How to check for and get rid of bed bugs fast
Bed bugs are tiny insects, but their bloodsucking capabilities are impressive. Moreover, they are adept at staying undetected and can live for months between meals.
For many people, the thought of just having these nasty bugs around is enough to cause anxiety. Luckily, they don’t carry diseases. However, their bite can cause irritation, sores, or itchiness.
If you suspect you have bed bugs in your home, keep reading! In this post, we’re going to explore how to check for these nasty critters and what bed bug control measures you can take to get rid of them.
If your bed bug infestation problem looks serious or you’re getting bed bug bites all over, I highly recommend getting engaging professional pest control in Singapore.
Physical Appearance
Do you know that lower than 10% of critters people identify as bed bugs are bed bugs? Carpet beetles, for instance, are often mistaken for bed bugs. So, before you start panicking, it’s important to ensure you have a bed bug infestation problem.
In general, adult bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed (5 – 7 mm); long, and brown. If they’ve not fed recently, they tend to have an oval-shaped body. However, a recently-fed bed bug appears more elongated with a reddish-brown tint.
How Do Bed Bugs Get Into Your Home
One common misconception is that bed bugs thrive in dirty environments. The truth is that bed bugs can thrive in a pristine environment, as long as there are people they can feed on. Itchy, red bites on residents are usually the first indication of an infestation problem.
In most instances, beg bugs notoriously hitch rides on items brought into the house. This may include luggage you brought from a trip, or secondhand furniture, clothing, boxes, pillows, and so on. That’s why it’s crucial you carefully inspect every item you bring into your home.
Whether you in an HDB flat, apartment, condominium, or even a landed home, your house can be susceptible to bed bugs.
How to Check for Bed Bugs
The key to solving a bed bug infestation problem is to recognize the problem on time. If it takes too long, beg bugs begin to spread to other areas of your home, making bed bug control more challenging.
Looking for Signs of Bed Bugs
Looking for physical signs is the most accurate way of identifying a possible infestation. When cleaning, changing your bedding, or staying from your home, look out for the following signs:
- Rusty or reddish stains on bed sheets or mattresses caused by crushed bed bugs.
- Dark spots that are as wide as a marker tip. These are bed bug droppings.
- Eggs and eggshells, which are about 1 mm and pale yellow skins that nymphs shed as they grow larger.
- Live bed bugs. This is the best way to be sure.
Common Hiding Spots
When bed bugs are not sucking your blood, they retreat to specific areas. Typically, they love to stay close to humans. So, you may find them near the piping, seams, and tags of the mattress and cracks on the bed frame.
In a heavily infested room, you might find bed bugs in the following locations:
- In drawer joints.
- Along and inside electrical receptacles and appliances.
- In the seams of couches and chairs, in the folds of curtains, and in-between cushions.
- Inside the tiny holes on the head of screws.
- Under wall hangings and loose wallpaper.
- Along the joint where the wall and ceiling meet.
- Tiny cracks that are as small as the width of a credit card.
Ensure you use a flashlight and magnifying glass to go over these areas.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs
Now that you’re sure that you have a bed bug infestation problem, let’s quickly go through how you can get rid of these nasty bloodsucking insects.
1. Containing the Infestation
Once you’ve identified where bud bugs are congregating, a quick and easy way to trap them is with your vacuum. Run the vacuum over your bed, dresser, carpets, electronics, and other suspected areas. Thereafter, seal up the vacuumed contents in a plastic bag before disposing of. Ensure you clean your vacuum thoroughly before bringing it back inside.
If the bed bugs are in your clothes, put the clothes in your plastic bag until you’re ready to wash. After washing, put the cloth in a dryer for about 30 minutes and increase the heat to the highest setting. Exposing bed bugs to 118oF for 90 minutes will guarantee 100% mortality. If the bed bugs are in items you cannot wash, place the items directly in the dryer.
2. Prepping for Bed Bug Treatment
To maximize your chances of success, ensure you clean your clothes and vacuum high-activity areas. Also, get rid of old books, magazines, ad other items that are just lying around. Since bed bugs hide in tiny cracks, you should fill cracks in furniture and around baseboards with caulk.
3. Killing the Bed Bugs
After making use of the high temperature to kill the majority of the bed bugs, you should try out chemical methods to eradicate the remaining.
Insecticides that are EPA-registered, specifically for bed bugs, can be effective. Common examples of insecticides include pyrroles, desiccants, pyrethrins, bug bombs, and plant-based products like EcoRaider and Bed Bug Patrol.
4. Monitoring the Affected Areas
Beg bugs are highly resilient, and getting rid of them takes time. Once you’ve gotten rid of them, inspect the affected areas every seven days for new signs of activity.
Bed bug interceptors can be placed under the leg of your bed to trap bed bugs before they climb on your bed. It may take up to a year before you’re able to completely contain the situation.
5. Getting a Bed Bug Control Professional
Sometimes, irrespective of what you do, it seems you never finally get rid of them. This is usually the case if the bed bugs have spread around your home before you start adopting control methods. At the point, your best bet is to bring in a professional.
Also, if you’re not cut out for the stress associated with eradicating bed bugs, you should definitely should bring in a professional exterminator for peace of mind.
Bed bug pest control professionals have access to advanced chemicals and vast experience in dealing with bed bug infestation problems. They’ll be able to adopt the appropriate strategy to kill bed bugs and keep them out in the long run.
Final thoughts
Bed bug bites aren’t fun and these pests are tough to get rid of on your own. They are even hard to get of than cockroaches (read: how to get rid of cockroaches).
Unless you only find the odd one or two bed bugs that manage to enter your home before they start to breed, it’s more often than not, a good idea to call a bed bug control professional. They will know how exactly to get rid of your bed bug problem permanently.
Check out Greencare, the cheapest pest control in Singapore!
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