Category: Bed Bug Guides

Bed bugs are nasty tiny pests. All they need is a comfortable temperature, food (human blood), and hiding places to breed. Our houses, especially beds and couches, are heavenly places for them.

These insects can appear even in perfectly clean rooms. It’s not easy to deal with them since they are extremely tenacious and multiply rapidly.

In this article, I will go into detail on how to get rid of bedbugs in a couch, which methods are most effective, and how to prevent infestation in the future.

How to Get Bed Bugs Out of Couch: Easy Extermination Guide

To get rid of couch bugs, you should take a multi-step approach. First, you need to physically remove bed bugs from a couch by vacuuming, washing, and steaming or freezing. After that, use chemical products against bed bugs in furniture like sprays and dust. Use interceptors to prevent the problem from recurring.

How do I know if I have bed bugs in the couch?

These insects are quite small (up to 0.3 inches), so you may not notice one crawling bug. Pests can appear in your home regardless of its sanitary condition.

You can bring their eggs or larvae on shoes or with groceries from a store, or they can crawl in from your neighbors. They multiply so quickly that the infestation will make itself felt after a few days.

Bites. Red spots on the skin from insect bites are the first sign that you have a bed bug nest in a couch. One pest can leave from three to five wounds. Bites can cause a severe allergic reaction: they become inflamed and enlarged; sometimes, the temperature may rise due to infection.

Smell. People who are especially sensitive to extraneous smells can feel the appearance of bed bugs by a specific odor. They say that a room starts to smell like cheap cognac or nutmeg. Some argue that the sour smell is reminiscent of fermented berries.

Visual infestation signs. Bed bugs do not tend to organize nests as ants do. However, they prefer to stick together in secluded places. Even if you can’t see the insects themselves, you may find accumulations of eggs, shells, and excrement (small black dots) under a bed frame or cushions. You may also notice small blood stains from bites on the bedding.

These pests are active at night. So if all the described signs of bed bugs in a couch don’t convince you of an infestation, spread a white sheet over your bed or couch in the evening. At night, go into the room and turn on the light abruptly; insects simply won’t have time to scatter, and you will see them.

How to treat bed bugs in a sofa

Now that you have verified that there is a problem, you should move on to fixing it. When dealing with hardy pests like bed bugs, I always recommend taking a holistic approach.

It is essential to use both mechanical and chemical methods to remove insects. Follow the steps below to get rid of a headache.

Washing and vacuuming

Cleaning should begin by removing bedspreads, pillowcases, linens, and other covers, washing them at the highest temperature allowed, and processing them in a dryer. Heats of 115°F and above are considered lethal to these pests, both for the adults and eggs (usually better protected).

Those parts that cannot be washed in a machine should be thoroughly vacuumed. Try to work every corner of a couch and bed, including the frame, all mattress seams, decorative folds, etc.

Use different nozzles to penetrate even hard-to-reach places. If possible, use a HEPA filter, which helps to remove even the smallest particles. When emptying your vacuum cleaner, be extremely careful not to scatter the collected insects accidentally.

Put them in an airtight bag and take them as far away from home as possible. Do not forget to process the device itself so that pests do not get stuck in the internal mechanisms.

Steaming

Since bed bugs do not survive extreme temperature changes, steaming furniture is one of the most effective methods. Of course, the best option is to use a steam generator.

If you do not have one, you can use a heat gun, an iron, and even a hairdryer. When using the last two tools, remember they are not intended for long-term use; you have to take breaks.

Be careful when steaming, as some fabrics, especially those containing elastane and similar materials, may lose their form.

If you live in a warm climate and do disinsection in the summer, you can pack cushions and other removable furniture parts in airtight plastic bags and expose them outside to the sun. After some time, the temperature inside will become high enough to kill the remaining insects.

Freezing

By strong temperature changes, which are deadly for pests, I also mean a decrease in temperature. Making freezing effective at home can be tricky.

But if you have the opportunity to use, for example, industrial refrigerators, or you live in a frosty climate, you can freeze infested items. Keep them in this condition for at least three days at a temperature not exceeding 5°F. The stronger the frost, the faster you will destroy pests.

Chemicals

In addition to the methods described, you should also use chemicals. In stores, they are presented in the form of sprays, powders, traps, and gels. The first two showed their greatest efficiency due to their high permeability even in narrow gaps.

When choosing an effective bed bug spray for couches, pay attention to its composition. You should look for products containing Fenthion, Imiprothrin, Cyphenothrin, Cypermethrin, Malathion, or Piperonyl butoxide (in combination with Pyrethrins).

Although all of the listed ingredients have low human toxicity, I still recommend using a specific PPE when working with them. This way you will avoid getting products into the body and possible allergic reactions. It is better to remove pets from the house during the treatment period.

If you’re looking for a safer way to kill insects, check out diatomaceous earth (DE). It is absolutely non-toxic since it has not a chemical but a mechanical effect on insects. Finely dispersed powder scratches their chitinous shells and absorbs all liquids.

Bed bug interceptors

The final step to getting rid of bed bugs is to set up traps. The most effective, in my opinion, is the so-called bed bug interceptors. They are small double-walled plastic “cups” into which the legs of a bed or sofa are set.

Insects freely crawl inside but cannot get out. As a result, you can be sure that pests will not migrate to other furniture.

How to prevent further infestations

In the fight against insects, it is important not only to destroy them correctly but also to prevent their reappearance. Take the following actions:

• carefully treat ventilation holes with insecticides and close them with a fine mesh;
• hermetically seal cracks in walls, near doors, and window frames;
• use natural repellents: lavender, kerosene, turpentine, ammonia, geranium, wormwood, vinegar, and so on;
• do not remove interceptors from the bed legs.

If you find bed bug eggs on a couch, notify your neighbors. There is a high probability that complex processing of adjacent premises will be required.

Also, remember that bed bugs, like many other pests, become resistant to chemicals over time. Contact professionals if you fail to get rid of them in three or four tries.

FAQ on Getting Rid of Bed Bugs in Furniture

See my answers to common questions for more information on dealing with these blood-sucking pests.

Should I throw away my couch if it has bed bugs?

Unfortunately, furniture does have to be thrown out if you or professionals can’t thoroughly treat it with insecticides. If the situation is neglected, mattresses and couches are subject to recycling. Don’t throw them in the trash, as you’ll spread the infestation.

How long does it take bed bugs to infest a couch?

It depends on the specific insect type you have. On average, one female can lay up to 10 eggs per day. An insect can complete a full cycle in two months. So in a couple of months, you will have a whole colony of pests with different stages of development in your bed.

Can new furniture have bed bugs?

Unfortunately, it’s possible if manufacturers or suppliers do not comply with storage conditions. Insects could get inside the furniture even during the delivery process if a truck were previously infested with them.

Use Integrated Approach to Get Rid Of Couch Bugs Forever

The methods I have described work effectively and destroy pests in combination with each other. Timely identification of the problem will help you get rid of bed bugs on your own.

In addition to the direct treatment of the couch where you found insects, you should also disinfect other furniture and the entire room. Otherwise, your struggle will be very long, and you will have to turn to specialists.

Have you ever experienced a bed bug infestation in a couch, sofa, or mattress? How did you deal with this problem? What methods have been the most effective for you?

Also read:

• Harris Bed Bug Killer Review
• Hot Shot Bed Bug Fogger Review
• What Scent Keeps Bed Bugs Away
• Dead Bed Bugs
• Do Bed Bugs Lay Eggs in Your Skin
• How to Get Rid of Bedbugs in a Couch
• What Scent Keeps Bed Bugs Away
• Can Bed Bugs Live on Plastic

References

• Bed bug (Wikipedia)
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_bug#Insect
• Personal Protective Equipment for Pesticide Applicators (Montana State University)
  https://www.pesticides.montana.edu/reference/ppe.html
• Malathion (Oregon State University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
  npic.orst.edu/factsheets/malagen.html
• What is a HEPA filter? (United States Environmental Protection Agency)
  https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-hepa-filter
• Bed Bugs: A Public Health Issue (United States Environmental Protection Agency)
  https://swap.stanford.edu/20151016075136/https://www2.epa.gov/bedbugs/bed-bugs-public-health-issue

Bed bugs are tiny biting insects that can turn your life into a nightmare. They are hard to get rid of in the first place as they are very tenacious and can exist without food for about a year.

If you suffer from them and want to know all the ways in which you can get rid of them, you can ask for help from bed bugs predators. In this article, I will tell you everything I know about such insects and animals.

Although they can be effective against blood-sucking parasites, they are unreliable allies.

Guide on Natural Enemies of Bed Bugs

A complete list of bed bug enemies can include a variety of creatures: from ants and moths to centipedes and lizards. Although you have many assistants in pest control, many of the bugs that eat bed bugs are unwanted neighbors themselves.

You may know what eats bed bugs, but it’s worth considering whether it’s good to have in your home.

Insects that eat bed bugs

What insects eat bed bugs? In fact, the list of creatures that can help you in the fight against these pests is quite extensive. Some are really effective at eating bed bugs; others may just eat them if they are available. In this section, I talked about all known enemies.

Argentine ants

Many species of ants can indeed quickly gobble up a colony of bed bugs. Argentine ants are no exception. However, I would not recommend running them in your home as you will be replacing one problem with another.

The fact is that several females can live in one anthill at once, which means that the process of reproduction in them proceeds many times faster.

Yes, other insects will definitely disappear. But along with it, you will notice the massive damage these poisonous ants cause to the environment, animals, and agriculture.

Red imported fire ants

It is another type of ant that kills pests and harms other inhabitants of your region. Red imported fire ants, along with argentine ants, are considered one of the most dangerous ants.

They are highly aggressive, hardy, and can survive even in extreme conditions. For instance, when a flood occurs, they create rafts. They have not only effective poison but also very powerful jaws.

Mammals, birds, and amphibians trapped by these ants die. Their bites can be not only painful but also fatal to sensitive people.

Pharaoh ants

It is the most common type of ant and is sure to be in every house. Although they are smaller than the previous two and much less aggressive, they are considered the most effective bed bug hunters.

It is possible that they already help you with pest control. However, leaving a pharaoh ants colony unattended and untreated is also not recommended. If they breed, they will become a severe problem, as they can carry diseases that are dangerous to humans.

As a summary for ants, I want to answer the most common question, “Do ants eat bed bugs?” Yes, they do. But it happens occasionally. In general, they are capable of causing even more damage than bugs, so it is not recommended to use them specifically for pest control.

American cockroaches

Omnivorous American cockroaches are considered enemies of bed bugs, as they are one of the fastest species and therefore able to catch other small and nimble pests.

Do cockroaches eat bed bugs? Yes, from time to time. Like many other predators, they simply eat what is closest to them. If it’s a bed bug, then they’ll eat it. Otherwise, cockroaches do more harm than good, as they spread dangerous diseases, ruin human food, and provoke allergic reactions.

Thanatus flavidus spiders

Thanatus flavidus spiders spread their webs near large concentrations of insects. Do spiders eat bed bugs? Yes, and there is a theory that they move further along the trail when they kill all the pests in the vicinity.

Spiderlings hatch from eggs around the same time as bed bugs. The location of a spider nest next to their hive guarantees that the young ones will have something to eat. Moreover, T. flavidus do not wait for victims on their webs but hunt them themselves.

House centipedes

Unlike many other listed insects, house centipedes are almost completely harmless to humans. On rare occasions, they bite but generally prefer to stay away from light and open spaces.

People are frightened by their creepy appearance, but killing them for that alone is not worth it. They do an excellent job of hunting various insects, including bed bugs.

However, it is worth remembering that they do not feed only on them and prefer to live in dark, damp rooms (where bed bugs do not live).

Scolopendras

These are other predators that eat almost any insect. Scolopendras are often confused with house centipedes due to their long bodies and many legs.

However, they tend to be much longer (up to 12 inches), covered in chitinous shells, have spines on their legs, and are venomous. If a scolopendra crawls over your skin, it will leave a chemical burn.

It is unlikely that you would want such a creature to help you battle against bed bugs. Besides, scolopendras kill house centipedes, which are harmless to humans.

Painted meal moths

Although in most cases, moths are completely indifferent to bed bugs, it is Pyralis pictalis (or painted meal moth) that helps people deal with them.

The larvae of this species have been known to seek out and eat bed bug eggs (provided there is no other more available food nearby). Adults do not show such interest in these pests, so they should also be destroyed on time.

Masked bed bug hunters

Masked bed bug hunters may look a little nicer than centipedes, but they’re still not the best roommates. They got their name for a reason, as they really are a threat to bed bugs.

The fact is that their nymphs hide in the dust, including under the bed, from where it is convenient to hunt small pests. And although they have proven effective in exterminating domestic insects, they still pose some danger to humans. They can carry dangerous diseases and bite painfully if they feel threatened.

Animals that eat bed bugs

What animals eat bed bugs? There are many insectivorous animals in nature; however, they mainly feed on larger creatures than bed bugs. Reptiles like small lizards and frogs can be helpful in pest control.

There is a version that geckos are good at this task. However, their effectiveness has not been proven since small lizards prefer to hunt on open surfaces and walls, and bed bugs are hidden in dark corners. Besides, they require special conditions for their maintenance.

Birds and small rodents are considered natural enemies of small insects. Do mice eat bed bugs? If they had free access, they would probably eat them.

However, they practically do not intersect in the natural environment, so it is impractical to use them intentionally to fight these particular pests. It should always be remembered that bed bugs are rarely the main food of any creature; they are one of the options.

Do common pets eat bed bugs?

Cats and dogs may hunt bed bugs, not to eat them but rather to play with them. It is difficult to imagine a situation where a pet would prefer a domestic pest to the much tastier and more nutritious food that an owner offers.

However, it is believed that dogs can detect clusters of insects, so they can be useful in determining bug infestation.

FAQ on Natural Enemies of Bed Bugs

In theory, bed bugs do have many enemies besides humans. In practice, all these creatures are the same pests you should get rid of. Read my answers to the most common questions to better understand the problem.

What eats bed bug eggs?

Insect eggs are very nutritious, so many animals and other insects feed on them. Considering that many of the creatures listed in my guide are omnivores, they also eat eggs. Pharaoh ants, painted meal moths, and cockroaches stand out among them.

Can cats smell bed bugs?

By nature, cats are not hunters of bed bugs. However, you can correct their behavior and teach them to identify infestations with some training. Unfortunately, no one can guarantee the success of such an activity.

What plant kills bed bugs?

There are over 600 species of carnivorous plants like sundews or Venus flytraps that eat pests. However, it will take a lot of them to destroy one colony.

There is a concept that bed bugs “stick” to scattered kidney bean plant leaves because they have a hairy surface (with trichomes). Geranium, lemongrass, lavender, and cinnamon repel these insects.

Stop Bed Bug Infestation With Effective Methods

The idea that bed bugs can be removed naturally is not bad. However, using other insects for it is at least illogical. You simply replace one issue with another.

The situation can become more complicated, and it will be even more tricky to remove new pests. Do not waste time and nerves in vain and use proven and more effective methods like insecticides. If the infestation is uncontrollable, call the professionals.

If you have experienced bed bug infestation, please tell me how you dealt with the problem. What methods did you use? What personal tips have you developed?

Also read:

• Best Bed Bug Bomb
• Best Bed Bug Steamer
• Best Bed Bug Powder
• How to Get Rid of Bedbugs in a Couch
• What Scent Keeps Bed Bugs Away
• Can Bed Bugs Live on Plastic
• Can Bed Bugs Live on Leather
• Does Borax Kill Bed Bugs

References

• Entrapment of bed bugs by leaf trichomes inspires microfabrication of biomimetic surfaces (Megan W. Szyndler, Kenneth F. Haynes, Michael F. Potter, Robert M. Corn and Catherine Loudon)
  https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsif.2013.0174
• Megarian Banded Centipede (Scolopendra cingulata) (Andre McMillion and Jaelen Yach of the University of Wisconsin)
  bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2014/mcmillio_andr/nutrition.htm
• Health risks of cockroaches? (The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York)
  https://goaskalice.columbia.edu/answered-questions/health-risks-cockroaches
• Fire Ant Facts (Mississippi State University)
  extension.msstate.edu/content/fire-ant-facts

If you are looking for the working recipe of how to get bed bugs out of carpet, you came to the right place. While bed bugs are usually a surprise you or your relatives brought home from traveling, you are the one who can stop them.

They are hardly visible, too fast, and quickly spread around the house. Don’t worry! You can still deal with them if you know the right approach.

There are several ways you can get rid of this menace for good. Follow my recommendations and you will not need professional help. I am going to teach you how to get rid of bed bugs in carpet without extra effort.

Getting Rid of Bed Bugs in Carpet in No Time

If you want to stop these nasty creatures, you have to act immediately. The first thing you need is to use a vacuum cleaner if you see bed bugs in rug. Don’t forget to use diatomaceous earth before to make sure you kill as many as possible.

Now vacuum the carpet several times. If you still see a bug, repeat the procedure. Use bed bug carpet cleaner for severe cases.

Going to the war against bed bugs

Bed bugs can crawl inside the carpet in no time. Once they get into your house, they can feel comfortable on your bed, as well as on your sofa, armchair, and carpet. Still, they are simple to find if you know how to look.

The main problem with the carpet is that it has a wide area for hiding. If you start without appropriate knowledge, you can just relocate bed bugs. It is crucial to make preparations before you start. You will need:

• Bed bug cleaners. You can choose diatomaceous earth or a specific cleaner from the store;
• Double-sided tape;
• Vacuum cleaner;
• Steam cleaner, if you have;
• Shampoo.

Can you get bed bugs under your carpet?

Before we get to the carpet, let’s talk about every possible situation when bed bugs crawl under it. Can they do it? Yes, you have to consider this possibility. It usually happens when:

• Your carpet has a gap between it and the wall;
• The carpet has holes in it;
• The carpet is old and worn away.

This is the situation when you have to find bed bug carpet treatment as well as treatment for the floor. Keep in mind that bed bugs can easily crawl inside different cracks and crevices.

If you have cracks in your floor, you know where bed bugs disappear. To get rid of them, you have to inspect your carpet carefully for any holes and tears.

If it happens, you may need professional help, since it is hard to get rid of them without specific tools while they settle down inside the floor. You may also need heat treatment to eliminate bugs.

Step by step guide on how to remove bed bugs out of carpet

Before you start, you need to make sure that there is no furniture in the room that bed bugs can use as their hiding place. Carpet is usually not the first choice of these pests. They prefer beds and chairs with cracks. If you can’t remove the bed from the room, you can at least cover it and seal it with double tape.

Let’s clarify a popular myth about the “almighty” vacuum cleaner. If you hope that vacuuming can kill bugs, you are wrong. Bed bugs can easily travel inside a vacuum cleaner from one place to another or just settle down inside of them.

For a year, they don’t even need to move away. Yet, if they don’t relocate after a year, they will die from starvation. This is why it is safe to combine different approaches and to buy carpet powder for bed bugs.

Step 1. Preparations

You have to prepare your house for the battle. As I’ve told you before, get rid of all the possible hiding places of bed bugs. Make sure they don’t have any place to go. Pay attention to all the fabric in the room. You have to get rid of bugs from:

• The mattress, a favorite place for bed bugs;
• Bedding;
• Furniture;
• Clothes;
• Cracks inside walls.

Use the specific bed bugs killing spray for all these items in the room. Leave the room for the required time. Check out for dead bed bugs. If there are no dead pests, use the spray again. As for the bedding and clothes, you can easily get rid of bed bugs by washing them at high temperatures.

Step 2. Clean your room

After you get rid of the furniture, clothing, bedding, and spray the mattress, you have to clear the space. Tape all the holes, all the gaps in wardrobes and walls. Clear your room wisely:

• Spray the furniture that can’t be removed and hide it from bed bugs. You don’t need to buy expensive treatment. You can use the tea tree oil on furniture. Bed bugs can’t stand it;
• Take away all the curtains, bedding, clothing you can find in the room and launder it. Bed bugs can be killed by heat;
• Put your stuff in bags. While bed bugs can’t suffocate, they will not spread in airtight bags. It includes all the boxes you can carry out.

Step 3. Set up traps

Do you know why double-sided tape can help you in this fight? You can use it as a bed bug trap. Since both sides of the tape are sticky, you have to press one side to the floor or near the bed, leaving the other side open and ready for bed bugs.

These pests can’t save themselves from the glue on the tape. While it looks like a perfect plan, some bed bugs may be smarter than that and try to find the other way. Make sure they have nowhere to go. Use the tape in such places:

• Outside the door in case they will try to run away;
• On the room’s edges;
• Near any hole or crack in the floor, wall, or ceiling.

Step 4. Use a weapon

Now you can check out for the best weapons against bed bugs. The most popular options:

• Diatomaceous earth;
• Silica gel.

You can also try natural remedies like tea tree oil. Still, both silica gel and diatomaceous earth are highly effective against these pests and can be found in every store that sells similar remedies. The main task of both these “killers” is to dehydrate bed bugs as soon as possible.

Silica gel usually comes in paper bags and is sometimes added to the packages. Its main task is to get rid of moisture in the air. Applied on bed bugs, silica gel removes the bug’s shell from the water supply. In the end, the bug dehydrates and dies.

As for the diatomaceous earth, it may be familiar to cat or dog owners. This remedy is used against numerous pests, including fleas. It dehydrates the pest, leaving almost nothing. At the same time, since it is made of ancient microalgae fossils, you can consider it an eco-friendly remedy.

Step 5. Vacuum

Now it is time for vacuum cleaning. You have to make sure that you picked the right type of cleaner. Since bed bugs can live in a vacuum cleaner, you have to make sure that they will not run away anywhere from the device.

Use only vacuum cleaners with bags and empty them the moment you finish cleaning. Throw the bag far from your or any other house. Don’t open the bag. Don’t forget to wash everything in hot water after you finish. You may use the steam to get rid of bed bugs if you have one.

Step 6. Wash everything

Use shampoo to wash the carpet. Make sure there are no bed bug carpet stains left. Do it with hot water. Once you finish, you have to use a vacuum cleaner again. Check out whether there are no bugs. If they are still there, you have to repeat the procedure several times.

How to inspect the room for remaining bed bugs

Searching for remaining bed bugs is not as hard as you think. You have to throw away the double-sided tape you’ve used, and attach the new one to the places you believe were infested the most.

If there are bed bugs left, you will catch them. Another option is to use a vacuum cleaner and check the bag. Carefully clean all the possible hiding places of bed bugs and check the bag later.

If you did not get rid of bugs, you have to repeat all your moves again. Don’t forget to launder bedding once everything is done. Keep an eye on the most dangerous places, including beds, furniture, cracks.

Keeping bed bugs from spreading to carpet

The best thing to keep the bugs from spreading is to act immediately once you notice the danger. You have to make sure that you not only remove the bed bugs but the source of their appearance.

If they keep coming to your house, check out whether your family, friends, colleagues do not bring them to you. Make sure your neighbors do not have bed bugs and spread them around.

Once everything is clean, keep everything in order. Don’t forget to clean your room twice a week to prevent bed bugs. Make sure you change your bedding at least once in two weeks.

FAQ on Bed Bugs in the Carpet

Here are a few questions I have met lots of times on the Internet. I hope my answers will be helpful. If you have more suggestions to make, you can do it in the comments below the article.

Can You Get Bed Bugs from Renting a Carpet Cleaner?

This is a common question. Many people who rent carpet cleaners usually do it to get rid of bed bugs. The truth is that bed bugs do not live in the carpet cleaner. They are killed by the steam.

However, some people still fear that some bed bugs will crawl and hide in the machine. It happens rarely and is almost impossible. However, no one can give you a 100 percent guarantee.

This is why it is important to use the steam before you enter the room. If you are worried about it, you can always buy a machine instead of renting it.

Should I pull up my carpet if I have bed bugs?

No, you can’t do it until you make sure that all bed bugs are gone. This procedure will only infest the room more since bed bugs can hide in cracks. Instead, I recommend you use the double-side tape near the carpet and find out whether there are bed bugs. Use the vacuum cleaner and shampoo.

If you believe that bed bugs are already under the carpet, you still have to clean the carpet first and get rid of the bugs. Use the spray to kill bed bugs, applying it into the cracks as well.

Do not remove the carpet if it is infested, since all you can do is only worth spreading the bugs in other rooms. However, if you don’t like the carpet and it is old, you can throw it in the bag. Make sure that the bag is closed and bugs can’t get out.

What surfaces can bed bugs live on?

Bed bugs can survive on numerous surfaces. They can crawl on plastic, metal, wood, tiles. They prefer fabric, though. Fabric can become a perfect hiding spot for them.

This is why the bedding is the first thing you have to check. Bed bugs can also survive in cracks and can live in the walls. They can hide inside the furniture. Yet, they prefer not to go on slippery surfaces like glass.

Removing Bed Bugs From Carpet With Ease

There is nothing too expensive or complicated in getting rid of annoying bed bugs. While they can turn your life into a nightmare, biting you while you sleep, it is easy to catch them and kill or carry them away. It is up to you which measures to use.

I have described the most popular and reliable tools I have tried myself. I hope my recommendations and step-by-step guidance will help you. Make sure you use only those sprays you can trust.

If bed bugs are still there, repeat the described procedure several times. If you have more recommendations for those who struggle with bed bugs, share them in the comments below. Have you ever had bed bugs? How did you get rid of them?

Also read:

• Best Bed Bug Steamer
• Best Bed Bug Mattress Cover
• Can Bed Bugs Live on Plastic
• Can Bed Bugs Live on Leather
• Does Borax Kill Bed Bugs
• How to Get Bed Bugs Out of Carpet
• Do Bed Bugs Lay Eggs in Your Skin
• Baby Bed Bugs
• Can Bed Bugs Live In Your Hair
• What Temperature Kills Bed Bugs

References

• Bed bug protocol (Bureau of Environmental Health)
  https://www.mass.gov/info-details/bed-bug-protocol
• How to Find Bed Bugs (United States Environmental Protection Agency)
  https://www.epa.gov/bedbugs/how-find-bed-bugs
• Prevent Bed Bugs (Kevin Carrillo)
  https://www.wikihow.life/Prevent-Bed-Bugs
• Bed bugs attracted to dirty laundry (University of Sheffield)
  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170928142058.htm

It is ok to be worried about such a possibility once you find the insects in your bed. Do bed bugs lay eggs in your skin? They feed on human blood. So, basically, bed bugs depend on humans.

They leave blood traces on your sheets and may bite you while you are sleeping. This is why it is normal to wonder how far these nasty creatures can go.

Seeing all these questions about bed bugs, I decided to dedicate this whole article to can bed bugs lay eggs in your skin topic. Read it to find out the truth about parasites harmful to human beings.

Guide to Potential Dangers From Bed Bugs

Let’s admit that feeling bed bugs under skin is a nightmare for every sane person. However, you don’t need to worry about such a possibility. Although bed bugs prefer to feed on you and totally rely on your blood, they don’t crawl inside your skin.

They prefer to use you only as a source of food. At every stage of their life cycle, they are separated from the human body.

Truth and Myths about Bed Bugs

I am not surprised to hear all these questions like can bed bugs get under your skin. They look creepy, they suck your blood. So, why not? Basically, they would die if they try.

This is not how their bodies work. While they can’t exist for too long without humans, they prefer to interact with people only to suck the blood.

This is why they can’t lay eggs inside of you as well. Instead, you may find their eggs near your pillow, on your mattress, on the armchair. They can be really creative, making homes inside the furniture.

Can Bed Bugs Get Under the Skin?

Bed bugs are similar to vampires that live only if there is blood. The most attached to the blood are larvae that will not survive without it. If there is no human being nearby, they can drink the blood of animals.

To do this, they pierce the skin and suck the blood. Bed bugs contain anesthetic in their body, which they inject so their victim does not feel anything. There is also an anticoagulant so the blood is fresh and flows to them easily. Once they are fed, they crawl back to their hiding spot.

While it all sounds terrible, the truth is bed bugs are small and can create only small holes to drink the blood. They are hard to notice. Bed bugs can’t use such holes to crawl under the skin.

They can’t even bite through your clothes, so they definitely can’t bite through the skin hole big enough to get into. Even if they could, they wouldn’t do it mainly because our bodies are not the safe space for their eggs.

The eggs simply will be crushed or fall down. This is why bed bugs prefer to lay their eggs around the house.

Where do they lay eggs?

If you still imagine bed bugs burrow into your skin just to lay eggs, the good news is that there are more attractive places for them to hide their children.

You can search for them by yourself. Once you find the nest, you can spray it with insecticide. Here are the required conditions for the hiding place:

• It must be a place near a human being. Once the nymph gets from the egg, it needs blood. The most popular place is in the bed. Check out for cracks or gaps between the mattress and the legs. You can also check the mattress itself;
• The location must be somehow covered by people’s eyes. Humans can’t disturb bed bugs babies. Bed bug females carefully pick the place to lay the eggs.

The most obvious spots you have to check:

• Furniture;
• Mattress;
• Bedding, including pillowcase, sheets;
• Cracks inside walls;
• Carpet;
• Cracks inside the wooden floor;
• Old toys with fur, like stuffed animals.

Can they lay eggs inside your ears?

The answer is no. It looks like bed bugs simply don’t want to mix the food and their bedroom. They don’t like to get attached to human bodies and prefer to place their children somewhere safer.

Even though your ear may be perfectly dark inside, it still does not attract them. While I can’t give you a 100 percent guarantee that bed bugs will never lay eggs in your ear, I still can offer you 99 percent instead. For example, there was a rare case when a person had a bed bug trapped inside the ear.

It lasted for a few days, and the case was so unique it was described in the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology. My advice here is to not try to catch the bug with your ears or nose. Sorry for this dad joke.

What do bed bug eggs look like?

Once we have found can bed bugs live in your skin, let’s find out what these eggs look like. I recommend you learn how to identify these eggs, but if you see any other eggs on the furniture, remove them as well. Here is what you need to know about these eggs:

• They are not easy to find. Adults place them in crevices and cracks, hide them inside the fabric, so you wouldn’t find them. They can hold them in weird shapes, including laying them upside down, to hide them. Female species glue them to the hiding spot with a specific substance, so you wouldn’t shake it off;
• These eggs are incredibly small. They are 0.04 inches on average. If you can’t imagine the size, search for the 1 cent. Now measure the size of Lincoln’s nose. The egg is even smaller. Still, they are gathered in the pack of 3-5 eggs, which you may notice;
• Eggs are colorless. Unlike dark brown adults, eggs are pale and can easily stay unseen until the nymphs come out. Adults pick the hiding place specifically to make the eggs unnoticeable.
• You still can see the eggs if you know what you are looking for. Use flashlights to see them. Check out specific places for such “nests”.

What insects lay eggs under human skin?

Have you already relaxed? Well, don’t! You still have to stay focused. There are other insects that can actually lay eggs under your skin. While it does not happen so often, you need to check your house for them. There are two types of insects you have to be worried about:

• Scabies mites. They are parasites from the arachnids’ family. Still, the relation to spiders is very distant. They not only live under the skin, but they also lay their eggs there. You will not mistake scabies mites for bed bugs since they look different. They leave bites that look like pimples and make tracks under the skin. Bed bugs make larger bites and are rare. Scabies are usually unseen for the naked eye;
• Lice and Fleas. These two still don’t lay the eggs under the skin. Instead, they live on the skin. Usually, they prefer your hair. Fleas are more attracted to cats and dogs but can survive on humans too. Both parasites feed on your blood but still don’t have much in common with bed bugs. They are smaller than bed bugs as well.

FAQ

Read the most frequently asked questions about bed bugs. My answers will help you to understand more about these creatures. If you have more to add, you can do it in the comments below.

Can bed bugs hide in your hair?

If you start itching, you may look for lice on your head. Bed bugs do not like to live in the hair. They try to avoid living on any surfaces of the human body. Instead, they can easily settle down on your pillow. If you woke up feeling the bug crawling on your head, it might be because the insect did not make it to the hiding spot.

What bugs lay eggs in your skin?

As I have told you before, there is only one bug that lays eggs under your skin. It is scabies mites. This nasty creature is a distant relative to spiders and prefers to live under the skin. Yet, it is so small, you will not see mites without the microscope.

Can bed bug eggs stick to your skin?

While they are using specific natural glue their bodies can provide, they can’t glue the eggs to your skin. Your skin is too smooth for it. Apart from that, bed bugs prefer not to hide their eggs on the human body.

Bed Bugs Nightmare

I hope my words clarified the situation, at least partly. Don’t worry about your skin. Instead, I offer you to get rid of bed bugs since they will continue to drink your blood.

If you notice a bed bug in your house, you have to take measures immediately. These pests lay up to 4-5 eggs per day and can survive without food for a long time. I recommend cleaning your house and using insecticide to kill them.

If you have more recommendations, express them in the comments below. Have you ever had bed bugs in your room? How did you get rid of them?

Also read:

• Best Bed Bug Spray
• Hot Shot Bed Bug Fogger Review
• Best Bed Bug Mattress Cover
• How to Get Bed Bugs Out of Carpet
• Can Bed Bugs Live on Plastic
• Do Bed Bugs Lay Eggs in Your Skin
• Baby Bed Bugs
• Can Bed Bugs Live In Your Hair
• What Temperature Kills Bed Bugs

References

• Head Lice (UC San Diego)
  https://studenthealth.ucsd.edu/resources/health-topics/lice/index.html
• Scabies (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services)
  https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/scabies/index.html#:~:text=Human%20scabies%20is%20caused%20by,a%20pimple-like%20skin%20rash.
• Otitis from the Common Bedbug (Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology)
  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234020176_Otitis_from_the_Common_Bedbug

If you have found dead bed bugs in your room, don’t worry! There may be several simple explanations for this. The first one is that the treatment went well, the second is that you have to start treatment immediately.

You have to check the dead bug and find the source of its appearance. Moreover, we will develop a working strategy that’ll help you to get rid of these pests for good.

No matter what, believe me, it is better to find the dead bed bug than the one that is alive. It means that this insect was killed by something, now you have to turn into a detective and solve the mystery of its death.

Dead Bed Bugs in Your House: Detailed Guide

If you have found dead bed bugs in your apartment, it means that they either were in your house or still are. No matter what, you need to keep looking for them.

Search for the places they came from and prevent further infestation. If you notice live creatures, use specific bed bug sprays. Once they are killed, you have to clean the house.

Everything You Need to Know About Dead Insects

Once you find an insect in your room, you have to carefully inspect its body. Is it one of dead baby bed bugs or an adult? Is it a bed bug or an insect that looks similar?

The first step is to find out whether this is the bed bug. The second thing you have to do is to understand where this creature came from and the last step is to find the cause of death.

What do dead bed bugs look like?

Bed bugs do not really look like many other insects and can rarely be mistaken for anything else. Their bodies are flat, wingless, and light-brown.

Once they drink blood, their color reddens. The size of the adult body is somewhere close to 1/4 – 3/8 inches long. Female bugs have round abdomen, while males have pointed.

As for the nymphs or bed bug babies, they are much smaller. They can grow up to 1 inch before they turn into adults. They constantly need blood to turn into adults. Once they feed’ their normally colorless bodies become dark.

Don’t mistake the bed bug for the roach. While both of them have brown bodies, they are different. Roaches are faster with longer antennae. They have longer bodies as well.

What does it mean if you found a dead bed bug?

It still matters whether you found a dried out dead bed bug or just a “fresh” corpse. You have to make sure that dead bed bug does not play “dead.” If you have not sprayed the territory against bugs before you found it, there may be two explanations:

• The bed bug was a loner who accidentally crawled into your apartment;
• The bed bug was a part of the big happy community, and there are more of them somewhere nearby.

Since you can’t ask about the bed bug itself, I suggest thinking about a worthy scenario and being ready for it. My recommendation is to set a trap and make sure that there are no bugs in your home.

You have to act immediately because bed bugs are quick to spread around the house. They can crawl into your bed, on your clothes, and in the cracks inside the walls. Bed bugs can even survive in closed spaces for several weeks. Yet, don’t worry, you can still get rid of them.

If you have found dead bed bugs after treatment, it means that the process was successful. You have to clean your room and gather all the bodies. After that, you can set traps again to make sure that no one is left.

What to do when you find dead bed bugs?

Once you found one creature, you have to find out whether there are others. Even one small bed bug may be a big deal since they don’t usually travel alone.

You can also pay attention to whether this is a female creature with a round belly since female bed bugs usually mean babies are somewhere near.

The female bed bug can produce up to 250 eggs during the lifespan. Despite the fact that these creatures live from 4 to 6 months, they have plenty of time to produce more children. Don’t underestimate your enemy. Only when you see dead bed bug shells, you can partly relax. Your steps:

• Inspect the territory. I recommend starting with your bed, mainly because these insects feel the most comfortable there. Search for small blood stains or shells. Check out bedding, clothing, any fabric, furniture, carpet, and even cracks in the walls, floor, and ceiling;
• Look for signs. You may not notice a live creature since it moves fast. Yet, you can notice stains and old shells. Bed bugs also leave feces. They are simple to find on fabric, as they look like tiny black spots. Use flashlights to find them. If you have sharp eyes, you may even notice small eggs. Although they are small, you will easily notice several of them together;
• Use the trap. You may put the small container under each leg of your bed. Make sure that the container has walls. Once bed bugs are there, they will not be able to get out. Another option is to use double-sided tape on the floor, near the bed, near the carpet, and the door. If you have bed bugs they will be stuck there trying to crawl to their destination.

Tips to prevent bed bug infestation

There is a helpful guide on EPA that teaches you how to prevent bed bug infestation. I will provide you with my own recommendations. They are simple to follow:

• You have to keep your apartment clean. Vacuum cleaning is the procedure you have to repeat at least two times per week. When you do laundry of your bedding, it has to be on high temperatures;
• Wash your carpet with a specific shampoo at least once a month;
• Check out your apartment for bugs once in a while;
• Fix the cracks where bed bugs can hide;
• If you travel somewhere, don’t forget to check your clothes carefully after coming back;
• Always change bedding after your guests.

If you have bed bugs already, don’t panic. You need to act quickly. Remove everything you can from the room, and make sure there are no bed bugs. Put all your clothes, bedding, and fabrics in the laundry.

Spray the entire room with diatomaceous earth or use silica gel. Both remedies will kill bugs by drying them out. Use tea tree oil everywhere, since it also kills bed bugs.

Once it is done, wait for a day and use a vacuum cleaner to remove the dead bodies. You have to use a vacuum cleaner with bags since some bed bugs can survive and hide in the cleaner for months. Don’t forget to wash it after you finish bed bug treatment.

FAQ

Here is the list of most popular questions from users on the Internet. I will provide you with my own answers. I hope it will help you to fight bed bugs for good.

Is it good to find dead bed bugs?

To find a dead bed bug is always better than being alive. It means that something killed it. However, it is better not to find bed bugs at all. Yet, if you have found it, you need to search for other insects in the room.

Search for the possible place of appearance. Make sure there are no other bed bugs. You can spray the room and do laundry in advance. This is how you make sure that bed bugs are dead.

Are dead bed bugs flat?

No, they are not necessarily flat. Of course, if they were dried up by some insecticide, they would be flat. However, you can understand that the bed bug is dead by other symptoms.

For example, a bed bug is lying on its back and does not move. You can watch the creature for some time to make sure it is dead. If the bug is only dying, it will try to move.

You can kill it then. Usually, they are bodies curled up since the muscles contracted before they died. After some time, the body gets wrinkled. The legs can fall off.

Are dead bed bugs black?

No, this is not necessarily true. If the bed bug was black before it died, the color may slightly lighten. It does not get black. You can find brown bed bugs or light-colored insects.

Don’t forget that there also may be larvae, which are colorless. The color changes based on the amount of blood insects drank before death.

Recommendations for Dead Bed Bugs Situation

No matter whether you accidentally found a dead bed bug or noticed it after you have fought an infestation, dead bed bugs are better than alive ones.

It is important to search for other insects nearby since they usually travel in groups. If you have not found any creature after all the searches, you can relax.

If you have found it, you need to act immediately, getting rid of them until they double their numbers. Follow my recommendations for that. If you have more to add, you can do it in the comments. Have you ever found bed bugs? Share your thoughts with us.

Also read:

• Best Bed Bug Mattress Cover
• Best Bed Bug Steamer
• Harris Bed Bug Killer Review
• Do Bed Bugs Lay Eggs in Your Skin
• How to Get Bed Bugs Out of Carpet
• Baby Bed Bugs
• Can Bed Bugs Live In Your Hair
• What Temperature Kills Bed Bugs

References

• How Do I Know If A Bed Bug Treatment Has Been Successful? (Amelia Shindelar and Dr. Stephen Kells)
  https://www.bedbugs.umn.edu/sites/bedbugs.umn.edu/files/y2014m06d30_how_do_i_know_if_a_bed_bug_treatment_has_been_succesful.pdf
• Top Ten Tips to Prevent or Control Bed Bugs (United States Environmental Protection Agency)
  https://www.epa.gov/bedbugs/top-ten-tips-prevent-or-control-bed-bugs
• Bed Bugs Bed Bugs (Michael F. Potter, Extension Entomologist University of Kentucky College of Agriculture)
  https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef636

Are you shocked to have found a new cohabitant sharing the bed with you? Having bed bugs invasion in your bedroom is any homeowner’s worst nightmare. It is disgusting, unhealthy, and tedious to get rid of.

Luckily, there is a way to fix the problem. Here are the most efficient elimination methods used by professional eradicators. Learn about what temperature kills bed bugs and which pros and cons come with each treatment option.

I hope the following recommendations from the best pest control experts will let you stop the nasty intruders in their tracks and make sure they never come back.

At What Temperature Do Bed Bugs Die & How to Prevent Reinfestation?

If you are a homeowner seeking to eliminate the annoying bed bug problem, the treatments described in this post will help you do that most effectively. Here, I will explain in detail what temperature kills bed bugs instantly and why killing bed bugs with cold is not always the best idea.

Can high or low temperature kill bed bugs?

Bed bugs require a comfortable air temperature of 77-86 °F (23-30 °С) for survival and reproduction. They can endure a narrow temperature range, and if the temperature drops too low or goes up too high, these insects die. Still, bed bugs live and remain active at 50 °F (10 °C), but if it drops below -31 °F (-35 °C), it kills them.

First, these bugs become numb, and their larvae stop hatching. Long-term exposure to cold temperatures leads to their death. The same happens if the temperature rises above 45 °C. The higher the temperature, the faster they die.

Thus, the answer to both questions of “does heat kill bed bugs?” and “does cold kill bed bugs?” is yes, but there is a nuance. Although bed bugs are sensitive to heat and cold, switching off heaters in winter or leaving infested things to sit outside on a hot summer day is not going to work. One way to get rid of them is to reach temperatures that kill bed bugs, which are usually much above or below what is naturally possible.

When deciding between freezing and overheating smaller items infested with bed bugs like linens or clothes, homeowners can be guided by what is more comfortable and achievable for them. However, when in need of a DIY whole-home treatment solution, heating seems like a more realistic option.

Benefits and Disadvantages of Freeze Bed Bugs Treatments

Freezing bed bugs and their eggs to death with low temperatures is possible, even though it is a less versatile and efficient choice for homeowners.

Besides, it comes with significant limitations that make its use by non-professional exterminators complicated. The most common DIY way to kill bed bugs with cold is to place your sofas and other contaminated items outside during severe frosts.

However, doing so might not bring the results you are hoping for as bed bugs tend to spread around the house and might go hiding in other pieces of your furniture or floor cracks.

So, even if you manage to rid your cozy couch of the annoying pests, there are likely to be more of them waiting for an opportunity to return and re-colonize the beloved item.

It is more of a prevention than a treatment method. It works best if used on separate pieces of furniture like old sofas or mattresses that have been in use. Thus, you can leave your second-hand items outside at sub-zero temperatures for a few days to make sure that no pests will enter the house with them.

When applying professional rapid freezing technology (Cryonite freezing) to destroy bed bugs and their eggs, carbon monoxide is converted into cold, dry ice snow that is then sprayed around and freezes the pests to death upon contact. For that procedure, the use of specialized equipment is necessary.

Benefits and Disadvantages of Heat Bed Bugs Treatments

Anti-bed bug heat treatment is a viable non-chemical option used by specialists and individual homeowners. Bed bugs die when subjected to temperatures of 122 °F (50 °C) and above.

The higher the temperature, the less time the eradication procedure takes. Depending on how heavy and widespread the infestation is, the procedure may necessitate the use of specialized equipment such as jet heaters, blowers, and sensors that control the temperature in the room. When performed correctly, this method should make you free of bed bugs on the same day.

The experience of people who managed to eradicate bed bugs in this way shows that the room needs to be warmed up to 122-140 °F (50-60 °C) and maintained at this temperature for at least half an hour, better yet a full hour.

The procedure is safe for humans but deadly for pests. Prolonged heating of the room ensures that hot air gets into all bed bug nests, whether they are hiding in the sofa, under the baseboard, or in other crevices of your house.

Tips for eliminating a bed bug problem in your bedroom

Here are a few additional steps that will help you remove a bed bug problem quickly and effectively:

1. Wash linens, covers, drapery, and clothes using the hottest temperature and the highest spin setting the machine has.
2. Before you start vacuuming, clean the seams of the mattress with a firm brush.
3. De-clutter the area around your bed and vacuum this space frequently. Once you have finished vacuuming, place the contents of the cleaner bag into a plastic box and dispose of it by throwing it in the garbage can outside your house.
4. Cover your mattress and box springs with a tightly woven, zippered anti-bed bug mattress encasement. Keep it that way for at least a year.

FAQ: Choosing the Right Bed Bug Treatment Option

When it comes to finding the perfect solution to your bed bug problem, you are likely to have many questions, especially if you plan to eradicate the infestation without seeking professional assistance.

I have compiled a list of brief answers to the most frequently asked questions. If you cannot find what you are looking for here, leave a comment below!

Do bed bugs die in the dryer?

The temperature used in the dryer is sufficient to destroy bed bugs and their eggs. Tumble-drying your washed clothes/linens for up to 30 minutes on a high spin setting will make the whole process more effective.

What temperature of steam kills bed bugs?

Exposing bed bugs and their eggs to temperatures of 122°F (50°C) is enough to destroy them within a few minutes. Given that steam forms at 212°F (100 °C), this temperature is guaranteed to kill most insects, including bed bugs, on the spot.

How long does it take bed bugs to starve?

Depending on the ambient temperature, humidity, and insect age, bed bugs can last from 20 to 400 days without feeding. Therefore, starving them to death as you would do with lice is not practicable. You will succeed more in killing bed bugs with heat through either hot washing and drying or steaming.

Are bed bugs worse in summer or winter?

June through October is when bed bugs are usually the most active. Increased heat and excessive humidity make bed bugs hungrier, more fertile, and aggressive.

What are the main signs of a bed bug infestation?

The main signs indicating a bed bug infestation are as follows:

• you find blood staining your sheets and pillowcases;
• you have bite marks that are itchy and red on your skin;
• you smell a strong and musty odor in your bedroom even after airing the room.

Are chemicals more efficient against bed bugs than heat/cold treatments?

Using chemical agents is an effective and fast-working pest eradication method; however, it does have a few crucial downsides.

First, you will need to apply a combination of chemicals – contact insecticides, residual chemicals with a delayed effect, and specialized dust that offers protection against pests, hiding in cracks and gaps around the house.

It is a messy and time-taking process. Besides, most bed bug chemicals are toxic and have to be used cautiously in households with kids and pets.

What temperatures can bed bugs survive?

If you intend to eliminate a bed bug infestation on your own, one of the first questions to ask yourself is: “what temperatures can bed bugs survive?” Experts say that any temperature of over 45°C is lethal for bed bugs.

Their eggs, however, have more resistance to survive the heat. To get rid of both adult bugs and eggs, make sure to expose infested clothing and linens to higher heat for a longer time.

Killing Bed Bugs Is Hard Without Professionals

Killing bed bugs that have infested your perfect home is no walk in the park. This lengthy and effort-consuming process requires a lot of focus and dedication.

Luckily, there is now no shortage of efficient and approved pest eradication methods, the most trusted and widespread being heat and steam treatment options. However, if you feel it is a fight you cannot win on your own, professional exterminators in your area will happily render their services.

Have you ever had a bed bug problem? What helped you get rid of the invaders? Speak up in the comments and share this post with others!

Also read:

• Best Bed Bug Spray
• Ecoraider Bed Bug Spray Review
• Hot Shot Bed Bug Fogger Review
• Can Bed Bugs Live in Clothes
• Can Bed Bugs Survive in Water
• Do Bed Bugs Lay Eggs in Your Skin
• How to Get Bed Bugs Out of Carpet
• Baby Bed Bugs
• Can Bed Bugs Live In Your Hair

References

• Insecticides (United States Environmental Protection Agency)
  https://www.epa.gov/caddis-vol2/insecticides#:~:text=Insecticides%20are%20chemicals%20used%20to,structure%20and%20mode%20of%20action.
• Effects of Temperature and Humidity on the Survival and Water Loss of Cimex hemipterus (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) (Journal of Medical Entomology)
  https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/47/6/987/992893?login=false

Hearing about bed bugs or similar insects makes the majority of people extremely uncomfortable and squeamish. Imagining anything crawling on your body is far from pleasant, so a lot of people are worried, and they naturally wonder — can bed bugs live in your hair?

Can they stay in your clothes for a long time? Here you will find the answers to these questions.

What You Should Know About Bed Bugs Infestations

Insignificant infestations of bed bugs in homes are quite common, and they are often difficult to find. You might get an occasional bite from a bed bug and not even realize what has happened, especially if you don’t get any reaction.

Luckily, bed bugs are not as harmful as many people think, as they are not carriers of infections. However, do bed bugs stay in your hair? This is the question that makes a lot of people wonder.

How can bed bugs get on your head?

If you are afraid of finding bed bug eggs in the hair, you might be happy to hear that this won’t happen. Bed bugs can bite any part of the human body, but they don’t live in the hair the same way that lice do.

The reason is that the bodies and legs of bed bugs are anatomically not suited for crawling through the hair on the bodies of humans and animals.

Another reason is that bed bugs prefer living in environments that are cooler than the human body. Bed bugs can bite any part of the exposed skin, but they will then retreat to the environment where they can survive.

It’s unlikely that bed bugs will even bite the skin of the scalp, as they will find it difficult to get there through the hair. It is a lot more common to get a bite on the neck, legs, hands, or face.

Not a lot of people know, but bed bugs don’t spread diseases, which is why their bites don’t require any special treatment. At the same time, it is recommended to restrain from scratching their bites because there will be an increased risk of contracting a secondary infection.

If you experience intense itching, the best solution is to take an antihistamine tablet and then apply some antiseptic cream to the affected area.

Symptoms of bed bugs in hair

Identifying bed bug bites without seeing the actual insect can be quite difficult as they are frequently mistaken for those left by others. The first thing to know about bed bug bites is that they usually leave several red bite marks in a row.

Depending on a person’s individual reaction, there can be itching and irritation. If a person doesn’t have hair, it is possible for them to get bed bug bites on the head.

In addition to seeing symptoms on the skin, a good way to determine whether your bite marks have been caused by bed bugs is by taking a careful look at your environment. For instance:

• If you haven’t seen live bed bugs in your house but suspect that you might have an infestation, there are other things you can notice. When you change bedding in your home, you should carefully look for small red or brown stains that come from crushed bugs. This could be one of the main signs that you have an infestation in your house.
• If you see tiny eggshells or eggs when cleaning the house or changing the bedding, it is possible that they come from bed bugs. Also, bed bugs shed their skins when they grow, and they can also be found if there is an infestation in your home.
• There can also be small dark excrement marks left on the fabric by bed bugs. Keep in mind that they are no larger than marker spots, so they can be difficult to notice.

It would be a good idea to examine all corners of your house if you were away for some time. You should pay special attention to dark and cool places in your home where bed bugs are especially likely to hide.

Do bed bugs stay on your body?

Where do bed bugs hide on your body and hair? The answer is simple — they don’t hide on your body as they tend to bite and leave. Fortunately for people, the human body is a completely uninhabitable place for bed bugs.

During one bite, bed bugs feed for about 3-7 minutes, and, if a person sleeps at that moment, they might feel only slight itching or even nothing at all. After that, bed bugs will hide for several weeks and lay eggs somewhere in the house.

Hotter temperatures negatively affect bed bugs, so you won’t find them hiding near stoves or other well-heated places. At the same time, they can survive and live in temperatures that reach as low as 46°F.

For this reason, if you want to get rid of bed bugs in your place, one of the methods is using heat. One thing to note is that there are different types of bed bugs, and tropical ones can be eliminated only in temperatures higher than 113°F.

The places where you can find bed bugs vary depending on your house. The most common places for bed bug infestation include mattresses, seams, bed frame cracks, and spots close to piping. In the case of heavier infestations, it is possible to find bed bugs in:

• curtains;
• different electrical appliances;
• cushions;
• corners between the walls and ceiling;
• wall decorations and hangings;
• loosely attached wallpaper.

Bed bugs don’t require a lot of space, which is why they can be found anywhere. If you want to get rid of them, it’s important to look through all the nooks and crannies in the house, as they hide easily.

Traveling: can bed bugs get in your hair or on your body?

Bed bugs can travel with people from one place to another, but not in a way that many people imagine. If you imagine that they stay on the body while a person travels, this is not the case.

The most common way these insects can get from one place to another is in the clothes that you have in your bag. If you realized that you stayed or slept somewhere where you could potentially get bed bugs on your clothes or belongings, you should take the following measures:

1. Wash all your clothes, including your bag, in hot water.
2. If you can, dry your clothes on the highest setting or iron them afterward.
3. Carefully look through all your belongings for any signs of bed bugs (live insects, excrements, marks on clothes, etc.).
4. If you have a lot of crevices in your suitcase, and you cannot wash it properly, it is a good idea to get a new one.
5. If possible, use a flashlight or even a magnifying glass to look for insects in your belongings.

High temperatures effectively kill bed bugs, so by using this method, you don’t even need to apply special pesticides. When you are on the go, you can get rid of smaller infestations in your belongings without a lot of trouble.

To prevent getting bed bugs on your belongings, you should avoid placing your suitcase directly on the floor or bed. If you suspect that there could be insects in the wardrobe, try not to unpack your clothes at all. It is a good idea to hang your bag on the rack or stand so that there is some distance between your bag and the walls.

How to get rid of bed bugs in your house?

If you suspect that there might be a bed bug infestation in your house, there are several things you can do. Before contacting pest control specialists or purchasing pesticides to use on your own, you can try the following steps:

1. Thoroughly clean your house and eliminate any clutter that you might have.
2. Make sure that you vacuum floors, molding, furniture, bed, and around windows every day in the area where you suspect an infestation. Once you finish vacuuming for a day, you should empty the vacuum bag outside and get rid of its contents.
3. Wash your bedding and blankets and then place them in the dryer on the highest setting for 30 minutes or more.

In the case of serious infestation, the mentioned methods can be too time-consuming and not effective enough. If this is the case, you will likely have to resort to the use of pesticides.

When it comes to using such products, the best strategy is to contact a professional pest control team who can get rid of bed bugs not only quickly but also safely.

There are some pesticides that can be purchased by homeowners, but it’s important to make sure that you follow the safety rules. Only products approved by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States can be used to eliminate bed bugs.

Regardless of the selected pesticide, you should avoid applying it to your body. There are also special outdoor pesticides that shouldn’t be used indoors under any circumstances.

If you decide to contact a pest control company, you should make sure that they are properly registered, and their specialists have all the corresponding licenses that enable them to work with pesticides.

FAQ About Bed Bugs

There are many myths and misconceptions that surround the behavior of bed bugs. Below, I would like to answer the most frequent questions that people have when dealing with these pests.

Can bed bugs live in the hair for a long time?

No. Bed bugs are different from fleas and lice, and they don’t live in fur and hair.

Can bed bugs live in your pillow?

Bed bugs can live in bedding and pillows, but mostly when a bed has been left for some time.

Do bed bugs wash off in the shower?

Yes. If you have a live bed bug on you, it’s easy to wash it off in the shower. Since they don’t live in the hair, like fleas and lice, they can be quickly removed from the exposed skin.

Can you feel bed bugs crawling on your skin?

Depending on the person, some people can notice crawling and itching while others might not. As bed bugs often feed during the night, a lot of people don’t feel anything and find bite marks only afterward.

Eliminate Bed Bugs in a Few Steps

If you were worried about whether tiny bed bugs in the hair can live there, you can be sure that these insects don’t prefer to live on human bodies. At the same time, bed bugs can bite any body part they can get to, so you should eliminate any infestations you might have.

It is recommended to deep clean your house and get to any hard-to-reach places where bed bugs can live. There exist products that can be purchased by homeowners, and there are more powerful solutions that are used by professionals in the case of heavier infestations.

Have you ever had to deal with a bed bug infestation? Were you able to handle this issue on your own, or did you employ professionals to help you out? Tell us all about it in the comments section below.

Also read:

• Best Bed Bug Trap
• Best Bed Bug Steamer
• Best Bed Bug Powder
• What Temperature Kills Bed Bugs
• Can Bed Bugs Live in Clothes
• Can Bed Bugs Survive in Water
• Bed Bugs in Walls
• Bed Bugs Predators

References

• Bed Bugs – What They Are and How to Control Them (Department of Health)
  https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/pests/bedbugs.htm
• How to Find Bed Bugs (United States Environmental Protection Agency)
  https://www.epa.gov/bedbugs/how-find-bed-bugs
• Bed Bugs FAQs (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services)
  https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/bedbugs/faqs.html

Unfortunately, sometimes you can find different insects in your house, and once that happens, it becomes a whole lot to deal with. Baby bed bugs are not welcomed guests on our sleeping schedules, and they cause very unpleasant problems. But don’t worry, you can explore ways to spot them and get rid of them further.

Baby bed bugs are the young stages of insects of the same name. They might be difficult to find and deal with, but there are certain methods that will help you while on your way to solving the matter. In this post, I will reveal the ways to identify and eliminate these pests.

What do baby bed bugs look like?

The problem with dealing with bed bugs appears in the fact that those insects are really small. Common bed bugs barely reach 4 mm in length, but they can be easily spotted by their color. Adult specimens have dark brown coloring, so you can definitely notice one crawling on your bed.

They have a defined round body, six legs, and two antennae they feel their surroundings with. Females and males look practically the same; only sometimes the female can grow bigger if it carries a lot of eggs. You won’t find them one by one but probably grouped in dark corners.

When it comes to baby bed bugs, things become more difficult. First of all, they are smaller than the adults, making them even less visible. Moreover, they don’t acquire a definite coloring until they reach the final form of metamorphosis.

They can be yellowish or white, so if you have light bedsheets, it might add more problems while you search for them. You can look up some baby bed bug pictures to understand how to spot them further.

You probably won’t find any bed bug eggs on your own as they can be less than 1 mm in length, which makes them unrecognizable among a lot of things.

Plus, female bed bugs lay their eggs in small spaces, so it makes them harder to locate. From eggs come nymphs that will eat and grow in size until they become adults. Bed bugs don’t go through complete metamorphosis because just born baby bed bugs look the same as mature organisms.

How to find baby bed bugs

Depending on what stage of bed bugs you are looking for, you might need to explore different spaces. Of course, they will be located in your sleeping or living room, but you can find them in some specific places. Regular bed bugs tend to hide in dark corners during the day, where it is hard to spot them.

They are really small, so they try to avoid encountering big enemies like humans, coming out only at night to invade your personal space. If you turn a flashlight on your phone in the bed, you might see dark spots scurrying around on the place you are lying, and that can be bed bugs.

These insects hide in small spaces; they can also get in your mattress, and in that case, you might need to get rid of it because it is hard to exterminate them from the hard foam of the thing.

In some cases, you can find baby bed bugs between your sheets or on the pillow, rarely on the mattress, because they try to get closer to their victim.

At night, you can try and see small whitish insects crawling in your bed, and it won’t probably be the best scene you would like to observe in the place where you commonly sleep. If you look at bed bug baby images, you can compare them to the ones you’ve seen and make your own conclusions.

Female bed bugs lay their eggs in the corners of the room or the drawers you usually keep your clothes and sheets in. Baby bed bugs need to get on the person for them to start feeding and developing.

You can also spot dead baby bed bugs on your sleeping place; they look like dry sesame seeds, and yes, that does sound horrible. Another way to find bed bugs in your space is by looking for the dark excrement they leave behind. You can find such trails near your headboard or around the bed.

Details on bed bug life cycle

Bed bugs have a complicated life cycle that includes eggs, five stages of nymphs, and adulthood. The average female can lay about 250 eggs in just one day, so these species are considered highly invasive.

Once they get into your house, it is better to immediately deal with the problem. The eggs hatch in 6-10 days, and from there starts their journey to become a fertile organism.

Nymphs need to start eating blood from their first day because it is their main source of energy. That’s why they crawl out at night and feed on humans to get bigger.

Regular feeding can take up to 6 minutes on average, and a bug can grow 1.5 times in size. At first, nymphs have yellowish, almost transparent coloring, but once they get their first drop of blood, they begin to acquire the brownish color of an adult organism. An unfed bed bug nymph cannot grow and start to reproduce, so their development stops until they find a source of food.

The nymph undergoes five stages of metamorphosis when they mold and acquire a more adult-like look. The lifespan of a common bed bug is about 6 to 12 months. Be careful, as adult bugs can go about a year without feeding, so it is good to take all of the precautions when moving to a new place.

Bed bugs can survive a lot of conditions, and if you travel, it is a good idea to always have your luggage closed, so they don’t get among your clothes. They will settle there for the time, waiting for you to put them on, so they can reproduce and feed on your blood while you are at home.

They can travel with you back to the house and then invade your personal spaces like couches and beds. Bed bugs mate at a high rate, and a population can grow in size in several weeks, and then it will be really hard to get rid of it.

Which dangers do bed bug nymphs bear?

Bed bugs feed on blood at all stages, so if you have them, you will notice the apparent signs of their staying in your house. Baby bed bugs bite the parts of the skin that are hard to reach and see in the mirror, such as necks, spines, skin folds on arms, and waist.

Sometimes, you might notice them near your ears or even your face. Bed bug bites are common on shoulders too. These insects feed at night, so you won’t notice them biting while you sleep, but if the infestation is too big, you might wake up accidentally.

The visible symptoms of baby beg bugs in your place are red marks with a darker spot in the center. It appears after the bug has bitten you and sucked some blood out.

The bites are usually extremely itchy, but specialists warn you not to scratch them down too much because that might leave scars. The itching appears because bed bugs have poison that causes a mild allergic reaction in your body, much like common mosquitos.

Usually, bed bug bites appear on children as, with their curiosity and desire to explore, they tend to bring different bugs into the house. You should remember that their bites can cause severe allergies if your children are prone to them.

The symptoms might include large swelling and trouble breathing. It is essential to immediately contact your family doctor if you notice uncommon reactions to the bug bites.

Bed bugs can be mistaken for other organisms such as ticks, booklice, fleas, and lice. It is very important to analyze all of the symptoms you have from their bites. It is better to always pay attention to your living environment so that you don’t have to deal with any pests in your house. Bed bugs are hard to exterminate, and the bites you might encounter are pretty annoying.

How to get rid of baby bed bugs

Usually, bed bugs are carried inside your living place if you have been staying in a dirty hotel, where they don’t excel the sanitary rules of cleaning the sleeping space.

So your first step in getting rid of these bugs is to always check your surroundings if you are traveling somewhere. Keep your clothes in the luggage; you don’t need to transfer them to the drawers because the cleaners might not reach all of the spaces where these parasites live.

If you are moving to a place where no one lived for a long time, you should not worry about getting infested with bed bugs, as they don’t survive for more than half a year without food. However, it is better to follow all precautions and clean the space beforehand, just in case so that you don’t need to deal with bed bugs later.

When such a problem occurs, and you find the adult forms of the species in your bed, then they might have already laid eggs somewhere in your room.

Specialists recommend immediately contacting your local pest control because dealing with bed bugs on your own can be harmful. Usually, to exterminate the colony, they use strong pesticides that can be dangerous to humans as they have damaging fumes.

You can use Diatomaceous Earth while you deal with bed bugs. It is a common pesticide with which you can decontaminate the clothes you think might be infested with insects. You should leave them with two cups of the mixture for about 72 hours in a hot place to make sure that all of the bugs are dead.

After that, you need to thoroughly wash the clothes so that the pesticide doesn’t come in contact with your skin because it can cause some severe allergic reactions. Please, remember that any DIY methods of killing insects can be dangerous, and your best call would be to contact pest control.

Another way of getting rid of bed bugs is by vacuuming and heat cleaning the infested place. Insects cannot survive in high temperatures, so if you have a steam generator, this thing would be really helpful while having the general cleaning in a new place. First of all, you need to check all beds and couches, as people spend most of their time sitting or sleeping on such furniture.

Take your time to get rid of all of the dust in the drawers or just replace them with new ones so that you completely eliminate the chance of any bed bugs hiding in there.

FAQ About Baby Bed Bugs

There are a number of things that everyone who has a bed bug infestation should know. Below, I would like to answer some of the most popular questions that people ask me when dealing with bed bugs.

Where do baby bed bugs hide?

They hide in the folds of your sheets, under the pillows, and sometimes, in the mattress.

How fast do bed bugs crawl?

Bed bugs are sleek creatures that can move four feet in just one minute.

What do nymph bed bug bites look like?

Bed bug bites appear on the skin in the form of itching red spots with a dark circle in the middle.

Are baby bed bugs easy to squish?

Yes, they are easy to kill, but eliminating them one by one won’t help you exterminate the whole colony.

Don’t Make Friends With Bed Bugs

All in all, it is helpful to know more about baby bed bugs, as they can be quite annoying neighbors. Pay attention to your luggage when you are traveling so that you don’t bring any unwanted guests into your house. It is better to prevent any encounters with these biting insects.

Have you ever dealt with bed bugs? What methods did you use? Please, share your opinion in the comments below.

Also read:

• Best Bed Bug Mattress Cover
• Harris Bed Bug Killer Review
• Can Bed Bugs Live In Your Hair
• What Temperature Kills Bed Bugs
• Can Bed Bugs Live in Clothes
• Can Bed Bugs Survive in Water
• Bed Bugs in Walls

References

• ENTFACT-649 – MYSTERY BITES: Insect and Non-Insect Causes (by Michael F. Potter, Extension Entomologist University of Kentucky College of Agriculture)
  https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef649
• Physician Management of Anaphylaxis and Systemic Reactions (NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE STUDENT HEALTH SERVICE EVANSTON)
  https://www.northwestern.edu/healthservice-evanston/medical-services/allergy-shots/physician-management-of-anaphylaxis-and-systemic-reactions/
• Bed Bugs Appearance and Life Cycle (United States Environmental Protection Agency)
  https://swap.stanford.edu/20151016075053/https://www2.epa.gov/bedbugs/bed-bugs-appearance-and-life-cycle

Getting rid of insects can be hard work. If your mattresses and furniture are infested by bedbugs, you might think: can bed bugs survive in water? Can you drown them instead of using chemicals and thermo processing?

There are numerous myths circulating about this method, so let us break it down and see whether you indeed can just drown the bedbugs.

The short answer is: it depends on the temperature of the water, but there are various methods and ways of extinguishing bedbugs with water.

Do Bed Bugs Like Water?

There are indeed ways to fight bed bugs with water. Still, they will not drown the way mammals or birds would. For those, life is impossible without breathing, but that’s not the case with insects. Not that bed bugs in water don’t die at all: the problem is this method of getting rid of them requires a special approach.

And can you drown bed bugs in it? The answer is no. Normally they prefer dry places, but they don’t die immediately in the water, and if let out, they survive. As for their preferences, you can ask them yourself before the elimination. But we doubt they will answer.

Can you drown bed bugs in the water?

Humanizing animals is good for Disney films, but not in real life. One must think of these bugs as humans to really believe they can drown. Can bed bugs swim in water?

That’s not what I call “swimming,” indeed: being lighter than water, though, they can float. And if they suddenly get out, they can live on. So the answer to “do bed bugs drown” is no.

How long can they live underwater?

Simply drowning them, as we see, is impractical. But if you are just curious how long they can maintain, the answer will disappoint you: they can last for 24 hours easily. That’s not for how long you would keep your mattresses in the water.

So, the answer is: too long. Simply depriving them of air won’t work. You will need extra measures to eliminate the bedbugs with water.

What water kills bed bugs?

Not just do bed bugs die in water: the killing abilities of water can be improved by boiling, warming, or adding chemicals. The results, though, differ seriously.

• Hot water. That’s the most efficient way to kill them. The temperature that kills the bugs is about 115°F (47°C); not that hot, you can handle it with your hands for a minute or two without getting them burned. It can be achieved in a washing machine or in a bathtub.
• Cold water. Yes, they can be frozen as well. To efficiently kill the bugs, you need to freeze them down to 0°F (-17°C) for two hours. For this, you can put the infested mattress in water and put the water into the freezer. For large mattresses, though, it will require large freezers, maybe even industrial class ones. In a regular home, hardly will your mattress fit in your freezer.
• Boiling. This is even more efficient than just applying hot water. Still, boiling a big bowl may be more problematic in a household than machine washing.
• Water with alcohol. This appears to be an efficient way to eliminate bugs. Alcohol works as a solvent that dissolves the bug’s shell and as a desiccant that sucks water out of adult bugs as well as out of eggs. Pure alcohol has some drawbacks: it requires direct contact, and it’s flammable. But added to hot water, it allows to receive the results faster.
• Hot water plus bleach. There is no evidence that the bleach itself will kill bedbugs, but combined with hot water, it grants great results. Adding some bleach allows to achieve the results faster than with pure water:
• Water with soap. It can slow down the bugs and make it easier to pick them up. Then you can manually collect them and drown them in the same water. The soap film will prevent them from moving freely, and soon they will drown. This method, though, works best for manual bug removal.
• Salty water. In spite of popular views, it doesn’t hurt the bugs at all! Salt does not help to damage the bug’s shell. So it isn’t even worth a try.
• Water with vinegar. This one seems to work on adults but does not affect eggs, which is unacceptable. More than that, it needs to be applied frequently, so using it makes little sense if any. Oh, and that smell too.

Methods of killing bed bugs with water

As for methods that work for destroying bugs, here’s what you can do. Not all these methods are created equal, but all of them should be addressed.

Using washing machine

Indeed, the machine you need for this is a washer-dryer.

1. Put the infested clothes or bedsheets into the drum. Add detergent as usual.
2. Run a regular cycle for the clothes.
3. Switch into the dryer mode and dry out. Before drying, separate the clothes.
4. Wash the machine to remove the remains of the bugs.

For clothes that only need drying, you can skip washing – as required.

Using a bed bug interceptor

Bed bug interceptors are mechanical traps that use the fact that bugs tend to fall from vertical surfaces. To catch bugs from your bed, you need to:

1. Take four interceptors and coat their insides with talc.
2. Raise the posts of the bed and put an interceptor under each of them.
3. Check the interceptors in the morning.

Hardly can one expect interceptors to eliminate all the bugs. They rather work as a detection system, and if in the morning you find some bugs there under the bed, it’s time to take harder measures.

Using boiling water

Boiling water is not efficient against bug bed bug infestation. It implies that you apply boiling water to all the bugs and all the eggs, and it’s never granted if you haven’t located them all.

In addition, boiling water can damage furniture, floors, and sheets. On the other hand, if you want to clean just one bedsheet or some clothes, you can just put it in boiling water for a minute or two.

Using diluted bleach

Though this method is often recommended, it is overrated. Bleach can kill some bugs, but it irritates human skin and mucosa, plus its efficiency is far from perfect.

So we’d not recommend it even if you have nothing else. Along with limited killing capacities, bleach may damage clothes fabric and coloring.

FAQ on Bed Bugs in Water

There are many legends about bed bug extinction, so let’s address the most common questions.

Do bed bugs die in the shower?

It depends on the temperature. As you know, the temperature that kills the bugs is about 115°F. It’s quite realistic for a hot shower. The thing is, though, that the physics of shower cannot grant that the water applies evenly. A washing machine will work much better.

Do bed bugs go in bathrooms?

Wiping away with a brush and drowning bed bugs in the bathroom seems a good idea. Yes, they go down with a flow, but some may remain. On the bathroom floor, though, it’s hardly too dangerous. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you intend to clean a certain piece.

Can I flush bed bugs down the toilet?

Well, yes, you can. Though they tend to float, a good flush or two will send them down the drain. And when they get through the sewer and to the septic tank, they end up dead. So, you can send them down the toilet and not bother that they can end up alive and kicking on the other end.

Debugging for Smart and Regular Houses

Of course, there is always an option to call pros. But if you can get rid of bed bugs yourself, there are ways too. Some of them are efficient for clothes and bedsheets, some for rooms and houses, and some are very local.

But all of them can be used sometimes. By the way, we busted a couple of myths. Have you had any experience with these methods of killing bed bugs? If so, tell us in the comments section!

Also read:

• Ecoraider Bed Bug Spray Review
• Best Bed Bug Steamer
• Hot Shot Bed Bug Fogger Review
• Bed Bugs in Walls
• Bed Bugs Predators
• How to Get Rid of Bedbugs in a Couch
• What Scent Keeps Bed Bugs Away
• Dead Bed Bugs

Bed bugs live in beds and other furniture, as the name suggests. But how do they get there? Can bed bugs live in clothes and travel from home to home this way?

Knowing how exactly this happens may save you from infestation and help you to keep your home clean of these parasites. There’s more to this riddance than just washing your clothes and ventilating your wardrobe.

But neither is it a fine art for the chosen few: you have everything it takes to fight this plague.

Why Are Your Clothes Infested With Bed Bugs?

Are you sad because you’re sleeping alone? Do you miss that sweet itch that someone causes by touching your skin or even playfully biting? Well, it may happen you’re indeed not alone, but this is not the company you’d prefer, and not that sweet sort of itch.

Why are they here? Probably you didn’t want to bring bedbugs home on your clothes, but you did. Can one prevent it? Or kill the bugs once they’re already here? Here is the guide on handling them.

As the name suggests, bed bugs live in soft furniture. Not only in beds, but in everything fabric, and the difference between beds and clothes is neglectable in this respect. If they can live in beds, they can live in your T-shirts, trousers, or jackets. And if they can, they do.

It only aggravates the situation that most bed bugs can only be noticed with the naked eye if you make an effort. They are the size of an apple seed, brown (or red if freshly fed), egg-shaped, and hard to see, especially if their color matches the color of the fabric.

You can also notice its molted skin, and as it’s dry, you can even hear it rustle. Nymphs and eggs are even smaller, and a single one is almost unnoticeable unless in a contrasting color.

A colony of bedbugs is easier to see. But if you see a colony, it means they have been here for too long already. In fact, they may always be present in your wardrobe even if you aren’t aware.

How Did They Get in There?

It’s not hard to imagine how exactly bed bugs get in your clothes. The simplest way of traveling for them is to switch to your jeans, sweater, or T-shirt while you are sitting on your bed or sofa.

Given how small and fast they are, the infestation takes just seconds. And then you are ready to go and spread them around, bring them to your workspace (you have a sofa there? Great!), to your friends’ places, to strangers you encounter on the street if you get too close – you understand.

Even if you debug your furniture periodically by vacuuming and washing them, there is no guarantee you won’t bring new ones from somewhere where such hygiene is not practiced.

And if your neighbors happen to be this kind of people, chances are they will constantly provide you with new guests that feed on your blood and leave your skin irritated.

Do bed bugs stay on clothes after an accidental touch? And how quickly can bed bugs stick to clothes? The answer is: they can, and it’s a matter of minutes.

You don’t even notice them during the transfer. If you wash or steam these clothes before, you will extinguish the invaders and not even acknowledge their presence. But it’s no reason to relax: they can still be there.

How Long Can Bed Bugs Live on Clothes?

If you suddenly expect to kill them with hunger, leave this hope. On clothes piled in your wardrobe, bed bugs can live for weeks and even months.

The insects are famous for their slow metabolism and ability to survive extreme conditions, and those on your shelves are far from extreme. Neither are they extreme for bed bug eggs on clothes, so even a single female can spawn a colony if undisturbed for long enough.

Without blood, the colony will perish, but it will take too long. And how far can you carry bed bugs on your clothes if they are so into survival?

If you don’t want to wait, you can accelerate this riddance. The next section is devoted just to methods of bug-a-cide that can be practiced on your clothes without violating any of the Geneva conventions.

How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs From Clothes

There are various ways to get rid of bed bugs. The methods below work better when combined, and none of them is sufficient alone. The most obvious method requires a washing machine and a rubbing alcohol spray.

1. Spray the alcohol on the clothes on which you have found a bedbug, unless they are non-colorfast or dry-clean only.
2. Wash your clothes with a regular detergent. Select hot water, normal cycle, and the highest drying temperature.
3. Process your clothes with steam. The temperature of steam should be about 212°F (100°C); if you remember your school lessons on physics, it’s the temperature when water normally boils and turns to steam. It means you don’t have special sorts of steam, with magical spells or SpaceX technologies. A regular steamer will do.
4. Non-colorfast clothes or those for dry cleaning only don’t require washing. Put them directly into the dryer or into the washing machine and process them with steam in drying mode.

These procedures grant 100% extinction of the bugs. If you suffer from bugs constantly, make it your default washing procedure until you get rid of them. Alternative methods of fighting the insects include the following:

• Use bed bug sprays. Apply them exactly as the instruction says. Don’t try to save or spare some stuff: apply as much of it as required. And don’t leave anything unprocessed.
• Use a stiff brush before washing your clothes or bedsheets. This way, you remove most of the bedbugs and their eggs from the surface. Remove the collected waste straight away and keep it out of touch with clothes or bedsheets to avoid reinfestation.

How to Prevent Bed Bugs From Getting on Clothes

It’s great when you know how to kill them bugs on your clothes. But it’s better not to have them at all. What can you do to prevent their appearance?

• Keep your house clean. It doesn’t only mean washing clothes and vacuuming floors. You may also need to steam-dry anything fabric, apply sprays, and ventilate your wardrobes.
• When using shared laundry facilities, make sure your laundry doesn’t get in contact with others’. Bugs are attracted by dirty laundry, so beware.
• Buy a special bed bug encasement for your mattresses. Even if they are infested, the covers will protect the bugs from biting you or sticking to your clothes.
• If you buy a “Craigslist couch” (or any secondhand furniture or clothes), debug them with vacuum, steam, or/and sprays the very moment you bring them in. Or even before if possible.
• Share the knowledge. If your neighbors neglect hygiene, they may be the constant source of new specimens. And if so, you have the right to speak to them, because their actions (or rather inaction) affect your quality of life.
• Avoid unnecessary touches. You may think this is needless to say in the COVID-19 era, but don’t relax even if you and everyone around you have already got your shots.
• When traveling, keep your suit in a plastic bag while at the hotel.

There is also a list of measures that seem to make sense though in reality, they don’t. So:

• Don’t use pesticides yourself. This may only scare the bugs away, so they are harder to extinguish.
• Don’t hope that simply moving your bed will help. You will still appear on their radars and be raided for blood.
• Don’t hurry to throw away your furniture or mattresses. Not only because it costs money. By moving your bed or mattress out of your house, you help these little culprits to spread around. And don’t try to sell or give away these items. In addition, it won’t remove all of them.

Bed Bugs in Clothes FAQ

There are some questions that deserve direct answers. I decided to address them separately, as they are very serious by themselves.

If I have bed bugs, do I have to throw away my clothes?

Why so radical? There are ways to debug them, and I have described them above. But if you just wanted to get rid of these clothes, bugs are as good a reason as any other.

The same if you see your clothes are too damaged by bugs. You better pack them in a plastic bag tightly and not leave them in your trashcan for long. Even better if you bring them there right before the waste disposal service arrives.

Will bed bugs bite me if I have my clothes on?

They may. As said above, bed bugs feed on human blood, and they drill for it on your skin. So they can bite you wherever the skin contacts the fabric. It’s less probable, though, than being bitten in your sleep.

Do bed bugs lay eggs on clothes?

Yes, they do, as they can live there for days and even weeks. But they prefer stillness, so they won’t lay eggs on the clothes you are currently wearing. You can rather expect it from bed bugs hiding in clothes. So check your piles periodically, as you didn’t tell them to be fruitful and multiply.

Can bed bugs survive the washing machine?

It depends on the water temperature. It doesn’t take as much heat as with steam: the temperature that surely kills adults is about 140°F (40°C), and all of today’s washing machines are capable of that. Still, it only kills one egg out of four, so dry your clothes after washing to complete the job.

No Ticketless Passengers, Please!

Now you know what to do if you find bed bugs on the clothes you’re wearing. Keep calm, don’t panic, use steam and hot water. And take measures to prevent them from feeling at home at your place. Spread this knowledge to protect your neighbors and yourself as well.

Have you ever had problems with bed bugs? How did you handle them, and how successful you were? Did you make it yourself, or did it take a pest control company to finish the job? Let’s share our stories in the comments!

Also read:

• Best Bed Bug Trap
• Best Bed Bug Mattress Cover
• Harris Bed Bug Killer Review
• Can Bed Bugs Survive in Water
• Bed Bugs in Walls
• Bed Bugs Predators
• How to Get Rid of Bedbugs in a Couch
• What Scent Keeps Bed Bugs Away

When your house is infested with bed bugs, and not only do they hide in your bed and wardrobe, but in the walls as well, how do you treat bed bugs in walls?

Here are the recommendations on how to search and destroy. You will learn how their feces look, how long they can remain in walls, and what a credit card has to do with it.

How Are Your Walls Supposed to Be Finally Bug-Free?

Bed bugs can be found far beyond their namesake furniture. Like many insects, they are natural born (or rather natural hatched) survivalists that live through various conditions, even way more severe.

That is why they can be found in the wall cracks as well as in soft mattresses or pillows. Let’s break down how they live, how you can find them, and how to extinguish them.

Can bed bugs live in walls?

As you’re reading this article and have a reason to suppose so, the truth is yes, they can. Though normally they eat once every five or ten days, they can live without eating for months.

So while you usually expect them where they can access a fresh human body and drill for blood on your skin, they can be found in different places – including walls. Especially where the wall meets the floor or the ceiling.

How to know if you have bed bugs in walls?

Let’s state that this question only makes sense if you know for sure that the insects have entered the building. You may have found them in your bed or in your clothes, but to make sure they don’t hide in your walls, you may want to check them. How does one bed find a bug nest in wall? There are several options:

• Look for real bed bugs on the wall. It’s 100% evidence, but it takes a lot of luck to detect them alive. They travel from 5 to 20 feet away from their usual hiding places that, yes, can be in the walls.
• Look for visible physical signs of bed bugs on walls, like feces or skins. Their eggs also do, but they are almost never seen in plain sight.
• Check whether your skin has irritations when you wake up. These spots usually appear on exposed parts: face, neck, hands, and so on. They may itch but not necessarily. Because of natural anesthetics, few of us can feel the bug bite in real time.
• To be the surest, you can conduct a credit card test. It is based on the fact that the body of an adult bug is about as thick as a regular credit card. Take a card and check the cracks on the wall with it, trying to put it in. If the card fits into the crack, so does a bug. If you are lucky, you may even scare one out of the crack.

Step-by-step guide on how to get rid of bed bugs in the walls

As you have made sure there are bed bugs in your walls, the question is how to get rid of bed bugs in walls – indeed, in your whole household. Don’t forget to check for these bugs in your mattresses, pillows, bed sheets, carpets, and clothes.

If you detect them in your walls, it means they are far beyond that. By the way, have you noticed these irritations on your skin?

There are various methods on how to get bed bugs out of walls. Let’s choose the simplest and the most efficient.

1. Locate all the places where the bugs may dwell. Along with walls, it may be your bed, your carpet, your wardrobe. Search by evidence like feces, dry skins, eggs if you see them, or blood stains in your bed.
2. Process ALL of these places.
3. Hot-wash or steam the clothes where they may dwell
4. Specifically for walls, use a bedbug spray or CimeXa dust. Process the cracks in the wall with a duster with a thin rubber tip that can spray the bed bug dust into the cracks. Don’t abuse it, though, and be careful while applying it to electric outlets. You better switch the power off as you do it.
5. Leave the room for 5 or 6 hours and close it. The time may depend on the solution you use: the manufacturer may recommend longer or shorter periods.

What else can you use against the bugs? Obviously, using boiling water that surely kills them makes no sense on your walls. Neither does using bleach, alcohol, or vinegar solutions.

But, for example, pyrethrin powder or Diatomaceous Earth to poison them. This is the case when specialized solutions work better than any of these common household liquids.

The manufacturers, though, often recommend using their products with other methods. Make sure the pesticides you use, regardless of the manufacturers, are EPA-registered, and follow the instructions carefully.

This way, you need to do it with all the rooms where you suspect these parasites to appear. In addition, it helps you to get rid of other insects that may live there.

How to prevent further infestations

Eliminating one nest is good, but it’s better to make sure there are no other colonies to appear. To make sure, you can do the following:

• Check everything in your home. Mattresses and carpets, walls and animal places, wardrobes and attics. Apply necessary measures everywhere you find them.
• Get protective covers for your mattresses and box springs, so bugs can neither get in nor get out of there if there remain any.
• Keep your house in order. Clutter marks the spot where these insects may dwell. Let there be fewer of them.
• Keep from using shared laundry services if possible. If not, look at your washed items carefully and use new bags for carrying them home.
• Still, regularly wash and dry your clothes.
• Get a heater chamber for treating your clothes.
• A few days after the campaign, check whether there are others (use an interceptor or check for stains on your bed).

There are also methods that seem to make sense but are inefficient. They include the following:

• Painting the walls. It may work for some time as bugs are deterred by the smell of fresh paint. But as soon as it dries out, the bugs return.
• Freezing the room. Even if you open wide all your windows and turn off the heating in the coldest of winter nights, it may not be cold enough, as it takes 0°F (-17°C) that sustains for about two hours to kill the bugs. This can only work during the Alaskan winter, though we doubt these insects would bother you at all at that time.

If you follow these recommendations, you minimize the chance of reinfestation. And tell your neighbors to do the same if they suffer from these insects too.

Not only will you do them a favor if you instruct them, but also lower the risk of bed bugs migrating from their households to yours.

FAQ on Bed Bugs in Walls

Even after the instruction, there are questions that need to be addressed directly. Here are some of these.

How long can bed bugs live in the walls?

The short answer is: for months, without going out, and for many months if, once in a while, they treat themselves with human blood. But the best answer to “how long do bed bugs live in walls” sounds like “not until tomorrow”. And then the sound of the spray comes.

Should I drill a hole in my wall to treat for bed bugs?

No, as they don’t burrow through walls. They can only use existing cracks and holes. And you can use them for extinguishing the population as well.

Can bed bugs live in electrical outlets?

In theory, they can. Not directly in the socket where they are exposed to electricity, but just behind the plate. There is usually some gap between the plate and the wall, and bugs can get there easily. If you search for them in outlets, start with the one closest to your bed.

Can bed bugs chew through a wall?

We know why you are asking this: because other insects can, like termites or wasps. Bed bugs, though, have a completely different digestion system and mouth structure, so they are unable to burrow. They can only use already existing cracks.

Off the Walls! Conclusion

So, now you know what to do to get rid of bed bugs in the walls. The main conclusion to make is the following: don’t focus on the walls, even though they are there. Extinguish them everywhere! Only then will they leave your wall cracks.

Are there any other methods or pesticides you have used on bedbugs? Any more tips you would add to this? Share them in the comments if you please, and we’ll be grateful!

Also read:

• Best Bed Bug Trap
• Hot Shot Bed Bug Fogger Review
• Best Bed Bug Heater
• Bed Bugs Predators
• How to Get Rid of Bedbugs in a Couch
• What Scent Keeps Bed Bugs Away
• Dead Bed Bugs
• Do Bed Bugs Lay Eggs in Your Skin

Bed bugs are the smooth criminals of the insect world. They will hide in your bedding and bite you in your sleep, waking you to no evidence to prove you’ve suffered a pest attack and leaving you in doubt as to how to proceed.

Luckily, they do leave droppings in the scene. If you know what bed bug poop looks like and where to look for it, you’ll be able to tell whether it’s the bed bug that’s bothering you. Stick around to find out what the tiny pest’s feces look like and what to do if you’ve found some.

Identifying Bed Bug Feces

Here’s a quick guide on how to spot and identify bed bug droppings on your own.

Where to Go Looking for It

Since our bedrooms are generally the preferred retreat of bed bugs, it’s there that you should start looking for the buggers’ poop. Use a fleshlight to examine the mattress and inside the box spring, the area in and around the nightstand, any cracks and crevices, wallpaper that’s come loose, near and behind baseboards, and the like.

If you want to arm yourself against the trespasser beforehand, chances are that using a hair dryer to blow hot air where you are looking will send the bed bugs, if any, packing.

How to Identify Bed Bug Feces

“What does bed bugs poop look like?” is one question you need to answer before you can be positive whatever you have found in your bedroom signifies bed bug presence.

Some people state that the critters actually poop blood. This is partly true because bed bugs’ diet consists of blood that they get from their hosts, but it has to be digested before it leaves the body. That is, if you see something that looks like a bloodstain, it’s unlikely to be bed bug poop. Chances are it’s what remains of a crushed freshly fed bug, though.

Instead, actual droppings appear a very dark rusty to almost black depending on the light. Since blood has large water content, they are semi-liquid. They also don’t have the shape that most people associate with poop because the bugs tend to release what they have digested on the go, so the feces get smeared.

Since they contain a lot of liquid, they can also soak into fabric, such as on mattresses or pillowcases, which ends up looking very much like a stain that a ballpoint pen would leave. The average size is similar, as well.

Looking at some bed bug poop pictures is a good way of understanding what to look for, especially if you expect fecal matter left by other insects to be present.

The most likely misidentification options are cockroaches, rodents, and bats. However, rats, mice, bats, and squirrels all leave oblong, hard droppings. Cockroach poop resembles ground pepper; it is hard and, unlike bed bugs’, notoriously sticks to walls.

Bed Bug Excrement Dangers

In case you’ve found bed bug droppings in your house, you may be alarmed because of possible associated risks. The good news is bed bugs don’t spread disease, though. Yet, the nasty-looking stains and smears left by these critters contain histamine, which can also cause allergy-like reactions in us humans.

The reason for this is that our bodies produce histamine naturally when confronted by a substance that provokes allergy. This means you’ll have to get rid of bed bug poop, or you might experience symptoms such as itchiness and/or asthma over time.

Removing Bed Bug Fecal Stains

The cleaning procedure largely depends on what kind of material the poop is on.

Fabrics

Once you’ve spotted bed bug poop on sheets, don’t hesitate to blot it with cold water. High temperatures will cause the stains to set.

Enzyme-based fabric stain removers can also prove effective when used according to the label, or you can use hydrogen peroxide for 10 to 15 minutes if the specks appear particularly stubborn. Please mind that the latter treatment can lighten the fabric!

Since bed bugs might be hiding in the sheets, it’s advisable to launder these at 122 °F to kill the pests, although this will only work as part of a larger bed bug control program.

Hard surfaces

If you have found bed bug poop on painted walls, wallpaper, or wood, try using cold water and wiping it with a dry clean rag. A commercial wood stain remover can solve the problem if the stain won’t go after washing.

Does Bed Bug Fecal Matter in My House Mean I Have an Infestation?

Simply speaking, bed bug feces means bed bug presence. Look for other warning signs if you’ve found some:

• bed bug parts/shed cuticles;
• bloodstains from crushed insects;
• a “dirty wet rag” musty smell;
• small itchy bites that appear during the night.

Bed Bug Feces FAQ

Here are brief answers to common questions about bed bug poop in our homes.

Do bed bug feces wipe off?

They do when fresh, but they also tend to smudge on contact with water, so be careful if you’re dealing with fabrics. It’s best to launder the sheets anyway.

What is the first sign of bed bugs?

Itchy bites during the night are an important sign that you’re dealing with a bed bug infestation. Raised red bumps are common.

Where do bed bugs poop?

Bed bugs leave their droppings on any soft furnishings and fabrics as well as in and around cracks and crevices, baseboards, power outlets, etc.

Bed Bug Poop: Act on the Evidence

Knowing how to identify bed bug feces is a big step towards detecting and fighting off an infestation. If you have a reason to suspect that you have bed bugs or just want to be proactive, look for these inkspot-like droppings on the sheets and around crevices and be sure to take action in case you find some. Remember that living with a lot of bed bug poop in your home is associated with health risks!

Have you ever dealt with bed bugs? If yes, how did you spot them? Tell us in the Comments section!

References:

• Bed Bug Fact Sheet (New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services Consumer and Environmental Health Services Public Health, Sanitation and Safety Program):
  https://www.capemaycountynj.gov/DocumentCenter/View/265/New-Jersey-Department-of-Health-and-Senior-Services-Bed-Bug-Fact-Sheet-PDF
• How to Identify a Bed Bug Infestation (Dini M. Miller, Ph.D., Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech):
  https://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/pdf/bb-identify1.pdf
• Bed Bugs FAQs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention):
  https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/bedbugs/faqs.html

Hi, I`m Nicholas Martin, the author of this blog. I’ve already told you everything you should know about bed bugs, so now it’s time to introduce you to perhaps the best natural bed bug repellent – essential oils.

From this article, you will learn what essential oils are, how they work, and what are the best essential oils for bed bugs. Oils extracted from plants are an effective natural remedy against these nasty insects.

However, you cannot apply them until you study all the usage rules and cautions. My article will help you to find answers to all questions.

What Danger Do Bed Bugs Pose

First of all, bed bugs are incredibly nasty, and it’s really hard to sleep knowing that your place is infested. Although it’s impossible to catch a disease via bed bug bites, they can hurt and itch a lot. The bites can also cause such health issues as rashes all over the body, allergic hives, blistering, and, rarely, an anaphylactic reaction.

What Are Essential Oils

You probably know about high toxicity of chemical insecticides and potential health effects, and it’s not a good idea to use them where you sleep. Fortunately, essential oils offer an alternative way to deal with infestations, using a natural method.

Essential oils are extracted from plants. Manufacturers use flowers, stems, leaves, and bark of plants and trees. They put these materials through a distillation machine for pure oil extraction.

❗If you’re already facing an infestation, I highly recommend trying other powerful treatment methods like bed bug powders and sprays.

Although essential oils are totally natural, you should use them carefully not to suffer from their possible side effects. All essential oils are highly concentrated, so you have to dilute most of them before using. You can use some of the oils as a bed bug repellent for skin, but only in small concentrations to avoid burns and other side effects.

If you are not sure whether you have an allergy or not, apply a small portion of diluted oil onto your wrist. If you don’t notice irritations during the day, you don’t have an allergy. Always study possible side effects and cautions of each oil and never ingest them, even if they smell very tasty.

The Use of Essential Oils for Bed Bug Prevention

Essential oils are an effective natural bed bug repellent that can not only keep bed bugs away from you during the night, but also kill them when used directly. I recommend you spray them onto your luggage and clothes when you stay in a hotel, and you’re not sure whether your room is infested or not.

Treat your stuff before putting it into the suitcase to ward off pests and avoid carrying them to your home. You can also treat your clothes and luggage before entering your home after each trip to make sure that you don’t bring insects inside.

Best Essential Oils for Killing Bed Bugs

Choosing the right essential oil, you should look not only for the best scent but also to give your preference to trusted brands that sell purely-blended oils. I always follow a simple rule and buy only those items that have scientific names of the main component on the bottle.

For example, if the lavender oil that you look at includes Lavandula Angustifolia as the main component, the product is pure. To know what scent keeps bed bugs away the best, take a look at my favorite essential oils and choose one or several scents that you like the most.

Lavender

Lavender essential oil is made of lavender flowers that have many positive health effects. The most popular effect of using lavender oil for bed bugs is the feeling of peacefulness it brings. That’s why I recommend using this product if you have mild sleeping issues.

You need around 30-40 drops of the oil per 30 ml of water to make an effective repellent that will be working the whole night long. You may also like a 30/10-drop proportion of lavender and tea tree oils per 30 ml of water. Both mixes cannot kill bed bugs but can let you sleep well for sure.

Tea Tree

Melaleuca oil, or tea tree oil, is an effective natural repellent that can be used both on your bedding and directly on the skin due to its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory abilities. Tea tree oil for bed bugs suffocates insects, keeping them away from you during the night. Mix 20 drops of the oil with distilled water and spray it all over your bed before going to sleep.

The effect of this oil is very quick, so you don’t have to wait long before it works. You can also add the liquid to the washing machine to use it as a natural conditioner for your sheets. Does tea tree oil kill bed bugs? It can, but the required suffocating concentration can be bad for your skin.

Lemongrass

Lemongrass is an effective bed bug killer that doesn’t leave bugs a chance to survive if they touch it. The recommended concentration for spraying over your sheets is 10-20 drops per 30 ml of water. It’s also important to apply it at least 30 minutes before going to bed due to the high acidity of the oil.

That’s also the reason not to put it on your skin. The best way to use this oil at home is to mix it with the washing liquid to make your bedding smell fresher and ensure a lasting repelling effect.

Peppermint

Peppermint extract is a very aggressive substance that can easily kill bed bugs if you spray it directly on them. You shouldn’t use more than 10 drops per 30 ml to avoid side effects. The combination of peppermint with lemongrass is also deadly to bed bugs as it causes a strong allergic reaction.

Eucalyptus

This harsh oil is deadly not only for adult insects but also for their shelled eggs. Keep it strictly away from your skin and dilute 10-20 drops in 30 ml of water for spraying onto your beddings. It’s also a good idea to add this liquid to the washing machine.

How to Use Essential Oils for Bed Bugs Properly

No matter what essential oil you want to use, you have to check out the effective proportion on the bottle. For example, it’s recommended to mix 20 drops of tea tree oil with 30 ml of distilled water (I have mentioned the recommended proportions above).

You can use tap water too, but it may weaken the repelling effect as there are usually many chemicals in it. When the liquid is ready, spray it on your sheets, pillows, clothes, and the insides of your suitcase.

If you want to kill bed bugs, you’d better prepare a more concentrated liquid and spray it at least several hours before going to bed. Otherwise, you may expose yourself to unwanted side effects and stronger smell. Spray the remedy directly onto bugs to kill them.

FAQ

Does Peppermint Work Against Bed Bugs?

Peppermint essential oil is a multi-purpose product that can repel many household pests, including ants, cockroaches, and bed bugs. Due to the high concentration of menthol, this type of oil can be used not only as an effective natural bed bug repellent, but also as a lethal weapon against them.

Bed bugs hate peppermint scent and avoid going to areas sprayed with the properly diluted oil. The solution is effective until you can smell the scent. Peppermint oil for bed bugs can also kill the insects, but only if you spray it directly on them.

How to Use Essential Oils for Bed Bugs?

To use essential oils against bed bugs effectively, you must dilute them in a special carrier oil or water first. Then, make sure that the oil you chose it safe for pregnant women, or people with illnesses, if such people live in your house.

Exercise cautions for each particular case. If everything is ok, spray the properly diluted product (use unique instructions for each oil) onto your sheets. Remember that the concentration for one-night protection, and for killing pests is always different.

Does Vinegar Kill Bed Bugs?

Vinegar is an acidic compound with a high concentration of acetic acid. White vinegar is strong enough to kill the insect’s nervous system. However, you have to spray it directly on bugs to achieve the effect. This remedy isn’t effective against severe infestations and cannot penetrate hard shells of bug eggs.

Does Alcohol Kill Bed Bugs?

Alcohol can dissolve insects from the outside and finish the job by damaging them from the inside. It’s also a cheap remedy available in every drug store. The disadvantages of this remedy are the same as of vinegar.

Alcohol is effective only when you spray it directly, which is difficult, and it dries very fast, becoming ineffective against bugs that reach the treated location later. It’s impossible to kill more than 50% of pests with alcohol. Finally, it’s highly flammable in effective concentrations.

Related Post:

• Best Bed Bug Vacuums & Steamers
• Harris Bed Bug Killer Review
• Hot Shot Bed Bug Fogger Review
• Bed Bug Poop
• What Do Bed Bugs Look Like
• Bugs That Look Like Bed Bugs

Going the Natural Way

Now, you have a comprehensive picture of essential oils, know how to purchase them, and how to repel bed bugs using them. You can choose the scent that you like the most and be sure that bed bugs won’t get interested in your body during the next journey.

Although bed bugs aren’t known as infection carriers, their bites are rather painful and can sometimes lead to rashes or even an anaphylactic reaction. The best solution is to be ready for an unpleasant meeting in advance.

❗Once again, if you have a severe infestation and still want to handle it yourself, you should use more powerful remedies like professional bed bug sprays.

Have you ever faced bed bug problems? Had you been using something to protect yourself before you got to know about essential oils? And what scent did you choose, by the way? Join the conversation in the comments section below and feel free to ask me any questions related to the article topic, if something isn’t clear enough.

References:

• Potential Health Effects of Pesticides (The Pennsylvania State University):
  https://extension.psu.edu/potential-health-effects-of-pesticides
• Essential Oils: Do They Just Smell Nice? (Hope College’s Student Newspaper):
  https://anchor.hope.edu/lifestyle/essential-oils-do-they-just-smell-nice/

Being able to work with various pests infestation cases, I know how challenging it might be to find any kind of insects in your house and get rid of them once and forever. The most complicated task is eliminating bloodsucking pests such as bed bugs — highly unpleasant and annoying vermins that are hard to get rid of.

To clean your house from pests, it is important to identify them properly. Sometimes, you might think that you have bed bugs when you actually don’t, so your pest-fighting methods won’t work as they should.

To help you identify and effectively fight pests, I have written this guide with a detailed observation of what other bugs look like bed bugs, their characteristics, and habitat.

Bugs That Look Like Bed Bugs: Detailed Review of the Most Popular Insects

There are plenty of various in-house pests you might get into your household and produce serious problems. Bed bugs are the ones that are so small and similar to other pests, it is really hard to know for sure which type of bug you have faced. Let’s look through the key features of bed bugs appearance and life cycle, and proceed to their pest relatives.

What Are Bed Bugs And How Do They Look

Identifying what do bed bugs look like, it is important to take into account all possible features. These insects are tiny in size, ranging from 2 to 5 millimeters depending on their life cycle period, with transparent skin color at a young age that gets rust color when they reach adolescence.

When the newborn bed bug has just had a blood meal, he turns from pale to bright red due to the small bed bug size, nearly the only moment you can see it – when the bug is feeding on your skin.

Many people ask me: “do bed bugs fly” and “do bed bugs have wings.” In case you have seen a pest that flies, that is not a bed bug. These tiny insects have no wings and cannot fly, although adult bugs have wing vestiges or wing pads – underdeveloped signs of wings that cannot be used for flying. They are also able to move fast on the furniture, floors, and walls, settling literally everywhere in the house.

Finding a bite is the first sign of pests infestation, and bed bugs can bite you anywhere, focusing on those body parts that are denuded while sleeping: face, neck, feet, hands, or shoulders. While you won’t feel the bite itself, after being bitten your skin might feel itchy or inflamed.

Bed bugs can be identified by their appearance: they have an oval-shaped flat body that gets more elongated after the meal. They have six legs and two tiny antennas that make it possible to distinguish bed bugs from arachnids or mature mites.

Before asking how to get rid of bed bugs, it is essential to identify the type of insect you have faced. To properly identify bed bugs, I highly recommend you to look through the bed bug pictures that reveal all the details of their typical appearance.

What Are Other Tiny Bugs in Bed That Are Not Bed Bugs

1. Bat bugs
2. Baby roaches
3. Ticks
4. Fleas
5. Booklice
6. Carpet beetles
7. Spider beetles

Although you might think you have bed bugs, this is not always true. There is a series of bugs mistaken for bed bugs that are usually misidentified because of similar appearance, bites, or spreading specifications.

To properly identify the type of vermins that invaded your house, let’s look through the list of such pests, opposing bed bugs vs other bugs, defining their typical features, appearance, bites, and habitat.

Bat Bugs vs Bed Bugs

Bat bugs are the most similar pests to bed bugs in their appearance – it is impossible to clearly identify whether the insect is a bat bug without a microscope: their only difference is the length of fringe hairs located near the bugs’ head.

However, bat bugs aren’t usually in-house pests as they feed on bat’s blood and reside in the places of bat’s colonies that might be situated inside a house: in chimneys, attics, or plumbing.

Trying to oppose bat bugs vs bed bugs, it is possible to see the difference in the skin color: bat bugs can have beige or light brown skin color, while bed bugs have more reddish skin.

Both insects have an oval-shaped body with non-developed wing pads and cannot fly. Bat bugs are usually found in the Midwestern US, while bed bugs are distributed worldwide.

Baby Roaches vs Bed Bugs

Small baby roaches are usually misidentified as bed bugs because of their similar appearance and behavior. However, unlike blood-sucking insects, baby roaches are white just after hatching, but get reddish shortly after that, becoming quite similar to bed bugs. Their nighttime activity peaks are also similar to the bed bugs’ behavior.

The main difference that comes out while opposing baby roaches vs bed bugs is that baby roaches does not bite people. They try to hide in cracks and dark, tight spaces, staying close to the warmth, food, and moisture. Baby roaches are almost twice smaller and have a cylindrically-shaped body, while bed bugs are oval-shaped.

Baby roaches are also highly unpleasant pests that are hard to get rid of. It gets easier to identify them as they grow and molt, so be sure you have properly identified the pest type and take quick measures for its elimination.

Ticks vs Bed Bugs

Being misidentified as bed bugs, ticks, in fact, have a few similarities with these pests: both have a flat, brown body and can feed on human blood. Thus, it is important to not only know what do ticks look like but how they are different from other insects.

Ticks are as small as bed bugs and have no wings, so they also can’t fly. Their bites are almost unfelt and can be found nearly anywhere on your body.

When talking about differences of ticks vs bed bugs, it is necessary to say that ticks are arachnids and have eight legs, while the bed pests are insects and thus have only six legs. While the latter are in-house pests, ticks are usually found outdoors, hiding in high grass or on the leaves of trees and bushes. Ticks are usually feeding on animals’ blood, although they can bite humans.

Ticks’ bites might be dangerous, as they can carry such diseases as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis, and others. While bed bugs can bite you up to 10 times and then move to other locations, ticks bite you once, getting under your skin, and can stay there for several days until they are fully saturated.

They usually choose the body parts with hair or creases, such as armpits, legs, neck, or waistline. It is hard to remove a tick from your body, and it is important to be careful and not to leave the ticks’ head under the skin.

Fleas vs Bed Bugs

In case you have spotted bites on your skin that might be itchy, the first two reasons might be bed bugs and fleas. Being small and quickly moving pests, fleas also create a lot of discomforts, leaving numerous bites on the human body that look and feel distressful. Both fleas and bed bugs have brown-reddish skin and don’t have wings.

When putting fleas vs bed bugs, it is possible to see that their appearance is different: while bed bugs have horizontally-flat bodies, fleas are vertically-flat. Both insects have six legs, fleas have longer legs and can jump up to 18 centimeters high.

While bed-found pests prefer to feed on human blood, fleas usually bite furry animals, such as cats and dogs and live mostly outside. Flea bites aches immediately, while most people don’t feel the bites of bed bugs and can discover them only on the next morning.

The flea bites are usually situated on the lover parts of the body, while bed pests can bite you anywhere, focusing on those body parts that are exposed during your sleep.

Booklice vs Bed Bugs

Thanks to their size and color, booklice are mistaken for bed bugs as well, especially their nymphs: they are smaller in size and have a pale brown or creamy skin color. Booklice also has two antennas, but they are more similar to termites and have a segmented body (the head is separated from the rest of the body).

Although both insects live inside the house, booklice don’t bite people and feed on mold and fungi. They can be found in places with high humidity: under wallpapers, near the windows, damp books, or in the stored food.

Confronting booklice vs bed bugs, it can be seen that booklice is smaller and has a different appearance and living habits due to quick dehydration.

Carpet Beetles vs Bed Bugs

Carpet beetles are one of the bed bugs look-alikes that are usually misidentified because of their size and similar appearance. Carpet beetles have black skin with a white pattern and bright scales that might be orange, red, or reddish-colored. They are smaller than bed bugs, have an oval-shaped flat body with hair on it, and two small antennae.

There are numerous differences when opposing carpet beetles vs bed bugs, and the most important is that carpet beetles aren’t blood-feeders: they prefer flowers’ nectar and pollen, thus, they usually live on flowers and can get inside the house with the fresh bouquet.

Unlike bed bugs, carpet beetles can fly, and when getting inside the house they adapt their diet, switching to natural fabrics. Carpet beetles aren’t dangerous and don’t bite people, but the direct connection with the beatles with exposed body parts might lead to allergy.

Carpet beetles are still unpleasant house pests that might destroy carpets, clothes, and all fabrics, getting into the bed and other furniture.

Spider Beetles vs Bed Bugs

One of the vermin types that can be regarded as bed bugs is spider beetles. These pests also have an oval-shaped body that has brownish color – features that are also typical for their bed-located relatives. They are slightly smaller – from 1 to 5 millimeters, depending on their type and lifecycle stage.

They have six legs and two antennae that are usually regarded as an additional pair of legs. This makes them look similar to spiders, although they are usually misidentified for bed bugs because they look very similar to the above.

Spider beetles are foragers and aren’t considered as extremely dangerous pests but given the right conditions and free access to food, they can develop into numerous pests colonies that might create serious problems for restaurants, hotels, food stores or hospitals.

Spider beetles are usually active at night – the same time as bed bugs, and can be found inside walls or in the cracks or on the plants.

Confronting spider beetles vs bed bugs, it can be seen that these insects are less disturbing, they don’t bite people or animals and prefer to live near the food or moisture, hiding from humans.

Getting to Know Your Enemy: Bugs That Look Like Bed Bugs

To effectively eliminate bed bugs or any other pests from your house, it is important to know your enemy, its habits, weak sides and habitat. To help you identify the type of bug you have faced and what do bed bugs look like, I have created a detailed review of the bed bugs and bugs that look similar to bed bugs, highlighting their main characteristics and key differences that might help you define the type of insect that has invaded your house.

To clean your house from any type of parasite, it is essential to properly identify them and their location, know their habits and food preferences. Each type of pest has its typical features that can be defined even without a specialist. To help you identify the most widespread types of vermins, I have collected their characteristics in this post.

In case you have faced other types of insects that look like bed bugs, please, share the name of the bug or a photo in the comments. Where did you spot it? How the pests behaved? I am also interested in your success stories of effective pests identification and elimination!

References:

• Bed Bugs Appearance and Life Cycle (United States Environmental Protection Agency):
  https://swap.stanford.edu/20151016075053/https://www2.epa.gov/bedbugs/bed-bugs-appearance-and-life-cycle
• What Do Ticks Look Like? (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences):
  https://nysipm.cornell.edu/whats-bugging-you/ticks/what-do-ticks-look/