Last Updated on July 13, 2024 by Asfa Rasheed
It’s one of the last things anyone wants to come home to. It’s bed bugs. You’ve been discovering tiny brown/dark red spots on your sheets and you’ve found yourself covered in small insect bites.
With an inspection and lots of thought, you’ve determined you have a bed bug problem and are in need of bed bug treatments. It’s a horrible situation to be in as you understand just how quickly bed bugs can reproduce and spread throughout your home. If you find bed bugs in one bed, you’ll need to not only check all other beds in the house, but you’ll also need to check carpeting, furniture, and drapery as well.
Because bed bugs can spread and multiply so quickly, you must act fast. There’s no time to waste. You must look into all of your bed bug treatment options and decide the best one for you.
Below is information about bed bug infestations and the different treatment options to choose from. Here’s what you need to know.
Table of Contents
Signs of a Bed Bug Infestation
The first step to treating your home for bed bugs is knowing when they’re there. It’s ideal to have an idea of several signs of a bed bug infestation. When you know what to look for, you can hopefully catch the infestation in the early stages (before it spreads to other areas in the house).
Bed Bug Location
Bed bugs generally gather near an area where a person sleeps. This person acts as their host. They become active at night and will feed on the host by drinking their blood.
You can begin by looking for bed bugs in the headboard or footboard of your bed. They’ll gather in clusters in tiny creases or corners of your bed and mattress. You might even find remains of exoskeletons, feces, or egg casings in these areas as well.
Aside from the bed, be sure to look near wood framing around doors, curtain rods, baseboards, and more.
Bed Bug Signs
There are a few signs that you may have a bed bug problem. For starters, if you’re finding small insect bites on parts of your body exposed while sleeping, then this should raise the first red flag. Then, check your bed sheets for bed bug fecal spots and bloodstains.
Dark brown smears are the feces and small spots of red are bloodstains. Both signal bed bugs.
Bed Bug Treatment Options
Once you’ve determined you indeed have a bed bug problem, it’s time to begin looking at different treatment options. You have a few treatment options to consider, so it’s best to understand the benefits of each and then choose the one you believe is best for your situation. When in doubt, always have a professional conduct an inspection of your home to confirm bed bugs and then speak with you about the different treatment options.
Here’s what you need to know.
Heat Treatment
Heat treatment for bed bugs is one of the quickest ways to take back your home from these horrible insects. Extreme heat will kill the bed bugs on the spot. However, you can’t reach these high temperatures on your own.
You’ll need a professional pest control service to conduct bed bug heat treatments. The temperatures must reach between 135°F and 145°F in order for it to work. The good thing about heat treatments is that they’re done in one day and then your home is bed bug free.
The entire process can take between 6-8 hours with a professional technician monitoring it along the way.
Insecticide Treatment
Another option you have is an insecticide treatment. An insecticide treatment will take longer to work because eggs will hatch between 6-9 days after being laid. The insecticide treatment will need to be done multiple times to ensure all bed bugs are killed.
For this reason, this process can sometimes take several weeks depending on the severity of your individual bed bug situation. All rooms in the house where bed bugs are present will need to be treated at the same time.
DIY Options
There are several DIY options for bed bug treatment as well. Once you first discover bed bugs in your home, you can try out a few DIY options to see if you’re able to rid your home of them on your own. You can purchase high-quality bed bug insecticide at your local home improvement store, but keep in mind that doing it on your own will extend the treatment time.
You’ll need to research each individual product you use to ensure you use it correctly and safely. It’s also essential not to miss a single spot where bed bugs are hiding. Professional pest control technicians have the experience and training needed to understand bed bug activity and their life cycle to ensure they’re killed quickly and efficiently.
After the first attempt at DIY bed bug control, consider contacting the professionals to give you peace of mind.
Know Your Options of Bed Bug Treatments and Get Your Home Back Today
No one wants to discover bed bugs in their home. Unfortunately, it happens. If you find a bed bug infestation in your home, be sure to act fast with the best bed bug treatments to get your home back quickly!
Use all of the helpful information listed in this guide above to spot the signs of bed bugs and treat them with the best treatment method for your situation.
To find more home improvement and lifestyle topics, continue to check back here on a regular basis.
