Borax is a natural household cleaning item that kills bed bugs by suffocating them. To use, sprinkle a generous amount of borax over your mattress. Leave it for at least 24 hours to suffocate the bed bugs. While bed bugs won't eat the borax, they will have a hard time breathing when they're deluged in the substance.
Lemongrass is an effective home remedy used for keeping bed bugs at bay. The compounds in lemongrass will not only repel bed bugs, but also kills them off by increasing the acidic condition inside the insects. Spray lemongrass in affected areas until your bed bug problem is no more.
Pyrethroid products are often mixed with other types of insecticides; some of these mixtures can be effective against bed bugs. Look for products containing pyrethroids plus piperonyl butoxide, imidicloprid, acetamiprid, or dinetofuran.
Searching for a way to do so may lead you to DIY and home remedies. One such remedy is spreading baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, in the areas where you think bed bugs have been. Unfortunately, the idea that baking soda will kill bed bugs is a myth.
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.
Steam Clean Often
The heat of the steam can kill bed bugs and their eggs. Take your steamer and slowly spray each room with it. Pay extra attention to the baseboards, closet shelves, window trim, and even the carpet. Make sure the steamer is set to at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit and use a low setting for the airflow.
Steam – Bed bugs and their eggs die at 122°F (50°C). The high temperature of steam 212°F (100°C) immediately kills bed bugs. Apply steam slowly to the folds and tufts of mattresses, along with sofa seams, bed frames, and corners or edges where bed bugs may be hiding.
Not only is extreme heat the most lethal weapon against bed bugs, it also has the advantage of reaching into every area of your living space, making it impossible for bed bugs to run and hide. Best of all, a proper heat treatment will help you get rid of bed bugs in one day.
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.
When bed bugs come to feed, they would much rather do so on bare skin. If you do find bugs crawling around your skin or hair, take a hot shower with liberal use of soaps and shampoos. Wash your clothes, linens, and towels in hot water, and dry them on high heat settings when possible.
Thorough vacuuming can get rid of a lot of the bed bugs. Use a HEPA vacuum if possible, and take advantage of the attachments. The smaller wands will help you get to the bugs hiding in small cracks and seams. Disassemble all furniture to carefully clean all of the small recessed parts like screw holes.
It's very difficult to get rid of bedbugs yourself because they can be hard to find and may be resistant to some insecticides. There are some things you can try yourself, but these are unlikely to get rid of bedbugs completely.
Although vinegar can kill bed bugs upon contact, it is not advisable to be used as a single treatment for an entire infestation. You can kill bed bugs with it one at a time but it is not capable of repeling the pests out of your property.
Toothpaste may help with bed bug bites temporarily, but it is not a reliable solution. The menthol and other soothing ingredients in toothpaste can alleviate itching and inflammation, but it won't get rid of bed bugs in your home. In fact, toothpaste can dry out the affected area and cause further irritation.
Unfortunately, home remedies are often no match for these parasitic insects. Dousing them with rubbing alcohol (a tip you'll often hear) won't kill them; in fact, it might just burn your house down, as a woman trying to rid her Cincinnati apartment of bed bugs found out recently.