With bed bug infestations on the rise, you might be surprised to find out you have them living with you as well. But that’s no reason to panic. There are easy do it yourself ways to get rid of bed bugs that won’t cost you hundreds of dollars or have exterminators spraying foul smelling pesticides in your home.
What you will need.
Jar of Vaseline
Roll of Duct tape
Fresh Step crystals (will look like a bag of rock salt)
Hammer
Zip lock bags
Double sided Tape or Carpet Tape
Knife
Identifying if you have bed bugs
Bed bugs will leave fecal matter or dried blood droplets on the places they sleep and walk on. To find these small dried droplets of blood you need to take all the bedding off the bed and look in the creases of the mattress, the headboard and underneath the dresser drawers. They hide during the day and are usually active between 11pm and 3am.
You may also find eggs and bed bugs skins on your mattress or headboard. Some people will have rashes or bites where the bed bugs have bitten them.
How to get rid of bed bugs
First thing, wash all the bedding. Use hot water and a hot temperature on the dryer. Heat from the dryer will kill bed bugs. Vacuum the rugs in the bedroom and other rooms you have in your home.
If you have identified bed bugs in your home the next step is to find where they are living and get rid of them. If they are on your mattresses, take the duct tape and using long strips (about 8 inches long) press the tape into the creases of the mattress and pull it off. This will trap any eggs and bed bugs in the tape so you can throw it and them away. You will need to do this to the entire mattress, using each strip of tape only once so you don’t transfer any eggs or bed bugs to other places on the mattress. Move the bed and vacuum the floor where the bed was.
After you are done with the duct tape, open the jar of Vaseline and apply a liberal amount of it to all the legs of the frame of the bed, doesn’t matter if it’s a metal or wooden frame. Vaseline should be applied in each corner of the bed frame to stop any bed bugs from getting off the bed and moving to other parts of your home and to stop any from getting on your bed. Bed bugs cannot walk in Vaseline and will get trapped and die, so check where you put the Vaseline once a week and after you remove any dead bugs, apply more Vaseline.
Use the double sided carpet tape along the frame of the bed where you did not put Vaseline. Also use the double sided or carpet tape along the bottom sides of the mattress, all the way around. The bed bugs will get trapped on the tape and won’t be able to either get up on or off of the mattress. The double sided tape should be cut into 8 inch strips so if you see bed bugs trapped on it you just take that strip off and apply another in its place.
Next you need to get out the zip lock baggies, hammer and Fresh Step crystals cat litter. It must be the crystals cat litter because that’s the only one that contains crystal silica. The crystal silica will get under the cuticles and into the bed bugs and completely dry them out, thus killing them. The Fresh Step Crystals must be crushed down to a fine, fine powder in order to work.
Place a small amount (about ½ cup) of Fresh Step Crystals into a zip Lock Baggie; roll the baggie down to the seam so you get most of the air out of it. Use both the hammer and the rolling pin to crush the Fresh Step Crystals in the baggie. This is actually a lot harder than it sounds because those crystals are very hard. Using both the hammer and the rolling pin will make this job easier. Repeat this step as many times as you need to make enough powder.
Once the Fresh Step Crystals have been crushed into a very fine powder, you will need to take small handfuls and rub it into the creases of the mattress, under the mattress, under the bed, and along all the walls near the floor. Also open all electrical outlets and carefully spoon a small amount into those spaces making sure not to get any inside the actual openings of the outlets. Do not place the powder on top of the mattress other than in the creases of the mattress around the rim. It can cause breathing problems, skin irritation and can be uncomfortable to sleep on even under a sheet if you have any lumps in the powder.
Next, turn the box springs on its side so you can see the underside of it. Take the knife and slice into the material covering the underside of the box spring. Take small handfuls of the powder and throw it into that space. Then take the double sided tape and place tape around the inside of the box Spring. Take your duct tape and tape up the hole you made to the material covering the underside of the box spring and put the box spring back on the frame.
Place the mattress on the box spring and rub the powder into all the creases around the outside of the mattress. Put your clean sheets back on the bed and bag up all the tape you used on the mattress and take it right out to the trash. Empty your vacuum bag and take that right outside to the trash and then clean your vacuum.
Keep checking on the double sided tape and where you put the Vaseline. You should stop seeing bed bugs after about two weeks. The Silica gel powder should last up to 6 months and you can either replace it or just vacuum it up. I know this will work because I had a friend that used this method and after two weeks she was rid of the bed bugs.
Sleep Tight, Don’t let the bed bugs bite!”
Sources:
http://www.sofadogbed.com/bed-bug-powder-four-cheap-powders-to-end-the-nightmare.html
