Nobody wants to hear about pest infestations, but they’re sometimes an unfortunate reality. Invasions of your home by the unwanted crawlers feels violating, especially when it’s where you sleep at night.
Bed bugs are a common pest across the United States. They can happen anywhere and to anyone, but, fortunately, you can take that infestation and handle it on your own with the right tools. Unlike the name suggests, bed bugs are not limited to the bedroom. They’re nocturnally active bugs that feed on blood (your pets can get bed bugs, too), so they stay hidden in surfaces that they know are close to hosts. This can make eradication tricky.
Steamers are great for punishing such pests. They work well on surfaces but can reach up to three-quarters of an inch deep into fabrics. While dry vapor steamers and a variety of steam cleaning systems can do great work against bed bugs, there are some things to look out for while doing DIY pest control.
Know what you’re getting
A carpet cleaner and dry vapor steamer aren’t the same things. That steamer you use to make your shirts not wrinkly? That won’t cut it either. If you’re really serious about putting a pest infestation behind you, don’t take shortcuts. A commercial dry vapor steamer — something with steam temperatures between 160 and 180 degrees — will get the job done effectively. Anything less and you’re asking to repeat the process down the road when the infestation regains its former strength.
Don’t rush
Now that you’ve got the equipment, implement a plan of attack. A lot of people are understandably eager to get the job done so they can go about their lives. We understand that, but bed bugs are resilient creatures who are hell-bent on living where you live. Killing them at every stage of their lifestyle demands a methodical approach that will require going through the infested areas more than one time.
Getting rid of bed bugs on your own isn’t an impossible task, but it’s one that calls for some research, patience, and rigor. If you want that creepy crawling bedtime pestilence gone for good, make ’em scream and scorch with steam.