Bed bugs are your worst nightmare. They bite you every night, leave nasty and itchy rashes on your skin and can populate your house by millions. Millions of uninvited, buggy, pestering, blood-sucking bugs in your home! Help! How to stop the madness?
While there are many chemical solutions available on the market that claim (and some even kill) bed bugs, they are also very toxic. If you’re a health-conscious person like me, you wouldn’t want to bathe and sleep in those toxic chemicals.
As this wouldn’t be enough, the little buggers have developed an increased resistance to chemical substances, becoming mini Frankensteins.
Luckily, there are many natural, effective, and simple home remedies to get rid of bed bugs for good. You will learn which are these natural remedies, how to use them, and how to prevent any bed bug infestation in your house.
Bad, Bad Bed Bugs!
In the last decades, the bed bugs incidence has constantly increased in America. More and more people are affected and bitten (and terrorized) by these tiny pesky bed bugs. Bed bugs are a true nightmare for those who find them in the house.
They are hard to get rid of once they invaded your bed and house. Bed bugs resist in the most difficult conditions, reproduce fast, and can starve for 1 whole year without dying.
Many natural methods can be used against bed bugs successfully.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=86&v=kdyHLPl5GyA
Vacuum cleaning
These are one of the best bed bugs removal and home remedies that you can use against the little suckers.
- Use the suction at the maximum. Attach the crevice end to the vacuum, so you can skillfully suck the bed bugs that cling to fabric and hide in cracks and crevices.
- Since bed bugs travel through the vacuum hose alive, remove the vacuum bag, seal it, and put it into a plastic bag. Seal this one too. Dispose the bag outside into the trash bin.
- If your vacuum cleaner doesn’t have a bag, open it outside of the house. Discard the content in a plastic bag, seal it, and throw it directly into the garbage bin. Wash the container with hot water, including the filter. You can also toss it into the freezer for a night, to freeze the nasty bugs to death.
Vacuum cleaners will pick up the bugs (not kill them), but steamers and heaters that work with high-temperature water and vapors will help you kill and eradicate the bed bugs.
Heat Those Suckers Up
Give the little buggers the heat treatment. This is an effective bed bugs solution that works very well on all surfaces.
- Remove the infested beddings and seal them in plastic bags. Take them directly to the laundry to wash and dry them at high temperatures.
- Open the plastic bag inside the washing mashing, pushing out the beddings and clothes from the bottom. After you empty the bag, fold it and put it in another plastic bag, seal it and take it outside of your house in the trash bin.
- Wash your infested bed linen, mattress cover, pillows and clothes at the hottest temperature possible (minimum 120 degrees Fahrenheit).
- In the end, for maximum safety, put them in the dryer at the maximum temperature that those fabrics allow.
- The same treatment should be applied to stuffed animals and plush toys. Throw them directly into the dryer for 30 minutes, at a medium to high heat setting. The heat will definitely kill the bed bugs. Keep them sealed in a plastic bag, until you get rid of the bed bug infestation in your house.
- If you have items that have been infested with bed bugs and can’t be put in a dyer, such as books, put them in the freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit for 4-5 days.
Steam On
Steam your carpets. If you don’t have a steamer, send your carpet for a professional steam cleaning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=86&v=kdyHLPl5GyA
Declare a Scented War on Bed Bugs
Many essential oils are effective against bed bugs:
- Tea tree oil
- Cedar oil
- Lemongrass oil
- Citronella oil
- Peppermint oil
- Clove oil
- Geranium oil
- Lavender oil
- Eucalyptus oil
Make a mixture of 1 cup of water, 1 cup of alcohol, and 70 drops of various essential oils in a spray bottle. Shake well and spray the little buggers.
Let the scent war begin!
Protective Dryer Sheets
There is a natural way to get rid of bed bugs with dryer sheets made by yourself. These essential oils will repel bed bugs effectively.
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 7 drops of each essential oil: Cedar, Lavender, Citronella, Tea tree
- Cotton cloths strips
Mix all ingredients in an airtight jar, put the cloths strips inside the jar, let them soak in this mixture, put the lid on.
You can put several dryer sheets between the mattress and box spring or just wipe the mattress off with these natural dryer sheets as a preventive measure.
Bring the Fossils In
No pterodactyls will be involved in the process, I assure you.
Diatomaceous Earth is a fossilized plankton with a crystalline structure that will crack the bed bugs’ outer layer open and let them die of dehydration. You asked for it, buggers! Who put you to invade my house, huh?
Get the food grade DE, which is non-toxic for humans and pets, and spread it in all the bed bugs infested areas.
Raise the Flag
Sweet Flag, or calamus, is an herb known for its antimicrobial and bug repellent properties.
Follow the instructions on the package on how to prepare and use the solution against bed bugs.
Offer Them a Free Hairstyling Session
A hairdryer can be a fantastic bed bugs gun.
Take the hairdryer and start blowing hot air (the hottest setting) on your mattress, under it, on the bedframe, box spring, floor, night stands, everywhere! Pay a special attention to crevices and cracks in the furniture and walls.
Serve Them a Glass of Alcohol
Be a “good” neighbor. Treat them with a glass of alcohol. Pour a glass of 95% alcohol in a spray bottle and spray everywhere. It is cheap and very effective.
Wear a protective mask on and spray on. Do this every single day, for 2 weeks.
However, note that rubbing alcohol is highly flammable and you risk to burn your house down to ashes if you light a cigarette or a match inside if the alcohol didn’t dry up.
Also, it’s not recommended to sleep in the house since you bathed everything in alcohol (inhaling will not be good for you or kids).
Where to Use the Homemade Bed Bug Solution
Treat beds, coaches, sofas, chairs, nightstands, chests, dressers, baseboards, hanging furniture, everything.
Make sure you kill all existing bugs and there is no crack or hiding place unchecked and untreated. As long as you cover all, and I mean ALL possible places, there will be no bed bugs left to live and tell the story. If only a couple of buggers or eggs would survive, you’d relive the nightmare all over again.
Spray and use it everywhere:
- On, around, and under bed
- Behind bedframes and headboards, under and around box spring
- On the floor – under and around the bed
- On and around the nightstands
- Inside the cabinets and all around them
- Remove all dresser drawers and spray inside, under, around them
- Inside, around, on top, and underneath closets
- Doors and doors frames
- On the floor
- Around windows
- The curtain’s rod and curtains
- Chairs, chair legs and bottom, and underneath them
- In your car, too
How to Prevent Home Infestation after Travelling
- One of the risks of getting a nasty bed bug invasion in your home is bringing the little buggers with your luggage when you travel. Many hotels (including 5 stars hotels) may be infested with bed bugs sometimes. Shocking, but true.
- What can you do to prevent that? When you arrive in the hotel room, first, look for bed bugs. Inspect the bed, the mattress, and under the mattress. If you see them, find another hotel.
- Don’t put your luggage on the bed.
- Check your luggage before entering your house. Better, steam it and treat it outside with a natural home remedy for bed bugs, to be sure that the little buggers (if any) are dead before you get inside your house and bring them in.
I admit, bed bugs are tough. Tough to remove from your house. But using these natural home remedies to get rid of bed bugs you will be able to protect your house and family, no doubt about it.
We’re sorry if you’ve ever had bed bugs in your home. If you want, please share with us what natural remedies worked for you.
1 comment
Thanks Andy W. All makes sense now.