Real Estate Tips From a New Homeowner

Think you have bed bugs in your home? If so, you'll want to take steps to get rid of them for good. That will involve some cleaning techniques that are a bit different than what you may be thinking of, since certain conditions are more likely to kill bed bugs. Here are some tips that you can try on your own.

Use Your Clothes Dryer

Bed bugs are not going to survive when they are subjected to extreme heat. That's why it is worth taking items that you think are infested with bed bugs and throw them into your clothes dryer. Running items through a full cycle of extreme heat in the dryer should be enough to kill off any bed bugs hiding within the folds of the fabric. 

Use Your Chest Freezer

Some things are not very easy to heat up by throwing them in your clothes dryer. In those situations, you may be better off using your chest freezer. That is because bed bugs will not survive in extremely cold temperatures either. For example, a chest freezer works great for things that cannot be put into the wash, such as shoes that may have bed bugs hiding in them. Leave the item in the freezer for a few days to ensure that any bed bugs hiding have been killed.

Use Your Vacuum

There are other items that are too big to put into a clothes dryer or chest freezer, such as pieces of furniture. Your best option to deal with removing bed bugs from these items is to go over the entire surface with a vacuum cleaner. Just make sure to take the bag or canister outdoors when you are finished, since dumping a canister of bed bugs into your trash is not going to do much to get them out of your home. They may still be alive after going through your vacuum cleaner.

Use A Sealed Bag

Another option is to suffocate bed bugs by depriving them of any air. Try placing items that you feel are infested into a vacuum seal bag, and then suck all the air out of it. Leave the item sealed for a few days, and you'll end up with bed bugs that are no longer living inside.

These are just a few techniques to try at home for getting rid of bed bugs. For big infestations, work with a bed bug control company for assistance.