Susan
The escape of bed bugs will turn your home into an absolute nightmare. These minuscule monsters have the potential to take away the peace that defines your space and are the cause of the wall-to-wall search for the required cure. Instead of using chemicals that are extremely harsh, the idea is to discover your own natural substitutes. In this blog, let’s dive into home remedies for bed bugs and provide you with the most effective and sustainable methods to wrestle over your home once again.
Understanding bed bugs and their impact
Bedbugs are a part of the insect family that is small, reddish brown, and can feed on the blood of humans or other animals. These nocturnal pests, like fleas, spend the day hiding in cracks and crevices near where people sleep, only to emerge at night looking for their victims, which would include many hosts. Under the pressure of bed bug bites, you may start to have skin irritations as well as itching, redness, and discomfort, while long-term infestations cause anxiety, sleep disorders, and even secondary skin diseases in the end. Success in exterminating bed bugs from the living structure requires a blend of preventive measures and effective treatments to evade their breakout and future infections.
How to Identify Bed Bugs?
- Inspect your mattress joints, frame, and nearby furniture to find these reddish-brownish pests.
- See if you can spot blood splatters or any dark spots on the sheets. Inspect the hollows of furniture and walls for larvae and shed skins.
- Use the flashlight in the area behind the headboard and baseboards, looking for any other potential hiding spots. Watch out for a musty smell over there, where bedbugs reproduce.
Natural Home Remedies for Bed Bugs
Let’s look into some of the natural home-made remedies for preventing bed bugs:
1. Steam Treatment
Steam extermination is a chemical-free and effective technique to bring bedbugs and their offspring to death on contact. Use a steam cleaner with a high-temperature setting to carry out steam cleaning of infested places such as beds, mattresses, baseboards, and other household items. The seams, folds, and cracks are the most highly probable places where bed bugs settle. So, pay attention to them. The steam process is equipped with high penetrative abilities, so it can get rid of bed bugs deep into porous surfaces without the use of dangerous residues.
2. Diatomaceous Earth (DE)
Diatomaceous earth is a unique natural, non-toxic powder that is composed of fossilized algae and works by absorbing the insects’ wax-like outer coating that is filled with fluids. The dehydration of those quickly causes their demise. Scatter the nontoxic diatomaceous on the bed bugs’ area of activity across them, like corners, baseboards, and behind the furniture. Be careful and put the mask on before applying the diatomaceous earth to avoid deep breathing of the fine particles. It is advisable to apply it during the dry season and avoid moist environments.
3. Essential Oils
Certain essential oils exert insecticidal features that help in repelling and killing bed bugs efficiently. Peppermint oil, lavender oil, tea tree oil, and eucalyptus oil are all often used to create solutions for DIY repellents. Add a few drops of the essential oil to the water in a soft spray bottle and spray the areas that are likely to attract bed bugs. On the other hand, mix a few drops of essential oil with your laundry detergent in the case of washing the bedding and later clothes too, just to prevent bed bugs.
4. Baking Soda
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a hand medicine that sinks the moisture and the bad smell, making it an effective home remedy for bed bugs. Mix several tablespoons of baking soda and sprinkle them on mattresses, carpets, and plush chairs where bed bugs are found. Leave the baking soda in place for a few hours or even overnight, then use a strong vacuum cleaner (try to ensure that a vacuum cleaner suction is maximal) to suck dead bed bugs and their eggs.
5. Rubbing Alcohol
The contact action of rubbing alcohol, particularly isopropyl alcohol, is one of the top home remedies for bed bugs. It possesses the special functionality of dissolving the outer waxy layer of the bed bug and dehydrating it. Put a garden tub into a spray bottle and spray-infested places such as mattresses, bed frames, and furniture in order to kill them. Be careful when you’re spraying the alcohol since it is flammable and might ruin the surfaces it doesn’t work on. For starters, check a small patch that is not obvious and wait completely till it dries up; later, move on with the rest of the area.
6. Laundering and Heat Treatment
Cleaning bedding, attire, and bedding items that may kill bedbugs by washing them with hot water at 60°C (140°F) or higher can be an effective method of killing bed bugs and their eggs. Dry those items in the highest heat setting, which will take at least 30 minutes overnight to completely eradicate the pesticide. Where possible, put infested objects inside a clothes dryer on the highest setting for 30 minutes or more, and the bed bugs and their eggs will be completely killed inside.
7. Vacuuming and sealing
In a normal operation, vacuuming can reduce the population of bed bugs and their eggs in your home, particularly in cracks, crevices, and other seeking areas. A vacuum with a hose is the optimal device for those seeking to clean mattresses, box springs, bed frames, furniture, and baseboards. After vacuuming is complete, seal the vacuum cleaner bag or discard the contents of the contents of the vacuum bag in a tight trash bag that is not going to keep the bed bugs from coming out.
Conclusion
Bed bugs are very hard to deal with; however, orthodox home remedies and preventive measures together will keep bugs in check and curtail them in your home. By including these organic methods in your pest control and the regular practice of good hygiene and vigilance, you can have the feeling of being back at home and empowered with the reassurance of having taken preventive steps with your family’s and pets’ protection against bed bugs.
FAQs on home remedies for bed bug removal
1. Are home remedies as effective as professional pest control treatments for bed bugs?
Although certain home remedies may be made to distract and mitigate bed bugs, these methods can only barely be effective on major infestations. Having access to equipment and insecticides that can make bed bugs more fruitful is usually the case with professionals who eliminate the pest. Their outcome may be lasting.
2. How long does it take for home remedies to eliminate bed bugs completely?
The varying period for bed bugs’ eradication via home remedies depends on what level of infestation has occurred and the performance of the DIY approach picked. In reality, bed bugs may remain a nascent risk for some weeks or months and need a long-lasting commitment from your side.
3. Are there any risks or side effects associated with using home remedies for bed bugs?
Many common home remedies for bed bugs are thought to be safe and non-hazardous; however, some of them or their procedures can cause trouble, even though they are not harmful and won’t trigger allergic reactions, especially if used unknowingly or in high doses. It is paramount that you search for every remedy and follow it thoroughly, as well as the letter, to reduce the risks that you, your family members, and your pets may have to endure.
4. How can I prevent future bed bug infestations in my home?
The only way to keep your house bed bug-free is to stick to high standards of personal hygiene and take preventive measures so as not to let bed bugs inside. Some solutions include regularly inspecting and vacuuming sleeping areas, washing bedding and clothing in hot water, sealing cracks and crevices, and also using bedbug-proof mattresses and box spring encasements to prevent bed bugs from surviving in residential areas.
5. Can I use multiple home remedies simultaneously to treat bed bugs?
While one may think that having more home remedies at their disposal is a smart approach to combating bed bugs, it is vital to keep in mind that you should exercise caution and be careful not to combine remedies that might pose a risk of mismatch or produce negative effects. Begin with anything you locate to be effective as a remedy and test its effectiveness before introducing any other.
