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Bed bugs are one of the biggest nuisances in the home. While they’re not considered dangerous, their bites can be painful and itchy, and they do carry some possible health risks.
Bed bugs are human parasites, which means that while we continue to live, bed bugs will also live alongside us. This is probably why they aren’t known to carry human diseases - it wouldn’t be in their best interest for us to disappear, after all!
The biggest annoyance that comes from bed bugs is the incessant itching that’s often caused by their bites. If you’re bitten by a bed bug, you’ll probably experience red bumps or welts on your skin a few days after the insect has struck. Sometimes, your reaction to the bite might even take up to a week or two, and some lucky people don’t experience any bumps or itching on their skin at all.
Bed bugs are tiny, and you usually won’t be able to see them by eye unless you’re looking really closely for them. So, how do you know if you’ve been bitten by the pesky insects? Check out your mattress, pillows and bedsheets, and look out for blood stains, eggshells, or shed bed bug skin.
You can also take a look at your bites. They should look a little like mosquito bites, but they tend to stay on your skin for much longer, often two weeks or more. The bites are often so itchy that you won’t be able to stop scratching them - and that’s where the potential for infection comes in.
The only way to stop yourself from being bitten is to get rid of the problem at its source. You’ll need to fully eliminate bed bugs from your home to prevent the risk of reproduction leading to a repeat infestation. To do this, you could douse your home with chemical products - but not everyone will prefer to take such drastic measures.
If you’re looking for DIY methods to get rid of bed bugs from your home, here are some of the quickest, easiest and most effective methods:
1. Washing clothes and bedding in hot water
Experts say that a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius will kill all stages of a bed bug's lifecycle. It’s a good idea to maintain this heat for at least 20 minutes, preferably an hour. Washing your clothes or bedding in hot water should be enough to kill them, but if you want even more reassurance, spinning them in a hot dryer will definitely kill them.
If you don’t have access to a washing machine or a dryer, you can still kill the critters by stuffing your bug infested clothes or bedding in a bin bag, sealing it and putting it out in the sun on a hot day. As long as the inside of the bag reaches 50 degrees Celsius and stays that way for 20 minutes, you’ll effectively kill the bugs in question.
2. Freezing bug-infested clothing and bedding
Just as bed bugs hate high heat, they hate freezing temperatures too. Items like shoes, clothes, jewellery, books and toys can all safely be stored in a freezer for several hours or overnight to kill the bugs, by causing ice to form in their insides. You’ll just need enough space inside your freezer, and it needs to be at a temperature of minus eighteen degrees Celsius or below. Put the items into plastic bags and leave them for at least two hours.
In this case, putting your belongings in a plastic bag and leaving them outside in cold temperatures won’t be enough. The colder the temperature, the quickly and more effectively a bed bug will be killed. Unless you live in the Antarctic, it’s unlikely that your outdoor temperatures will fall low enough to kill a bed bug by freezing. Even the smallest bed bugs can survive in temperatures as low as minus 15 degrees Celsius.
3. Apply silica gel to your carpets
Even when you successfully remove bed bugs from your furniture and other items, they may still be hiding in your carpets. Once you’ve cleaned the rest of your home, you’ll need to give your carpet a deep clean to ensure there are no more lingering bugs. First, you can use double sided tape to trap the bugs. Apply it around the outsides of your carpet, where bed bugs may crawl when they’re trying to avoid being too noticeable. Focus especially on areas of carpet near cracks or holes in your walls.
Next, spread some DIY bed bug powder onto your carpets. Silica gel - aka the stuff that comes in a little packet with some dried food products - is a particularly effective formula against bed bugs. This gel sucks moisture from the air, and its particles are sharp, which scratches at the water-conserving coating of the bed bugs. These two factors can work to dehydrate a bed bug, eventually killing it. Vacuum your flooring frequently and reapply the silica gel when necessary.
4. Vacuum your entire home
On the note of vacuuming, you should make sure to thoroughly vacuum your entire home, which will go some way to helping you remove bed bugs from the finickier locations.
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