Bed bugs create a lot of problems and can be seen in most North American households. Bed bugs need a temperate and safe environment to thrive, and there are many places inside a house that provide them such a habitat. You can make some changes in your home and try out some prevention methods, but it would still be challenging to get bed bugs out of the house all at once.
Bed bugs are elusive, and they usually hide in the smallest of spaces. For example, if you can insert a business card in a crack, the probability of bed bugs being in that crack is high. Most bed bugs are found in mattresses, but there are other places to find them. Other sites include any area where temperature favors them.
Dealing with bed bugs can be difficult and stressful. You may think they are small or flat but do not mistake them to be harmless. If you don’t take care of your home, such as regular cleaning, they could cause you different problems leading to feeding your blood. To keep them out of your house, treatment and prevention of bed bugs are your only choice. If you fail to take necessary precautions, then treatments like pest control are your ultimate option.
How to Freeze Bed Bugs Out of Your house
There are many home remedies you can use to keep bed bugs away from your bed and home. These remedies will not only drive bed bugs out but also ban them permanently from your home. Things you can do to drive the bed bugs away include the following:
- Wash your fabrics
When you find even minor bed bug signs, then make sure they do not increase. It’s time to get to work. Heat acts as a successful killer to eradicate bed bugs. You can wash your bedsheet in hot water to make sure bugs don’t get into them or get killed if there are any. It is vital to remove bed bugs from clothes, bedding materials, towels, and pet beds, if any. You should also wash other materials like stuffed animals as they will keep their surroundings clean too.
Anything that is made using fabric should be in the hot water washer. After washing, dry at the highest level possible using your dryer or naturally by sunlight. If you have things you don’t want to put in the washing machine like shoes, put them in a dryer. You must soak them in hot water and put them out for sunlight.
- Fill Wall Cracks
An important reason for the existence of bed bugs is wall cracks. You can find bed bugs easily in places where there are cracks in the wall. These tiny cracks become the perfect hiding spots for bed bugs so they can come out at night and feed on you. Move from room to room and check every wall for cracks. A thorough inspection before you move into the house can also help you to find the infested spots. You can fill these gaps using plaster, caulk, or use wallpaper glue.
- Declutter
People think that only filthy or dirty homes are carriers for bed bugs, but it’s not true. Even an amazingly maintained home could have bed bugs and become infectious. The simplest way to sum is wherever there is clutter; there can be bed bugs. So, intense decluttering is essential and not once but regularly.
The perfect environments for bugs are places that are cool and dry. You can go through your closet and under the bed and remove everything you don’t need. Remove clothes, books, magazines, and other supplies you don’t need. You can also keep track of which space you cleaned when so you remember a regular decluttering process.
- Seal what you can’t clean
There are things you can’t clean or put in the dryer, like chairs or tables. You can seal these items away if they are infested with bed bugs. Sealing these items tightly for a year can kill them.
However, there are items you have to get rid of as there is no other option. For example, thick chairs don’t want to clean or have space to seal and keep them. The best option is to throw them away and nothing else.
- Steam often
Using steamers is the best way to maintain a bed bugs-free home. You can use it on mattresses regularly to keep bugs away. This heat kills not only bugs but also their eggs. However, you should pay extra attention to cupboards, carpets, baseboards, shelves, and other such spaces. It would be best to put the steamer at a minimum of 160 degrees Fahrenheit with a low airflow setting. If the airflow of the steamer is high, then the bed bugs will scatter and survive.
- Mattress Cleaning
The critical spot to clean in your house is to make sure that your mattress is clean. Finding bed bugs in many places is common, and mattresses are the most commonplace. You can use a stiff brush at the seam of the mattress to clean it and remove some residues above the mattress. Along with eliminating residues, this process will also remove bugs and their eggs on the mattress. Using a vacuum cleaner to tidy the sides and bottom of a mattress is also advisable.
After using a vacuum cleaner:
- Ensure that you clean your vacuum cleaner as it’s now infested with bugs and their eggs.
- After you are done with it, put everything in a sealed plastic bag and put it outside the house.
- Leave them unattended for a few days to kill those bugs by suffocating.
According to Sleep Science, the top bed bugs prevention tip against mattresses is to get a new mattress. You can visit a mattress store like Mancini’s Sleepworld Mattresses, where sleep experts will help you find the perfect mattress that won’t make you suffer from bed bugs.