Bed bugs have long been associated with dirty motels and dilapidated tenements. This notion can make the discovery of bed bugs in your own home even more horrifying. But the truth is, 1 in 5 Americans has had a bed bug infestation or knows someone who has had one, according to pestworld.org.
If you are battling bed bugs, you are not alone. Nor, unfortunately, are in for an easy road to becoming bed-bug-free. But that doesn’t mean you can’t rid your house of these blood-sucking pests and get back to normal.
In this article, we’ll teach you everything you need to know about bed bugs—what they are, how to spot them, and why they’re so hard to eradicate. We’ll also tell you how to get rid of bed bugs once and for all.
Disclosure: We may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. This does not impact our reviews and comparisons. All opinions are our own. We pride ourselves on keeping our articles fair and balanced. For more info see our disclosure statement
Why Bed Bugs Are Hard To Get Rid Of
If you grew up before the 1990s, you probably think that bed bugs are a relatively new phenomenon. But the truth is, humans have been cohabitating with these pests probably as long as we’ve been around. We’ve found evidence of bed bugs in ancient Egyptian tombs and ancient Greek writings.
Bed bugs and humans have been battling since cavemen first moved into caves. There, they encountered tiny insects that fed on bat blood. After a few centuries of cohabitation, these bugs evolved to dine on humans as well.
Thanks to a powerful insecticide called DDT, a good portion of the human race did get a reprieve from bed bugs for the better part of the 20th century. Unfortunately, this break came to a screaming halt in the ’90s when bed bugs suddenly came back in the USA.
To make matters worse, the bed bugs we have to live with today are even harder to get rid of than the ones our ancestors had to deal with. So, why does it take so much effort to rid a home of bed bugs? The answer has to do with the structure of their life cycle, behavior, and the lasting effects and dangers of pesticide use.
Life Cycle Is Hard To Break
Like many insects, bed bugs go through a typical lifecycle pattern that starts with an egg. Once hatched, tiny bed bugs, known as nymphs, must feed to molt and grow larger. After five molts, these nymphs become reproductive adults.
In optimal conditions, this transformation from egg to adult takes just 37 days. Once in the adult form, bed bugs can live for up to a year.
Once inseminated, a female will continue to create and lay fertilized eggs long after mating. Each time she feeds, she can produce up to 20 new eggs. The sperm of the male remains viable inside her abdomen for an extended period, allowing these new eggs to be fertilized even when a mate is not present.
This means that you could potentially bring a single female into your home and have her lay dozens of eggs for weeks. Once those eggs hatch, there will be more than enough males and females present to continue to grow the population.
Since it only takes a single mated female to cause an outbreak, you must kill every single bed bug to eradicate them from your home completely.
Behavior
The behavior of bed bugs makes it exceptionally difficult to kill them all at once.
This is largely because bed bugs spend all our waking hours hiding. These flexible little creatures can smash themselves into crevices no wider than a few millimeters. They prefer dark, sheltered areas like the spaces behind wall plates, crevices in mattresses, and carpet seams.
To complicate matters more, bed bugs do not have the most attuned senses. They can only detect a victim through CO2 output and heat from about 3 feet away. This means they spend an exceptional amount of time wandering aimlessly hoping to stumble upon a meal.
This tendency to wander and some impressive speed for something so small means bed bugs tend to get around. If one apartment has them, it won’t be long until the entire building is infested. Similarly, if you stay at an infected hotel, it doesn’t take much to accidentally transport a few bugs home in your suitcase or clothing.
Pyrethroid (Pesticide) Resistant
As if fast breeding and wandering bloodsucker weren’t bad enough, many bed bugs have also developed immunity to the most common pesticides used to combat them, pyrethroids. Some lab tests have indicated that up to 100% of bed bugs common in the US today have some degree of resistance to pesticides.
This type of pesticide resistance likely came from decades of pyrethroid use to treat bed bug infestations. Pyrethroid-soaked mosquito nets often used in tropical climates may have also played a role.
Restrictions In Treatment
Many people wonder why not just use a different pesticide, and the answer is twofold.
First, bed bugs prefer to set up shop in our bedrooms. This is one place in the house where you definitely don’t want to use a heavy dose of questionable chemicals. Anything that may pose a risk to human health is not a viable option for fighting bed bugs.
Secondly, despite bed bugs being a widespread problem, there isn’t a ton of return in creating chemicals to exterminate them. These bugs are a nuisance, but they don’t cause disease and they don’t eat crops. Since it takes an incredible investment to test and produce new insecticide chemicals—somewhere around $256 million—there is simply not enough demand or need to warrant the exercise.
How To Check For Bed Bugs
If you think you have bed bugs, you will want to confirm your hunch as soon as possible so you can start treatment. If you are right, you’ll be able to act before the process of eradication becomes incredibly costly and time-consuming.
It is very easy to misidentify beetles, carpet beetles, and even cockroach nymphs as proof of a bed bug infestation. To tell a bed bug infestation from other types of pests, look for:
- Fecal Spotting – Bed bug poop looks like tiny round dots stuck to surfaces. These are typically rust-colored but can range in hue from off-white to gray to black. Because bed bugs tend to aggregate, these fecal spots are usually found in groups.
- Blood Spots – Fecal spots deposited on fabrics tend to run and look like small dots of blood. Engorged adults who happen to get crushed on the floor or in the sheets will also leave visible red splotches.
- Castings – Like other insects, bed bugs must molt their exoskeletons to grow. These pale yellow shells can vary in size from the size of a flea to nearly a fifth of an inch long. These are often found in the same area as fecal spotting.
- Eggs – Bed bug eggs are cream-colored and approximately 1mm in length. They look like tiny, fat grains of rice and are often laid in clusters. You will see bed bug eggs laid in the same cracks and crevices that adult bugs like to hide in.
- Adults – Adult bed bugs are the easiest to identify due to their size. These bugs have a flat body and look similar to ticks but with a more pronounced head, thorax, and smaller legs. They are typically between ⅕ and ¼ inch long and reddish-brown. You will most often find adults hiding in groups in small crevices near but not necessarily on your bed.
- Bites – Bed bugs feed by biting humans and sucking their blood. This process can leave small red bumps, usually multiple bumps in a line. Those highly sensitive to bed bug bites may experience itching or swelling in the area. But most people won’t notice any bites until they are being heavily fed on.
Confirming Bed Bug Infestations
Ideally, you want to catch your bed bug infestation in the earliest stages. Of course, this is when it is the hardest to identify. Bed bugs are good at hiding, which means you aren’t likely to notice them until there are a lot of them. Similarly, bed bug bites are typically ignored until it causes severe skin irritation.
Even professionals struggle to find evidence of bed bugs during these early stages. Some companies rely on bed-bug-sniffing dogs to find the hiding places of tiny colonies.
If you suspect a bed bug infestation, it is best to call a professional to help you determine if you are truly dealing with bed bugs. Early detection and treatment is your best defense against an ongoing problem.
How To Kill Bed Bugs
Once you are sure you have a bed bug problem, it’s time to get to work. Whether you plan to call a professional or DIY your bed bug application, you’ll still want to follow these basic steps.
1. Identify Which Rooms Are Affected
Bed bugs are most often found in the bedroom because they like to stay near the prey they feed on at night. But that doesn’t mean the bedroom is the only place you need to check in the house.
Late-night TV watchers can attract bed bugs to the living room and other common areas. Pets that sleep in other rooms provide a potential food source for bed bugs as well. Before you begin your bed bug treatment, you will need to check all rooms in your house for signs of bed bugs.
2. Dispose Of Nonessential Clutter
Once you know which rooms are most likely hosting bed bugs, it’s time to declutter.
These little critters will congregate in any dark, tight space. Books, boxes, and other clutter left on the floor make for the perfect hiding spot.
Avoid moving items between rooms or moving things to the trash without bagging them up first.
For items that cannot be washed but you don’t want to throw out, bag them up and put them in the freezer. Bed bugs cannot tolerate temperatures under 32 degrees. You can leave these items in the freezer for at least four days. You can also put them outdoors in the shade – provided that the temperature will consistently stay below the freezing level.
3. Get Cleaning
In the hottest and longest wash setting, launder all bedding, clothing, pillows, and stuffed animals. Then, dry everything on high heat for at least 30 minutes.
Hard items, such as tables and stools, should be taken outside and washed with hot soapy water using a stiff-bristled brush. Furniture should be taken apart (cushions pulled off and covers thrown in the wash) and vacuumed thoroughly.
Vacuum the entire room, paying special attention to crevices and cracks on the floor and near furniture. Use your handheld attachments to get into these tight areas and agitate the surface to help dislodge eggs.
Once you have finished vacuuming be sure to sterilize all hose and bin components on your vacuum using hot water.
4. Use Preventative Measures Until Treatment Can Take Place
Whether you are waiting for your professional exterminator appointment or just biding your time until the weekend so you can get to work yourself, there are a few things you can do in the meantime to control the infestation.
First, purchase a bed bug cover for your mattress and put it on immediately. These covers trap bed bugs living on your mattress, so they starve to death. They also limit the number of hiding places on your mattress to reduce how many bugs you share your bed with.
Use bed bug traps under bed and furniture legs to keep bed bugs from crawling into your bed with you. Be sure to keep bedding from dangling down to the floor and keep the bed frame’s head away from the wall.
If you live in a single-family house, another option would be to stay at a hotel until your home is bed bug-free. Just be sure that any item you take with you is clean. Also, make sure no pets are left at home.
5. Kill The Bed Bugs
You have several options when it comes to killing the bed bugs left in your home after cleaning. Some of these can be undertaken by the homeowner, while others are best left to a professional. Each has its pros and cons.
High-Temperature Steam Cleaning
Bed bug steamers are portable steam cleaning machines that get hot enough to kill bed bugs on contact. By running one of these machines over your carpet, baseboards, furniture, and other areas bed bugs might hide, you can significantly dent the number of bed bugs living in your home.
As we discussed above, bed bugs’ weakness is temperatures above 115 degrees, but you will need to sustain the heat level for an extended period.
You will also want to choose a cleaner with a low flow rate to avoid scattering eggs as you clean. “Dry steam” cleaners are easier to work with since they don’t saturate surfaces.
Use the various attachments on your steam cleaner to go over your carpet, furniture, bed, and nook and cranny in the room.
No comments