how to fumigate for bed bugs?

Unfortunately, bed bugs are very common.

In fact, one out of five Americans has had a bed bug infestation in their home or knows someone who has experienced bed bugs either at home or in a hotel.

Here at Smith’s Pest Management, we provide bed bug control services to customers in and around California’s San Francisco Bay Area.

In this post, we’ll share a few of our top tips for getting rid of bed bugs on your own–without an exterminator–and when to call in the pros.

Bed bugs (scientific name cimex lectularius) are small, flat, invasive insects who rely on the blood of sleeping people and animals as their only food source.

Wondering how to identify bed bugs?

These unattractive insects are red-brown in color, and are about 1mm-7mm in length. While they rely on blood to keep them alive, they can go several months between meals.

Since a healthy female bed bug can lay up to 500 eggs in her lifetime, you can wind up with a serious infestation in a matter of just weeks.

Many people believe bed bugs love dirty conditions, and that they’re attracted by filth. This is why many people believe that sleeping in a cheap hotel is a surefire way to get bed bugs.

As it turns out, though, that’s just a common misconception.

Bed bugs are not drawn to dirt or decay. In fact, they can live in any environment, as long as they have access to the one thing they need to survive:

Blood.

Unlike mosquitoes and ticks, which are also blood-eating insects, bed bugs can’t fly or live on their hosts. Instead, they must hide near their food source and wait for a meal to become available to them.

As such, bed bugs are highly adaptable. They can live anywhere from the cushions of a sofa to the carpet of a library, as long as they can access regular blood meals.

If you have bed bugs in your apartment, that’s why!

With that in mind, here are a few main causes of bed bugs:

Bed bugs are tiny–usually no larger than the point of a pen–so it can be hard to spot them at first. If you think you may have a bed bug infestation, keep an eye out for these signs:

While realizing you have bed bugs can be alarming, identifying them is the first step to treating them.

Once you’ve identified a bed bug infestation, it’s time to act. Follow these steps to get rid of the pests:

Since bed bugs multiply quickly, it’s essential to find them before they start to reproduce. With that in mind, inspect the following areas for signs of bed bugs:

Use a flashlight and check each area carefully. Look for tiny dark or rust-colored droppings, live bedbugs, or small pale yellow eggs.

If you find signs of bedbugs in any of these places, you’ll also want to check your nightstand, dresser drawers, and closet.

Once you’ve identified an active bed bug infestation, you have to contain it so it doesn’t spread. One quick and easy way to contain live bed bugs is by sucking them up with your vacuum.

Keep in mind that this will not get rid of the bed bug infestation–it will only pick up live bed bugs.

If there are eggs left behind, they may still hatch and cause a secondary infestation.

Now it’s time to actually get rid of the bed bugs once and for all. Here’s how:

1. Get rid of bed bugs naturally with heat or cold

Temperature is an effective way to get rid of bed bugs in a mattress or other important area.

With that in mind, gather affected bedding or clothing and wash it in very hot water for 30 minutes.

Once the wash cycle is done, dry the items in your dryer on the highest possible heat setting for at least 30 minutes.

Alternately, put affected items in a freezer that is at least 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Leave them there for four days to make sure all bed bugs are dead.

2. Use steam

To kill bed bugs without an exterminator: Use a steamer on mattresses, couches, and other places where bed bugs hide.

3. Cover mattresses

Purchase bed bug-proof covers to place around your mattress and box spring.

When zipped all the way up, these covers will prevent bed bugs from entering, and will kill bed bugs trapped inside.

They also form a protective barrier that prevents the bed bugs from biting you while you sleep.

1. Use an insecticide

If home remedies don’t appeal to you to get rid of bed bugs, you can turn to insecticides. Pyrethrins and pyrethroids are two common insecticides used to kill bed bugs.

As far as pesticides go, these have a relatively low toxicity to pets and people, and are fast-acting.

They also require a low dose to kill insects. The drawback, however, is that some bed bugs are resistant to these chemicals. In that case, you (or your exterminator) may need to use an alternate insecticide, such as pyrroles like chlorfenapyr, or neonicotinoids, which are synthetic versions of nicotine.

2. Use a desiccant

Desiccants  are substances that kill bugs by destroying their protective coating.

Without this coating, the bugs dry out and die.

Two popular desiccants are silica aerogel and diatomaceous earth. Bed bugs cannot become resistant to desiccants, and these substances have a high kill rate.

3. Deploy a bug bomb

What kills bed bugs instantly? Bug bombs.

Foggers and bug bombs both kill bed bugs and are good broadcast solutions.

They are, however, highly toxic to both people and pets, and will require you to vacate your home while they go to work.

Bed bug infestations can take weeks or even months to wipe out.

To make sure your treatment is working, check the infested area once a week for a few months.

If you notice new signs of bedbug activity, treat the area again.

The fastest and most effective way to get rid of bed bugs is to hire a professional exterminator, like Smith’s Pest Management in San Jose, CA.

Our team will evaluate your bed bug infestation and make a plan to remove all bugs and restore the peace and tranquility of your home.

If DIY bed bug control isn’t an option, you can hire a professional exterminator like Smith’s.

Here’s the process our team follows to get rid of bed bugs:

Every pest control job we conduct starts with an inspection and consultation. We first inspect the affected areas of your home and property to locate bed bugs and identify inspections.

Based on that inspection, our techs will develop a management plan to get rid of the bed bugs permanently. We’ll also discuss bed bug treatment costs with you so you can budget for removal.

Next, our pest control experts will get to work actually treating your bed bug infestation. We offer a selection of bed bug treatment options, including the following:

Heat treatment is ideal for large infestations in homes or hotels. These treatments are non-toxic and safe for people and pets, and will  get rid of the entire infestation in just one visit. During heat treatments, we raise the internal temperature of your home to a level that bed bugs cannot survive. This method penetrates walls as well, which means it’s excellent for killing bed bugs in a couch or other hard-to-reach places.

Steam treatment is similar to heat treatment, but it works on a smaller scale. These treatments are a good fit for less extensive infestations, and for customers who want a non-toxic solution.

Chemical treatments are effective for minor infestations that are caught early, or for infestations that require spot treatment. These treatments  often require one to two follow-up visits to eliminate all bed bugs.

We offer preventive products like mattress encasements, which will help you prevent bed bug infestations. When used in conjunction with other methods, preventative methods can help keep your houses bed bug-free.

Adult bed bugs cannot survive professional extermination. Still, it’s important to note that extermination won’t always kill bed bug eggs.

Because of that, we recommend having regular bed bug inspections after the initial extermination treatment.

These inspections will identify newly-hatched bed bugs and provide follow-up treatments, as needed, to eliminate them.

Average bed bug extermination cost varies depending on the method used and the severity of the bedbug infestation.

Generally, customers can expect to pay between $300-$5,000 for a comprehensive bed bug extermination, with the average cost falling around $1,750.

Getting rid of bed bugs is more expensive than getting rid of other pests, like fleas, because bed bugs can live for long periods without food (up to 400 days) and are often difficult to exterminate.

When it comes to pest control, preventing an infestation is always easier than controlling it later.

With that in mind, here are a few ways to keep bed bugs from invading your home:

What makes a bed bug infestation so hard to eradicate is that their living situation is the same as yours. Bed bugs live in couches, beds, suitcases, and clothes. When dealing with a severe bed bug infestation in your home, many people turn to what we call in the pest industries, the nuclear option – fumigation. Specifically, bed bug fumigation.

The bed bug fumigation process works like a termite fumigation: Tent, Inject Gas, Destroy.

Yes, spraying, vacuuming, and steaming may work, although it is difficult to be bed bug free after one treatment if at all.

But what if you didn’t have to douse your home with liquid chemicals to deal with your bed bug problem?

Properly performed bed bug heat treatments leave nowhere for bed bugs to hide, and they often work in just one treatment. Here’s how it works:

Once your pest control specialist confirms your infestation it’s time for the big guns. 500,000 BTU heaters are brought in along with fans and equipment to make sure the heat is evenly distributed throughout your home. The temperature is monitored throughout treatment by temperature sensors to ensure your rooms reach the optimum bed bug killing temperature and stay there throughout treatment.

117°F-125F°F – Lethal for adult bed bugs

The fumigation process starts with tightly sealing the structure or container in question. This can either be done through tenting or taping. Vikane gas is then pumped into the sealed area, where it kills the bed bugs inside.

Bed Bug fumigation is a type of pest control treatment, often used in the most severe cases and infestations. To many, it can sound like an extreme solution for such tiny pests. However, it’s often necessary in order to completely remove bed bugs from a specific location.

Here at Integrum, we’re experts in bed bug control treatments and proofing. Using our extensive knowledge and experience, we’ve put together the Ultimate Guide to Bed Bug Fumigation.

The common bed bug, scientifically referred to as Cimex lectularius, is a tiny insect measuring roughly 4-5mm long when fully grown. They are parasitic creatures, which means they gain their nutrients from a host animal, most commonly sucking blood from humans.

Incredibly, bed bugs are capable of living up to a year without food – they simply lay dormant, waiting for their next host to arrive. Unfortunately, this means it can be challenging to identify their presence on your property – unless you know the telltale bed bug signs to look out for.

As previously mentioned, bed bugs are parasitic creatures that feed off the blood of humans. Bed bugs like to capitalise on their meals when we are asleep – which is also why they have the name bed bugs! When they bite us, they create small lesions all over the skin. These cuts can swell and become itchy, developing into a rash and even more extreme allergic reactions depending on the person.

As well as the harm they can cause to us, another main reason for controlling bed bugs is the rate at which they can reproduce. On average, female bed bugs can lay up to 10 eggs per day and 500 eggs in their lifetime. This means that a small infestation can quickly get out of hand if left untreated.

When it comes to controlling bed bugs, there are several options, although some are much more effective than others. There are natural methods out there, yet their efficacy is somewhat debatable.

Encasements are one option for the home that contains the bed bugs for extended periods to prevent them from spreading. However, they cannot ensure that bed bugs, in all stages of their lives, have been removed. Dormant bed bugs could remain in the mattress and spread to other areas of the home over time.

There are two main types of treatments used for getting rid of bed bugs – chemical treatments and heat treatments. Chemical treatments involve using strong insecticides to kill off bed bugs in all stages of their life. It’s highly effective when performed by a professional pest controller; however, sometimes, it just isn’t enough to eradicate every single bed bug.

In order to successfully kill all bed bugs, the chemicals must come into contact with them. But with their tiny size and ability to lay dormant for months on end, this can be difficult to achieve, which is where heat treatments come in.

Heat treatments work by raising the temperature of the affected areas so high that the bed bugs’ enzymes denature, thereby killing them off. Using a combination of both heat and chemical treatments is the best way to ensure all bed bugs are removed, and no eggs are left behind.

DIY methods and over-the-counter insecticides are rarely effective. While they may appear to be successful at first, eggs and dormant bed bugs will grow and return months later, causing yet another full-blown infestation. Because of this, it’s vital to use the services of a BPCA qualified technician with experience in professional bed bug control treatments.

A common term used for bed bug control treatments is fumigation, but what exactly does it mean? When you hear the term you might be imagining a huge tent completely covering your home, like the image below, right?

However, this is actually how the fumigation process works over in the United States. The whole home is sealed using these non-permeable tarps before powerful toxic gases are pumped around the entire property. Once the process begins, the home is not safe for entry and the homeowners must find alternative accommodation for anywhere between 1 day to a whole week.

Fumigation here in the UK is much less extreme. The US suffers greatly from termites that can quickly and easily take over a whole home, burrowing themselves in the property’s structure. The only way to control termites properly is to undergo this fumigation process demonstrated above. Fortunately, we don’t have termites in the UK meaning we don’t need to use the same procedure.

Although bed bugs are able to move between rooms, they rarely spread across a whole home. The extent of a beg bug infestation is nowhere near the severity of termite infestations, which means less intrusive treatment methods are required.

The term fumigation, when used in the UK, actually refers to professional chemical treatments. Strong insecticides, specifically for bed bugs, are typically sprayed around the target area or combined with foggers to generate smoke. The exact method used may vary from infestation to infestation as it depends on the type of area that’s infested. Some treatments may not be appropriate for specific locations, but they all work to eradicate bed bugs in all stages of their lives.

Our method of getting rid of bed bugs is much more effective and less disruptive than the US alternative, plus there’s no need to leave your home for a week – instead, you will only need to leave the infested room for a couple of hours before getting back to life as usual.

The time needed for the fumigation process ultimately depends on two factors: how big the property is and how severe the bed bug infestation is. Typically our bed bug treatments are completed within the space of a couple of hours, and always within the same day, allowing you to get back to normal in your bed bug-free home as soon as possible.

Before the process begins, your pest control technician will discuss the timeframe of the whole treatment with you, and let you know when everything is safe and sound.

Fumigation is not always necessary for the control of bed bugs. Sometimes insects bombs and spray treatments are enough to kill off the infestation without the need for a full fumigation treatment.

Heat treatments are also effective but can only be carried out by specialists with the required equipment. Nevertheless, using heat can be beneficial when targeting a small area, say one piece of furniture which is infested.

As previously mentioned, most DIY methods and insecticides available to the public are simply not strong enough to fully remove a bed bug infestation.

If you’ve noticed signs of bed bugs in your home, then you need the help of a pest control professional. Here at Integrum, our technicians are fully qualified and have years of experience in bed bug control treatments – including fumigation.

With emergency appointments available for domestic and commercial jobs, our experts will have your London properties bed bug-free in no time.

We know that each pest control problem is unique, which is why we offer surveys and free quotes with no obligations. Contact our friendly team today on 0204 566 5522 for advice on the most appropriate bed bug treatment methods.