How NOT to Get Rid of Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are a becoming a bigger and bigger problem for homeowners in our area of East Tennessee. There are some proven techniques to get rid of bed bugs. Unfortunately there are some bad ways that people go about getting rid of bed bugs.

Here are a Few Ways NOT to Get Rid of Bed Bugs

Lighting Your House or Apartment on Fire: Yes, it never seems to fail that some people will take flame to their home in the hopes of killing off bed bugs. Yes, heat is one technique used for getting rid of bed bugs, but an open flame is a whole other thing. And a bad idea. Two guys burned down their home in Indianapolis when trying to get rid of bed bugs on their furniture. They pulled the suspect furniture into the yard before lighting it on fire, but that didn’t stop the fire from finding the house. A poor homeless man burned down his temporary home when “smoking out” bed bugs on his futon. We could go on with more. So do not use fire as a method to get rid of bed bugs. That’s going to lead to trouble.

Stay Away from Crazy Chemicals: Bed bugs will not be affected by your general ant or roach sprays. The only thorough way to kill off bed bugs is through heat treatments. Using a household spray might help for some of the bugs, but it could pose a problem later on. Take a lesson from this couple in Ohio that learned the hard way not to use a basic chemical treatment.

Do NOT Throw Everything Away: One of the worst things you can do is throw everything away that you own. One, this will make getting rid of the bugs even more expensive as you will have to spend more money on replacing everything. Two, this might not even ensure that you are getting rid of all the bed bugs. Three, it could possibly pass the bed bugs along to another person or family (especially if someone picks furniture off the sidewalk). Getting rid of all your household items is not necessary. In fact it can be helpful to getting rid of bed bugs in the long run to keep them where they have set up. Bed bugs will find their way into the smallest cracks and crevices in your home. Getting rid of house items (furniture / clothing) might get rid of some of the bed bugs, yet others could be hiding in cracks in the wall or outlets ensuring that they will return at a later date. Save your money, keep your stuff and pay for a treatment to get rid of bed bugs.

There is no doubt that you want to get rid of bed bugs. But as we have highlighted, take a deep breath and give a ring to someone who is a professional in dealing with bed bugs. You can get rid of them, but if you try to take measures into your own hands (especially drastic measures) then you might be setting yourself up for more misery than the bugs are posing to you.