It's a nightmare when you realize you have a bedbug infestation, but lets be clear, an infestation has nothing to do with cleanliness. So don’t feel guilty! You can pick them up in even the finest hotels, and they can travel to the cleanest homes hitch hiking a ride on your luggage. If you are suffering from bed bug infestation, try these DIYs.
It is a nightmare when you realize you have a bedbug infestation, but lets be clear, an infestation has nothing to do with cleanliness. So don’t feel guilty! You can pick them up in even the finest hotels, and they can travel to the cleanest homes hitch hiking a ride on your luggage.
If you are suffering from bed bug infestation, try these DIYs.
Reduce Clutter And Inspect
Before you start with your very own in house pest control, pick up clutter from all surfaces in your home and make sure that the bed frames have been dismantled, drawers pulled out, furniture turned over, (the list goes on!) so that these places are inspected carefully. Shine a bright light on your mattress and bedding to check for bed bugs.
Hidden bugs inside the mattress foldsImage - Ameriguardpest.com
Spray bed bugs with rubbing alcohol
Alcohol kills bed bugs on the spot. Once the inspection is over, if you see visible bed bug eggs, kill them by spraying rubbing alcohol and scrape away with a dish brush. The results are phenomenal! Isopropyl alcohol, commonly called rubbing alcohol, is readily available at the local chemist shop for as less as Rs 50 a bottle. Remember alcohol is flammable so only do this in a well ventilated space and never near an open flame.
Double Duty! Alcohol not only kills the bugs but also sanitizes the areaImage - Whenhowto.com
Clear Your Bedding
Clearing means removing all bedding, including bed sheets, pillow cases, covers, comforters, blankets, absolutely everything! Use extremely hot water to wash the bedding and dry it in a dryer or out in the sun. As a practice, place the mattresses and pillows out in the sun for once every few days and remember to turn them over each day for the sun to heat them evenly through and through.
A clean, clutter-free deskImage - Chatelaine.com
Garlic + Neem Treatment
After your bedding has undergone cleaning, drying and done soaking up the sun! It's time to put it back where it came from. However, as an extra measure, place a few garlic cloves and neem leaves between the bed frame and mattress. While it may stink (a little), it will keep mosquitoes and bed bugs at bay. You can also sprinkle tulsi or neem leaf powder on bed corners and joints where bed bugs reside and breed.
Neem oil conttains a chemical called azadirachtin, used as an effective treatment for bed bugs
Image - Crayonux.com
Vacuum
Vacuuming regularly picks up stray bed bugs. Use a powerful vacuum to suck up dirt and bugs along bed stands, rails, bed seams, upholstery tufts, buttons, bedding and on carpeting. Vacuuming doesn't kill bed bugs but is a "zero-chemical" way of reducing an infestation, also, a good vacuum cleaning will clear dust from cracks and crevices allowing insecticides to penetrate deeper.
Vacuum with strong suction will help remove bed bugs and dirtImage - Pesticideresearch.com
Silica Gel
Remember those small packets you found inside your new shoes? That small packet is silica gel and is very handy in fighting bed bugs. Grind some silica gel and sprinkle it all over your bedroom floor mattress, along the wall and also the bed perimeter. Silica gel sticks to bed bug and kills it by dehydration!G
Silica gel dehydrates bed bugs to kill themImage - Girlishh.com
Bed bugs can be surprisingly resilient, and as pests go, bed bugs are astoundingly difficult to eliminate completely even given your most stringent efforts. Other than the obvious discomfort from bed bug bites, bed bugs come with a stigma attached and it can be really embarrassing to admit you have an infestation. If you are at your wits end we recommend hiring a qualified pest control specialist service to fumigate your home for your own peace of mind and a good nights sleep!
