Bed bugs are tiny, reddish-brown parasites that feed on animal or human blood.
How Did I Get Bed Bugs In My Couch?
Bed bugs spread by clinging onto clothing, bags, suitcases, and other items. Second-hand furniture can also hide bedbugs. They can also spread from room to room.
How To Eradicate Bedbugs Completely?
Identify infested areas. Do not move items from infested areas to other rooms. Wash the bedding, steam fabrics and vacuum the furniture.
Hire pest control if infestation is high.
How to Find and Kill Bed Bugs
Bedbugs are killed using high heat (over 118F) or intense cold temperatures (0F). Signs of infestation:
– Blood stains on your bedding
– Rust-colored droppings on bedding
– Musty odors
How To Kill Bed Bugs on Your Own
– Wash bedding and clothes in hot water. Dry them on the highest heat setting.
– Steam-clean mattresses, couches, carpets, and other infested areas.
– Use caulk to seal cracks to eradicate hiding places and bring them out in the open.
– Use protective mattress covers. The bedbugs get trapped and die.
– Vacuum the rooms and furniture.
At the first sign, you will need bed bug extermination immediately. Pest controllers should be hired if the infestation is high.
Bed bugs thrive in the summer heat — and in some of the most unlikely places, too. Americans are all too familiar with bed bugs infestations in beds, couches, and other furniture. Few, however, realize that bed bugs can work themselves into any nook and cranny, including the ones in your laptop, books, and keyboard. “Bedbugs can go unnoticed for weeks as they take hold in your home, hiding in cracks and crevices and only coming out at night,”Prevention reports. “Once there’s a sizable population established, they’re almost impossible to get rid of without professional assistance.”
What are your options for eliminating these stubborn bed bugs? Prevention recommends using sharp, slim tools — like credit cards or plastic butter knives — to pick them out of crannies. From there, trap them in pantyhose or a paper towel and “blow-dry them for at least 30 seconds—the heat kills them,” Prevention continues. For all-out infestations, you may want to consider a thermal treatment on your entire home. Ask pest control professionals whether it is safe to leave electronics and personal items, like toys, books, and computers, in your house during the treatment. Bed bug sprays and chemicals are also available. Some, however, are not very effective. Bug bed exterminators warn that many smell, and for weeks at a time.