Bed bugs are major problems for homeowners across the country. Because they easily migrate from other locations, bed bugs can quickly infest your home and even spread out to different areas!
We know you want bed bugs gone fast, but DIY solutions like killing bed bugs with heat yourself aren’t always the best option for eliminating these pests.
Keep reading to learn more about how heat impacts bed bugs and why you should leave these alternatives to the professionals.
How Bed Bug Infestations Start
Ants and wasps may invade from their outdoor colonies, but bed bugs can only overrun your home from previously infested spots. They can’t crawl in from the outside as they must always live indoors by humans to survive.
Many homeowners report bed bug sightings after an extended stay in a hotel or motel. Because guests frequently cycle through each room, bed bugs can either hitch a ride with an unlucky person or become introduced through luggage and clothing.
However, bed bugs can reside in about any location. Office buildings, schools, vacation homes, and hospitals can house these tiny pests. Plus, secondhand or thrift-store items like clothing, furniture, or toys may even hide bed bugs.
Bed bug infestations only begin following their introduction into your home. These pests will flourish after they start to overrun your home, whether introduced from infested items, personal belongings, or people with active infestations.
They don’t mind waiting, either. Bed bugs can go weeks without food, with some surviving months away from regular access to blood. Because of their resilient nature, bed bugs may stick around and continue to grow without accurate pest control methods.
Killing Bed Bugs with Heat Yourself: Is It Safe?
A bed bug infestation is no joke. These tiny bugs will creep through your rooms during the night, biting your skin and leaving behind a mess on your sheets. While they don’t spread diseases, these pests can still cause undue stress and nights of lost sleep.
Besides pesticide products, heat treatments are often one of the most effective methods to eliminate a bed bug infestation. While these pests are hard to beat, they stand no chance against targeted heat treatments.
Bed bugs can’t handle the heat and swiftly perish when exposed to temperatures of over 113° F. Using specialized machines capable of reaching these high temperatures, pest professionals rid your home of these difficult bugs.
However, is killing bed bugs with heat yourself an option?
While DIY options for many common household pests are popular, they aren’t always the best solution for your specific pest problem. Without comprehensive methods, insects and other pests can quickly return and infest your home again.
Unfortunately, you can’t attempt a heat treatment without specialized equipment. It’s easy enough to turn on your thermostat, but you won’t remove any bed bugs by running up your electricity bill.
Many pest professionals have access to these products and can safely treat your home without causing structural or home damage. Because of the associated dangers, you should never attempt to eliminate bed bugs with this method.
You should instead rely on trusted professionals who are trained with this equipment and understand how to best protect you and your home against the extreme heat. No one wants to melt their precious belongings!
When in doubt, give trusted pest professionals like Innovated Pest Solutions a call to eliminate the bed bugs in your home! Our trained technicians can swiftly remove any tough infestation.
Other Alternatives for Bed Bug Removal
Killing bed bugs with heat yourself isn’t the best choice to eliminate the insects in your bedroom, but there are other solutions you can try to remedy small-scale infestations.
Heat is still an option for clothing, sheets, stuffed toys, or cushions. You can’t safely heat an entire room on your own, but your household dryer can swiftly remove any pesky, lingering bugs that bed down in your possessions.
Toss any small infested items in your dryer and turn it on to the highest setting, but avoid heating anything that will quickly ruin or shrink. After an hour or two of the heat, you should be able to use your items with no insects hiding within.
Following your at-home bed bug treatment, avoid placing these objects back in the room where the bed bugs reside. These sneaky critters can easily crawl into your treated possessions again!
If you’re uninterested in using heat to remove the bed bugs infesting your property, try using cold temperatures to keep their ranks at bay. Heat can quickly eliminate scores of bed bugs, but below-freezing temperatures can do the trick too.
We don’t recommend turning your thermostat down to beat the bugs, but there are other ways to use a quick chill to solve your problems.
Place infested clothing or other fabric objects in freezer-safe plastic bags or containers. It doesn’t matter what you use; just opt for something that keeps the insects off the food in your freezer.
You’ll need sufficiently cold temperatures to make a difference in the bed bug populations. Your average freezer settings often won’t make the cut and eliminate the pests locked inside.
To get rid of the bed bugs inside your fridge, make your freezer maintain a below-freezing temperature over multiple days. Often, temperatures of zero degrees can quickly remove the pests, but keeping it colder can remedy your problem quicker.
Of course, a few days next to your frozen goods won’t make much of a difference if you have a large-scale infestation. This option is helpful to eliminate any lingering pests stuck to your fabric items.
Bed Bugs & Heat: Always Trust the Professionals
Killing bed bugs with heat yourself isn’t safe and may not be an effective use of your time and money. For accurate bed bug removal, you should always turn to a trusted pest control agency like Innovative Pest Services to get the job done correctly.
Contact us today to schedule an appointment!
