Bed Bugs on Mattress? The Best Bed Bug Treatments to Get Rid of Bed Bugs

If you’ve seen bed bugs on your mattress, you’ve got many things running through your mind. At first, you may wonder how they got there, but ultimately, you want to find the best bed bug treatments to remove them permanently and fast.

There are plenty of bed bug treatments out there. Most of them require you to do some preparation to your home. You should be aware that professional exterminators are the top choice for removal because they have the right tools and knowledge. It’s not impossible to do it yourself, but it can take much longer.

How Do Bed Bugs Get into the Home?

The first thing you want to know is how these pesky bugs got there in the first place. In the past, people believed it was a sign of poor housekeeping, but this isn’t true. Even the cleanest homes can have a bed bug infestation if conditions are right.

Bed bugs are incredibly small, so they can easily hitch a ride from somewhere else. There are many ways this can happen, but the most common instances include:

• Hiding in used furniture bought/freely taken from thrift stores and yard/garage sales
• Coming from other infested units of an apartment or hotel
• Hiding in your purse or on your clothing from an infested home

Therefore, if you stayed at a hotel recently or live in an apartment building and notice bed bugs, it could have come from the units close to you. It’s also possible for someone to visit who has bed bugs and give them to you.

Ultimately, there isn’t much you can do about visitors and apartment buildings. However, you can leave your luggage outside and go through it before taking it into the house if you suspect the hotel had bed bugs. Even so, it’s possible to miss them because they’re so small.

Preparation To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs

If you know you have bed bugs, there are certain things you should and shouldn’t do. Don’t remove all of your clothes and have them washed. You risk transferring the bugs to your vehicle. It’s best to leave everything there and focus on removing the bed bugs first.

One thing you can do is buy and use bed bug mattress covers. If there are bed bugs in the mattress, it is going to seal them in so that they can’t get out and bite you. With time, they die. It doesn’t prevent new bed bugs from crawling up and biting you, but it can protect your mattress so that it can be reused later.

Though you’re going to be tempted, don’t sleep on the couch or floor in another room. During the treatment process, you have to suffer so that the bed bugs don’t move with you. That keeps them contained in one area, making it easier to treat them and remove them.

If you do plan to get a different mattress, it’s still a good idea to invest in bed bug mattress covers. Wait until the infestation is gone before buying new furniture and bedding.

Bed Bug Treatments

Those who have bed bugs and live in an apartment complex should tell the property owner or manager. It’s likely that you aren’t the only one suffering, and it might fall to him or her to pay for professional treatment. Plus, everyone needs to be coordinated to control the situation.

Pesticides can be used to kill bed bugs, but you need other bed bug treatments too. Many commercially-available pesticides are good at moderately controlling the pests. Most bug bombs are ineffective, but they can be used with pesticides. Ultimately, they can get the ones that are exposed, but they can’t bring out bed bugs that are hidden in crevices and cracks, baseboards, and under carpet edging.

To make sure bed bug treatments are effective, make sure that you inspect every room for signs of bed bugs. If it seems that the infestation is only in the bedroom, don’t move anything out yet. 

Start by vacuuming the box springs and mattress, and then encase them in bed bug mattress covers. Put your bedding in a double trash bag and wash it in the hottest water possible. Dry it for 30 or more minutes on the hottest setting you have. Throw away both bags and put the clean, bug-free items into two clean bags.

Vacuum the entire room. When you’re finished, take the entire thing outside, and throw away the bag inside.

You now have to kill the bed bugs on the headboard and frame. Vacuuming is a good place to start, but it isn’t enough. Consider buying special bed bug dust products, and treat all the crevices and voids. 

It’s best to isolate the bed from other areas. Use a bed frame and ensure that you have plastic lids under each of the legs. That way, the bed isn’t touching the floor. Also, pull it away from any furniture and the walls. Make it as hard as possible for the bugs to get onto your bed.

Move all the furniture to one side of your room. As you treat each piece of furniture, move it to the other side. Get all of your clothes out and double-bag them. You should also double-bag personal items, including electronics, books, toys, and anything else that could be a hiding place. 

Use your pesticides and dust to systematically treat the room. This includes the crevices and cracks around the windows, outlets, posters, clocks, pictures, baseboards, carpet edges, and more. 

Once it’s all treated, you can start going through the bagged items. Inspect them thoroughly for bugs. If there aren’t any, you can move them to another area of the house (in the bags). As you treat things, move them to the other side.

Conclusion

Bed bug treatments can be very effective, but it takes a lot of time and effort. You may also have to re-treat the area once more. If you’ve already done two DIY bed bug treatments and still have these pests, it might be best to call a professional bed bug exterminator. Otherwise, just take your time and be patient. Be as thorough as possible to get rid of these pesky bugs.

If you’re looking for the right team to handle the issue for you, Synergy² is here to help. We provide trusted services throughout the area, so contact us for the best pest control services around.