Sleep Tight Bed Bugs
Sleep tight Bed Bugs
This article is written to help you with the natural way to control and remove bed bugs and not the standard chemical methods, therefore I am not mentioning any chemical methods here.
Diagnosis of a bedbug infestation in your home is difficult, since bedbugs are active primarily at night. If you have signs or symptoms, immediately inspect your home for insects.
Thoroughly examine crevices in walls, mattresses and furniture. You may need to perform your inspection at night when bedbugs are active. Use a magnifying glass and a flash light to better spot them with. There are companies that use dogs to sniff em out.
See Dog Power Contacts under Resources at end of this article
Factors that can increase bedbug infestation:
Climate.
Bedbugs really love tropical wet areas, although they can be found in all climates and in all types of homes.
Housing.
Infestation is possible any where the proper growth conditions are met. Steam clean once a month: A living Host, warmth and moisture.
Living with pets.
Cats and dogs can carry bedbugs into the home. Give your dog a bath and give your cat a good flea combing. Dip flea comb into alcohol and see if you see any in the liquid. Steam Clean all pet bedding once a month. Use the Ultimate flea trap to catch and monitor any insects. Check their hiding places and steam clean it.
Check list
Check the mattress as well as the box spring (steam clean everything).
Take every thing out of the drawers, dressers, etc., and Dry Vapor Steam clean everything as you go. Dismantling bed frames will expose any bugs hiding.
Clean up the garage, throw away anything you haven't used in a few years, steam clean what you keep then steam clean the whole garage.
Check and steam clean the baseboards
Check cracks in the bed supports such as frame, head board, any wooden structure that supports it and steam clean it.
Check the underside of chairs, couches, beds, furniture , any other equipment and steam clean it
Check upholstered furniture cushions, and steam clean it
Check underneath area of rugs and carpets, steam clean it.
Check and steam clean drapery, curtains
Check any clothing you haven't used in a year, throw away or steam clean and then wash in hot water or send to cleaners.
Check and steam clean your car inside and under neath it.
Check and steam clean all doors, windows
Check behind all electrical switch plates, remove and steam clean it. Do not attempt to steam clean any electrical outlets.
Check wallpaper, paintings, posters, etc and steam clean.
Check and steam clean all cracks in walls and repair
Check and steam clean telephones, radios, clocks
Vacuum several times per week and dispose of bags
Dry Vapor Steam Clean and then wash all of your sheets, clothing, pet beds etc in hot water at least 97 F (36 C). add a few drops of any essential oil you like most like peppermint or lavender to the wash. Change linens once a week. Steam clean regularly to make sure.
Steam with a good dry vapor steam cleaner.
Steam and vacuum everything and and empty or dispose of the vacuum bags in plastic bags, sealed.
Essential Oil sprays such as cinnamon, citronella, lavender etc, should be used around cracks and crevices in your home and then repair them. Just add 2 drops per quart water. A good spray is natural citrus cleaner like OTKO. This will kill the eggs on contact as well as adults. Use at full strength in a sprayer.
Reduce hiding places of bed bugs by thoroughly steam cleaning all rooms then vacuum afterwards to remove any eggs.
Ward off bites by wearing clothes misted with your favorite essential oil.
Apply a small amount on to your hands and rub on exposed skin. Make sure you are not allergic to essential oils first.
Wash clothing using an essential oil like lavender or citronella by adding 1/4 oz in the wash.+ Inspect antiques and other secondhand furniture thoroughly before bringing them into your home. Steam clean and allow to dry.
Employ the regular services of a professional steam cleaner.
Use bed netting's sprayed with essential oils to keep off pests.
Inspect any room you're about to use while traveling for obvious signs.
Check your luggage after trips for insects that might have hitched a ride. Better yet steam clean before entering home if you know you came from an infested home or country.
Vacuum around the home at least once or twice a week, paying attention to areas under bed and furniture. I would Steam Clean the area first and then vacuum.
Steam clean or discard any old furniture, including bed frames and mattresses. Use steam and or essential oil sprays around cracks and crevices in your home.
Scrub between steaming infested surfaces with a stiff brush to dislodge eggs, and use a vacuum to remove bed bugs between cracks and crevices after you first steam it for about 5 to 10 min.
Allow everything to dry as steam many cause molding.
Learn to use citrus oil to control molding. Try OTKO
Mattresses and box springs should be covered with a special mattress cover. Once they are installed, inspect the covers to ensure they are undamaged; if any holes or tears are found, seal these completely with duck tape or other tape. Any bugs trapped within these sealed covers will die.
Caulk and seal all holes where pipes and wires penetrate walls and floor, and fill cracks around baseboards and cove moldings to further reduce infestation but steam it first before you do any repairs.
I suggest you contact a licensed pest control operator who is knowledgeable and experienced in managing bed bug infestations thru the dry vapor steam method.
What are you looking for?
blood stains
Insect excrement
intense, sweet odor coming from the bedbugs' oil secretions.
Here is where a good trained dog comes in handy. Hire a trained dog expert to determine if you do indeed have these bed bugs. They have a great nose for this and are usually 99% correct.
+Is IT Bed Bugs?
Specimens should be collected into small break-resistant plastic pill bottle. They may also be secured to a sheet of white paper using clear packaging tape. These containers should be packaged carefully to prevent damage/crushing, and be sent to a knowledgeable expert for positive identification. Here is a form that may be downloaded and printed for this purpose.
www.hsph.harvard.edu/bedbugs/specimen.pdf
HOT HOT
Steam is hot enough to burn you and steaming has the danger of vaporization of essential oils or any thing natural added, and it can also cause mold growth if over used.
You can add essential oil or citrus oil to the steam but be careful not to breath it in. Use only 2 drops per gallon water.
You can steam furniture, floors, baseboards, walls, ceiling, etc. Careful around plastics as the heat may melt it.
Do not steam electrical outlets.
You should wear a respirator since steam is going to vaporize any thing added besides water and it will also vaporize anything that is on any surfaces, pesticide or household cleaning products., or what ever is on it.
What to look for in a Dry Vapor Steam machine:
Dry Vapor Steam
Heat at the tip is over 200F degrees.
Water chamber must carry 1 to 2 gallons water.
Length of cord to work with.
Warranty on the machine.
VACUUM
Vacuuming is one of the most effective way to remove bed bugs and dirt that provides them with shelter (it works for many other insects, too).
To manage bed bug infestations, it's best to vacuum each area thoroughly, every day.
Vacuum the furniture, the bed frame, the floor, and baseboards.
Key things to look for in a vacuum, Power storage, container size, A decent length of cord, A good warranty on the vacuum.
Using Natural Essential Oils
Not all essential oils are natural. ask questions
Learn to use essential oils to keep the bed bugs from even finding you is a very important part of bed bug control.
Bedbugs HATE LAVENDER OIL, Cinnamon oil and most any other Essential oils
Fill a spray bottle with water and put maybe 4 drops of lavender oil (cinnamon oil works great too) in it.
Lavender is a cheap natural essential oil you can easily get.
Spray it everywhere around the house every day. On the furniture, bedding, around the front door, in the closets. Spray your clothing before you enter the house. Have a bottle of it ready to use out front. Folks can just spray themselves as they enter. Several drops of essential oil in the washing machine with each load of wash is smart too.
Basic Tools
-Insecticidal dusts break down the insect's outer waxy coat and cause the bug to dry out quickly. Garden Grade DE can be used as a dust which will stay permanently when placed in between walls and in attic or basement as long as it does not get wet. Contact insecticides are those that kill the bugs shortly after they come into direct contact with the product or its residue.
Boric Acid can be scrubbed into rugs then vacuumed up. This will control any bed bugs that use the rug. It will also control the eggs if they hatch nearby the boric acid.
-See Essential Oil
You can add a few drop to laundry as well as to the mop water. Add a few drops into a quart sprayer with water. Mist the area several times per day. I would start out with 2 drops per quart but you can go as strong as 1/2 oz per quart. Just remember that it is very powerful stuff and that you should start out slowly as not to get over powered.
-Traps
Sticky traps are a very effective way to monitor you bed bug population and to reduce as well.
I like using Ultimate Flea trap which has a sticky mat onto which a light shines down from above. The light besides giving off light also gets hot which attracts the bed bugs as well as fleas, cockroaches, etc.
RESOURCES
Dog Power Contacts
Bill Whitstine, the Florida Canine Academy in Safety Harbor, Fla.,
Pepe Peruyero, J&K Canine Academy in High Springs, Fla.
Linda DeVelasco, Bed Bug Solutions Inc. in Des Plaines, Ill.
Carl Massicott, Advanced K9 Detectives, New York City
Check out
Bed Bug Patrol http://www.bed-bug.net/index.html
Check out my website for sources f Drp Vapor Machines
yours
andy lopez
Invisible Gardener
Organicdatabank.info
Featured Products
