Bed bugs are attracted to humans because we emit carbon dioxide, which signals to them that a food source is nearby. They also sense body heat and the natural scents we produce, particularly the chemicals in our sweat.
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.
Bed bugs are primarily attracted to warmth and the carbon dioxide (CO₂) that humans exhale. This is why they tend to gravitate toward areas where people sleep, like beds and couches. They are also drawn to areas with dark crevices and clutter, where they can hide.
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.
Bed bugs are attracted to the scent of human sweat and body odors. Piles of dirty laundry, especially in bedrooms, can serve as attractive hiding spots and potential breeding grounds for bed bugs. Regularly washing and drying bedding, curtains, and clothing can help eliminate odors that may attract these pests.
Repellents Containing DEET.
DEET treated fabric is repellent to bed bugs (Wang et al. 2013). Commercial insect repellents containing DEET for repelling ticks and biting insects are also helpful for preventing bed bugs when applied to outer surface of clothing (Figure 8).
Rubbing Alcohol
Bed bugs are hard to deal with, but you can repel them by using rubbing alcohol. They hate the smell of alcohol and using it is an effective solution to your problem. The rubbing alcohol can dry out bed bugs bodies, which can eventually lead to their death.
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.
Inspect the bed in detail including the headboard, frame, and box springs. If you have a metal bed frame using a flashlight to illuminate the interior of the metal tubing. Closely inspect the grooves in hardwood flooring, especially beneath or around the bed. Look along the bottom and top of the baseboards.
So, what is the main cause of bed bugs? Travel is widely recognized as the most common source of bed bug infestations. Often unbeknownst to the traveler, bed bugs will hitchhike on people, clothing, luggage, or other personal belongings and be accidentally transported to other properties.
If you have to go into a home with a known bedbug infestation, applying a commercial repellent containing DEET to your clothes and shoes can be effective. But be careful, DEET sprays shouldn't be applied to furniture and certain fabrics because it could be damaging.
Bed bugs are not a result of poor hygiene or cleanliness; rather, they are seasoned hitchhikers that can easily travel from place to place on clothing, luggage, or furniture. Their resurgence in recent years can be attributed to increased global travel and resistance to common pesticides.
Don't sleep on another bed or the sofa. Bed bugs may follow making it much more difficult to get rid of them. Don't try to kill bed bugs by using agricultural or garden pesticides or other unregistered products. Using pesticide products to kill bed bugs that are labeled for outdoor use can make humans very sick.
Rubbing Alcohol
Bed bugs can be kept at bay using rubbing alcohol. Not just the smell, but the touch of rubbing alcohol can kill bed bugs and also prevent them from laying eggs.
They often attack in the nighttime while human hosts are sleeping, producing warm carbon dioxide with their breaths, attracting bed bugs right to them. To create a similar environment, you can use a hairdryer to heat your bed and trick bed bugs out of hiding for a meal.
Just like mosquitos hate the smell of citronella, bed bugs do too. A citronella-scented candle is recommended to keep bed bugs at bay, as they hate the smell of it burning, but you can also use citronella essential oil more directly on your bed - plus you shouldn't leave a candle burning while you're asleep.
Pyrethrins and Pyrethroids: These are among the most common insecticides used against bed bugs. Pyrethrins, derived from chrysanthemum flowers, kill bed bugs on contact, while synthetic pyrethroids provide longer-lasting effects.
It can be difficult to eliminate bed bugs, but it's not impossible. Don't throw out all of your things because most of them can be treated and saved. Throwing stuff out is expensive, may spread the bed bugs to other people's homes and could cause more stress.
If bed bugs have one weakness, it's that they're intolerant of extremely high or low temperatures. Washing clothes and bedding at the highest possible setting followed by drying for at least 30 minutes at high heat should do the trick. You can also freeze clothing or other objects you suspect of being infested.
While some people believe that the strong smell of VapoRub might repel bed bugs, there is no reliable data to support this claim.
Some individuals attempt to use dryer sheets as a DIY bed bug treatment, believing that the scent might discourage bed bugs. However, little scientific evidence supports their effectiveness in repelling or eliminating bed bugs. Relying solely on this method is unlikely to fully address an active bed bug problem.