do <\/em>spot bed bugs and suspect they might have gotten into your bag, take all of the clothes out of your suitcase and put them in a plastic bag, taping up the end of the bag, says Rajotte. ?The one saving feature about bed bugs is they are killed by heat,? he says. ?So if they are exposed to temperatures over 122 to 123 degrees Fahrenheit, they?ll die.?<\/p>\nThat said, once you have the clothes taped up in a plastic bag, run them through the dryer at high heat for 30 minutes. ?That?s your main defense against bringing them home,? says Rajotte.<\/p>\n
2. Identify the problem.<\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
Let?s say you went on a trip, came home, and soon after, you start waking up with bites. ?If you?re getting strange bites at night, or you wake up and there?s a row of three or four bites on your upper arm or something like that, and you have screens on the windows so you?re not getting a lot of mosquitos in there, I would suspect bed bugs,? says Rajotte.<\/p>\n
This is what will start off what experts call your ?monitoring? process in which you?ll need to identify: 1) if you have bed bugs, and 2) how big that bed bug population is.<\/p>\n
? If you are waking up with three to four bites in a line or clustered together you may be dealing with bed bugs, especially if they are red, swollen, and itchy.<\/p>\n
What do bed bugs look like?<\/h4>\n To identify bed bugs, conduct a search in your own home the same as you would in a hotel room. Look for an insect that?s about the size of an apple seed, that?s very flat from top to bottom?almost as thin as a piece of paper?and that has a brownish color, says Rajotte. These would be adult bed bugs. However, you should also keep your eye out for pinhead-sized bugs that are brownish in color, as they could be baby bed bugs, and look for black spots on your sheets, mattress, and mattress cover, which could be bed bug feces.<\/p>\n
If you spot bed bugs, then you?re next going to want to determine how big your population is. If it?s smaller and newly established?think 10 to 15 bed bugs?you?ll likely be able to control the situation on your own, says Gibb. However, if it?s a bigger population, your best bet is going to be calling in a pest control management team to get rid of the problem. ?If it?s really entrenched and there?s thousands, I just don?t see a person being able to control it themselves,? says Gibb.<\/p>\n
3. Control the bed bug population and prepare for treatment.<\/h3>\n <\/p>\n
Once you know you have a bed bug infestation on your hands, you?re going to want to take steps to control the population and prepare your bedroom for treatment.<\/p>\n
Similarly to as you would at a hotel, start by putting your sheets, bedding, mattress cover, and any other fabrics that might have been exposed to the bed bugs?like stuffed animals or clothing?into the washer and dryer at high heat, says Rajotte. ?Then, don?t reintroduce those until the bed bugs are gone,? he adds.<\/p>\n
From there, you can use other tactics like vacuuming around the areas bed bugs might be?think around the mattress and in cracks and crevices?or steaming those same areas, says Gibb. You can also get a zippered bed bug mattress encasement to prevent bed bugs from further spreading.<\/p>\n
4. Kill the bed bugs.<\/h3>\n Now that you?ve prepared your room for bed bug treatment and know the population you?re dealing with, it?s time to get ready to kill the bugs. To control the bed bug situation, you?re going to want to use what experts call integrated pest management (IPM), which essentially means using more than one tactic to get rid of the parasites, says Rajotte. ?Our recommendation is never to just use one approach, because chances of success there are pretty slim,? adds Gibb.<\/p>\n
Once you?ve taken the steps above, then you?re going to want to begin other methods, including heat and pesticide treatment.<\/p>\n
When it comes to heat treatments, this is something you?re especially<\/em> going to want to get done by professionals. That?s because in order to kill the bed bugs via this method, you need to get the room up to at least 119 degrees, says Gibb, including in every crack and cranny where the bed bugs might be residing. Although this can be difficult on your own, pest controllers have the right equipment and training to thoroughly heat the room and kill off the population.<\/p>\nDo bed bug sprays work?<\/h4>\n <\/p>\n
If you take the pesticide route, you can choose to either hire a professional who will be able to use restricted pesticides unavailable for consumer use?which is what experts recommend?or you can try to tackle the treatment yourself.<\/p>\n
If you do<\/em> decide to try the pesticide treatment yourself, recognize that bed bugs are resistant to lots of different chemicals, including pyrethroids, which are often found in stores and tout false bed bug control labels. Instead, use diatomaceous earth?which is a white powder that you?ll apply directly to wherever the bed bugs are and can be found online?or a bio-oil spray designed specifically to kill bed bugs, like Eco-Raider, says Gibb, which you?ll apply the same way. Both are long-lasting and don?t break down over time like other pesticides, which means you should only have to apply them once.<\/p>\n5. Monitor the treatment to make sure the bed bugs are gone.<\/h3>\n After every treatment you perform, you?re going to want to monitor your attempts until all of the bed bugs are gone, says Rajotte. If you hired a pest control company, expect them to check in two weeks after each treatment, he says, and if you did the treatment yourself, perform a similar check at home.<\/p>\n
One thing you should<\/em> expect is that it might take a couple rounds of treatment to consider yourself completely rid of bed bugs. ?I think we?ve kind of spoiled our society in terms of, ?I have a pest problem, come in and spray for it, and I expect it to be gone as soon as you leave,?? says Gibb. ?That?s just not the case with bed bugs, unfortunately.?<\/p>\nBut the good news is, as long as you follow these measures?and continue to perform tactics like washing and drying materials that might have been affected by bed bugs until the parasites are gone?bed bugs won?t stick around forever. ?Anybody can get bed bugs,? says Gibb. ?But it takes a concentrated effort to get rid of them.?<\/p>\n
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Thinking you may have a pest problem is never fun, but most homeowners dread one infestation in particular: bed bugs. It?s understandable why: Bed bugs can be difficult?not to mention expensive?to get rid of.The reason bed bugs are able to stick around so long, often going unnoticed until they?ve become a bigger problem, is that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Experts Say This Step-by-Step Plan Will Help Get Rid of - Bed Bugs Sprays<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n