crevices, as well as sneaking through tiny rips or tears. So as soon as you vacuum up the bed bugs, you’ll need to dispose of the vacuum bag, preferably in an outdoor trash can. 

Do You Have Bed Bugs?

If you think you have bed bugs or are interested in a home heat sanitation 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. This safe, effective treatment is completed in less than 12 hours, and Bed Bug Barbeque, LLC offers a 60-day warranty for you to verify for yourself that your bed bugs are fully eradicated. Contact Bed Bug Barbeque, LLC today for a FREE quote at (216) 221-1227 or through our website, and check out our other bed bug informational resources on identification, prevention, and eradication.

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