How to Get Rid of a Bed Bug Infestation

Say Bye-Bye to Bed Bugs

If you’ve found yourself dealing with bed bugs, you don’t need to panic.  However, you do need to act quickly.  There are a series of steps that you can take to get rid of these pests and protect yourself from future infestations.  At Junk Pros NY, we know a thing or two about bed bugs.  DIY bed bug removal isn’t difficult if you know what needs to be done.  We’ve laid out exactly how to take care of the issue in the following guide:

Steps to Removing Bed Bugs

  1. Determine where all the infested areas are.  The first thing you should do is locate the areas in your home that have been affected by bed bugs.  Be careful not to bring bed bugs with you to unaffected rooms.  Bed bugs like to hide in small areas, such as the seams of your mattress, cracks in your bed frame, cracks in your wallpaper or baseboards, carpet fibers, and many other areas.  Although difficult, try to examine areas such as these where bed bugs might be hiding.  Signs of bed bugs include:
    1. Sightings of live bugs (obviously)
    2. Bed bug droppings, which are dark spots about the size of a period in a document
    3. Small red stains where you may have unknowingly squished a bed bug
  2. Kill as many existing bed bugs as you can.  One way to do this is by washing and drying your affected sheets, linens, and clothing.  Heat kills bed bugs, so even if you can’t wash your items, putting them in the dryer will be helpful all on its own.  This is a great start to eradicating these pests.  This should be your first line of defense when tackling a bed bug infestation.  This is a good non-chemical method to start your DIY bed bug removal, before bringing harsh chemicals into your home.  You can use a steamer to heat-treat furniture and your mattress while you wash and dry your fabrics.  Vacuuming these areas is a good idea, too. To kill the bugs that may have infested the items in your room, you can toss everything in tightly sealed garbage bags and wait until the bed bugs are dead.  This method is much quicker and more effective during the hot summer months.  It could take several months for bed bugs to die off in sealed bags during the cooler months.
  3. Limit your clutter.  To really stop the spread of bed bugs, you may need to throw out as much clutter from the affected room as you can.  A cluttered room, especially if there are lots of items on the floor, is much more difficult to rid of bed bugs.  So, as you’re bagging up important items, consider trashing some as well.  When disposing of items that have been affected by bed bugs, don’t let the bugs infest more areas.  Seal the garbage bags before you step foot outside of the infested room.
  4. Turn the room into an inhospitable environment.  Now that you’ve gotten rid of as many bed bugs as you can find, it’s a good idea to make your room an unwelcoming environment for any bed bugs that linger.  Consider buying a bedbug-proof mattress cover to trap and kill any remaining bed bugs and prevent any more from making a home in your bed.  Additionally, pull all of your furniture away from the walls so bed bugs can’t use your furniture as a highway to explore the rest of your room.  Isolation is key.
  5. Consider chemical treatments.  If you still have bed bugs after going through the previous steps, you need to consider involving chemical treatments to get rid of the problem.  There are a variety of insecticides specially formulated to exterminate bed bugs.  There are other products, such as foggers and bug bombs, that need to be used very carefully.
  6. Involve the professionals if needed.  If your bed bugs are being persistent or you don’t feel comfortable using a chemical approach yourself, you can hire an exterminator who knows exactly what they’re doing.  The professionals also have the perk of being able to access stronger chemicals that work better.  They can also perform whole-room heat treatments to kill the bed bugs that way.

Keep Them Gone!

Now that your bed bugs are gone thanks to your DIY bed bug removal, you want to make sure you are regularly inspecting the infested room to keep it that way.  Continue to monitor the area to ensure they are, in fact, really gone.  Regularly wash your sheets and keep your room free of clutter, if possible.  Vacuum and steam carpets, mattresses, curtains, and furniture on a regular basis.  Clean baseboards and outlets and fill in any cracks around these areas or on the walls.  This takes away common bed bug hiding places.  If any bed bug activity surfaces once again, repeat these steps or ask an exterminator how to take care of the issue for good.  For junk removal related to bed bugs, give Junk Pros NY a call to discuss your needs.