Any household can be infested with bed bugs at any time. No one really knows what has caused the massive increase in bed bugs and it is not only people with less than clean homes who are suffering at the hands of these blood sucking parasites.

Bed bug extermination can be far from an easy task, however, if you involve pest control experts it can also be a very costly task the running into 1000's of dollars.

It is possible to exterminate bed bugs yourself which although it will cost you in time and patience if successful, it can save you that large wad of cash.

So here is how to go about bed bug extermination the D.I.Y way!

There are a number of methods of bed bug extermination you might want to consider but which ever you choose the first vital step is to clean and clear the infested room from top to bottom. Remove all bed clutter, clothing and linen. Wash everything possible on a hot cycle in the washing machine - something like Kleen Free Naturally can be added to your wash. Anything which can not be washed can be put into a tumble dryer for ten minutes at a hot setting. One very important tip - anything which you are removing from the room should be sealed in a plastic bag to prevent the spread of bed bugs throughout the house. It is also important to check in the most obscure places for example lamp shades, clocks, picture frames, even smoke alarms - these pests can travel quite a distance! That done you can now decide how to tackle the bed bugs.

Here are your D.I.Y bed bug extermination options:-.

These chemicals are toxic and could be very harmful to your health and that anyone else living in your house - including your pets. Another down side to such treatment is that bed bugs have become immune to the effects of quite a lot of these chemicals so whilst they may make you and your family ill the bed bugs may survive to suck your blood.

You will have to use the vacuum cleaner on all the affected surfaces e.g. mattress, bed frame, box spring, curtains, carpets and other soft furnishings. This should remove bugs, larvae and eggs. If done properly this should successfully exterminate any remaining bugs at all stages of growth.

It is worth mentioning that you will need a steam cleaning machine which can produce a high temperature (around 120 o F is required) and a low vapor output so that the surfaces you are treating do not end up really wet.

The big advantage with this method is that the heat will actually kill the eggs too. Many insecticides cannot penetrate the outer casing of the egg which means these chemicals have to be sprayed more than.

3. A vacuum cleaner and a non toxic bed bug spray. Again the use of the vacuum cleaner is key to getting rid of as many bed bugs, larvae and eggs as possible. Take extra care in the creases and wrinkles in the mattress and around buttons of soft furnishings. (Make sure that any waste from your vacuum cleaner is bagged and sealed tightly immediately after you finish.) Non toxic bed bug sprays can be very effective at exterminating bed bugs whilst eliminating the risks of using insecticides. Spray all the affected areas according to the manufacturers instructions.

There are a quite a few of these on the market a couple of recommendations would be a product called Eco Friendly Living and another called Bed Bug Patrol.

Bed Bug Heat Treatments Really Do Work!

As you are probably already be aware bed bugs are incredibly hard to get rid of once they have crept

into your property and personal belongings. They happen to be experts at locating hiding places in the tiniest of cracks and crevices and have become mostly immune to the effects of the pesticides designed to eliminate them. This means pest control firms along with individual households are switching to bedbug heat treatment.

Bedbug heat treatment as well as being natural and chemical free can actually get rid of bedbugs at all stages of development - even eggs. It can have a few of drawbacks however, to begin with it is often extremely expensive. Getting an experienced pest management company to carry out heat treatment in your property can run into thousands of dollars. The second drawback with heat treatment for bed bugs is that it's not going to stop further infestations because there is no long-lasting effect and can frequently need to be used in conjunction with another type of treatment.

Okay so, why don't we take a consider the various kinds of bed bug heat treatment:

Steam cleaner - This is often used by pest management experts as a key part of the overall treatment. Usually it is used to treat mattresses, box springs, carpet edges and upholstered furniture. Using a steam cleaner isn't actually a fast method, great care needs to be taken to ensure that the steam keeps a consistent temperature of somewhere between 160 and 180 oF all of the time. Other sorts of remedies are likely to be required in conjunction with steam.

Tumble Dryer - Bedbugs hide in garments, soft furnishings, cuddly toys, basically anyplace and frequently the greatest problem experienced is guaranteeing that every item is treated. Your tumble clothes dryer is a really effective piece of kit with regards to bed bug heat treatment. Provided it is not over filled you can easily eliminate bedbugs and their eggs in around thirty minutes on the highest setting.

Transportable heated boxes - I only know of one such product currently available called The PackTite portable bed bug heat treatment. Initially designed to treat suitcases it is good for footwear, books, sleeping bags etc. It is actually just a big bag with a stand inside of it to hold the items needing treatment. It heats to a temperature upwards of 120oF killing bed bugs, eggs and all. The only significant drawback is that this method can take several hours when your tumble clothes dryer can do the same job in minutes. To be fair however,you can easily put items in The PackTite bag which essentially are not able to go in a clothes dryer.

D.I.Y Bed Bug Heat Chamber - This requires a bit more work i.e, you will need to construct one. You will find out exactly what you need as well as how to put one of these units together at http://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/sepmc/bedbug_heat_treatment/Bed_Bug_Heat_Treatment.html. Basically you are able to fill the heated "box" with things from an infested area and leave them to "cook" while you start dealing with the empty room. Various pest management firms now use the heat chamber because it can easily be transferred from place to location.

Bed Bug Heat Treatment For Entire Rooms -  Indeed there are a couple of different systems available for this but basically they are fairly similar. Using either propane or perhaps electrical heating units the air temperature of the area is heated up to 135oF. Heat sensors are placed in hard to get to areas such as cracks etc. and are closely monitored. When the temperature within these areas has reached 113oF it is maintained for one hour. This type of bedbug heat treatment does not require the residents of the house to move out, de-clutter or anything. All bedbugs, including eggs are destroyed in one fell swoop! However, there are still just a handful of firms offering this type of "all-in-one" treatment. The biggest draw back of all is the cost. Depending on the size of the room could be over $1200. It will also take somewhere around 6 and 8 hours from beginning to end. There are actually some kinds of building which might still need to have chemical treatment too.

 

Discover What Really Kills Bed Bugs!

Killing bed bugs by your self inside your home is actually far from being a simple task. It's made difficult as a result of their ability to squeeze their flat oval shaped bodies in the most minute cracks and holes. This makes even reaching them to eliminate them almost impossible.

Therefore, the question is what kills bed bugs?

Well, you are probably aware there are probably millions of products available which will do the job. However, chemical products have a couple of major draw backs.

1. They could lead to lasting health problems for the residents of the property.

2. These blood sucking pests have through the years built up resistance to them, rendering them ineffectual.

Consequently, what kills bed bugs but is 100% not hazardous and safe?

There are a number of approaches you could possibly choose here are a few examples:

HEAT: This in my experience is the most effective option to kill bed bugs at home and there are a few ways you might go about it.

Steam: Once the infested room has been completely cleared of clutter and everything possible is vacuumed you may get to work with your steam cleaner. It is vital that you devote time and move the steam head over surfaces such as the mattress and soft furnishings carefully, moving inch by inch with the steam cleaner hovering just over the surface. Make certain you always keep the steam head as close as possible to the surface being treated to ensure that the vapor temperature remains as high as possible. Hold it too far away and the temperature of the steam falls making it a lot less efficient.

If you're intending to investing in a steam cleaner there are several points you ought to bear in mind:

1. Make sure it will reach temperatures more than 120 oC.
2. Purchase one in which the pressure of steam can be altered. If the steam comes out at very high pressure the risk is you merely blow the bed bugs to a new part of the room!
3. Find a steam cleaner that generates "dry" vapor. {This is important|This is very important in order to prevent treated things like mattresses for instance getting extremely wet and perhaps forming black mold or mildew
.
You can find however other heat treatment strategies that can eliminate bed bugs.

Laundry dryer: Before you begin any type of major treatment for bed bugs the very first step usually involves washing all clothes and bed linen from the affected area. While laundering stuff at high temperatures will clean and freshen them the key step is drying in the clothes dryer (do not be tempted to air dry!) The high setting will kill bed bugs at all of the stages of growth - even eggs. This is an excellent option to eliminate bed bugs from things that cannot be laundered, if it's possible merely put them in your tumble dryer for about 15 minutes on as high a setting as fabrics will allow.
What might you do with items which cannot be steamed, laundered or tumble dried?

Heat Treatment Device: This is just a heated box. It is a case of simply placing things inside for instance maybe footwear, books, sleeping bags, luggage and so forth. turning on and allowing the items to "cook" for several hours. You can buy these commercially or you will find guidelines for making your own on various internet site.

Still, there are a variety of other strategies for destroying bed bugs you might prefer to try which do not involve heat:

Bed Bug Traps: You can buy a wide array of these from fairly complex, high priced ones to the practical, cheap models. The one I personally favor is a "cup" shaped one. The legs of the bed or possibly bits of furniture near your bed are placed in this "cup" which contains crawling pest dust. Bed bugs on the search for a blood dinner crawl up and drop in and they are can not get out. The crawling bug dust causes them to dehydrate and die.  It has to be said that although this will kill bed bugs, used by themselves they won't address an infestation. They're best used as a way of establishing the success of various other bed bug treatments.

Crawling Insect Dust: I mentioned this being utilized along with bed bug traps. However, the food grade product is 100% safe for humans and household pets, so, you can easily put a light dusting of this in places where bed bugs may be hiding for example. along base boards and so forth. It is best used in areas where it is least likely to be disturbed. It eliminates bed bugs by working its way between the sections in the bed bugs exoskeleton body, causing them to dry up and die-off.
This can be effective for the treatment of bed bugs but it will take quite a while until the results are obvious.

Mattress Encasements: These are placed over the mattress (you can obtain them for box springs and also pillows too) and will prevent bed bugs getting inside. Alternatively, the most effective use of these as far as I'm concerned would be to put these on after treatment. This means any insects or indeed eggs that have not already been destroyed are trapped and therefore can not bite. It should be said that bed bugs will survive for approximately a year without food given the correct conditions therefore mattress encasements must be kept in position long term
.

Okay, so which one of these approaches honestly kills bed bugs effectively? To tell the real truth you will need to make use of mixture of them all that is,. heat, traps,encasements, crawling insect dust and perhaps even a non toxic bed bug spray (make certain you purchase one which has a residual effect and doesn't just kill on contact.)

Discover The Best Way To Treat Bed Bugs

Figuring out precisely how to treat  bed bugs inside your home is not necessarily easy. First off, you are probably traumatized at discovering you've got an infestation. Then find yourself thoroughly confused by the thousands of products on the market and also the countless conflicting accounts of remedies and treatment methods that can be found online.

There is the option to use specialist pest management experts for the task for you and in the case of really big infestations you may have no alternative. Though, this can be very expensive and for lots of people on tight budgets it might be impossible.
 
So, lets look at how to treat bed bugs in your house using simple, trusted techniques that are not going to require you to obtain a second mortgage!

1. Whatever treatment for bed bugs you choose the initial two steps are always the same. Get rid of any clutter. The things you no longer need or want should be put in plastic bags which can then be sealed and dumped. After that wash all bedding, clothing etc at as high a temperature as fabrics will allow. It is important to remember that tumble drying is crucial for killing bed bugs at all development stages within these items so do not be tempted to air dry. Use your clothes dryer also on a high setting. Once everything has been laundered and also tumble dried place stuff in clean plastic bags and seal them to ensure they do not get re-infested.

2. Your vacuum cleaner is your new best friend. Use it on EVERYTHING in the room beds, box springs, pillows, furniture, couches, inside closets - the list really is endless. You should not exclude the more improbable places for instance power sockets, picture frames and so forth. Empty, and clean up your vacuum immediately you finish this particular an element of the treatment. Do this somewhere preferably outside of the house. Put the contents into a plastic bag, seal it then bin it.

The next stage is vital if you are to successfully treat bed bugs. Working with a steam cleaner work slowly and methodically over every suitable surface within the room. Keep the steam head near to the surface to ensure that the temperature of the steam does not drop - this makes it much less efficient. If you are planning to buy a steam cleaner ensure it is capable of attaining then maintaining temperatures in excess of 120 oC and produces "dry vapor" to prevent having soaking wet floor coverings, mattresses etc.

3. Bed bug proof encasements can then be fitted to your mattress, box spring and also your pillows (once you are positive they are absolutely dry.) These will avoid any future bed bugs infesting the bed and also prevent any existing bugs escaping and biting!

Another fairly inexpensive way to stop these vampire bugs getting in to bed beside you is by using bed bug traps. The simplest ones are cup shaped. Put the legs of your bed inside with some crawling insect dust or talcum powder. The bed bugs get trapped inside and the crawling insect dust causes them to dry out and die. These types of traps may additionally be a great way of gauging how effective your bed bug treatment was. If bugs start to appear in them each morning you must perform the whole treatment again.

4. Crawling insect dust and non-chemical bed bug sprays may also be applied in addition to steam. Crawling insect dust can be spread specifically in areas that will be unlikely to be disturbed. This is going to kill any nymphs or adults with time by getting inside their joints causing them to dehydrate and perish. You need to purchase the food grade product that is totally safe around young children and also pets.


Bed bug sprays can be somewhat more confusing. For a start some could contain harmful chemical compounds, while some may only kill the bed bugs on contact and have no residual effect. Select bed bug sprays VERY carefully.

Six Way You Can Get Bed Bugs In Your Home

How do you get bed bugs? If you do not know the answer to this particular question you must read this now!

Bed bugs continue to be a serious headache all over the USA and indeed across numerous countries in the Western world. Having an elementary knowledge of how you get bed bugs is going to make a huge difference with regards to preventing their spread.

Here are six of the most frequent ways you can get bed bugs invading your house:

1. Travel - All of us love to treat ourselves and our families to the odd holiday and many of us need to travel on business.
Unfortunately, this is the most common way in which bedbugs to find their way into our houses. These vampire pests are actually brilliant hitch hikers that can crawl into luggage and other belongings left in hotel rooms, on aeroplanes or from any other type of public transport where they may be hiding away. It only takes one traveler or visitor to have the insects on their clothing or inside their bags to cause an infestation
.
2. Visitors - How do you get bed bugs from visitors? Well, I would sincerely hope that none of your friends or family would bring bedbugs to stay intentionally. Especially over the holiday season this can be a problem  when  you might have a lot of people staying over.

3. Purchasing clothing from second hand retailers - times are really hard and cash is tight for many

of us. If you do purchase clothes from this kind of outlet carry them back home in a sealed bag. Wash them at as high a temperature as the fabric will withstand and tumble dry straightaway. Hiring outfits at times such as Halloween may also be problematic and you almost certainly will never be 100% sure they have been laundered and checked before hand. In this case make sure you properly check everything before you take  it into your home.

4. Buying pre-owned furniture - could potentially be extremely high risk but again if needs must...  For a start only visit a used furniture shop which is trustworthy. Look at the furniture in detail. Couches, chairs, bed frames etc will all be quite hard to check fully. If you see any small rips in upholstery or stitching coming undone leave well alone - you will never know if indeed there are actually bedbugs inside of it. Any piece of furniture that appears to have white dust within it may have been treated for bed bugs or perhaps another kind of insect and therefore my recommendation would definitely be leave well alone. If you can, have items you do buy professionally fumigated - unfortunately this will of course increase the cost.

5. Taking in furniture from dumpsters or from the street - no matter how desperate you might be this is certainly not advisable. Truth be told there is every probability that the items ended up being left because they contain bedbugs!

6. Moving into rented houses. This really is something that happens to a lot of people - they move into a new home and in less than a couple of weeks there are bedbugs everywhere! Okay so, just how do you get bed bugs when you know you did not have them prior to the move? Quite often the last tenant has had problems, they move, the owner has just a bit of a clean up, maybe has the place sprayed then rents the property to somebody else.  Should some bugs or eggs survive and reproduce any new tenant will quickly have a huge problem on their hands.


If or when you are moving it is often a wise move to ask a pest management consultant along to check out the property for warning signs of bed bugs. Be warned, many property owners may very well object to this so ask your specialist to pose as a relative or friend so that they can have a good poke around.

Eliminating Bed Bug Eggs May Help You Eliminate An Infestation Faster

A fertilized female bed bug with access to a good food supply will lay around 3 to 4 eggs every day. If circumstances really aren't ideal she might just lay 1. Anyway, it is conceivable that a single female will probably lay around 500 eggs during the course of her lifetime - usually somewhere around 9 months this depends upon conditions like temperature etc. The minute bed bug eggs are laid where they are least likely to be disturbed therefore ensuring that they have the very best chance of hatching and maturing. When searching for bedbug eggs check out any kind of cracks and crevices, behind peeling wallpaper, baseboards, along the base of headboards etc. When an egg is first laid the exterior is covered with a sticky substance that enables it to stick to the surface upon which it was placed making it more difficult for it to be removed. The eggs of bed bugs are really very tiny measuring a mere 1 mm and are white in color. Quite often you may hear them compared in appearance to a grain of rice. At regular room temperature the young bed bugs will emerge within 7 days. Obviously if its possible to identify bedbug eggs and kill them before they hatch your infestation might be brought under control easier. Unfortunately it must be said that this might be much easier said than actually doing it. Due to their size and also color finding bed bugs eggs can be no simple task particularly if they are located on a surface that is light in color. Is actually just about possible to see them with the naked eye however the use of a magnifying glass and a flash light could make the task a little bit easier. Okay so, how do you destroy bedbug eggs? To tell the truth there is no straight-forward answer. Would you believe there are no chemical treatments guaranteed to destroy bed bug eggs in one go!. Some of these remedies won't kill any eggs because they can not penetrate the outer shell. To be fair, these products are usually manufactured to destroy mature bugs and nymphs on contact. The best way to eradicate bed bug eggs is through heat. Temperatures upwards of 120 oC will eliminate them. This is actually the main reason that it is advisable to launder and tumble dry all bed sheets, garments etc. before beginning any treatment of the infested room. Its not the laundering which will dispose of the eggs but the time the items spend in the drier As for destroying bedbug eggs with heat you have got a few options such as a commercial treatment carried out by professionals or utilizing a suitable steam vapor cleaner and doing the job yourself. You have to make certain it is one which gets to the sort of temperatures required i.e up wards of 120oC and produces dry vapor to prevent items becoming too wet and perhaps causing problems with mold. If you do go for chemical treatment methods do not forget you are going to need to apply more than one due to the fact a single treatment will not eliminate all the eggs. Therefore, further treatments are going to be necessary at intervals to eliminate bugs as they hatch out.

Which Home Remedies For Bed Bugs Should You Consider?

Bed bugs are still causing huge concerns and the expense of using skilled pest control experts can often be huge. As a result many people are searching for home remedies for bed bugs that work. Now, you can discover various forums and websites suggesting a wide variety of home remedies. Some, just do not work whilst others are just dangerous! Now let's consider a couple of these: Rubbing alcohol - Now I have seen this hailed on various forums and yes in the event that the alcohol makes direct contact with a live bedbug it will kill it! Unfortunately, the first issue is that being alcohol it evaporates extremely rapidly which means it will have no lasting effect and won't kill bugs which trundle out of their hiding places later on. The second and most frightening problem with rubbing alcohol as a home remedy for bed bugs is the fact that it is highly flammable. Numerous people have set their homes alight after dousing sofas, mattresses and so forth with alcohol then unintentionally dropping a match or perhaps cigarette. Not one of the most wise remedies for bed bugs! Pesticides - any type of chemical remedy should be executed with great care. Just use products that can be safely used indoors and in places where perhaps yourself and your family intend to sleep. Indeed there are many chemical pesticides out there that are only made to be used outdoors - regardless of how desperate you may be NEVER be tempted to apply them inside. Some are extremely poisonous and could kill more than bed bugs! Personally I would suggest getting the experts involved if chemical treatment methods are really required. All right, so those are some home remedies for bed bugs which are probably best avoided. Let us look at a few that can often be very effective:- Diatomaceous earth - this is a dust made from ground fossil shells. There are various kinds but, for use in this capacity you will want the freshwater food-grade product which is completely safe. This is not by any means a fast or complete "fix" for bed bugs. Putting a light scattering of diatomaceous earth in areas within your house where it won't be disturbed will kill bed bugs who encounter it. Basically it gets into their joints and also wears down their waxy outer "shell" causing them to dehydrate. Laundering and tumble drying clothes, bed linen etc. - you need to make this the first step in every home remedy for bed bugs. While laundering will thoroughly clean and also freshen the items the heat within the tumble drier will wipe out any bedbug eggs, nymphs and adults hiding inside. Bed bugs will be killed by temperatures in excess of 120 oC. Bed Bug Sprays - there a wide range of of these around whilst most destroy bed bugs upon contact not all destroy bedbug eggs or any bugs which emerge following the treatment. Vacuuming and Steam Cleaning - I have found this to be one of the best home remedies for bed bugs. To start with use a vacuum on mattresses, settees, soft furnishings, soft toys and so forth. Note it is vital that you empty and thoroughly clean your vacuum when you are finished otherwise you are going to just end up spreading bed bugs to other areas of your home. Retrace your steps with a good steam vapor cleaner, it should achieve temperatures upwards of 120 oC and it ought to generate dry vapour. The nozzle of the steam vapor cleaner needs to be put onto the surface and moved carefully and methodically. If the nozzle is too far from the surface the temperature of the steam will be reduced which makes it less effective. You will find that making use of any of these home remedies for bed bugs independently will likely not get rid of the problem. Making use of them as a combination however potentially can eliminate of bed bugs. It must be said nevertheless, if your infestation is in more than one room and extremely large there simply is no home cure that can eradicate these blood sucking pests and therefore you really will need professional treatment.