Positive Pest Control provides service for the safe control and removal of bed bugs. Bed bugs are one of the most difficult pest problems to eradicate quickly. By far, the best solution for bed bugs is to hire a pest control company with experience successfully controlling bed bugs. Unfortunately, this can be expensive and beyond the means of many people.
If you feel you cannot afford to hire a professional, and want to attempt do-it-yourself bed bug control, there are some things you can do. With hard work, you have a chance of getting rid of bed bugs in your home.
If you live in an apartment, it’s best to notify the property manager of the infestation. A coordinated bed bug control effort using a pest control professional is generally needed in such situations. Positive Pest Control provides service throughout New York providing a safe and affordable removal of any bed bug infestation.
Bed bugs usually travel from apartment to apartment. If one apartment is infested, it is safe to assume that the adjoining units are infested as well unless shown otherwise through inspection or monitoring. Simply asking tenants whether they have bed bugs is not enough.
Pesticides alone are not the answer to bed bugs. Most of the commonly used pesticides today, including professional products and consumer products advertised for control of bed bugs, are limited in controlling these pests. Pesticides must be used with care for safety and with attention to proper application to work well.
Aerosol “bug bombs” or “fumigators” are also mostly ineffective in eliminating bed bugs. Aerosol insecticides mainly kill insects that are exposed, and out of their hiding places, not those hidden behind baseboards, in cracks and crevices of the bed, under carpet edging and in walls.
The first step at doing it yourself is to determine which rooms are infested. Bedrooms are usually the focused locations for bed bugs; however, any room where people sleep in the home may provide shelter for bed bugs.
Living rooms with sofas and sofa beds are the next most common sites for bed bugs. Usually, an infestation starts in one room and spreads slowly to other places where people sleep. The faster you find and treat bed bugs, the easier it will be to eradicate the problem.
Further, it is generally unnecessary to throw away beds or bedding. It is very expensive to replace bedding, and chances are that any new mattresses, box springs or beds you bring into the home will quickly become re-infested. The money used to replace a bed or mattress might better be spent on hiring a pest control professional.
Try creating a safe place to sleep because staying in your own bed will reduce the risk of bed bugs of spreading throughout your home. If you move to another room to sleep, the bed bugs will eventually follow. Then you’ll have bed bugs in multiple rooms.
To create a safe place to sleep, first try Stripping and vacuuming the mattresses and box springs, and encasing them. Be sure to double bag your bedding and wash it in hot water and dry for at least 30 minutes. Be sure to dispose of the bag after putting bedding into the washer to prevent any live bugs from spreading throughout your home.
Afterwards, vacuum suspected bed bugs from the bed, then take your vacuum cleaner outdoors and remove and discard the bag. In addition, buy a quality set of bed-bug-proof encasements for your mattresses and box springs. Bed bug-proof encasements are fabric sacks into which you slide your mattress or your box spring. The zippers on bed bug encasements are designed to be tight enough to prevent even the smallest life stages of the bed bugs from escaping.
In addition, bed bug-proof encasements are designed to prevent bed bugs from biting you through the encasement. A good encasement will trap all bed bugs in the mattress and box spring inside, and will be smooth on the outside, providing few places for bed bugs to hide.
Usually 70% of all bed bugs in the typical infestation are located on the mattress, box spring and bed frame. After you have encased the mattress and box spring and taken care of that problem; you have to make sure that your bed frame is bed bug free. Vacuuming alone won’t do this. Vacuuming can remove many bed bug adults and nymphs, but will not remove eggs very well. For this job you’ll need insecticide sprays and possibly dusts to treat every crevice and void in your bed.
Remember that insecticides can be dangerous when directions are not followed properly. Be sure to read the whole label before spraying or dusting. The label directions are the law and failure to follow the label not only puts you and your family at risk, it is against the law. Homemade sprays, by the way, are usually less safe than commercial insecticides. Stick with the legal stuff.
If you are lucky enough to catch an infestation early you may not need to do anything more than treat and isolate your bed. But if an infestation has spread to other parts of the home, bed isolation may not be good enough. Here is where one of Positive Pest Control’s professionals may be needed. We will work hard to eradicate your pest problem fast and safely.
