Bed bugs hate scents such as lemon scents, cinnamon oil, neem oil, spearmint, and silicone. They will hide from you when you use these smells. This is so that they can easily attack and feed off of you! Even just the threat of these scents will keep them away from your house for good.
Nevertheless, there are certain smells that bed bugs absolutely can't resist, making them leave your space. These include the scent of fresh mint, rubbing alcohol, tea tree oil, lavender, and lemon juice. Not to mention, some of these items can also kill bed bugs and prevent them from laying eggs.
Lemon (Or Any Citrus)
Like many other animals, bed bugs hate the smell of citrus plants. Citrus, particularly oranges and lemons, will smell gross to them. As a result, most bed bugs will not want to stick around this aroma for too long. There are several ways to make this work for you if you want to repel insects.
It's best to keep the infestation localized to as few rooms as possible. This will also make remediation easier. Do continue to sleep in your bedroom after identifying a bed bug infestation. If you move rooms or start sleeping on the couch you run the risk of contaminating these other areas of your home.
Wash everything on a high temperature or sanitary cycle for at least 30 minutes. Placing everything in the dryer on the hottest setting for 30 minutes will also kill bed bugs and larvae. Immediately after you're finished putting clothing in the washer, tie up and throw out the empty garbage bag in an outdoor trash bin.
To lure bed bugs out of their hiding spots, you can use a steamer or a hairdryer to heat areas such as mattresses. Neither of these is hot enough to kill the bed bugs, but it can trick them into thinking a human host is near. You can also keep an eye out at night to locate their nests when they are most active.
FACT: Bed bug infestations have nothing to do with the cleanliness of the home or the people living there. While cleaning up excessive clutter and frequent vacuuming can prevent largescale infestations, the truth is that bed bugs don't discriminate.
Diatomaceous earth is a great chemical-free option for getting rid of a number of pests, including bed bugs. This natural powder contains properties that can dehydrate bed bugs, absorbing their fat and oil, and killing them dead as a doornail. Spray or sprinkle in infected areas and allow it to sit for at least a week.
Travel – Bedbugs may find their way onto luggage in hotels and motels with a high number of occupants. If you have stayed at a hotel or other home recently, leave bags and clothes in the garage or somewhere far from upholstered surfaces, suggests Allan Bossel, to avoid unintentionally transporting them to your home.
Bed bugs ex- posed to 113°F will die if they receive constant exposure to that temperature for 90 minutes or more. However, they will die within 20 minutes if exposed to 118°F. Interestingly, bed bug eggs must be exposed to 118°F for 90 minutes to reach 100% mortality.
DIY treatments include high heat, bleach, alcohol, and diatomaceous earth. Rubbing alcohol, salt, baking soda, and boric acid are not effective. Certain essential oils repel bed bugs but won't kill them. Diatomaceous earth is an effective passive method of bed bug treatment.
However, keeping the lights on will not prevent bed bugs from coming out from inside the mattress or bed and biting you. Although bed bugs don't like the light, they still need to eat. Additionally, light certainly will not kill bed bugs, or irritate them enough to make them leave your home.
However, you can outsmart these pesky bugs by placing interceptor traps under the legs of your bed to trap the bed bugs. This is a great way to confirm that you have an infestation and keep the bugs off your bed until you can seek treatment.
You may be thinking, can you get bed bugs from not washing your sheets? No—bed bugs have absolutely nothing to do with cleanliness levels. However, washing your sheets regularly gives you the opportunity to look for and remove any possible bed bug infestations.
A cluttered home provides more places for bed bugs to hide and makes locating and treating them harder. If bed bugs are in your mattress, using special bed bug covers (encasements) on your mattress and box springs makes it harder for bed bugs to get to you while you sleep. Leave the encasements on for a year.
Who is at risk? Any home is at risk of a bed bug infestation. Bed bugs are not a sign of a dirty home or poor personal hygiene. Bed bugs are hitchhikers - they travel to new places by hiding in furniture, suitcases, or other objects that get moved around.
While they may not be truly nocturnal, they have adapted to a nighttime feeding schedule. The good news is that bed bugs cannot tell time, and they do not know much about your sleeping habits.
Most people believe that you get a bed bug infestation if your house is dirty, however, this is not the case. The truth is that bed bugs can make their way into any home, regardless of how clean or dirty your house is. To get bed bugs in your home all you have to do is to come in contact with them.
No, you do not need to throw out your mattress after a bed bug infestation. In fact, this is discouraged entirely. Disposing bed bug infested items can be seen as reckless, as it could contribute to the infestation spreading.
However, if the bed bugs are caught early, it is possible that one treatment will catch them all. If you don't experience any bites or see evidence of bed bugs in the weeks after treatment, you can be confident that the problem has been taken care of.
Avoid bringing worn items into bedrooms or placing items on furniture. Showering using soap and water is sufficient to remove bed bugs from your person.
Because bed bug nymphs shed their skin several times, “empty shells” may also be evident. Why don't people see bed bugs? Bed bugs are most active between midnight and 3 am.