Bed bugs are a known problem and cause a lot of issues for numerous amounts of people all over the world. The problem is, once you have bed bugs, they’re extremely difficult to get rid of. However, there are some ingredients that you may actually have laying around the house that you can use to get rid of bed bugs. Some of them are very common and can even be found in your fridge surprisingly.
How Do You Get Bed Bugs?
You have to understand how you get bed bugs in the first place because even if you rid your home of them, they could possibly come back once that annoying smell goes away. There are three common places that you can find bed bugs.
Furniture –
If you have used or old furniture, it could contain bed bugs depending on where you got it from. Under no circumstances should you take furniture from the side of the road, because depending on how long it’s been out there, it could contain a bed bug infestation.
Clothing –
If you don’t wash your clothes regularly or leave them lying around the floor dirty, they’re a natural breeding habitat for bed bugs. Bed bugs love to play in filth and love to breed in areas that aren’t clean.
Bedding –
This is the most common place that you can find bed bugs. The thing about bed bugs is, even in your bedding, you won’t know you have them until you wake up one morning and have bed bug bites. They love bedding because your bedding usually doesn’t move around and it’s a large breeding ground so it makes it easy for them. Why do they love these common areas? They love furniture, clothing and bedding because humans are frequented in them. They need to suck on human blood to live. You heard that right, bed bugs suck on your own blood to survive. They’re most active at night so if you work during the day and sleep at night, you’re most prone to being bit by them.
Driving Them Away With Smell
Is this even possible? Can these microscopic creatures be driven away purely by the smell of something they don’t like? Yes and no. Sometimes the remedies we’re going to list work and sometimes they don’t. Each and every individual case is different. Some people end up washing everything infested in scolding hot water which can work as well but as we said, every individual case is different.
1) Alcohol –
That’s right, alcohol.
There are numerous products on the market you can spray on your bed before going to sleep that contain alcohol that will supposedly irritate their bodies and send them packing. Also, any type of skin care products that you use that contain alcohol can also help. It’s recommended to apply an exaggerated amount of it right before you go to sleep and you should notice some considerable results.
2) Lavender Products –
Any type of products that contain lavender smell is supposedly known to not only cleanse the infested area of bed bugs but it’s supposed to clean the entire house of them and send them far away. You can find lavender in a wide variety of assorted products and you can even find some spray bottles that may contain lavender in them as well. Spraying this under your bed, around your bed and on the sides of your bed before you go to sleep should put a stop to the infestation within a couple of days. However, some people prefer to apply lavender skin care products on their skin to prevent them from being bitten. While this may work, it’s also recommended to go to the source of the infestation and apply some lavender there as well.
3) Cinnamon Power –
This isn’t the most clean or friendly option but if you have any cinnamon powder, you can use that to clean your home of bed bugs as well. Some people don’t like to spray powder on their bed which is perfectly okay but you can also put some powder in between mattresses or around the bed as well. Cinnamon while it isn’t the most common option for people is probably the easiest one to find. You usually don’t even have to leave your home as most kitchens have cinnamon already handy.
Why Are They So Important To Remove?
1) They’re a nuisance and they’re annoying. Waking up every morning with what looks like dozens of mosquito bites all over your body and knowing that these bugs are transporting your own blood somewhere at night is reason enough to want to get rid of them. They do not go away on their own, they have to be forcefully removed because they breed like hyper active rabbits.
2) Some of them can be harmful to your health and your family’s health. They can carry diseases, they can carry infections and you don’t know where they came from. Especially if they came from a couch or bed you picked up off the street for free, you have no idea what that bed has had on it, where those bugs originally came from or what they could be carrying.
3) If the ingredients listed in the article don’t work, you have a serious bug problem. In most cases with people who try these home remedies, they can be removed and they go away after a week but in some severe cases, the bugs remain and they start growing in numbers. At this point, you have to call in a professional to remove them.
Various Facts About Bed Bugs
– They’ll start out as an egg and they’ll quickly grow into what’s known as a nymph. This is when they start feeding and it’s not long until they reach a full grown adult (usually in between 20 to 120 days depending on the temperature).
– In 30 degrees Celsius, it only takes 21 days for bed bugs to reach adult hood, in 18 degree Celsius, it can take 120 days.
– While it’s absolutely creepy that they steal our blood, they only steal about one tenth of a drop of blood. However, with hundreds of them built up, they can take quite a bit of blood.
– One single female can produce over 500 eggs in her entire lifespan, meaning that if you don’t take care of the problem fast, an army of bugs can quickly multiply and invade your home. It’s urgent to act fast and to remove these pests.
