Proper Method for Getting Rid of Bedbugs

Preventative Measures

• As is the case with most other insect infestations, the first line of defense against a bedbug infestation is to exercise good preventative steps. A common cause of a bedbug infestation in a home is that residents have recently traveled from or slept in an infested area and have brought the bugs into their home. Wash yourself and all your luggage thoroughly if you suspect this to be the case. Remove room clutter since bedbugs strongly favor secluded, dark areas. Always regularly wash all bedding materials and seal any cracks and crevices in walls and doorways that could serve as an entrance from the outside for bedbugs into your home.
  
  

Natural Control Methods

• If an infestation has already taken hold, however, preventative measures alone will not do the trick. Vacuum all bedbugs, skin casings, eggs and feces that you discover in your mattress, and especially direct vacuuming toward mattress seams, along baseboards and behind any clutter. Steam-cleaning a mattress and washing and drying all bedding materials will kill any bedbugs that were not removed during vacuuming. Commercial "heat treatments" that direct heat at mattresses and bedding are now available in areas with high rates of bedbug infestations.
  
  

Chemical Control Methods

• The use of chemical insecticides should always be approached with extreme caution, particularly in the case of bedbugs since the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has postulated that insecticide tolerance is one of the primary causes for the recent resurgence of bedbug populations in the U.S. Any insecticide containing pyrethrin, cyhalothrin, bifenthrin, deltamethrin, permethrin, chlorfenapyr or hydroprene is effective at controlling bedbugs, but note that many or all of these (depending on state regulations) can only be applied by professional exterminators.
  
  

Other Considerations

• Insecticides alone will not eliminate your bedbug problem. Complete removal of an infestation is only achieved when chemical insecticide control is combined with so-called Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approaches that combine insecticides with household management, non-chemical and biological control methods. An insecticide may see like a quick solution to a bedbug problem, but the inherent risks associated with synthetic chemical pesticides only underscores the need for an IPM approach to bedbug management.