Can You Get Rid Of Bed Bugs In A Mattress

How Do Bed Bugs Get On The Mattress

Well, bed bugs can’t fly or jump, they crawl to your bed. Bed bugs are drawn to carbon dioxide and that’s how they find you. When you sleep at night, you don’t move a lot, and the carbon dioxide that you breath out forms a cloud over your bed. Thus, the bed bugs know that there’s food there and crawl to your bed.

Learn more about where do bed bugs come from

Bed Bugs And House Guests

Telling Aunt Harriet not to come for Christmas is probably not going to work , but you can still boss your kids around. Send your kids off to college with the information they need to inspect for bed bugs in their dorm room. And include as a parting gift a package of a few detection traps.

Instruct those returning scholars to bag up their mountains of dirty laundry and leave the bags in the garage until transporting them directly to the washing machine. Wash clothes in hot water and dry thoroughly.

Check For These Signs Of Bed Bugs

Use a flashlight and magnifying glass to spot bed bugs. If you dont find anything on the mattress surface, check the sides. If possible, remove your mattress from the bed base, standing it up on its side to check the bottom of the mattress. With the flashlight and magnifying glass, inspect the surface of your box spring, foundation, or platform as well. Look out for:

• Brownish or reddish live bed bugs, maybe between 1 mm to 6 mm long
• Tiny, speck-like pale yellow bed bug eggs, or eggshells
• Yellowish skin shed by nymphs
• Dark tiny spots from bed bug droppings
• Reddish stains on your mattress from bed bugs that you may have been crushed while you tossed and turned at night

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Characteristic Smell From Your Mattress

Bed bugs have a distinctive smell. The smell resembles that of overripe raspberries, moldy shoes or coriander. According to cedaroil.com, The scent gland of bed bugs produces a musty odor that is often described as smelling like coriander. In case you notice such a smell from your mattress, there is a likelihood that your mattress is infested with bed bugs.

Can Bed Bugs Live In Memory Foam Toppers

Bed bugs can live in memory foam toppers, but are more likely to prefer living under a memory foam mattress. The reason why is that the topper is on top of the mattress. This makes it more dangerous for them to live there, as opposed to the underside of the mattress.

A bed bug wants to live as close to your host as possible, because that means youll be able to feed more easily. However, you also need somewhere thats comfortable where youre unlikely to be attacked or squashed. This rules out hiding underneath a memory foam topper.

Even though memory foam is good at holding its shape, you still apply force to it. You could easily crush a bed bug thats recently fed just by lying on the topper with them underneath.

Thats why the infestation is more likely to live under the mattress than under the topper. Under the mattress, your weight is spread evenly, especially with memory foam.

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Are Bed Bugs Invading Your San Francisco Bay Area Home Or Business Were Here To Help

Nobody wants to live with bed bugs. Fortunately, you dont have to!

Here at Smiths Pest Management, we help residential and commercial properties in Northern Californiafrom Marin to Montereyget rid of bed bugs once and for all, and help you understand how to beat bed bugs on your own.

Contact us today to learn more about our services or to schedule your bed bug removal: 471-6988

What Should A Pest Control Company Do For Meand Vice Versa

Customer Preparation

Pest Management Professionals should be knowledgeable about bed bugs, educating you so you understand why time-consuming and thorough preparation is so important. If the company doesnt require you to do prep work, call the next company on your list.

PMPs may ask you to launder all clothing, bedding, and draperies buy resealable bags for all possessions in drawers, closets, etc. clean rooms thoroughly and vacate rooms on all treatment days. One thing that differs by pest control company is whether callers should do anything to the bed ahead of time. Theres no right way. Still, the company should be able to explain the why behind their methods.

The time and money it takes to battle bed bugs will be easier to grasp if you understand:

Clutter makes it harder for PMPs to find and treat all likely hiding spots of loner females that could restart an infestation.

Bed bugs arent found just in beds. Any space a credit card edge could slide in is a possible hiding spot. PMPs need to treat baseboards, picture frames, bed frames, dressers, drawers, and tables. Because preparation will disturb the bugs, you should choose a pest control company and learn their operating procedure before doing much to the room.

Cost

Treatment

Follow-Up Treatments

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Prepare Your House For Treatment

Once youve booked a bed bugs control services, prepare your house for the visit. Remember that the treatment will be at least six hours, so make plans for your family and pets to be out of the home. Launder and seal all your belongings, including furniture. Dont move large furniture away from walls. Keep your bed, dresser, and couches where they usually are in your house.

Prep For Bedbug Treatment

Before you start treating your home, do a little prep work to maximize your odds of success. Make sure all your linens, carpets, drapes, clothing, and other hiding places have been cleaned or thrown out .

Next, get rid of bedbug hiding places. Pick up books, magazines, clothes, and anything else thats lying on your floor and under your bed. Throw out whatever you can. Dont move items from an infested room to a clean oneyou could spread the bugs.

Seal up any open areas. Glue down loose wallpaper. Caulk cracks in furniture and around baseboards. Tape up open electrical outlets. Finally, move your bed at least 6 inches away from the wall so bedbugs cant climb on.

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Do Mattress Encasements Prevent Bed Bugs

Many people choose mattress encasements to protect their new, clean mattresses from bed bugs.

Encasements are great for this. They prevent bed bugs from coming into direct contact with the mattress. Bed bugs cant access the folds and crevices where they typically love to hide.

For example, the piping around the edges of the mattress. The encasement also protects the mattress from fecal spots and blood stains.

However, the idea that mattress encasements will completely prevent bed bugs from infesting your home is untrue. With an encasement, bed bugs may not be able to get into your mattress, but they can still live on top.

The advantage of using mattress encasements is that they do not contain any folds or crevices for bed bugs to hide in. Bed bugs will be much easier to see when theyre on top of the encasement. Youll be able to spot and kill them before they get a chance to breed.

To prevent bed bugs from reaching your bed altogether, you can use bed bug interceptor traps in conjunction with mattress encasements.

How Do I Throw My Old Mattress Away

If your mattress has bed bugs, do not put it in the nearest dumpster. In some places, you can get fined for doing this, so check with your local waste disposal organization for ways to get rid of your mattress. And of course, do not donate it or give it away to a friend. There are some mattress disposal companies that will come pick up the mattress and dispose of it for you.

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What Are Bed Bugs And Why Are They A Problem

Bed bugs are small, flat insects with an oval shape and brownish color that feed on the blood of humans and warm-blooded animals. Their flat bodies allow them to fit into tiny spaces about the width of a credit card, and they hide in cracks and crevices located close to your resting areas such as mattresses, box springs, bedside tables, bedding, bed frames and headboards. This gives them easy access to sleeping humans, thus the name “bed bugs.”

Where Do Bed Bugs Live

Any place with a high turnover of people spending the nighthostels, hotels near airports, and resortsare most at risk. But the list continues apartments, barracks, buses, cabins, churches, community centers, cruise ships, dormitories, dressing rooms, health clubs, homes, hospitals, jets, laundromats, motels, motor homes, moving vans, nursing homes, office buildings, resorts, restaurants, schools, subways, theaters, trains, used furniture outlets. Bed bugs dont prefer locations based on sanitation or peoples hygiene. If theres blood, theyre happy.

Bed bugs and their relatives occur nearly worldwide. They became relatively scarce during the latter part of the 20th century, but their populations have resurged in recent years, particularly throughout parts of North America, Europe, and Australia.

What about in your home? Most stay near where people sleep, hiding near the bed, a couch or armchair even cribs and playpens. Their flat bodies allow them to hide in cracks and crevices around the room and in furniture joints. Hiding sites include mattress seams, bed frames, nearby furniture, or baseboards. Clutter offers more places to hide and makes it harder to get rid of them. Bed bugs can be found alone but more often congregate in groups. Theyre not social insects, though, and dont build nests.

Before treating, you need to confirm that you have bed bugs. The only way to do that is to find a bug and get it identified.

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How Do I Know My Mattress Has Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are microscopic, reddish-brown insects roughly the size of an apple seed. They cant fly, but they love to burrow in dark, small spaces like headboards, closets, and inside mattress seams. Some people dont realize they have bed bugs until they notice small bite marks on their skin.

If your itchy bites form only after youve been in bed, the issue may be bed bugs. A few other signs that point to a bed bug infestation:

• A musty odor
• Tiny dark spots on the mattress
• Bed bug egg husks or shells

Once youve noticed these things, its time to strip your mattress and investigate further. Take off your sheets, protector, everything. If you use a box spring, peel back the dust cover fabric and look at the seams. Look at spaces around your bed, like your nightstand, for other signs of bed bugs.

Time to upgrade your entire bed set? Read our guide of finding the best mattress to compare your options.

Finding Bed Bugs In Mattress

Where do bed bugs hide in mattresses? It is necessary for you to learn how to find bed bugs on your mattress. One of the common hiding places for bed bugs is on or under your mattress. However, you can also find bed bugs on the seams and folds of the mattress and actress covers., bed bugs may hide on the edges of your mattress , especially if you leave your mattress undisturbed for long.

If your mattress has cracks they can be excellent hiding places for bed bugs. Furthermore, if the spaces in the structure of the mattress are big enough to accommodate bed bugs, they will certainly enjoy being there.

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Use Heat Instead Of Chemicals

Insecticides are an effective way to eradicate bed bugs, but not the only way. If you or someone in your house is highly sensitive to chemicals, or youre just not crazy about the idea of spraying chemicals where you sleep, kill the little blood suckers with heat. Temperatures above 120 degrees F kill all stages of bed bugs. Steamers can be used to treat all the same areas where you would have sprayed contact killers. Steamers like the one shown at cost about $150 and are good for many other projects like removing wallpaper, cleaning tile, removing labels, cleaning engine parts and removing wrinkles from fabric.

Heat chambers like this one can be used to heat personal belongings and kill any hidden bed bugs without chemicals. They come in various sizes, and prices start at less than $200. In the summer, you could let Mother Nature do the dirty work. Bag up your belongings and set them on the driveway. On a day when the temp tops 95 degrees, a bag placed in the sun should easily reach 120 degrees F inside.

Bottom photo: ZAPPBUG

How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs In A Mattress

By Sanchita SenCertified Sleep Coach

If you wake up with irritated or inflamed skin, you may have bed bugs in your mattress. People often confuse bed bug bites with mosquito or some other insect bites, and then

If you wake up with irritated or inflamed skin, you may have bed bugs in your mattress. People often confuse bed bug bites with mosquito or some other insect bites, and then they put off fixing the problem. But if theres a cluster of inflammation on an exposed area of your skin, it may be caused by bed bugs.

If youre reading this, youre probably wondering how to get rid of bed bugs in a mattress. In this article, we will show you how to spot bed bugs in your mattress, eliminate them, and prevent future infestation.

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Monitoring And Trapping Bed Bug Infestations

Bed Bug Monitor Traps: The Bed Bug Monitor Traps recreate the conditions that bedbugs consider perfect, including dark, tight tunneling areas and rough woodsy material. Bed bugs would usually be found: inside the small grooves of corrugated boxes, between mattress creases, and around/under wooden furniture.

SenSci Volcano Monitors and Lures: These bed bug monitors/detectors may be used with the lures or with the Sensci lure to capture bed bugs. As an identification tool, you can monitor your bed bug treatment plan or monitor bed bug presence. Use the optional lure if a person is not present in the bedroom that is being monitored.

Bugo Bed Bug Monitors/Traps are adhesive traps that are placed around the bed legs, catch the bed bugs before then can crawl up the bed leg into your bed.

Bed Bug Preparation Tips

Reduce Clutter:Remove all personal items and anything that does not stay in the room permanently. Caution: Be mindful that items from the infested area can transfer bed bugs to other areas. It is best to bag them in plastic with Nuvan Strips.

Launder Infested Garments and Linens:Launder or tumble dry any garments that are infested or suspected of being infested. Bag the garments and store them in a bed bug free area until the infested storage area has been treated.

Dismantle Bed Frames:Dismantling bed frames in infested areas typically expose bed bug hiding sites. Having access to these areas during cleaning is important. Stand up the box spring and shine a flashlight through the gauze fabric and look for bed bugs. If the fabric is torn , remove fabric to prepare for spraying. If the mattress and or box springs are infested, you may want to consider Encasements by Mattress Safe. Once covered with these encasements, bed bugs can not enter or exit. There is no need to treat the mattress or box spring when using these encasements. Keep them on for a year.

Remove Dresser Drawers:Remove drawers from desks and dressers since bed bugs like to hide in these areas. Turn furniture over to inspect and clean all hiding spots. All furniture should be pulled away from the walls.

Caulk and Seal:Caulk and seal all holes where pipes and wires penetrate walls and floor and fill cracks around baseboards and molding to further reduce harboring areas.

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Can Bed Bugs Come Back

Yes, bed bugs can come back. One pregnant bed bug left behind can lead to reinfestation of 300 adults and 1000 new eggs in just three months. You have to be vigilant post-bed bug treatment. Dont remove your encasement for at least a year. Follow up with regular vacuuming of the whole bedroom, including your bed.

How To Get Rid Of A Mattress With Bed Bugs

Written by: A ONeill, Licensed Pest Management Professional

Disposing of your mattress because it has bed bugs may not always be the best idea. Often youll be able to manage the infestation by using a mattress and box spring encasement cover.

However, if your mattress is heavily infested, it is old, or you really cant stand the thought of sleeping on it even with an encasement and prefer to get rid of it, then a few simple steps need to be followed for proper disposal.

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What Shouldnt I Do When Trying To Eliminate Bed Bugs

Dont panic. Although bed bugs can be annoying, you can get rid of them if you adopt a well-considered strategy.

Dont put the legs of the bed frame in kerosene or coat them with petroleum jelly. Bed bugs have been known to climb on the ceiling and drop down onto the bed. Plus kerosene is a fire hazard.

Dont depend on thyme oil. Thyme oil may discourage bed bugs, but it wont kill them. Chances are itll spread, not fix, the problem.

Dont leave the home unoccupied through a winter as a control measure. Bed bugs have adapted to the unpredictable habits of humans. If given time to go dormantfor example, in a vacation cabin that slowly gets cooler, then cold over fall and winterbed bugs can survive, living without a meal for many months while waiting for humans to return. The quick penetration of killing cold is the key to any temperature treatment.

Dont turn up the heat. Exposing bed bugs to 120 ºF or more an hour will kill all life stagesand whole-structure or container heat treatments do work. But the caution is similar to using cold. High heat must be maintained at every point in the building: the outer walls, deep in the sofa, etc. for the full hour. Professionals enclose the structure, using tools to guarantee that it reaches the right temperature. If you go with a full-structure heat treatment, consider if the heat could damage furniture, appliances, and belongings.