How to Kill Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are becoming a more and more common problem that people face. These nocturnal bugs live in bedding and feed off of human blood. They can infest nearly anywhere but often prefer the mattress, box spring or mattress cover. They feed in the dawn hours and often you won't have any sign of them except the red, itchy bites they leave behind. Infestations are hard to eliminate and take dedication. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Make sure you really have bed bugs. Bed bug treatments only work effectively on bed bugs so make sure that's what's eating you and not some other nocturnal parasite like bird mites. Look for bed bug waste (dark spots on your mattress), discarded skin and eggs in your bedding and in the folds of your mattresses. You can also place carpet tape around the mattress where you won't roll into while you sleep. After a few days, if you have bed bugs, some should be stuck in the tape.
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Buy a mattress encasement. This is different than a mattress pad, as it encloses the entire mattress and zips up around it. This will trap the bed bugs inside and essentially starve them to death since they can't get out to feed on you. This can take many months however, so commit to the long term on this solution.
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Vacuum thoroughly and often. If you are in the middle of an infestation, vacuum daily before bed. Use a crevice tool to get every nook and cranny of your bed and all surrounding furniture and fabrics, including drapes. Empty the vacuum outside, away from the house immediately and then wash the filter and hoses. If this isn't practical, vacuum up a pile of flea powder that contains Pyrethrum so that the bed bugs will die instead of crawling out of your vacuum.
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Steam them out. Rent a commercial steam cleaner and like with the vacuum, steam every available fabric and piece of furniture in your bedroom and neighboring rooms. The heat will kill the bugs and the eggs.
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Call an exterminator. This can be your last chance solution as it is the most costly but it could mean the difference between having to buy a whole new mattress set or not. Call an terminator with experience in handling bed bug infestations and clean your house thoroughly before they arrive.
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Resources
- Photo Credit bed image by Kirsten Alexander from Fotolia.com
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Comments
View all 8 Comments-
Bed bugs are from white people, black people, yellow not only mexican. Educate your self.
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my sister destiny has a boy freind that lives with alot of mexicans and her and my sister cathy loved to go stay over there and they caught them from the mexicans house and they just kept on traving for months without getting rid of them and they always thought it was scabies itsss sooo nasty.
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I carry out bed bug extermination daily across London, this pest is on the increase. Be sure to wash all of your belongings immediately upon return from travelling, also be aware that bed bugs can spread between apartments, so if your neighbour has them, they can if they suddenly find themselves without food move through the wall if they can find a way. Be sure to fill any cracks, crevices and holes.
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Dry Skin
Feb 07, 2011
WOW -
sureal07
Dec 09, 2010
I have a daughter who camps, travels and does the wildest things you can imagine. When we brought some of her belongs home, our three beds got contaminated with bed bugs. Unfortunately, we threw all our beds and replaced them with aero beds which have solved our problem. Bed bugs are nasty and hard to get rid of.
