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A home infestation of any pests is a nuisance, especially ones that bite you. Bed bugs can be brought into your home on your clothes, furniture, or bags.
Do you or your family have bites that possibly bed bug bites? Let’s look at some of the signs of these home invaders and what can be done about them.
1. Watching Red Spots Pop Up on Your Skin
The most obvious (and painful) sign that you have a bed bug problem in your home is waking up with itchy bite marks on your skin. A bed bug bite is small, usually red (sometimes brownish), and typically in a line or group with other bite marks.
2. Spots on the Sheets
Another area that you will find marks other than on your skin will be on your sheets and bedding, especially easy to see on white or light-colored sheets. Those spots are either digested blood or fecal matter (yuck!)
3. You Can See Them!
Bed bugs may be very small, however, you can actually see them if you look. What do bed bugs look like?
Bed bugs have flat bodies that are kind of oval-shaped like beetles. Small brownish spots will be visible jumping and crawling around on bedding, furniture, and other fabrics where humans gather.
4. Can You Smell Something?
As if having bugs jumping around on your bed and through your home wasn’t gross enough, they can start to smell, as well. An unpleasant musty odor could be from bed bugs.
5. Look For the Signs They Will Leave Behind
Bed bugs will leave behind several surefire signs that they have been in an area, though these signs may be harder to see than the bugs themselves. Turn on a bright light and look for bed bug eggs or skin that they have shed.
Treating Bed Bug Bites
A bed bug bite will be red, swollen, and itchy. How do you treat them as not to be tempted to scratch which could lead to infection?
Bites will go away on their own, yet many people find it difficult to resist the urge to scratch them, and do not like the way that they look. These treatments work well at soothing the itch and calming the redness allowing them to heal quicker:
- Calamine lotion (the pink stuff)
- Hydrocortisone cream
- Tea tree essential oil
- Paste of baking soda and water
These treatments are safe to be applied and left on for a few hours.
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Planning Your Attack
You may want to arrange alternative lodging for anyone with autoimmune disorders, children, or the entire family until the bed bugs have been entirely exterminated. Do not think that simply leaving your home will rid the house of bed bugs because they can live without a host (blood source) for a long time.
Though experts claim that bed bug bites can not make you sick, humans can have allergic reactions to their bites, and end up getting infections from bites.
Bed bugs are easily transferred from place to place, so make sure that when you leave your home you are freshly showered and wearing clothes out of the dryer.
Act Fast and Hit Them Hard
Bed bugs will not go away on their own, but quite the opposite, they will reproduce at alarming rates. Act fast and try to apply these pest control methods within 24 hours of discovering the problem.
Double Up on Treatments
Often one home remedy for treating bed bug infestations will not be effective enough on its own. Using several methods in combination will get much better results.
Bed Bug Traps
A bed bug trap is a great device to use in addition to other extermination methods. They are rarely effective enough to fully eradicate bed bugs on their own, yet work wonderfully at catching the random bed bugs that would otherwise roam your home freely biting and reproducing.
A bed bug trap can be something that is store-bought or homemade. Traps may be sticky or liquid, either work about the same to attack and trap them.
Wash and Dry Everything
Using hot water and high temperatures in the dryer can kill bed bugs that are on bedding, in clothes, and on stuffed animals or pillows. As long as you are using hot water, any detergent will do, but there are special detergents on the market that are specially formulated to kill bed bugs.
Vacuum Thoroughly
Vacuuming up bed bugs will not kill them, yet it will suck them up and get them out of your home if you empty the bag or canister and take it directly out to the trash. Use the attachments to get in all crevices of furniture, flooring, and behind objects.
Pest Control Spray
Our go-to method of pest control is usually a bug spray. There are plenty of pest control products formulated for bed bugs that come in spray, and aerosol.
Use these products as directed on the label, but make sure that wherever you spray the product, you wipe down with cleaner afterward, and vacuum up the dead bed bugs.
Natural Pest Control
Using natural pest control is better for the environment, us, our family, and our pets than chemical-based products. Interested in trying natural pest control?
Here are some good options:
- Diatomaceous earth powder
- Tea tree oil
- Cayenne pepper & ginger powder
These can be sprinkled or sprayed in areas where bed bugs are and cleaned up after a few hours. The tea tree oil can be diluted with water and dumped into an empty spray bottle for use.
Calling in the Professional Exterminators
The easiest, quickest, and often most effective method of getting rid of bed bugs is not a home remedy but to call a professional exterminator to handle the problem. Your specific case may call for different levels of treatment including spray or heat treatment.
A professional exterminator will come in and assess how extreme your infestation is and get right to work on your bed bugs problem. They will handle the extermination and discuss future treatment plans to make sure that you never have this problem again.
Don’t Let It Bug You
At least you know how to get rid of those bed bugs quickly and efficiently. Whether you are tackling the task yourself or calling in the professionals you don’t have to live with those pests or those bed bug bites much longer!
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