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How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky

Getting rid of bed bugs should be a top priority if you discover them in your home. Professional pest control services are typically the most effective solution, especially for larger infestations. These experts use a combination of strategies to target the bugs at every stage of life. The most common treatments used include:

  • Steam Treatment
  • Insecticides
  • Heat Treatment
  • Fumigation

Is Bed Bug Steam Treatment & Fumigation Safe?

For those looking for chemical-free bed bug solutions, heat and steam are excellent options. These approaches work without the use of chemicals and can be carried out without requiring people or pets to leave the area, unlike fumigation, which involves temporary evacuation.

Thermal remediation, or heat treatment, is especially effective and often considered the gold standard in bed bug removal. It penetrates deep into furniture, walls, and flooring to eliminate hidden pests. Steam remediation offers a similar benefit, using high-temperature steam to reach cracks and crevices where bed bugs might lurk. Some of the benefits of heat treatment include:

  • Lethal Heat: Bed bugs at every stage of life, from eggs to adults, are eliminated when exposed to temperatures above 120ºF.
  • Complete Treatment: A single heat treatment, usually lasting around three hours, is enough to fully remove the infestation.
  • Immediately usable: Once treatment is complete, items like furniture and mattresses can typically be kept and reused.

As a more aggressive treatment, fumigation involves enclosing your property in tarps and releasing potent chemicals to target bed bugs everywhere inside. While it works well, this method is very disruptive and requires you to leave your home for multiple days. Because of its invasive nature, fumigation is usually reserved for severe infestations.

Bed Bug Insecticide Use

Traditional bed bug treatments often rely on insecticides in liquid or dust form to tackle infestations. These are applied to key areas, including baseboards, gaps in flooring, wall junctions, and behind electrical plates. The aim is to reach all possible hiding places to ensure a thorough extermination. While this method works well, it tends to be more invasive than heat treatments and may call for repeated applications to completely resolve the issue.

Do Bed Bugs Eat Food?

Bed bugs feed exclusively on blood, so there’s no need to worry about them invading your pantry or eating your food. When handling an infestation, discarding belongings is rarely necessary. In fact, with professional treatment, you usually won’t have to replace your mattress after bed bugs are eliminated.

How Long Can Bed Bugs Live Without Feeding?

Although it may seem alarming, bed bugs can survive for up to a year without feeding on blood. Their survival time varies depending on temperature and humidity, ranging from about 20 to 400 days. This means they could potentially stay hidden in your home for over a year, yet they won’t feed on anything other than blood during that time.

Do I Have to Throw Out Food After a Bed Bug Infestation?

You don’t have to discard any food or pantry items during a bed bug infestation since these pests aren’t attracted to your food. Many people mistakenly believe that everything needs to be thrown out, but that’s simply not true. Understanding what to keep and what to treat helps make the process less stressful.

Do I Have to Throw Out My Bed Bug Infested Mattress?

While getting rid of your mattress or box spring might seem like the best solution, it won’t fully fix a bed bug infestation. These pests don’t just live in your bed; they often spread to other areas of your home as well.

Simply replacing your mattress won’t prevent bed bugs from coming back, since they can infest the rest of your home. Treating your entire property, including your bed, is key to stopping the infestation.

Do You Need to Throw Away Bedding or Other Furniture?

Typically, there’s no need to discard belongings during or after a bed bug infestation. Proper treatment can save most items. Rather than tossing clothes and bedding, washing them in hot water is advised, as the heat effectively kills bed bugs and their eggs.

Treatment is generally effective on most furniture. If you have aging furniture that needs to go, a bed bug infestation could be a valid reason to replace it. Always remove infested items only after they’ve been treated.

What’s the Best Way to Get Rid of Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs often hide in unexpected places, including cracks and crevices or even inside your wooden tables and chairs. But discovering a bed bug infestation doesn’t mean you should panic or get rid of everything in your home.

Acting quickly by calling Action Pest Control for bed bug treatment can prevent you from losing food, bedding, and more.

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How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs in Evansville in Indiana, Illinois & Kentucky

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