In this article, we’ll be sharing tips on how to contain bed bug infestation at home. Although their extremely small size and ability to hide in small spaces make bed bugs quite difficult to control at home, we believe if you adhere to the tips we will provide in this article, you’ll be able to get rid of bed bugs in your home. Read on to learn how to kill bed bugs at home in Nigeria.
How to kill bed bugs at home in Nigeria:
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Identify Bed Bugs-Infested Areas in Your Home
The very first thing to do if you’ve got bed bugs in your home is to identify all the infested areas. This will help you find them early to prevent the infestation from spreading to other parts of your home. To begin your search for bed bugs in your home, you’ll need a flashlight and magnifying glass to go over areas in your house where they are likely to be hiding.
When searching for bed bugs in your home, put in mind that they are well adapted to squeezing into tiny spots. So, when searching for bed bugs, look into the seams of your mattresses and settees, folds of curtains, cracks in the bed frame and headboard, and inside electrical outlets. Other areas to check for bed bugs in your home include underneath paintings and posters on the wall, under loose wallpaper, as well as in the seams where wallpaper and ceilings meet.
Below are some signs to spot bed bugs in your home:
- Live bed bugs are brownish (or reddish) and about 5 millimetres long
- You’ll find small and pale yellow eggs, egg shells, and yellowish skins that have been shed by young bed bugs
- You’ll find reddish stains on your cushion or mattress from bugs that have been crushed
- You’ll notice dark spots about the size of a dot where bed bugs hide. These are bed bug droppings
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Keep the Bed Bugs-Infested Areas of Your Home Contained
After you’ve found out the areas of your home that’s been infested with bed bugs, the next thing to do is keep them contained. To do this, start by running your vacuum over any of the possible hiding places to trap bed bugs. After you’ve vacuumed the possible hiding places of the bed bugs, make sure to empty the content into a plastic bag and dispose of it. After the content of the vacuum has been disposed of, ensure to thoroughly clean it.
Next, pack up all linens and clothes that have been infested with bed bugs into plastic bags. The affected linens and clothes should remain sealed in plastic bags until you can wash them. When you eventually want to wash infested items, they should be washed in hot water. The effect of the heat from the hot water on the infested items kills the bed bugs. After washing, sun-dry the washed items on a hot day, or use a drying machine at the highest heat setting.
For other infested items that can’t be washed, they should be placed in a plastic bag and sealed for some months. This is to make sure the bugs die in the sealed plastic bag.
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Get Ready to Perform Bed Bugs Treatment
To improve the effectiveness of the bed bug treatments in your home, there are some things to put in place. Go through all the possible hiding places where bed bugs may be hiding again. To maximise the likelihood of success in getting rid of bed bugs in your home, ensure to declutter your apartment of unnecessary items that can serve as hiding places for bed bugs. Also, make sure to not move items from an already-infested room to a room that’s free of bed bug infestation.
Another thing you’ll do as a prep for the bed bugs treatment is to seal up any open areas. We know that bed bugs can squeeze into and out of any open crevice in your home, so ensure to seal up cracks on pieces of your furniture, glue down loose wallpapers and tape up open electrical outlets.
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Exterminate the Bed Bugs
There are several approaches to removing bed bugs from homes in Nigeria, ranging from DIY to hiring a professional. When you are killing bed bugs in your for the first couple of times, it’s best to start with non-chemical approaches. First, you can use high heat to kill bed bugs on clothes, mattresses, couches, and more. For the case of your clothes, use hot water to wash clothes, then leave them to be sundried for hours.
Alternatively, you can make use of lavender oil and water mixture to kill bed bugs in your home. You’d need to mix about 15 drops of lavender oil with 50ml. Then, shake the mixture, and transfer it to a spray bottle. With this mixture, spray the parts of the home that are infected with the disease.
Sniper can also be used to kill bed bugs at home in Nigeria. You can drop or spread sniper wherever bed bug infestation occurs. Note, after using sniper to get rid of the bed bugs, you may need to stay away from the fumigated room for 24 hours at least, or else you’re likely to suffer organophosphate poisoning.
Clove oil mixed with water, as well as baking soda and vinegar, are also used as a DIY solution for killing bed bugs in Nigeria.
Another means of killing bed bugs is to use over-the-counter insecticides with the capacity to kill bed bugs written on the label. Raid, Sheltox, and Mortein are some insecticides to use for killing bed bugs. Bed bugs have, however, been known to evade over-the-counter insecticides.
If you’ve tried these methods and have not recorded the desired success yet, don’t despair because bed bugs can take some time to wipe out.
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Hire a Professional Pest Control Company
If after trying the DIY tips we’ve provided in this article and the bed bugs in your home do not go away, the next thing to do is to call in professional pest controllers to get rid of the infestation. Professional pest controllers use more potent insecticides than those over-the-counter options, making them more effective in killing bed bugs. This option would cost you some money, but it’s better than allowing your sleep and relaxation to be disturbed by bed bugs that share your home with you.