Say Good-Bye To Bed Bugs for Good
Have you had a lot of tiny roommates move into your room? Bed bugs make for nasty neighbors, so you probably want them gone. While handling a bed bug infestation is never the easiest thing to do, it doesn’t have to be hard. There are several steps you can take to get rid of these pests for good. Junk Crusaders knows about unwanted junk, including unwanted bed bugs. We have some expert tips to help you get through your DIY bed bug removal.
How To Get Rid of Bed Bugs
- Determine what areas in your home have been infested. The first thing you should do if you think you have a bed bug problem is figure out where the bed bugs have infested. Hopefully, your infestation is contained in a single room. Bed bugs like to hide in small areas, like the seams around the outside of your mattress, curtain folds, cracks along the baseboards, carpet fibers, and other sneaky hideaways. Common signs of a bed bug infestation include:
- Live bed bug sightings
- Bed bug droppings, which look like small dark dots, similar in size to a period “.” on a paper
- Small reddish stains where you may have unknowingly crushed a bed bug
- Attempt to kill the bed bugs without involving chemicals. Before you go out and buy harsh chemicals, it might be smart to try to exterminate your bed bugs in other ways. Heat kills bed bugs, so your first line of defense when doing DIY bed bug removal should be washing and drying all of your sheets, curtains, pillowcases, and other nearby fabrics. Wash on a high heat setting and put in the dryer for at least a half hour, preferably longer. For items that can’t fit in the dryer, such as your mattress and sofas, we recommend using a steamer and a vacuum. Another way to kill bed bugs is by sealing them up for a period of time. You can tightly seal items in the infested room in garbage bags to kill the bed bugs. This method works much quicker if done during the summer months, when you can put the bag outside and let the heat kill them. During cooler months, it could take months for the bed bugs to die.
- Cut back on your clutter. Bed bugs are masters at hide and seek. So, they love all the small nooks and crannies that your clutter provides. De-cluttering is an easy way to greatly reduce space for bed bugs to hide and breed. While getting rid of your clutter, don’t risk the chance that you’ll expose more places in your home to bed bugs on your way to the trash. Tightly seal items in garbage bags before they ever even leave the infested room to ensure a low-risk transportation. You don’t want any of those getting out and spreading around the house!
- Make the room an unwelcoming place for bed bugs. Now that you’ve done most of the hard work, it’s time to make your room an unattractive home for these pests. We recommend buying a bed bug proof mattress cover to put on your bed. This will trap any persistent bed bugs that are still hiding, kill them over time, and keep any new ones from getting to your mattress. We also recommend pulling all of your furniture away from the walls. Bed bugs climb on the walls when getting from place to place, so this limits their travel ability.
- Still infested? Consider chemical treatments next. If, after all this, you’re still struggling with bed bugs, it’s a good idea to get chemicals involved now. There are a lot of insecticides out there made specifically for bed bugs, so you’re sure to find one that’s effective.
- Call an exterminator. If nothing seems to be working, you probably need help from the pros. Exterminators have access to stronger chemicals that you can’t buy in stores. They also have the equipment to do entire-room heat treatments. They’re a great resource if you can’t seem to get rid of the bugs yourself. Alternatively, you can even utilize them from the start instead of DIY bed bug removal and make sure those bed bugs get gone fast!
Keep Them Away
Now that you’ve gotten rid of your bed bugs, continue to make your space inhospitable for bed bugs by limiting your clutter and frequently washing your linens, curtains, and laundry, steaming and vacuuming the carpets and furniture regularly, and filling in any cracks around the walls, baseboards, and outlets. While this won’t guarantee that you’ll never see bed bugs again, it’ll greatly reduce the risk of their return. For help with junk removal related to bed bugs, call Junk Crusaders today.
