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Pest Control For The Home: Ways To Control Bed Bugs

January 29th, 2010 Posted in Bed Bugs & Fleas

When you lay down at night you want to sleep away all the worries of your day and relax, not itch and scratch. If you are itching and scratching while you’re in bed, then you might have a bed bug infestation.

This is a huge problem because your bed is supposed to be your sanctuary, not a breeding ground for tiny insects that bite at your skin. Therefore, controlling these little critters is important to getting back control of your bed and protecting yourself from getting bitten.

This article will discuss:

• Why Are Bed Bugs In Your Bed?
• Home Remedies
• Prevention

Why Are Bed Bugs In Your Bed?

Bed bugs thrive on blood and it’s easy for them to get it when animals or people are asleep and unsuspecting. While you sleep the bed bug injects you with their saliva, which helps them to suck a few drops of blood out of you. Your bed is a soft and large landscape for the bed bug to sit an await food.

These pests not only hid within your mattress, but inside the bed frame and box springs as well. They are most active at night when they are normally guaranteed a meal from someone sleeping. If a bed bug does get super hungry they will venture out during the day in the search of food. They will move to sofas, dog beds, or any other soft surface they can eventually find some food on.

Home Remedies

Three home remedies for dealing with the bed bug are:

Rubbing Alcohol
A fairly effective means of control, applying rubbing alcohol in or around your bed will kill any bed bugs on contact. The only downside of this remedy is that your bed will have a strong scent of rubbing alcohol.

Hot Sun
If you wash your clothes at extremely high temperatures it will instantly kill any bed bugs that might be in your clothes or linens. Also placing your clothes in the hot sun to dry will help to kill most bed bugs.

Steam Treatments
This method runs on the same basic concept of the hot sun remedy, except it is altered for indoors. If you have bed bugs in your mattress or carpet, then it is prudent to have them professionally steamed to kill any bed bugs you might have.

Prevention

First off, pest control for the home is effective in dealing with most insects, but when it comes to bed bugs, prevention is the most successful method of control. You can prevent bed bugs from entering your home by keeping your living space very clean. If there are piles of clutter in your bedroom it provides for more hiding spaces for the bed bug. By simply keeping your house clean you can greatly reduce the chances of a bed bug infestation.

Also cleaning your bed, clothing, and furniture often can kill existing bed bugs as well as prevent other bed bugs from being attracted to your possessions. Extensive vacuuming will also help to clean up any bed bugs or bed bug eggs from your carpet very quickly. Another technique for getting rid of bed bugs is by placing dryer sheets in your bed. The scent of dryer sheets will drastically repel the bed bug.

So, after you clean and vacuum put some dryer sheets around your bed for further protection. Lastly, covering the legs of your furniture in tape with the sticky part facing upwards will help to catch bed bugs climbing up your bed or sofa. The bed bug won’t be able to move and they will dehydrate on the tape, preventing them from reaching you or your family.