Bothered By Bed Bugs? Here Are Some Tips For Getting Rid Of Your Infestation

Bed bugs are more annoying than most other household pests because they seek you out for food. They dine on your blood and leave behind itchy welts. They're small bugs and excellent at hiding, so they are extremely difficult to hunt down and kill. In fact, it may take you quite a while to figure out what is causing your itchy bites. You may think you're dealing with mosquitoes or fleas instead. Once you figure out you have bed bugs, you need to act fast to get rid of them before they multiply and take over your bedroom. Here's what you need to do.

Call An Exterminator

There are several DIY products on the market for dealing with bed bugs since they have become such a common pest. However, these are generally not nearly as effective as hiring an exterminator. Messing around with over-the-counter pesticides can give the infestation a chance to grow larger.

Remember, the bugs are fairly small and they like to squeeze into tight places to hide. They could be in crevices in your baseboards, behind wallpaper, in the seams of your mattress, in cracks of your bed frame, or even inside your clock radio. It may take a professional to find all their hiding places.

Also, professional exterminators have access to pesticides stronger than what you can buy over the counter. Plus, they have commercial equipment for heat or steam treatments that are much more effective than what you can do on your own.

Get Rid Of Clutter

It takes a combined effort to get rid of bed bugs. You have to do your part too. One of the most important steps is to get rid of clutter. The more clutter you have, especially in your bedroom, the more hiding places there are for bed bugs. They could burrow deep into magazines or piles of clothes and hide from pesticide treatment.

Vacuum Thoroughly

Vacuuming is a great way to get rid of bed bugs. You won't be able to get rid of them all that way, but you can greatly reduce their numbers. Use the crevice attachment on your vacuum cleaner to suck bugs out of your bed frame and mattress. Run the vacuum along the baseboards and carpet. Vacuum daily if you can until your bed bug infestation is under control. You may get by with vacuuming your bedroom only if the bugs haven't spread into other rooms in your home yet.

Seal Your Mattress

If you have a bed bug infestation already, there is a good chance you have bugs in your mattress. They tend to live in your mattress so they will be close to you when they wake up at night to feed on your blood. Buy mattress covers that zip, so your mattress is fully encased, and be sure they are intended for bed bug control. Bed bugs can go for a year without eating, so you'll need to keep the mattress sealed during that whole time or the bugs may start attacking you again.

Even when you hire an exterminator, it may take a while to fully eradicate your infestation. It may take a combination of treatments applied multiple times to get rid of these very annoying pests.