The high temperature of steam 212°F (100°C) immediately kills bed bugs. Apply steam slowly to the folds and tufts of mattresses, along with sofa seams, bed frames, and corners or edges where bed bugs may be hiding. Be careful though, steam may damage some finishes and keep steam away from electricity.
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.
Steam Clean Often
Steamers are a great tool for maintaining a bed bug-free home. The heat of the steam can kill bed bugs and their eggs. Take your steamer and slowly spray each room with it.
The best way to get rid of bed bugs naturally is with steam.
Get yourself a steamer, and you're ready to treat unwanted guests. Both pests and their eggs immediately die at temperatures of 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
BioAdvanced Bed Bug Killer Spray
This best bed bug spray kills both live bugs and eggs (along with those resistant to pyrethroid), as well as fleas and ticks. It's safe to use on mattresses, upholstered furniture and luggage. Buyers also note it works well on various insects, including spiders and roaches.
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.
Don't panic! It can be difficult to eliminate bed bugs, but it's not impossible. Don't throw out all of your things because most of them can be treated and saved.
The only way to be certain that you've killed the adult bed bugs and the eggs is to contact a professional bed bug exterminator. The best method to exterminate bed bugs is through heat treatment. In this professional service, technicians bring your home to over 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
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.
Some of the most effective household cleaners aren't meant to be mixed. You probably already know never to combine harsh chemicals like bleach and ammonia (or really, bleach and anything). But common pantry essentials that are often used for cleaning — like baking soda and vinegar — shouldn't be mixed either.
Though these pests like to come out before dawn, don't think you can wait up all night to outsmart them. "A bed bug is an opportunist, and while their peak feeding time is between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m., if you work nights they will come out and feed on you during the day," Furman says.
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.
Where Do Bed Bugs Hide on Your Body? Bed bugs do not typically hide on the body. They prefer to feed, then move back to their hiding place until they are hungry again. In some cases, they may hide in your clothes or the soles of your shoes.