How to Remove Bedbugs

Ever wondered why you wake up sometimes with rows of red itchy bites, especially on your face, neck, or shoulders, it can be from those nasty little critters called bedbugs.

Bedbugs are small, oval, brownish insects that survive on the blood of humans or animals. Adult bedbugs have flat bodies however after feeding their bodies swell and become a reddish colour.

Bedbugs cannot fly but they move quickly over floors, walls, and ceilings. The female bedbugs can lay hundreds of eggs, and each egg is about the size of a speck of dust.

Immature bedbugs also called nymphs, must shed their skins five times before they reach maturity and are required to feast on a meal of blood before each shedding. These little bugs can develop fully in as little as a month and can produce three or more generations per year.

Hiding Places

It is easy for bedbugs to enter your home undetected as their flat bodies can fit into any tiny space. You can bring these little bugs in through clothing, luggage, used beds, and various other items. Unlike ants or bees, bedbugs do not have nests, but they do tend to hide in groups. Bedbugs will typically hide close to their meal, which is in mattresses, bed frames and headboards.

Biting Bedbugs

Bedbugs come out of hiding mainly at night and bite while you are asleep. By piercing the skin and withdrawing blood through an elongated beak. These bugs can feed anything from three to 10 minutes until full and then crawl away unnoticed.

Bites are usually painless but can turn into itchy welts. These bites are unlike flea bites that are mainly around the ankles, bedbugs will bite anywhere on exposed skin.

Infestation Signs

You know you have bedbugs when you wake up with itchy areas you did not have when you went to sleep. Here are other signs to look out for indicating that you might have an infestation.

• Finding blood stains or dark rusty spots on your sheets, pillowcases, clothes, walls, or mattresses.
• There may be faecal spots, egg shells, or shed skins in areas where bedbugs hide.
• Smelling a musty odour from the bugs’ scent glands.

If you suspect that you might have an infestation of bedbugs, it is recommended to properly examine your mattress, bed frame, headboard, and linen. Check around your bed, in your cupboard, clothes, books and carpets, you can even check inside your electrical outlets.

If you find any signs of infestation you should take immediate steps to get rid of the bugs and prevent them from returning.

Treatments

Start by washing all your linen, curtains and clothes in hot water and dry them on the highest dryer setting. Things that cannot be washed should be placed in the dryer on the highest heat setting or place the items outside in the sun to bake.

Scrub your mattress seams with a hard brush and then vacuum the whole mattress to rid it of the bugs and eggs. Once done, make sure to throw away the vacuum bag. Once you’ve cleaned your mattress thoroughly, place it into a tightly woven zipper cover. Bedbugs can live up to a year without feeding so keep your cover on for as long, this will prevent those critters from returning or escaping.

At the same time repair any cracks or holes, remove clutter, and do a good spring clean. Don’t purchase a new mattress until you have removed any traces of these little bugs.

If you still have a bug problem after all of that, best to call the exterminator.