Bed bug infestations have become fairly common in the last few years. Many people are struggling every single day to deal with these nasty little creatures. If you are struggling with them as well, you are probably wondering how to get rid of bed bugs for good. However, before you can know how to effectively deal with them, you will have to know how to locate and identify them.
Blood feasting creatures
For starters, don’t forget that these pests are blood-feeding insects. They literally survive by drinking human blood. The key here is to find them before they have a chance to drink it. Before they consume the blood of an unsuspecting individual, bedbugs are about a quarter of an inch long, flat and oval in shape and light tan in color. Once they feed on blood, they swell in size and their color changes to dark-reddish brown. Bed bugs can be actually seen with a naked eye. However, they are very hard to spot until they come out of their hiding spots in order to feed on blood.
Look for traces of blood
A good method of searching for bed bugs is to look for blood stains on sheets, mattresses, and other bedding. The main reason why blood stains might appear on your bedding is because you can easily roll over and crush an adult bed bug that was already full of blood. Another reason involves the anticoagulant that bed bugs leave in your skin and which causes bleeding after they have finished feeding. Therefore, if you spot anything resembling dark spots from the bed bug fecal matter or blood, it is usually a strong sign that you are dealing with bed bugs.
In addition to these, there are also other signs that you are having a bed bug problem. These usually include a sickly odor, empty molt skin (which is the skin that bed bugs shed) and itchy welts on your skin.
Locate them
Once you are sure that you are dealing with bed bugs, proceed by finding the places where they hide. Most often, they can be found in cracks and baseboards. For starters, make sure to seal up all these areas. Once you have sealed them, make sure to use a steam cleaner to thoroughly clean every suspicious area. When finished with the cleaning, use silicone to seal all the cracks permanently. For this matter, you can also use products that contain essential oils and which are proven as strong pesticides.
Take your clothes and pillows to the laundry
Next up, take all your pillows, bedding and clothes and store them in large garbage bags. Make sure to tie the ends tightly and take the bags to the laundry. Once there, set them for a hot water wash. In order to get rid of all bed bugs, make sure to fully dry your clothes, pillows, and bedding.
If you suspect your couch or carpets are infested with bed bugs, clean them thoroughly with a high power steam cleaner or remove them completely.
Clean your mattresses
Since bed bugs are also well known to hide in mattresses, it would be a good idea to replace your mattress. If you cannot afford to buy a new mattress, make sure to use a good vacuum cleaner and try to get into all the seams.
And finally, make sure to regularly clean your clothes. It is well known that bed bugs prefer to lay their eggs on clothing, especially dirty clothes.
