How Can You Make Bed Bug Treatment More Effective?
Finding bed bugs in your home can be very alarming. These little pests are notoriously difficult to get rid of. Your best bet is to call in a professional pest control company and let them take the reins as far as treatment goes. However, there are a few things you can do to ensure that the treatment is as effective as possible.
Tidy things up.
It is a myth that bed bugs only infest dirty homes. They are equally as happy to live in clean, well-kept homes. However, they do thrive in cluttered spaces. If there is a lot of clutter on the floor, the pesticides or heat treatment that your pest control company uses may not penetrate that clutter and kill any bugs within it. You don't want to give bugs any place to hide, so spend some time picking everything up off the floor. Don't leave any large stacks of boxes, piles of clothing, or bags of items sitting around.
Do the laundry.
Wash everything — especially items that you picked up off the floor. Launder your clothing in hot water, and dry it in the dryer on high heat. Sadly, this might shrink some of your items, but heat is the best way to kill bed bugs. After your clothing and other washable items are clean, bag them up in some big garbage bags, and don't put them away or back in their places until after the pest control company has treated your home.
Have the whole home treated.
You might be tempted to just have the bedroom treated or a couple of bedrooms treated if those are the only spaces where you have seen bed bugs. But sadly, this approach is not always so effective. If there are even a couple of bed bugs hanging out in the living room or kitchen (they can hide in sofas and even in rugs), they could re-populate your home within weeks of treatment. Even though it is more expensive, it is best to just have your whole home treated from the get-go. This will hopefully keep you from having to invite the pest control company back a couple of weeks down the road.
If you follow the tips above, you're more likely to get rid of the bed bugs with the first round of treatment. Reach out to a pest control company near you to learn more about bed bug treatments.