Table Of Content
- A few simple precautions can help prevent bed bug infestation in your home:
- Bed bug bites and rashes on household members may indicate an infestation before you spot the bugs themselves.
- Step 2: Contain the infestation
- Pests That Pose a Threat to Your Pets
- Myth 6: Cayenne Pepper or Diatomaceous Earth Can Kill Bed Bugs

The PCO can also identify the underlying cause of the infestation—for example, if they are coming from a neighboring apartment—and treat bedbugs hidden deep in walls or floorboards. A PCO will have specific instructions for cleaning, decluttering, and preparing your home for treatment. The first step in dealing with a suspected or confirmed bedbug infestation is to hire a reputable pest-control operator and carefully follow their instructions. Alongside that, we’ll show you how to find and identify bedbugs. And we’ll tell you how to clean infested bedding, clothing, and furniture, how to keep the bugs from spreading, and, hopefully, how to avoid them in the future.
A few simple precautions can help prevent bed bug infestation in your home:
Alongside any professional treatment, you should clean infested areas and kill any bedbugs you find. Using an upholstery attachment, thoroughly vacuum your mattress and box spring, focusing on seams, crevices, and folds. Vacuum under and around the bed, behind the headboard, and around any other furniture near the bed where bedbugs could harbor. When you’ve finished vacuuming, carefully remove the vacuum bag and immediately seal it in a garbage bag to discard. Bite marks, itchiness, or blood stains on sheets aren’t definitive proof of bedbugs.
Bed bug bites and rashes on household members may indicate an infestation before you spot the bugs themselves.

But different people have different levels of reaction to bed bug bites. If you’re waiting for treatment, you might be able to reduce the number of bed bugs by laying down Cimexa’s Insecticide Dust, which is made mostly of silicon dioxide. This insecticide absorbs the waxy exterior of a bed bug’s shell, leaving it desiccated, but you’ll probably need multiple applications. You can also “bake” bedding, shoes, backpacks, and pillows in a clothes dryer set on high for 10 to 20 minutes. Humans are the preferred host for bed bugs, and they will latch onto skin that is exposed while the host is sleeping.
Step 2: Contain the infestation
How to get rid of bed bugs as infestations rise - The News Journal
How to get rid of bed bugs as infestations rise.
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Bedbug bites usually clear up without treatment in a week or two. Bedbugs aren't known to spread disease, but they can cause an allergic reaction or a severe skin reaction in some people. Once you’ve vacuumed and cleaned your mattress and box spring, use a bedbug-proof encasement such as the Protect-A-Bed AllerZip Smooth Mattress Encasement. Look for the bugs’ characteristic brown-black, dot-like fecal stains (digested blood) on your bedding, bed frame or nearby baseboards. Examine along the mattress’s seams and crevices, especially the folds of a pillow top. Bedbugs also leave cast skins, which resemble empty bedbug shells or fragments.
What are the typical means through which people contract bed bugs?
What encasement bags are good for is protecting the actual mattress. That means you might not need to toss it and spend money on a new one if you have a bed bug infestation. Substances such as diatomaceous earth, boric acid, and silica gel kill bed bugs by damaging their outer coating so they dry out and die. Put these powders into cracks and crevices around your home (being careful not to ingest or inhale them). When checking in, put your luggage in the bathroom, then inspect the bedding.
Sleep Tight, Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite: Expert Tips to Eliminate These Critters From Your Mattress - CNET
Sleep Tight, Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite: Expert Tips to Eliminate These Critters From Your Mattress.
Posted: Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
So you might want to think twice if there’s a number of boxes tucked under your bed. As we mentioned in the first point, bed bugs will happily latch onto textiles during travel. That means other fabric-based items you bring into your home are unfortunately at risk too, including furniture. Upholstery, such as a fabric couch, can become a hotspot for bed bugs in the right conditions. This is because it provides shelter, as well as a nearby location to where you might rest at night.
If, even after being careful, you discover bed bugs in your home, act quickly. You want to get rid of the bed bugs in the early stages of infestation. The longer they’re in your home, the more difficult it will be to clear them out. Whether you are hiring a pest management professional or trying to eliminate the bugs yourself, properly preparing your home is an essential first step. Taking these steps before starting out will help speed the process and reduce control costs.

Bed bugs can move between rooms in multi-unit buildings like apartments or hotels.
Experts don’t advise throwing out mattresses or furniture if you have bedbugs. If you do decide to discard your mattress (and check with your PCO first), seal it fully in a tear-proof plastic cover (many cities require this). Bedbugs are reddish brown, oval and flat, and about the size of an apple seed. During the day, they hide in the cracks and crevices of beds, box springs, headboards and bed frames. You can also put your clothes in the dryer on a hot setting for 30 minutes, and try steam cleaning your luggage and clothing.
What are common practices that lead to bed bug infestations?
Since bed bugs usually come out at night to feed, you might consider using some form of bed bug interceptor at the legs of your bed. This would prevent them from reaching you while you sleep thereby interrupting their feeding and reproduction. Their attraction is towards the body heat and the carbon dioxide we exhale, not to blood out in the open. Thus, menstrual blood does not increase your risk of attracting bed bugs.
Remember, acting swiftly is key to preventing a full-blown infestation. Bedbugs love people and they tend to gather where lots of people live. Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
In some instances, bed bugs can come from inside electrical switch plates, picture frames, and wallpaper. These elusive pests can be found nearly anywhere inside a home, car, bus, or other shelter. In hotels, the most common place to find bed bugs is within the backside of headboards that are mounted on walls. Additionally, never bring second-hand furniture, especially mattresses and box springs, into a home without thoroughly examining for signs of bed bugs.