Talking about Pest Control Techniques

4 Worst Bed Bug Control Mistakes Homeowners Make

5 June 2015

Riley Baker

Bed bugs are a common pest in American homes. About 20% of Americans have either had an infestation in their home or know someone who has. According to pest control operators, bed bugs are the hardest pest to get rid of, but that doesn't stop ambitious homeowners from trying do it yourself methods to clear their infestation. If you decide to handle your bed bug problem by yourself, make sure to avoid making these four serious mistakes.

Sleeping in another room

It's understandable that you don't want to keep sleeping in your bed and waking up with bites every morning, but moving to the couch or your spare bedroom isn't going to help. Bed bugs are attracted to carbon dioxide, the chemical that you produce when you exhale. This means that there's no way to hide from the bed bugs; no matter where you go inside your house, they will smell you, and they will feed on you. All sleeping in a different room will accomplish is luring the bed bugs to other parts of your home, spreading the infestation, and making your problem worse.

Sleeping in another house

Moving to your couch is bad enough, but moving to someone else's couch is even worse. Some people try to starve the bed bugs to death by staying out of their house for a while, but the problem with this strategy is that bed bugs can survive for a long time without food. Bed bugs can live for as long as 400 days, so you'll be hiding at your friend's house for a long time.

Even worse, this method can spread the bugs to your friend's house. Bed bugs can hitch a ride in your purse or backpack, or even in pockets or seams of your clothes. It only takes one bed bug to cause an infestation, so do yourself and your friends a favor and stay home until your infestation has been dealt with.

Trying to kill the bugs with pesticides

Bug spray aerosols, bombs, and foggers may work well for pests like ants and spiders, but they're not going to help your bed bug problem. This is the case for two reasons. First, bed bugs tend to hide in places where pesticides can't reach, like behind picture frames, inside cracks in your furniture, and in the heads of screws. Second, bed bugs are resistant to many types of pesticides, so even if the pesticides come into contact with them, it may not have any effect. This resistance is coded into their genes, and researchers are trying to create pesticides that can overcome this resistance. Until these new pesticides are created, the pesticides you have access to aren't going to get rid of your problem.

Attempting heat treatments

Heat is an effective way to kill bed bugs, and it's a method that professional pest controllers use. Bed bugs will die after being exposed to temperatures above 113 °F for more than 90 minutes. However, attempting to heat your home to high temperatures by yourself is very dangerous. Some people attempt to heat up their homes using space heaters, kerosene heaters, ovens, and other methods, but the problem with this is that the heat is hard to control, and people have burned down their homes in the process. 

Bed bugs are hard to get rid of, especially if you're using methods that are ineffective, or worse, methods that will make the problem worse. If you have bed bugs, avoid making these four mistakes, and if possible, hire a pest control company to handle the problem for you. They have the expertise and the equipment to get rid of your bed bugs without spreading the infestation or damaging your house. 

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