How To Get Rid of Bed Bugs

Bed bugs or Cimex lectularius, are small oval-shaped, flat bodied red bugs without wings that feed off of blood. They are often found living inside of beds, box springs and crevices found near sleeping areas. These bugs are more than a pest, there quickly turn into an infestation so if you suspect you have a few, get rid of them quickly.

It can seem like a huge hassle and that you should just call in the professionals, but in some non-extreme cases you can take care of the problem yourself and save yourself some major coin.

Preventing Bed Bugs from Invading your Home

The best way to get rid of bed bugs is to prevent them from every showing up in the first place!

I know, that in a perfect world infestations would never happen. And trust me, they happen to even the cleanest of homes. Sometimes, they cant be prevented, but there are a few things you can do to insure that your family will be safe.

First, you can move your bed away from the wall. This leaves less space for the bugs to hide in. You should also wash your sheets regularly, at least once a week if not more. More so, you should make your bed regularly, crumpled up sheets are favorite hiding spot for these little nuisances.

Second, you should adopt a schedule for vacuuming. These bugs can hid in the crevices between the carpet and the wall, so take full advantage of the attachment utensils on you vacuum cleaner.

How do I know if I have bed bugs?

If you suspect that you have bed bugs there are a few key characteristics to look for:

The bed bugs shed their skin, so if you see some flaky white stuff that is sort of in the shape of a bug, then you probably have them. This could just mean that you used to have bed bugs, so you will want look for a few more signs of bed bugs.

Look for any signs of blood spots on the sheets. When the bed bugs bite you, they first inject you with their saliva that has an anti-coagulation agent in it. If it works really well, you may continue bleeding after they have stopped feeding. Or you could just have rolled over on a full bed bug after they feed, and left a horrible mess on your sheets!

You should also look for dark spot on your mattress and sheets. This would be the built up fecal matter; the bed bugs have so kindly used you sleeping area as a toilet.

Last you will want to look for the bugs themselves. A usual hiding spot for them is the folds in the mattress. You will want to peel back all the folds to look for them. Another spot to check is any clutter around the bed, such as your nightstand, and clothes on the floor, and so on. Once you see them, it pretty obvious; you have bed bugs.

Don’t worry, though, bed bugs are a growing epidemic in the United States along with Europe and Australia. During the late 20th century, bedbugs were scarce, but have been reemerging to become nuisances in the 21st century.

Well….

Natural Ways to Get Rid of Bed Bugs

Okay, okay. I’ll get down to the nitty-gritty.

One holistic way of getting rid of your bed bug problem is the scarcely known back walnut tea leaf, which is like a natural astringent that will help to get rid of the bugs, and would be safe to use around your bedding area.

Since black walnut is so hard to find, another way to get rid of them is by using powdered boric acid. Now, it is very important to note that you should never put it directly on your mattress; that would be very unsafe. You should only put it around the sleeping area.

Another measure you should take is to vacuum your mattress; this ensures that after you killed them, you got their bodies out of where you sleep.

Using Insecticides to Get Rid of Bed Bugs

There are some commercial insecticides and sprays that are marketed just for bed bugs. If you purchase one, you must be careful to read the label to see if it is safe to put on your mattress. If it does not explicitly say to put it on your bed, don’t do it.

Now you are ready to get rid of bed bugs, clean up the debris, and prevent the infestation from happening again!