If bed bugs are in your home, you will need to remove them. Hoping that they will somehow tire of your home and then move on is pointless.
Bed bugs will never go away on their own as long as they have a constant supply of food. And even in cases where they can’t have access to blood, they can easily survive for 4 months without feeding. And when you come back, they will be waiting.
Here is what you should know about bed bugs and what it would take to get rid of them.
Bed bugs won’t go away on their own simply because they don’t have a reason to. Why?
All They Need To Survive Is Blood
All bed bugs need in order to thrive is blood. They don’t need anything else. Therefore, for as long as they have access to you or your loved ones, they will grow and multiply. And that is all they are driven to do, they won’t have a reason to move on.
They Multiply at a Fast Rate
Bed bugs transition from eggs to adults at a fast rate. Even if they die, they always end up with a steady population of new bed bugs that are ready to take up the mantle of biting and sucking your blood.
They Can Go for Long Without Feeding
This means that even if you abandon your home for an extended period, chances are that they will still be hanging around, waiting for you. They won’t die easily because of starvation. And feeding won’t be enough of an imperative to force them to migrate since they can get by on a once-a-year blood meal.
They Survive High Temperatures
Bed bugs are extremely resilient. They can survive high temperatures. And even though 118 degrees Fahrenheit can kill them, they can only die if they are exposed to this temperature over a couple of minutes.
Is It Harmful To Live With Bedbugs?
Yes, it is harmful to live with bed bugs.
While bed bugs do not transmit any diseases. And while they can’t suck enough blood to cause a problem, they can be quite harmful.
The following are the different ways in which bed bugs can harm you and your loved ones.
They Can Cause Allergic Reactions.
Some people are allergic to bed bug bites. If you or your loved ones fall into this category, then you may have to unnecessarily endure the pain and discomfort of skin rashes, swelling, and other bite-triggered allergic reactions.
Bed Bug Bites Are Painful
When a bed bug bites you, you will feel pain. This is literal physical torture, especially when it is nonstop.
They Create Open Wounds
Every bed bug bite creates an open wound. These wounds can get infected. And if they do, complications will arise.
Sleep Deprivation
Bed bugs attack at night. They tend to bite right when you are trying to sleep, or even right after you start catching sleep. This will make it harder for you to get restful sleep.
Mental Health
Knowing that there are blood-sucking bugs in your home can have a toll on the mental health of your loved ones. This is so especially when it is accompanied by the sleep deprivation effect of having bed bugs in the home.
Do Bed Bugs Usually Stay in One Room?
No, bed bugs don’t usually stay in one room.
They move from room to room. They also move from house to house.
This is mostly in cases where
- infested items are moved from one room to the next
- a bed bug treatment is being applied in one room and the bed bugs are trying to escape its effects
- their population grows rapidly
- people move from an infested area to one that is free of an infestation, and the bed bugs tag along for the ride
Why Is It Challenging To Remove Bed Bugs From a Home?
It is challenging to remove bed bugs because of the following reasons.
They Are Good at Hiding
Bed bugs hide in hard-to-reach areas. This makes them hard to detect. It also makes it hard to kill them as these areas shield them from pesticides.
They Can Survive Without Blood
Bed bugs can go for as long as a year without a blood meal. You can’t just abandon your home and hope that they will move on because they will be waiting for you. Therefore, starving them out is an ineffective method of getting rid of them.
They Move From Place to Place
Bed bugs can evade treatment by moving away from the treated area. They also don’t limit themselves to one area.
Therefore, even after treating your home, if the neighboring apartments are infested, chances are that you will eventually have a bed bug problem. This is because the bed bugs can always crawl back into your home after the effect of the treatment wears off.
They Have a Knack for Developing Resistance
Given enough time, bed bugs develop resistance even to the most potent chemicals.
Chemicals that are effective in a given area might not work in another. And ones that you used to clear out a previous infestation can be useless in terms of clearing out a subsequent one.
This makes it hard to know the exact treatment to use in every situation in that it almost turns bed bug removal into a trial and error process.
What Kills Bed Bugs Immediately?
If you expose bed bugs to high-enough steam temperatures, they will die instantly. The high temperatures of steam can even destroy bed bug eggs. This makes it one of the most effective methods of killing bed bugs.
However, steaming isn’t a fool-proof treatment method. This is because bed bugs can hide, something that often shields them from direct exposure to high temperatures. There is also the fact that it has limited use since most items around the home can be damaged by heat.
How Do You Remove Bed Bugs From Your Home Without Using Chemical Treatments?
You remove bed bugs from your home without using any chemicals by using any, or a combination of, the following techniques:
- Vacuuming removes bed bugs physically by sucking them off surfaces in your home. When you vacuum bed bug problem areas –especially along corners and seams of furniture — you actively reduce the bed bug population in your home. Doing so also removes eggs.
- Since bed bugs cannot survive in extreme temperatures, washing beddings, curtains, clothes, and other washable items in hot water is a pretty convenient way of killing bed bugs without using chemicals. For even better results, place the washed items in a dryer — set at the highest setting — for several minutes.
- Steaming furniture, beds, carpets, and other items around the home will also kill bed bugs. What is even better is the fact that you don’t have to use a professional steamer in order to get the job done. An at-home steamer will still kill the bed bugs.
- Theoretically, starving bed bugs can also work. The idea is to deny the bed bugs a blood meal. With time, the bed bugs will die of a lack of nourishment.
However, this is not a practical way of killing bed bugs because they can survive for up to a year without a meal. - A building heat treatment can also work. This method involves heating up an entire building or apartment to temperatures that are well above 118 degrees Fahrenheit.
- You can remove bed bugs from items that are sensitive to heat by freezing them. To effectively do so, place the items inside a plastic bag and then place them in a freezer. Set it to the lowest temperature possible. And then leave them in place.
After a few days, the bed bugs will die due to extended exposure to low temperatures. - You can get even better results by using pressurized carbon dioxide snow.
With this method, professionals use pressurized carbon dioxide to expose the bed bugs to temperatures that are as low as -108 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the bed bugs are exposed to the cold vapors, they freeze and die immediately.
Use This Free Service To Find a Good Pest Control Service Near You
If you need help killing and removing bed bugs from your home, you should use GoTreeQuotes.com. It offers a free service that quickly matches you with the top-voted local experts in your area.
Using the website, you can get 3 estimates fast by real certified Pest Control Experts in your area in just 2 minutes. Here is how it works.
- You scroll to the top of the page and enter your Zip code.
- Answer questions about your bed bug problem
- Your details will be forwarded to three local experts.
- You will then receive a price estimate for the job and some friendly advice.
IMPORTANT: There is no obligation to hire. This is a free tool and service to be used at your pleasure.
