Just like regular salt, Epsom salts won't harm the chitinous exoskeleton of the bedbugs and therefore won't dehydrate them. Also, it's important to remember that bedbugs only eat blood. Therefore they won't consume the salt and be poisoned by it either.
Pyrethroids are synthetic chemical insecticides that act like pyrethrins. Both compounds are lethal to bed bugs and can flush bed bugs out of their hiding places and kill them.
Baking soda works very effectively in killing the bedbugs by sucking the moisture present in these tiny parasites and this eventually causes their death. You will need half a bowl of baking soda and a vacuum. Put the soda in all the places affected by the bugs and vacuum all the soda after three days.
Bed bugs have a waxy shell that prevents salt from drying them out. Salt can't scratch that layer away to dry them. And since bed bugs can't ingest anything but blood, you can't poison them with salt. No mixture of salt with anything else, e.g., Epsom salt or borax, is more effective.
A bed bug treatment using heat kills bed bugs immediately, but there is no residual. A chemical bed bug treatment can take a few weeks, but it leaves a residual which provides continued protection from bed bug re-infestation.
Vinegar is often used as a contact type insecticide, which means that you need to spray it directly unto the spotted bed bug to make it effective. Vinegar offers short term and limited effects on your fight against bed bugs. It is not so effective as a stand-alone treatment against serious cases of infestation.
Bed bugs are generally considered to be nocturnal and prefer to forage for a host and take a blood meal during the night. They also will come out in the daytime or at night when lights are on, in order to take a blood meal, especially if there were no human hosts in the structure for a while and they are hungry.
Bed bugs are easy to kill using heat. Their thermal death point is reported to be 114-115° F. Putting infested clothing in a hot dryer is an excellent way of killing bed bugs and their eggs. Heat can also be used to kill bed bugs and their eggs in furniture and carpeting.
Pyrethroid products are often mixed with other types of insecticides; some of these mixtures can be effective against bed bugs. Look for products containing pyrethroids plus piperonyl butoxide, imidicloprid, acetamiprid, or dinetofuran.
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.
Epsom salt can be a very effective pesticide, and it can be used against ants specifically. However, it does pose a risk to your garden if you use too much. Consider saving the Epsom salts for a relaxing bath and pick another organic pesticide if you have a small infestation.
Unfortunately, there is no scientific evidence that baking soda works to kill bed bugs. Baking soda is said to dehydrate bed bugs. While baking soda may kill off one or two bugs, it's rarely strong enough to get rid of an entire infestation.
Baby powder doesn't kill the bed bugs, but the talcum makes the bed bugs slide, preventing them from exiting any sort of trap. Talcum powder provides a drying effect to bed bugs which works as an eliminator, but it does not have the capacity to kill these nasty pests completely.
Heat is non-toxic, and can kill all bed bug life stages including bed bug eggs. However, heat treatment of any kind (except your home clothes dryer) is still relatively expensive and has no residual (long lasting) activity. The lack of residual activity means that bed bugs can re-infest again the day after treatment.
Vacuum your mattress and floors often.
Wash all sheets, clothing, and textiles at least once a week in hot water. Use caulk to seal cracks around baseboards, electrical outlets, light sockets, and furniture, so bed bugs can't hide in them. Check for bed bugs in hotels, hostels, and guest rooms you sleep in.
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.
Searching for a way to do so may lead you to DIY and home remedies. One such remedy is spreading baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, in the areas where you think bed bugs have been. Unfortunately, the idea that baking soda will kill bed bugs is a myth.