Despite their name, yes, bed bugs can live in sofas. These pests are drawn to anywhere they'll find a food source. So if you frequently use your favorite armchair, lay around on your sofa, or snuggle into the duvet on your bed, you might find you're not relaxing alone.
You can tell if furniture has bed bugs by looking for droppings near or on the furniture. Bed bug feces resemble small black dots and they are often found underneath tables or near seams. The droppings may also be found inside nooks and crannies in your furniture.
Cushions can be put in a large, sealable plastic bag and placed in direct sunlight until the temperature inside reaches 120 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat will kill all bedbug stages. Or, you can freeze the fabrics if you have freezer space.
Surprise fact: bed bugs aren't relegated to living in just the bed! You can find them in a variety of soft spaces, including chairs and couches.
Ultimately, it can take mere minutes to travel from room-to-room, with infestations growing in a matter of weeks or months. Every day, bed bugs can lay between one and 12 eggs, and anywhere from 200 to 500 eggs in a lifetime.
Most people do not realize they have been bitten until bite marks appear anywhere from one to several days after the initial bite. The bite marks are similar to that of a mosquito or a flea — a slightly swollen and red area that may itch and be irritating. The bite marks may be random or appear in a straight line.
If you've already gone inside your home, use a steamer to clean the carpets, drapes, linens, and mattress. Wrap your mattress in a bed bug proof cover. Place bedbug interceptors on the feet of your bed for a few nights just to be sure you killed everything.
To lure bed bugs out of their hiding spots, you can use a steamer or a hairdryer to heat areas such as mattresses. Neither of these is hot enough to kill the bed bugs, but it can trick them into thinking a human host is near. You can also keep an eye out at night to locate their nests when they are most active.
Bug sprays may seem like an obvious solution, but they can actually be dangerous. Directly spraying bug sprays onto furniture can damage it and expose people to toxic chemicals. For those looking for a safe and effective way of killing bed bugs on furniture, non-residual sprays are the way to go.
The best way to get rid of bed bugs permanently is to work with a pest control professional to come up with a plan that combines home remedies and professional pesticide solutions.
You can either manually inspect the same areas each day, or some clients find it helpful to put a sticky adhesive trap around the bed legs which would pick up bed bugs that are on the move. If no bed bugs show up in the trap after several days, that's one indication that they have been completely eradicated.
They are visible to the naked eye. Adult bed bugs are usually brown in colour. When filled with blood, their colour ranges from red to dark brown. They are oval in shape and about the size of a flattened apple seed, 4 to 7 mm in length.
How can bed bugs get into my home? They can come from other infested areas or from used furniture. They can hitch a ride in luggage, purses, backpacks, or other items placed on soft or upholstered surfaces. They can travel between rooms in multi-unit buildings, such as apartment complexes and hotels.
After you invest in a secondhand piece of furniture, consider heat treating it in a dark plastic bag to be sure it doesn't harbor bed bugs or their eggs. (Remember, your target is at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit for three hours or more.)
Some insect invaders will crawl along easy-to-spot surfaces like kitchen counters; whereas other “sofa bugs” tend to inhabit areas where you spend your free time, including chairs, couches, and mattresses. These pesky invaders include Varied Carpet Beetles, Bed Bugs, Fleas, and House Dust Mites.
Keep the Infestation from Spreading
Use silicon caulk to seal cracks and crevices. This eliminates hiding places and gets the bugs out into the open. Remove infested items. Place them in a sealed plastic bag and treat them.
Sprinkle talcum powder around the bed bug hotspots such as underneath bedroom furniture. Similar to baking soda, it is believed that talcum powder will get rid of bed bugs by causing them to dehydrate. Create a trap by putting some talcum powder in a bowl and placing it underneath your bed.
It's best to keep the infestation localized to as few rooms as possible. This will also make remediation easier. Do continue to sleep in your bedroom after identifying a bed bug infestation. If you move rooms or start sleeping on the couch you run the risk of contaminating these other areas of your home.
Sleep in long-sleeved clothing
Human blood is the primary source of food for bedbugs. These sneaky creatures will feast on exposed areas of your skin, but they can't bite through fabric. Lower your risk of getting bedbug bites by wearing long-sleeved pajamas with pants while sleeping.
No. They don't live on people and can't be directly transmitted from one person to another. However, as quick as they are to catch a ride on clothing, bedding and furniture, they are easy to transport.