7 Tips on How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are small little insects that are capable of giving you sleepless nights while leaving behind itchy bites on your body.

It takes 3 weeks for bed bugs to develop from eggs to adults.

During their development, the immature stages (nymphs) must take a blood meal before they can grow to the next developmental stage.

In the past, bed bugs have been associated with poor living conditions but their infestations have spread like wildfire in cities around the globe. This phenomenon is contributed by the shift in pesticide usage globalisation. The thriving travel and tourism industry further promotes and increases the rate at which bed bugs are spread all over the world.

Bed bug infestation at home can be a nightmare but here are some things you can do to keep bed bugs away from you and your family members.

Table of Contents

• Check Your Bed and Sofa
• Check Your Luggage
• Wash and Dry With High Heat
• Be Mindful When Using Shared Laundry Services
• Check Secondhand Furniture and Clothes
• Use Bed Bug-Proof Encasement for Your Matresses
• How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs: Seek Help From a Professional

Bed bugs bite you without you noticing them. They do so when you are sound asleep, or even when you are sitting on the sofa enjoying your favorite movie. Check the gaps between cushions as well as the seams and zippers of the cushion covers to look for signs of bed bug infestation.

If you see black spots at the corners and edges of the cushions or mattresses, you probably have bed bugs lurking around you.

Inspecting your hotel room before unpacking your luggage can save you from the troubles of bed bug infestation.

Do pay attention to your luggage when you come back from vacation to look out for any unwanted guests that secretly followed you back home. Bed bugs in an infested room may crawl into your suitcases and hitch a ride to their new home.

Exposing bed bugs to a temperature higher than 60°C for 15 minutes will kill them. Washing or drying your mattress linen and clothes under high temperature kills the bed bugs. High temperatures have been known to kill bed bugs effectively, therefore steamers that produce high-temperature dry steam are used by professional pest control service providers as a greener and safer approach to eliminate bed bugs.

A launderette and shared laundry services are convenient for people living far from home or people who do not do their laundry at home. However, the convenience does come with a price in which you will have to share the place where you wash your clothes with other people and even strangers. Although this seems to be not a problem to most people under most circumstances, there is a risk that you might pick up a bed bug infestation from the laundry.

Pre-loved items may seem like a good bargain but always be sure to check furniture, clothing and even stuffed toys for any bed bugs hiding inside those items. Bed bugs are able to survive without a blood meal for up to 4 months so it is possible for them to hang around even at items that have been left unattended.

Bed bug-proof encasements for mattresses are available in the market and they work well to keep bed bugs off your bed as long as you install them correctly. They trap existing bed bugs and prevent the infestation of newly introduced bed bugs by restricting their movements. With them, you will be able to sleep soundly without having to worry about bed bug bites.

Professional pest control managers are the best people you can look for to manage the bed bug infestation at your house. Professional pest control operators will conduct effective treatment after careful inspection. Conventional treatment methods for bed bug infestations include gassing and residual spraying method. Gassing delivers fast knockdown to the bed bugs and residual spraying chemical kills bed bugs that come into contact with the chemical after the treatment. This is important as the eggs of the bed bugs can usually survive the treatment so the residual effect of the chemical kills the newly-hatched bed bugs.

Bed bug infestation is a growing concern around the world.

If you have them, it is important to know how to get rid of bed bugs. It should be taken seriously as it can cause stress to the victims even though bed bugs do not transmit diseases. Since prevention is better than cure, being mindful in daily life can help to prevent a bed bugs infestation and keep them away from you.