One of the most annoying insects that can be found are bed bugs, known by this name for living between sheets and mattresses to bite people at night when they sleep. These are very annoying insects that, on many occasions, require chemical treatments to eliminate them.
However, if you want to know how to eliminate bed bugs with home remedies, we will tell you about some of the methods that have been shown to be most effective in getting rid of them.
Why do bed bugs appear?
Bedbugs, whose scientific name is Cimex lectularius , are insects that feed on the blood of mammals , including humans, just like mosquitoes or ticks do. However, this insect has the peculiarity of presenting itself in colonies made up of several individuals, which makes it more difficult to eliminate than when it comes to an isolated mosquito or tick.
Bed bugs are red or brown insects with a rather small and flat body, which allows them to hide easily. They feed mainly at night , when they take the opportunity to bite their victims. For this reason, they usually live in places close to the bed, be it on the mattress, the box spring, the headboard or even the sheets themselves.
How is the bedbug bite
At the time of stinging, nothing is felt, which makes it difficult to detect them. However, after a few minutes, or even hours later, you begin to feel a constant itch and, later, a small pimple similar to what mosquito bites can produce will appear. This means that their presence can be confused with the latter. However, an easy way to identify them is that bed bug bites often appear online .
In addition, another way to recognize bed bug bites is by taking into account that they usually bite in areas such as the neck, shoulders, face, and hands.
How to get rid of bed bugs naturally and fast – home remedies
One of the problems when we want to know how to get rid of bed bugs is that they can be very resistant insects. In fact, although they usually feed on average every ten days , in the absence of food they can live for more than a year in a state of torpor waiting for them to find a source from which to feed. Therefore, depriving them of access to food is usually not enough to eliminate them naturally.
On the contrary, it has been shown that these are animals that tolerate extreme temperatures with difficulty . In fact, to learn how to eliminate bed bugs naturally and quickly with home remedies , it is best to use these extreme temperatures, since it allows you to eliminate both adult bed bugs and their eggs and young. Here we leave you some home remedies to know how to eliminate bed bugs naturally.
How to get rid of bed bugs with cold
This can be done both hot and cold. In the case of wanting to use the cold, a simple option will be to cool the environment enough for a few hours so that all the bedbugs die. This can be achieved in winter by leaving the windows open or taking out all the furniture that may be infected (mattress, box spring, headboard, bedding, etc.).
However, for this method to be effective, it will be necessary to make sure that we are talking about really low temperatures. At least close to 0ºC.
How to get rid of bed bugs with heat
On the other hand, if we live in a place where these temperatures cannot be reached, or we simply do not have the possibility of moving the furniture to a place with these characteristics, the best way to eliminate bed bugs naturally will be through of heat.
To do this, the first thing to do is wash all the bedding that could be infected in the washing machine at high temperatures, at least 50ºC .
Regarding the mattress and the rest of the bedroom furniture, it will be necessary to do a steam cleaning . Steam cleaning is carried out through a machine that emits high-temperature water vapor and which, although it does not use chemical products, is sufficient to remove dirt and the presence of insects.
It is important to make sure that the steam penetrates all parts of the mattress , as well as any holes that could serve as a hiding place for bed bugs.
How to get rid of bed bugs with vinegar and baking soda
Making a mixture of vinegar and baking soda can help kill bed bugs. Vinegar has a strong odor and acetic acid that is harmful to these animals. Although it kills them, this home remedy is much more useful to scare them away and prevent them in the long term.
Mix a teaspoon of baking soda in a container with vinegar and spray the mixture with a spray bottle in all the places where you suspect the presence of bed bugs such as the bed, the mattress, the legs of the bed, the sheets, etc. Vinegar evaporates quickly, so you will need to use this remedy several times a day to feel its effectiveness. You can also mix it with isopropyl alcohol to increase its effectiveness.
How to get rid of bed bugs with salt
Another of the products to eliminate bed bugs that will help you is salt. It is common to hear that they kill them, but the salt can do is drive them away, since they do not proliferate well in an environment that is too salty. For this reason, we recommend that you spread salt on the cracks, frames, legs of furniture and beds, as well as under the mattress and the seats of sofas and armchairs.
How to get rid of bed bugs with guava
Guava is another of the popular home remedies to eliminate bedbugs naturally , as it is not harmful to humans or pets. However, while the smell of guava does repel bed bugs, it is only really helpful if the infestation of bed bugs is still very small , just a few.
In that case, we recommend preparing a guava infusion and spraying it on the affected furniture or letting a guava ripen and rot near the bed bug infestation.
How to prevent bed bugs from appearing at home
On the other hand, to prevent bed bugs from appearing, it is very important to take into account a series of precautions that will make it difficult for them to reach our bedroom:
- Keep a close eye on any place where they can hide, especially fabrics such as sheets, pillows, curtains or carpets.
- Do not leave clothing or possible fabrics on the floor.
- Be especially careful when you go to hotels or sleep away from home, since they can adhere to these places and then transport them to your own home.
- Avoid putting the suitcase on the bed, especially if it is on wheels, since bedbugs can move from the floor to the wheels of the suitcase and, from there, to the bed.
- Change the sheets frequently.
- Keep the bedroom clean and with few things to prevent dirt from accumulating more easily.
- Clean clothing and bedding at high temperatures, especially after traveling or when you have been in places where bed bugs may be present.
- Act immediately as soon as you suspect the presence of bed bugs, as it will avoid giving them time to reproduce and increase their number.
- To prevent bed bugs, it’s a good idea to place cloves in areas where bed bugs tend to spread to keep them away.
Now you know how to get rid of bed bugs naturally, but you may also be interested in some products to get rid of bed bugs.