Bed bug No No’s

4 of the most common mistakes in the control/eradication of bedbugs

As a company that deals exclusively with the eradication of bed bugs our engineers often come across customers who have been misinformed about the most effective treatments. In many cases, this can lead to spreading or even aggravating the insects, making the problem much worse and harder to get rid of.

We have come up with a simple guide to help you avoid making some of these most common mistakes:

1. Wrapping up clothes and bed linens in sealed bin liners or  plastic bags.

Although this can create a physical barrier between you and a small number of the insects, some bugs will survive in these bags –and they can survive for up to 18 months- only to infest your property and start to bite again once the bags are opened at a later date.

2. Throwing away your mattresses.

Although Bedbugs often travel over mattresses, in the vast majority of cases you won’t find harborages in them and so it’s not necessary to spend a lot of time and money on replacing them. Even if a small number of bugs are found in the seams of a mattress, it’s often possible to treat those affected areas with heat or none-residual chemicals. However, mattresses that contain cardboard or wood or have holes in may cause a problem.

3 Turning up the central heating to make all the eggs hatch.

Some pest controllers will advise you to take this approach with the intention of killing all the adult and nymph insects on the day of treatment and hoping there will be no eggs left afterwards. THIS WILL NOT WORK. Raising the temperature will give the bedbugs a boost in energy so that they will breed faster and simply lay more eggs. The only way to deal with all the bedbugs, including eggs and without heat treatment is to use residual pesticides and make sure that once the eggs hatch they have to cross over these pesticides on their way to feed.

4 Flying, Jumping, Living in your skin or on your person.

Being bitten by a parasite, especially a bedbug can be hugely traumatic and cause a great deal of psychological distress. If you are being bitten by an insect in your own home and especially in your own bed it’s easy to become paranoid about them. However bed bugs do not like motion or movement so as soon as they feel it’s safe enough to do so they will scurry away to a crack or crevice.

We will happily pass on any advice.

Please do not hesitate to call us on the number above.