FIGHT BEDBUGS YOURSELF – SEVEN TIPS
One of the insects you don’t like to have in your house is the bed bug. It is a six-legged insect that, when you sleep, sucks up your blood. The bites cause itching for hours. They mainly come from Asia and are on the rise in the Netherlands. This is due to the increased number of travel movements in recent years.
Fortunately, you can take various measures yourself to avoid and combat bedbugs. Below we give you a number of tips.
TIP 1: HOW WHAT I know I can do with bedbugs
When you have to deal with small itchy wounds on your skin, you are dealing with the bedbug. The bedbug causes several bites per square centimetre and therefore bites. You won’t see a bedbug easily because it hides in very small, narrow crevices. Other indications of bedbugs are small sheets, bloodstains or black spots (stools) on your bedding.
TIP 2: WAS BEDDENGOED ON HIGH TEMPERATURE
The worst enemy of bedbugs is high temperature. One of the places where the bedbug is most often spotted is the bedroom. Therefore take off the bedding and put it in a large (rubbish) bag. Siphon the bedding from the bag directly into the washing machine and select a programme with a minimum temperature of 60 degrees or higher and a minimum duration of 90 minutes. The high temperatures will kill the bedbugs at all stages of development.
The same applies, of course, to nightwear such as pyjamas.
Keep in mind, however, that you cannot kill all bedbugs with this approach. In cracks of the bed frame, seams of the mattress, floor covering and behind skirting boards, bedbugs may still be left behind.
TIP 3: Dust vacuuming, Dust vacuuming and NOW Dust vacuuming
A simple way to combat bedbugs is vacuum cleaning. In addition, your house will be instantly cleaned up.
Proceed thoroughly and vacuum extra carefully in places where bedbugs like to stay, such as near walls and under furniture. Use small attachments for hard to reach areas such as seams on the bed frame or mattress. After vacuuming, only empty the hoover outdoors and dispose of the vacuum bag in the waste container. If you do not do this, there is a chance that the sucked up bedbugs will return to the house.
As with washing bedding at high temperatures, vacuuming can reduce bedbugs, but not completely remove them. They hide in all kinds of small holes and cracks.
TIP 4: IMMETTINGSALCOHOL
A popular home remedy that can be used against bedbugs is disinfectant alcohol. This is available at the chemist’s. Pour the contents of the bottle into a vaporizer and apply it on the bed frame and under furniture and on any floor covering.
The caustic effect not only kills the bedbugs but also repels them.
TIP 5: steaming
Steam can be used to detect an incipient bedbug infestation and nip it in the bud. This can be done, for example, with a steam cleaner, which you can hire especially for this purpose. This also has the advantage that your floor covering and mattress will be wonderfully clean.
TIP 6: COFFERS
When you return from a well-deserved holiday abroad, especially in Asia, do not unpack your suitcases and bags on your bed. This will prevent you from introducing possible “stowaways” in your bedroom. After all, if you have accidentally brought them along as a souvenir, they will spread rapidly behind wallpaper, skirting boards and sockets or your bed. They can easily survive because they can live for up to 35 weeks without food.
TIP 7: Leave it at PROFESSIONAL
If the above tips have not helped enough, it is best to call in a professional pest controller. Then you are assured of success. A professional pest exterminator will, in consultation with you, control the bedbugs by means of a chemical treatment or heat treatment.
