How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs In A Mattress

Bug Bombs And Other Pesticides

Pesticides and bug bombs sold in stores aren’t as effective as you may think. The majority of products sold to you to treat bugs are not nearly as strong as they should be. This makes them ineffective and you’re just wasting your time and risk spreading the bugs in more areas of your home. Using a mild pesticide will scare them off in a different direction and they will seek shelter in other rooms or pieces of furniture.

Use A Mattress Encasement

Once youve vacuumed and cleaned your mattress and box spring, its a good idea to use a bedbug-proof encasement such as the Protect-A-Bed AllerZip Smooth Mattress Encasement. The encasement will trap any bugs or eggs that could still be hidden on the mattress .

Leave the cover in place, zipped, and those bugs and eggs will eventually die. Our experts said you should leave it on for a year, but ask your PCO for guidancedont unzip it! The encasement also ensures that no new bugs can sneak in. And it will be easier to spot future evidence of bedbugs on the encasements smooth, white surface. You may also want to encase your pillows. For that, we recommend the Protect-A-Bed Originals AllerZip Smooth Pillow Protectors.

How Can I Find The Right Mattress

If you are worried about finding a good mattress that can keep the smells and bugs away, there are a few things you should look for. Going hypo-allergenic is an option since they don’t have that bothersome chemical smell like some memory foam mattresses. Plus, they are usually dust mite and bug resistant. You may want a mattress made of latex or memory foam since they don’t hold onto smells like traditional mattresses.

Here are some hypo-allergenic mattresses for you to consider:

• Botanical Bliss Organic Latex from Plush Bed

• Loom And Leaf Memory Foam from Saatva

• AS3 from Amerisleep

Mattresses made with natural materials to keep smells out:

• AS5 from Amerisleep

• Natural Bliss by Plush Beds

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How Is Pruritus Treated

Finding the cause of the itching and treating any underlying skin disease is the first step in solving pruritus.

If a drug reaction is suspected, switching to a different medication may be helpful to reduce the itching. However, most drug reactions have a rash along with itching.

The best way to prevent pruritus is to take care of your skin. To protect skin:

• Use skin creams and lotions that moisturize your skin and prevent dryness.
• Use sunscreens regularly to prevent sunburns and skin damage.
• Use mild bath soap that won’t irritate your skin.
• Take a bath or shower in warm — not hot — water.
• Avoid certain fabrics, such as wool and synthetics, that can make skin itch. Switch to cotton clothing and bed sheets.
• Since warm, dry air can make skin dry, keep the thermostat in your house down and use a humidifier.
• To relieve itching, place a cool washcloth or some ice over the area that itches, rather than scratching.

Your doctor may also prescribe medication to treat pruritus, including antihistamines and topical steroids. Rarely, steroid pills and antibiotics may also be needed.

Look For The Bed Bug Signs

Before you can start tackling bed bugs, you’ll need to know, once and for all, whether you have an infestation.

As it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever see your bed bugs, here are some sure-fire signs that you could be dealing with the little critters:

• If you wake up in the morning with super itchy skin that you didn’t have when you went to sleep, this could be a sign that you have bed bugs. You may also notice a rash made up of small, red spots across your body.
• You may spot small bloodstains on your bedding, along with rust coloured spots of bed bug excrement. If you have dark bedding, this may be more difficult to spot.
• If you manage to find where the bed bugs are hiding, you may also spot small eggs, or evidence of them shedding their skins.
• There may be a musty smell hanging around your space, this is something that bed bugs release.

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Turn To The Professionals If Needed

Hiring an experienced, responsible pest control professional can increase your chance of success in getting rid of bed bugs. If you hire an expert, be sure its a company with a good reputation and request that it use an IPM approach. Contact your state pesticide agency for guidance about hiring professional pest control companies. Also, EPA’s Citizen’s Guide to Pest Control and Pesticide Safety provides information about IPM approaches, how to choose a pest control company, safe handling of pesticides, and emergency information.

Treat All Baseboards And Furniture

Bed Bug Treatment: Sprays and Dusts

There are several products on the market that work well for bed bugs:

It is best to use a combination of these products for application purposes.

You can get these at discounted rates in be form of kits: Bed Bug Kits The kits have the residual insecticide with the dust and aerosols.

Spray liquid insecticides or aerosols:

• Spray around and under the bed and along the baseboards near the bed. After removing the drawers from the furniture, the inside of the cabinetry should be sprayed as well as the bottom and sides of the drawers. Do not treat the inside of the drawers. If needed the clothes in the drawers should be removed and laundered.
• Spray around the inside of closets, door frames and doors.
• Spray molding at the top and bottom of the room. Spray around windows.
• Spray seams of drawers, both top and bottom. Spray dressers from below. Spray where dressers touch the floor.
• Spray where the bed touches the floor, spray chairs and underneath chairs.
• Spray all baseboards, loose plaster, behind bed frames and headboards, beneath beds and furniture, and bedsprings and bed frames. Do not apply to furniture surfaces or mattresses where people will be laying or sitting unless using a product labeled for that type of treatment. Infested bedding should not be treated, but should be removed, placed in sealed plastic bags, and taken for laundering and drying at high temperature.

Recommended Liquid Insecticides-Transport Mikron and Temprid FX

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What To Do In Case The Mattress Is Infested

Bed bugs infestation is one of the hardest problems to deal with, even to professional pest exterminators. There are some things you can do on your own to treat your mattress and get it free from bed bugs. However, you are more likely to only slow down the growth of the infestation and not to eradicate the problem completely.

*Keep in mind that The British Pest Control Association, advises to NOT DIY a bed bug infestation if you dont have the knowledge to do so, but to call professionals.

What You Can Do

– You can call a junk removal service and hire people to dispose of it.- If you are allowed to leave your mattress on the curb, make sure you make clear that the mattress is not to be taken by a person.- Encase the mattress in a strong plastic cover to stop the bed bugs from spreading once your mattress is outside. They can move to your neighbours or get on people passing by.- If you deem necessary, leave a note saying that the mattress is infested and must be thrown away.

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What Not To Do

If you have bed bugs, do not:

• panic and reach for the insecticide spay at once, but do keep calm and make a plan.
• use agricultural, garden, or home-made pesticides, as these can be hazardous, ineffective, and may make the problem worse
• use products that are not EPA-registered and do not have an English label
• apply pesticides to the body, as this can be dangerous
• use rubbing alcohol, kerosene, or gasoline, as these can start a fire
• move things from room to room or get rid of belongings, as these will spread the problem and most things can be treated successfully
• put items in black plastic in the sun, as it will not be hot enough to kill the bugs

Bed bugs are found in all 50 states, and they can affect anyone in any place, although they are more common in urban areas.

It is worth remembering that bed bugs:

• do not spread disease

Clean Your Bed To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs

The best solution for getting rid of bed bugs might be to replace your mattress entirely. This is a big investment, though, so your first port of call might have to be to give your bed a thorough scrub.

Here’s how to do this effectively:

• Take a stiff brush to the mattress, then vacuum it thoroughly and regularly. Empty the vacuum cleaner immediately into an outdoor bin.
• Do the same for the bed frame and all around the room where you’ve found the bed bugs.
• Wash all your bedding, clothes, curtains and any other soft furnishings on a hot wash and, if you have a tumble dryer, on a hot setting.
• Anything else around the bed toys, cushions, clothing all need to be hot-washed, too.
• Alternatively, place your sheets and bedding in the freezer for three to four days this will kill the bed bugs.
• Keep on top of cleaning this means regularly cleaning and vacuuming your space. And if you have a carpet, you might think about giving that a deep clean while you’re at it.
• Get a good mattress protector. This acts as a barrier between the mattress and your bedlinen. Remove it every time you wash your bedding and hot wash it too. Take advantage of the stripped bed to brush and vacuum it .
• Look for places bed bugs can hide and fill those gaps even peeled wallpaper is a potential home for them.
• Keep the room where you discovered the bed bugs impeccably clean and clutter-free bed bugs can survive for months without feasting.

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Use Insecticides That Are Safe For Your Mattress

Before using an aerosol spray, ensure you have good ventilation in the room and have read and understood the directions on the container. Also, be sure you have insecticide specific for mattresses, rather than a general-purpose aerosol. You can then spray the insecticide on the infestation site and any other furniture around the room.

The best way to get rid of live bed bugs instantly is to spray them with an insecticide. Most of these sprays kill bed bugs on the spot. However, once the solution has dried, theres no guarantee it will still kill the remaining bugs that come across it. Likewise, some ingredients in certain insecticides allow bed bug eggs to hatch, but the chemicals kill them shortly after. Other ingredients are almost completely ineffective for preventing the egg from hatching and killing the bug once it has. Do your research beforehand to know what will be most effective for killing both bed bugs and their unhatched eggs.

Youll also want to be wary of spraying the insecticide too much around your sleeping area, as it does contain harmful chemicals. Many insecticides will recommend leaving the room and closing the door and windows for about 15 minutes before re-entering and opening the windows for ventilation.

Clean And Dry Everything

Most bugs are susceptible to heat, and bed bugs are no exception. Take all your bedding, linens, sheets and even your curtains and throw them in the washer. Turn the heat up as high as possible, the hotter the better. Do the same with the dryer. You want to use the hottest setting that you can. Even if the item calls for cooler temperature, the only way to effectively take care of the bed bugs is with high heat.

Bed bugs like hiding in shoes, stuffed animals and other soft items. Obviously, these items cannot be placed in the washer, but they can be placed in the dryer. Just like with your bedding, push up the temperature to its highest setting. This should be enough to kill off a good amount of the bed bugs. Run the dryer for at least 30 minutes, but longer is better.You should know how to clean a mattress.

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Bed Bugs In A Mattress: Bag Your Mattress

Once youve vacuumed and chemically treated your mattress and box spring, enclose them in encasement bags. If the bed bugs found a way inside the mattress, the odds are that the spray chemicals did not kill them. Encasement bags have special zippers that trap the bed bugs and prevent them from escaping. Keep these bags on for at least a year because a fully fed bed bug can live more than 10 months between meals.

If the idea of sleeping on a tiny bed bug cemetery is too much to bear, the only alternative is to toss the mattress and box spring and buy new ones. Just be sure to wrap up the infested one before hauling it through your house, and dont buy a used mattress!

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Encase Your Mattress And Box Spring In A Cover

If youve decided that getting a new mattress is too expensive and DIYing your extermination is too dangerous, consider purchasing a special mattress cover and box spring cover. These highly specialized covers make it virtually impossible for bed bugs to escape. For this method to be most effective, leave the cover on for a year to ensure the bed bugs inside are all dead and are no longer reproducing.

This method is best if the bed bugs are only in your mattress, but it wont do anything if bed bugs are in your bed frame, nightstand, or anywhere else in the room.

Can You Get Rid Of Bed Bugs On Your Own

Yes, you can get rid of bed bugs on your own. With patience, perseverance, knowledge, and the right products, you can get rid of bed bugs without an exterminator. Do it yourself bed bug control can fit nicely into your budget and schedule, but it is a large undertaking.

Be warned though, if you make mistakes during a DIY bed bug treatment you will find yourself in a cycle of continual treatment. This means you will spend quite a bit of money repurchasing pesticides and applying more pesticides to your bedroom and mattress than if you had called a professional.

There are many products very cleverly marketed for bed bugs that will not solve your problem. As all DIY homeowners know, success is found in the planning and learning phase. Know the products you are purchasing and how and if they interfere with one another.

Have realistic expectations, but with diligence and consistency, you can get rid of bed bugs yourself. Here are the steps we recommend if trying to get rid of bed bugs yourself.

As Youtube has shown us, we can do anything, including getting rid of bed bugs ourselves. With thorough inspections and applications, and re-treatments as soon the need arises, expect 6-8 weeks to a bedbug-free home.

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How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs In Sofa

This makes it more difficult to get rid of bed bugs. If the bed bug infestation has made its way to your living room, you may be able to find bed bugs hiding in the seams on your sofa, love seat, recliner and any other furniture.

Bed Bugs in a Hotel! What Can You Do? [Step by Step

• A vacuum cleaner is a common household item so you can use it right now to kill bed bugs.