Grab a flashlight and carefully inspect all the folds and crevices of your mattress and furniture for brown bugs, translucent egg shells, or reddish-brown stains. There are several methods to remove bed bugs, including steam cleaning and vacuuming.
Tempurpedic mattresses don't get bed bugs or body grooves. If they used the mattress cover as most people do who have them, you can wash it or buy a new cover. I understand why people wouldn't buy a used mattress, but I sleep in so many hotels I try not to think about it.
Looking for Signs of Bed Bugs
When cleaning, changing bedding, or staying away from home, look for: Rusty or reddish stains on bed sheets or mattresses caused by bed bugs being crushed. Dark spots (about this size: ), which are bed bug excrement and may bleed on the fabric like a marker would.
The adults can easily be seen with the naked eye. Adult bed bugs are reddish brown in color, wingless, and are about the size of an apple seed. Immature bed bugs (there are 5 immature or nymphal instar stages) can also be seen with the naked eye but they are smaller than adults, and translucent whitish-yellow in color.
If you think you may have a bed bug infestation, it's important to thoroughly check your home, particularly your mattress and furniture. Grab a flashlight and carefully inspect all the folds and crevices of your mattress and furniture for brown bugs, translucent egg shells, or reddish-brown stains.
Once you have vacuumed the mattress and cleaned it with chemicals, the next best thing would be to steam it. Steaming will effectively get rid of bed bugs. Steaming the mattress raises the temperature and takes it up to 120 degrees. This would immediately kill the bed bugs and their eggs too.
Although it sounds like a grim choice, it is best to continue sleeping in the infested area using the population reduction methods described above, until the bed bugs are eliminated.
Hogan said that if you don't see any bugs and haven't traveled recently, you may want to consider things like detergents, medications you may be taking, allergy issues, and more because one of those other things might be what's actually causing the itchiness.
Flashlight to look in dark gaps and cracks and on dark surfaces. Sometimes the light startles bed bugs. They'll stop moving for a few minutes and then move quickly to get away from the light. Magnifying glass to make it easier to see and confirm that they are a bed bug.
Vacuum and Encase the Mattress
Once you vacuum your mattress, apply a mattress encasement. This is a mattress-sized zip-up bag that fits snugly around your entire mattress. Using a mattress encasement is one of the best ways to keep the bedbugs from nibbling you in the night.
Each of our mattresses use our patented, one-sided design that means you'll never have to flip, rotate, or turn it. The TEMPUR material will return to its original shape time after time, year after year.
In 2009, EPA and CDC collaborated on a joint statement to highlight the public health impacts of bed bugs . Myth: Bed bugs won't come out if the room is brightly lit. Reality: While bed bugs prefer darkness, keeping the light on at night won't deter these pests from biting you.
You shouldn't have to throw away any of your possessions during a bed bug infestation. Everything can be salvaged with proper treatment in place. Instead of tossing your clothes and bedding, you should try washing them in a hot water wash. High heat washing and drying consistently kills bed bugs and their eggs.
Use a protective cover that encases mattresses and box springs to eliminate many hiding spots. The light color of the encasement makes bed bugs easier to see.
Blood Orange Oil
This essential oil is proven to be one of the most effective solutions when bed bugs are the matter as it can kill the pest successfully.
Nonchemical control tools and tactics like vacuuming are important components of effective bed bug control. Vacuuming alone cannot eliminate bed bugs (except possibly in a very limited new infestation), and vacuuming is typically used in conjunction with insecticide treatment and other nonchemical controls.
Our Lysol® Disinfectant Spray kills 99.9% of the germs that are hanging around on your homes' soft furnishings. Its unique cap completely covers large areas without over wetting, making it great for soft surfaces such as your decorative cushions, mattress, sofa etc. To use, simply spray and then allow to air dry!
Each infestation is different from home to home, but generally, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a month for signs of the infestation to show up. If the infestation is small to start, the signs won't be immediate. But if the infestation is large, we mentioned a few pest management tips.