How To Make Bed Bugs Come Out Of Hiding

Bed bugs travel from place to place in suitcases, backpacks, jacket pockets, purses, and overnight bags. When visiting infested properties, there is the risk of a bed bug encounter. This encounter can result in you unknowingly inviting the bed bugs back to your home. It could take days or weeks before you realize the mishap. In the meantime, the bed bugs are feeding on your blood and possibly procreating. By the time, the first signs of bed bugs appear, there could be a dozen or so hiding in your mattress, box springs, carpet, upholstery furniture, drapery, stuffed animals, and other items.

Now, is the ideal time to start driving the insects out of hiding. Why is this important? When bed bugs make their presence, it makes an infestation obvious. Unfortunately, this will not be an easy feat. In fact, it will be one of the most difficult feats you have tackled in quite some time. With the tips provided in the content below, every bed bug infesting your home will emerge from hiding with little to no effort.

Install Heaters

Bed bugs are drawn to the heat generated by humans when asleep. It is possible to replicate the heat with floor heaters. Center your bed in the room before installing the heaters, facing the wall. Switch on the power and allow the temperature to heat reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the maximum temperature is recorded, an additional 20 minutes is needed to begin seeing results. If bed bugs are in the room, they will begin to emerge.

Utilize Steam

Steam is nothing more than a vapor, originating from boiling water. Steam can be produced utilizing a steamer. This is an effective technique utilized by exterminators across the United States to drive bed bugs out of hiding.

Allow the water to heat up until a vapor begins to form. The vapor will need to fill the entire room for at least 20 minutes. Steam is so effective because it can permeate different surfaces – wood, tile, plastic, upholstery, and thin metal. It could take up to 45 minutes for the steam to penetrate these surfaces. If bed bugs are burrowed deep inside the bed frame, carpet, electronics, furniture, piles of clothes, toy box, the mattress, and box springs, an additional 15 minutes of exposure may be a necessity.

Carbon Dioxide Monitors

Bed bugs know when their human hosts are sleeping, thanks to their antennas. The insect utilizes its antennas to determine when the host is sleeping through carbon dioxide detection. Sleeping humans generate carbon dioxide. Replicating this natural gas is as simple as installing a carbon dioxide detector in your home.

The bed bugs will detect the carbon dioxide and emerge from hiding within 45 to 90 minutes.

Laundry Cycle

You do not need to stop here. After driving the bed bugs out of their hiding places, take the process a step further by eradicating the insects. However, this process will only work with infested bed linen, hand towels, washcloths, drapery, clothing, stuffed animals, and other machine-washable fabric.

Place the infested items in the washer, select the maximum temperature setting, and full wash cycle. Repeat these steps, utilizing the dryer to complete the process.

Adhesive Traps

Installing traps throughout your home will speed up the extermination process. As the insects come out of hiding, they will get stuck in the glue and eventually perish. Adhesive bed bug traps are extremely affordable and accessible. For a few dollars, you can capture and eradicate hundreds of these insects with a single glue trap.

To maximize the effectiveness of this treatment, strategically place the traps in suspicious areas.