Bed bug infestations need bed bugs heat treatment for total eradication. We recently came upon this article about a man in Decatur that was forced to leave his home due to the severity of the bed bug infestation. READ THE ARTICLE. You don’t have to live with the bed bug problem until it gets so overwhelming. We have outlined a simple process below for getting rid of bed bugs once and for all!
Here are our suggestions if you find yourself in a similar situation and need to get rid of bed bugs.
Treat with Heat
There are many different treatment methods to deal with bed bug populations, but we believe bed bug situations require heat treatments as they are the best way of effectively killing bed bugs. Bed bugs die at 120⁰ F. Specially designed heaters can raise the temperature in your home to temperatures this hot and higher. Once a room hits this lethal temperature, you will want to continue to heat the room for an additional 18 hours at this temperature. This ensures that all areas of the room will get to 120⁰ F.
Bed bugs hide in very small spaces. Trying to capture or spray the bugs is not efficient and you will most likely never be able to get all of them. They have the ability to live up to a year without food, so they will out last you. They can stay hidden as long as it takes before they feel that it’s safe enough to try to find a meal.
Heat is the only thing that kills bed bug eggs. Chemicals do not destroy the eggs, so you will continue having a bed bug problems unless you find a way to exterminate the eggs. And heat is non-toxic and safe, so you don’t have to worry about children or pets inhaling toxic fumes. You want to be sure you kill bed bugs and their offspring.
Use Fans
Using fans is a great way to circulate the hot air in the heat treatment area to optimize heat exposure. You can shift the fans to certain hard-to-reach areas of the room in order to get each space to the desired temperature. They can be utilized to treat closets or attached bathrooms as well. Fans are also a great way to treat heat-sensitive items. Our heaters blow out heat that is much hotter than 120 degrees Fahrenheit so you would never want to point the heaters directly at items that could be damaged by heat. But the fans can blow hot air without the threat of harm to your possessions.
Expose All Areas
There are several ways to expose the entire room to heat. You may need to bag up extra clothes that are not loosely hung in the closet or able to fit in the dresser. We recommend removing these extra items from the treatment area very carefully. Place the items in a bag, seal tightly, and then launder. Put them in the dryer on high heat for 30 minutes for eliminating bed bugs or eggs. Then wash with hot water and re-dry on high heat.
It is nearly impossible for the middle of a dense pile of clothing to reach the lethal temperature without some outside assistance during a heat treatment. If you are not able to put them in the dryer, you can spread them about the room. Just remember, the more objects that are in the room, the longer it will take the room to reach the optimal lethal temperature.
Adult bed bugs will gravitate towards worn clothing as they emit a low level of carbon dioxide that is a residual scent from the clothes being warm. So, it is vital that dirty laundry is treated thoroughly.
Get rid of any trash that is in the room. Extra objects absorb heat. You want all the heat to be available to kill the bugs! Bed bug issues need heat treatments for bed bug control.
Once the room you are treating has reached the lethal temperature, you may want to enter quickly and move furniture around. Flip pillows and cushions so the underside is exposed to the heat. Prop mattresses and box springs so that hot air can pass in between them. Move dressers off the wall so heat can flow behind and underneath. Lift anything off the floor (such as baskets and bags) so that heat can get to floor. You may even want to tip overstuffed chairs and couches to ensure heat can permeate them entirely. Don’t stay too long in the bed bug treatment area as the high temperatures are not healthy for humans (or anything alive!).
Heat Sensitive Items
While we recommend leaving everything that could be contaminated in the treatment area, there are some items that should be removed. Some of these items are thing that could melt such as candles, crayons, and make-up. Items that are combustible should also be taken out of the area of high heat: ammunition, firearms, aerosol cans, including fire extinguishers, and soda or beer cans. We even recommend removing wine as we have seen corks pop right out from the pressure caused from the high temperatures. Things that can warp should be taken out of the treatment area as well, such as vinyl records or wooden instruments.
Give Debug Your Bed a Call
If you find bed bugs, you need a pest control company that specializes in a heat treatment, and avoid chemical treatment, for bed bug control and elimination. At Debug Your Bed, we offer heater rentals and the knowledge needed so that you don’t have to vacate your home if you find bed bugs. We also offer full-service treatments in New England and Indiana where we can do this for you. We believe bed bugs need heat treatments and are more effective than chemicals. Heat kills all stages of the bed bug life cycle. READ MORE.
Just give us a call. We are here to help!