Learning How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Yourself

If you want to know how to get rid of bed bugs yourself then you must be pretty sure you have them, but do you know how to look or what to look for to see if you have them? Learning how to get rid of bed bugs yourself is easy; doing it on the other hand is a very painstaking process. Before you go through all that work and spend all that time, make sure you actually have bed bugs first.

Do you really have Bed Bugs?

There are a few ways to find them and both are actually very easy. The first is to remove your sheets and search the mattress and box springs for small brown spots. If you see them, they very well could be bed bug faces. While you have the sheets off, search very carefully around the seams in the mattress and springs, you could possibly see a bug.

While you are searching, check for white things that look like rice, they are the eggs laid by bed bugs. If you find evidence this way you may have a pretty substantial infestation. If you do not find anything, put pieces of double faced tape on the mattress, and along the sides of the mattress. Replace your sheets and wait. After a day or so check the tape and see if you have caught an actual bed bug. This is positive proof that you have a problem. Now it would seem that you really do need to know how to get rid of bed bugs yourself!

Gear Up for a Hard Day’s Work of Killing Bed Bugs

Be prepared for a good day’s work if you decide to do this yourself, it takes time and a lot of work to rid yourself of these little critters. You may even be better served to call in friends for reinforcements. Start by bringing some large trash bags in to the affected room. Take your bed linens off and put them in a bag. Pack up any clothing lying around the room and put them in a bag. Carry these items in bags to the laundry area in the bags to keep from transferring the bugs to another area of the house. Start washing everything in hot water. For items that cannot be washed in the clothes washer, run them in a hot dryer for about 30 minutes.

In the mean time carry your mattress and box springs outside to either very hot or very cold weather to let it set. Back in your room you will need to thoroughly clean the room from the ceiling to the floor. Take apart your smoke detector and clean it out, vacuum it and replace it to the ceiling. Clean all of your furniture. Vacuum all of the floors, if you have carpet you will need to make sure you get all the baseboards and get in deep between the baseboards and the carpet. Be sure to vacuum under all of your furniture. You will need to steam clean your mattress, springs and bedroom floor and then wait until it’s dry.

You can put your room back together again, but put the double faced tape on your mattress and check it in a few days to make sure the treatment worked. If it did, you now know how to get rid of bed bugs yourself and you can share this information with friends and family who may have the same problem.