The truth is, while some home remedies to kill bed bugs may sound effective, it's very unlikely they'll eliminate the problem. And most home remedies only treat the bed bugs you see - not the bed bugs you don't see, which is the real problem.
Baking soda works very effectively in killing the bedbugs by sucking the moisture present in these tiny parasites and this eventually causes their death. You will need half a bowl of baking soda and a vacuum. Put the soda in all the places affected by the bugs and vacuum all the soda after three days.
Heat treatments can kill bed bugs in one day by a licensed pest control company. The affected room is heated to between 135°F (57.2°C) and 145°F (62.7 °C).
Baking soda is another natural bed beg solution that you can use straight out of the fridge. Like diatomaceous earth, it sucks the moisture out of bed bugs, leaving them dried out and dead, without the need of pesticides. Spread a layer of baking soda around doorways, walls, beds, and other infested areas.
Bed bugs are generally considered to be nocturnal and prefer to forage for a host and take a blood meal during the night. They also will come out in the daytime or at night when lights are on, in order to take a blood meal, especially if there were no human hosts in the structure for a while and they are hungry.
Lemon (Or Any Citrus)
Like many other animals, bed bugs hate the smell of citrus plants. Citrus, particularly oranges and lemons, will smell gross to them. As a result, most bed bugs will not want to stick around this aroma for too long. There are several ways to make this work for you if you want to repel insects.
Bed bugs are easy to kill using heat. Their thermal death point is reported to be 114-115° F. Putting infested clothing in a hot dryer is an excellent way of killing bed bugs and their eggs. Heat can also be used to kill bed bugs and their eggs in furniture and carpeting.
Travel – Bedbugs may find their way onto luggage in hotels and motels with a high number of occupants. If you have stayed at a hotel or other home recently, leave bags and clothes in the garage or somewhere far from upholstered surfaces, suggests Allan Bossel, to avoid unintentionally transporting them to your home.
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.
Pyrethroids are synthetic chemical insecticides that act like pyrethrins. Both compounds are lethal to bed bugs and can flush bed bugs out of their hiding places and kill them.
For this reason, a heat treatment is the only truly effective way to get rid of bed bugs – and in just about a day. But a heat treatment should only be performed by a trained professional.
While not overly effective, the most useful essential oils for deterring bed bugs appear to be blood orange oil, paraffin oil, silicone oil, and spearmint oil.
A cluttered home provides more places for bed bugs to hide and makes locating and treating them harder. If bed bugs are in your mattress, using special bed bug covers (encasements) on your mattress and box springs makes it harder for bed bugs to get to you while you sleep. Leave the encasements on for a year.
It will take at least three weeks to be rid of bed bugs. Here's why: Preparation usually takes about a week. Insecticides often don't kill the eggs, which take about two weeks to hatch—the pest management professional (PMP) should reinspect and apply more insecticides if needed two full weeks after the first treatment.
Depending on the nature and severity of the invasion, we understand that getting rid of bed bugs can take a few days to months. To succeed, you must be patient and work with your bed bug exterminator. In most cases, three to four visits can solve bed bug infestations.
#3: Use Heat
Try heating your bed (or any infected area) with a… … to bring the bed bugs out of hiding. But be aware, these heating methods are not hot enough to kill the bed bugs, just warm enough to trick them into thinking a human host is near.
Bed Bugs will try to live as close to their food source as possible. They can often be found directly on the mattress in the tufts and folds, along the seam, and even inside the mattress. They can also be found in the box-spring, bed frame, headboard and furniture near the bed.
While they are visible to the naked eye, bed bugs are exceptionally tiny, so you'll need to look closely in order to spot an infestation. Use a flashlight in dimly-lit areas. Look for droppings, skin casting, and rust-colored stains as evidence of a bed bug nest.