This is the continuation of the last blog as more and different questions pop up in the Google search 'People Also Ask' section.
Can I get rid of bed bugs myself?
YES YOU CAN GET RID OF BED BUGS YOURSELF.
For the vast majority of folks experiencing a light to moderate infestation and wanting to perform a DIY bedbug heat treatment, the answer is YES you can get rid of bed bugs on your own if you replicate the methods the professionals’ use. If you invest in a heater for bed bugs treatment and methodically follow the instructions as provided by the manufacturer, you will most likely get complete satisfaction (i.e. no more bed bugs) on the very first try.
If it does not work on the first attempt, you will be able to perform unlimited additional treatments until the problem is behind you. This is usually not the case if you hire someone to come to your home and they use their heater for killing bed bugs. Guarantees for repeat treatments are few and far between should a bed bug infestation happen again, and you cannot prove that it was not a re-infestation caused by a friend or family member bringing bed bugs into your home again. Nobody can prove that because bed bugs are masters of hiding and very small. We have customers who have found bed bugs in the soles of their shoes and other customers whose kids brought them home in backpacks from school.
With PestPro Thermal you are not on your own after your purchase. Ask any of our more than 1000 satisfied customers and they will tell you that when they needed advice on how to use our bed bug treatment heaters, we were there for them. We take the time to analyze each situation and provide customized strategies for using our equipment in your property. We like to share our learnings and experiences with our customers and believe that transparency benefits everyone in the long-term. No secrets here.
Killing bed bugs with bedbug heaters is not rocket science but there can be a number of variables that need to be addressed and we help our customers figure out how to optimize their experience. We want bed bugs dead using our bed bug heater as badly as you do. Your complete satisfaction with our products is our commitment to you.
Lastly, there is no doubt that bed bugs have gotten worse during this past year of the pandemic given that most people will not allow strangers into their homes and apartments to kill them. Owning your heater for bed bugs treatment will pay for itself quickly if you rent it out to friends, family and other landlords. We have many landlord customers who do just that. Nothing official but word-of-mouth. Average daily rates in the US to rent a heater for bed bugs with an accompanying fan is $400.00 USD. Rent your bed bug heater ten times and it’s paid for! This represents a very quick return on you investment for your bed bug heat machine that is almost unheard of with other pieces of capital equipment.
Should you sleep in your bed if you have bed bugs?
Unlike some other insects, like mosquitoes, that spread disease, it is widely believed bed bugs do not spread disease. There is some disagreement when it comes to Chagas disease where there has been reported transmission from bed bugs. See Penn study here.
Different people react differently to bed bug bites just like mosquito bites. Some people develop red itchy welts while others are minimally affected and some people will never even know they are being bitten.
As discussed in an earlier blog post it is the extreme emotional trauma and damage which can be as harmful as other causes of PTSD that bed bugs are responsible should be the determining factor in your decision to eradicate them completely from your life and the lives of your friends, family, staff and guests.
The decision to continue sleeping in your bed if you know you are being bitten is a very personal choice but keep in mind that bed bugs produce offspring at an alarming rate. If you let the problem fester too long they will be swarming you in your sleep. It is always best to nip the problem in the bud when it comes to bed bugs. PestPro Thermal electric bed bug treatment heaters will provide you the weapon of mass destruction you need in a safe, natural, effective and non-toxic (i.e. no poisonous insecticides) manner.
Is it possible to have just one bed bug?
Yes it is possible to have just one bed bug. Bed bugs can hitch a ride on just about anything – even the tread in the bottom of a shoe. Backpacks, purses, luggage that is stacked up in a cargo hold with other bed bug infested luggage, used furniture, etc. The sky is the limit when talking about how one bed bug might find it’s way into your bedroom.
Unfortunately, chances are that if you only see one there are a bunch more bed bugs hiding somewhere else waiting for you to fall asleep before they feed on your blood like little vampires. Luckily, a whole-room electric bed bug heater machine is the perfect tool to eradicate bed bugs without spraying your bedroom with toxic, long lasting insecticides that no longer work due to evolutionary resistance on the part of the bed bugs.
Should I throw away my couch if it has bed bugs?
NO - heater for bed bugs treatment allows you to keep your furniture! This is a common myth purported by those not experienced with the success of heat from bed bug heat treatment heaters. You should not throw away your couch nor any other furniture if there are bed bugs taking up residence inside. Since heat of around 117° F will kill all life stages of bed bugs, including bed bug eggs, using a whole-room, DIY bedbug heater gives you the control you need to kill bed bugs when you first notice them.
Can bed bugs live in your pillow?
Yes bed bugs can live in your pillow as well as any item that has fabric on it. It is in fact bed bug’s preferred hiding place because they can attach their eggs to the cloth. The first place you should look for evidence of bed bugs is the piping along the top and bottom of your mattress. and box spring. This is the location that is closest to you when you sleep and the bed bugs do not want to have to travel any further than absolutely necessary to get fed.
If you think there are bed bugs in your pillow you should immediately place the pillow in a large plastic lawn bag, seal it tight and then carefully place the pillow in a dryer and dry it on high for at least 20 minutes. This method works for all clothing or cloth items of any kind. Tip: don’t use the pillow or heat treated clothing until you are certain there are no other bed bugs or else they will simply re-infest your items and you are back to square one.
Do bed bugs usually stay in one room?
Bed bugs will usually stay as close to their food source as possible unless they are being crowded out of their neighborhood by other bed bug clusters. They do not wander aimlessly. They know where the food (human blood) is and will stay hidden during the day until you are asleep and they can get a good meal. Bringing a bedroom up to a lethal temperature of around 135-140° quickly and then using a high volume fan that is made to work in those temperatures is the best way to “cook” everything in that room similar to how a convection oven bakes bread in a bakery. One of our best customers in Columbus OH actually named his company Bug Bakers of Columbus to get the point across.
Is there such a thing as a bed bug proof mattress?
No there is no such thing as a bed bug proof mattress.
There are however mattress covers that are so tightly woven they are considered bed bug proof.
If you enclose your mattress in one of these mattress protectors bed bugs will not be able to get inside (or out if your mattress is already infested).
Of course if you trap living bed bugs inside this mattress protector the bed bugs will eventually die and you will have dead bed bugs inside your mattress. It can take up to 6 months for bed bugs to die without a food source so be sure to leave it on for at least that long.
Here is a link to 5 good options to choose from.
How do you keep bed bugs from spreading to other rooms?
This is a fantastic question that I encourage everyone to take some time to understand the answer to.
The answer assumes that the person asking the question has bed bug treatment heaters and fans and they want prevent bed bugs from going room to room to escape the heat.
If you have ever painted a bedroom, and most people have, you either know or have experienced how important it is to prepare the room before you even pop the top on that first can of paint. Not properly preparing a room with blue painter’s tape, drop cloths and plastic sheeting will result in a messy, unprofessional paint job.
The bottom line is you want to expose everything in that room to as much heat in the shortest amount of time possible while at the same time blocking all the potential escape routes a bed bug might try to access. PestPro Thermal’s heater for bed bugs treatment and it’s accompanying fan will take care of the first part of the equation.
To completely block egress (escape routes) from that room to prevent bed bugs from migrating to another room use blue painters tape to seal off and seal up all cracks and crevices including around doors, vents, windows, etc. You really need to crawl, walk and stand on a step stool to make sure you are not missing anything. Cracks along base boards should ideally be caulked to seal the little buggers in if they are there.
Another place bed bugs are attracted to because they are warm and cozy (due to electrical current flowing 24 hours a day) is electrical outlets and light switches. You need to remove all switch plates so the hot air can penetrate and kill the bed bugs.
All purchases of PestPro Thermal bed bug treatment heater packages include detailed pre-treatment checklists and of course our Tier 1 Customer Support staff is always available to answer any questions you might have regardless if you are performing your 1st or 100th bed bug heat treatment.
Can I sleep in my bed after bed bug treatment?
If the person asking the question is referring to “bed bug heat treatment” using bed bug treatment heaters then the answer is YES. You can sleep in your bed as soon as it cools down from the bed bug heat treatment (unless you like to sleep a very hot mattress).
If the person asking this question is referring to toxic, chemical pesticides currently being marketed as effective at killing bed bugs the answer is to follow the instructions on the label. Keep in mind there are currently no insecticides other than fungi based, professionally applied solutions that will kill bed bugs. Study after study has confirmed that the current FDA list of approved bed bug insecticides continues to be ineffective so why anyone would want these substances sprayed on their bed where they spend 1/3 of their lives breathing deeply raises serious red flags for me.
An extra word of caution is to absolutely never use what are referred to as "bug bombs" or 'bed bug and flea bombs". The Centers for Disease Control has documented many instances or case studies of people being poisoned by the toxic chemicals in these products in addition to explosions and fires being caused when the user did not properly extinguish ignition sources like pilot lights in hot water heaters, gas stoves and even automated spark ignition sources on other types of appliances.
Why do bed bugs only bite me and not my husband?
The answer to this question has been addressed previously in this post but the punchline is: different people react differently to getting bitten by bed bugs. Chances are your husband is being bitten but his body physiology does not react to the bites the same way your body physiology reacts.
A very sad reality is that the older we get the less likely we are to know we have been bitten by a bed bug. In numerous instances of the elderly getting bitten very often they do not report it because they are not aware of it. Caretakers and family of the elderly are often times the first ones to see the welts left by bed bug bites on their loved ones. Regular surface skin checks of legs, arms, chest and back are critical for older folks to avoid this from happening to them.
If you or someone you know has been or you suspect they have been bitten by bed bugs you are probably asking how do I heat or how do I heal bed bug bites. Treatment for bed bugs is exactly the same as for any other bug that bites you and leaves a red, itchy welt. From the Mayo Clinic the recommended treatment for bed bug bites is:
- Wash and Rinse the affected area with soap and water.
- Apply anit-itch cream containing corticosteroids to the bites.
- If you scratch the bed bug welts too much which results in an infection you doctor may need to prescribe antibiotics as a precaution
How do I heat my house to kill bed bugs?
Standard heating systems in North America, regardless of their type (forced air gas, electric, heating oil radiators, boilers, etc.) are intended for keeping people warm in their homes and apartments and will NOT have the ability to get anywhere near hot enough to kill bed bugs. If they did there would be no such thing as bed bug heaters for sale nor bed bug treatment heaters.
Heating systems designed for humans max out at about 90° F and electric bed bug treatment heaters are normally set to a maximum around 130-140° F. Because many of PestPro Thermal’s customers are now using our bedbug heaters to also kill pathogens, molds, mildews and other insects the auto-thermostats on our bed bug heaters are being re-programmed by our customers to achieve their maximum setting of 158° F. This much higher temperature is only possible because the internal components of PestPro Thermal bed bug heaters are engineered for sustained use at these higher temps and the all-steel cabinets do not expand and contract. This is not the case with plastic, budget heaters which will expand and contract with every heat job leading to a much shorter lifespan and many more repairs that must be performed by the manufacturer at your cost if not under warranty. Round trip shipping is on you.
How do you draw bed bugs out of hiding?
The best way to draw bed bugs out of hiding is to quickly heat up an entire room using a PestPro Thermal heater for bed bug heat treatment. Bed bugs like warmth which is the reason they tend to hide in anything that is plugged into the wall and in light switches and electrical outlets where electrical current is flowing and keeping it warm and cozy. At a certain point when the temperature gets too hot the bed bugs will try to escape the heat. If you are using a combination of a PestPro Thermal bed bug heater and a separate bed bug heater fan your entire room, in effect becomes a really large convection oven or bed bug death sauna. The bed bugs will at first emerge from their hiding places but not be able to figure out from what the direction the heat is coming from because they will be surrounded on all sides with super heated air. Once they are exposed to temps of at least 117° F for at least 15 minutes or sooner, they will be dead. It takes a little bit longer for the bed bug’s eggs to perish.
How fast do bedbugs multiply?
Entomologists have confirmed that adult female bed bugs will lay, on average, one egg per day.
Each bed bug egg will hatch after ten days.
What is the main cause of bed bugs?
Bed bugs are non-discriminating based our customer’s experience. Anyone who has blood running through their veins is a potential food source for bed bugs. PestPro Thermal bed bug treatment heaters are used in 'Members Only' 5+ Star resorts as well as shelters for those experiencing homelessness and every other type of living situation in between. The unfortunate presence of bed bugs in low-income housing is primarily due to a combination of the high density of the folks living there and the lack of money for effective remediation strategies like having a bed bug heater on hand so you can quickly nip the problem in the bud before the bed bug infestation get's out of control. A bed bug heater is considered a mission critical piece of equipment by PestPro Thermal customers, not unlike a snow blower after a monster snow storm. You do not need it often but when you need it you really, really need it.
How do you tell if bed bugs are in your clothes?
If you think bed bugs are in your clothes but you cannot confirm by sight you can put the clothes in any clothes dryer, run on HIGH (hottest setting) for 20 minutes. It is suggested you first carefully transfer the clothes in a sealed plastic garbage bag and transfer to the dryer to avoid scattering them along the way.
Should I throw away my mattress bed bugs?
NO need to throw away your mattress (or any furniture) if bed bugs are found. If you can find an effective way to get the interior core of your mattress up to 120° F for at least 30 minutes all the bed bug adults, bed bug nymphs (teenagers) and bed bug eggs will be killed. This is exactly what PestPro Thermal electric bed bug heaters for sale do. They get the room temperature up to around 135° F so the heat can penetrate and effectively cook the bed bugs to death. Once the bed bugs are dead simply vacuum them up and throw them in the trash. CUSTOMER TIP: Use a digital meat thermometer with an extra long probe to confirm core temperatures of mattresses and furniture.
Bed bug treatment heaters are the absolute best way to rid your life and the lives of your loved ones of bed bugs. And heaven forbid bed bugs are ever reintroduced you will have the tool you need on hand to get rid of them again and again as needed all without having to resort to ineffective toxic, insecticides.
We are always available for your questions without obligation.
Call or text 970-443-8119 for meaningful answers to your intelligent questions about our bed bug heat treatment equipment.
We appreciate and thank you for your time.