6 Steps to Getting Rid of Bed Bugs in Your Mattress
If you’re opting to DIY your bed bug extermination, keep in mind that you may need to go through the process several times. While bed bugs don’t carry any diseases, you’ll want to be thorough as they reproduce quickly. This can be long and tedious, while also lacking effectiveness for large infestations — in which case it would be necessary to call in professional exterminators.
1: Launder Your Linens
Your first step is to wash everything you possibly can, which includes cleaning your mattress. Wash your pillows, pillowcases, sheets, and anything else you think your little friends may be hiding in. Use rubber gloves to put these items in a trash bag for transporting to your laundry room or the laundromat.
Avoid using your laundry basket to move your bedding from room to room. Using your regular basket gives the bed bugs a chance to make it back to your bedroom, or worse — other places in your house. Instead, use a garbage bag and throw it in an outside trash can when you’re finished.
Since you shouldn’t use insecticide on your bedding or clothes, using hot water in the wash is the next best thing. While hot water on certain items may not be the best, use it on whatever you can.
- Vacuum and Repeat
Once your bedding is in the wash and out of the way, vacuum your bedroom. Avoid using the brush attachment as the bugs can hide away in the bristles. Instead, use the hose. Be sure to vacuum the small crevices in your mattress and other places around the room, particularly by the bed.
Be thorough and repeat several times. Dump the vacuum’s contents in an outside garbage and clean the container so the bugs within won’t have a free ride back inside.
- Take Your Bed Frame Apart
To dive in deeper, take your bed frame apart, if it can be done, and clean every inch of it. Bed bugs can hide in the smallest of places, so it’s worth the effort to get rid of them. Use a magnifying glass and flashlight to see inside crevices and get a better look. If you have a wood bed frame and find any cracks, consider sealing them to prevent bed bugs from using them as a hiding spot. - Use Insecticides That are Safe for Your Mattress
Before using an aerosol spray, ensure you have good ventilation in the room and have read and understood the directions on the container. Also, be sure you have insecticide specific for mattresses, rather than a general-purpose aerosol. You can then spray the insecticide on the infestation site and any other furniture around the room.
The best way to get rid of live bed bugs instantly is to spray them with an insecticide. Most of these sprays kill bed bugs on the spot. However, once the solution has dried, there’s no guarantee it will still kill the remaining bugs that come across it. Likewise, some ingredients in certain insecticides allow bed bug eggs to hatch, but the chemicals kill them shortly after. Other ingredients are almost completely ineffective for preventing the egg from hatching and killing the bug once it has. Do your research beforehand to know what will be most effective for killing both bed bugs and their unhatched eggs.
You’ll also want to be wary of spraying the insecticide too much around your sleeping area, as it does contain harmful chemicals. Many insecticides will recommend leaving the room and closing the door and windows for about 15 minutes before re-entering and opening the windows for ventilation.
- Steam Your Mattress
For steaming to effectively get rid of bed bugs, it needs to reach a temperature of 120 degrees or higher. Because most people don’t have steamers at home with this kind of strength, it isn’t the best method for getting bed bugs out of a mattress — but it can work if you happen to have such a steamer. - Encase Your Mattress and Box Spring in a Cover
If you’ve decided that getting a new mattress is too expensive and DIYing your extermination is too dangerous, consider purchasing a special mattress cover and box spring cover. These highly specialized covers make it virtually impossible for bed bugs to escape. For this method to be most effective, leave the cover on for a year to ensure the bed bugs inside are all dead and are no longer reproducing.
This method is best if the bed bugs are only in your mattress, but it won’t do anything if bed bugs are in your bed frame, nightstand, or anywhere else in the room. Alternatively, you may also want to consider disposing of your mattress and purchasing a new one. Learn more here…
Call Bay Hauling for our Mattress Removal Services!