What to do if Bed Bugs Keep Coming Back?
It’s annoying to have to keep treating your home for bed bugs when they keep coming back, particularly if you’ve followed all the proper guidance.
The truth is, bed bugs can be challenging even for the most thorough extermination. They’re easily transported from place to place, and one female can produce as many as 200 bed bugs. It can take just one room to be taken over, and before you know it, an entire home can be infested!
One reason which makes this worse is that many homeowners who’ve suffered an infestation believe they can eradicate it entirely using a DIY approach. The reality is just missing one small spot, and you’ve potentially wasted your time.
Why You Should Never Use the DIY Approach
Picking up a bottle of bed bug spray from a local DIY store is perhaps seen by many as the best way to deal with an infestation. In reality, this isn’t the case at all.
These kinds of sprays only kill living bugs, not eggs. Plus, they usually require several applications to eliminate the pests. They also cannot reach hidden cracks and crevices, meaning some bugs may still be lurking.
Another problem with bed bug sprays is that they exist for both indoor and outdoor use and, if mixed up, can be dangerous. For example, using outdoor chemicals on a child’s bed can result in severe skin reactions. Plus, many species of bed bugs are also resilient to them.
To permanently get rid of bed bugs, the best thing to do is hire a pest control expert who uses heat treatment. There are many advantages to this. You can use your furniture and bed on the same day, no follow-up treatments are needed, and it’s cheaper to use over a larger number of rooms than chemical treatment.
It’s more thorough because it treats the entire room. As a bonus, it’s also environmentally friendly and healthier for humans than using chemicals.
How to Prevent Bed Bugs from Returning
Professional intervention should always be used to deal with a bed bug infestation. However, there are things you can do to stop bed bugs from returning to your home once they’ve been eradicated.
To begin with, regularly inspect all areas of your home to spot any signs of an infestation. This is commonly indicated by red or brown spots or small eggs that are a milky white colour. Eggs can be eliminated with a hand steam cleaner.
You should also regularly vacuum floors and seams on chairs and mattresses to eradicate live bugs. Just be sure to dispose of the vacuum’s contents in a sealed bag before placing this in your outdoor bin.
Once you’ve done this, wash all clothing and fabrics on the hottest wash tolerable.
If you travel frequently, put your suitcase on a luggage rack rather than on the bed or carpet. Don’t forget to check the mattress in your hotel room for droppings as well, particularly around the seams.
Before returning home, seal all clothing and suspect items in a clear bag. Then, put straight into the washing machine on a hot wash. This helps prevent bed bugs from entering your home.
