After Heat Treatments for Bed Bugs that You Can Do
Bed bug heat treatments are among the sought after and effective options in getting rid of these critters in anyone’s property. Most of the time, these treatments are performed by experts from pest control companies.
What Makes Bed Bug Heat Treatment Worth Considering?
Given that bed bugs can hide and nest in your baseboards, carpets, furniture, mattress, and box spring, getting rid of bed bugs can turn into a tricky procedure. Not all bed bug treatments, especially chemical treatments, can stop an infestation in one go. Most of the time, it will require several sessions before getting results.
These pests can also hide in cracks and crevices that make treating an infestation more difficult. Most treatments may kill adult bugs, but may not successfully kill the eggs. Some are even developing resistance to the pesticides used for these treatments that make these critters more difficult to kill.
With heat treatment, you are provided with an effective solution that kills bed bugs in all stages of life using high heat. The cost of the treatment always depends mostly on the size of the infested room. Effectiveness will also rely on the things you do after heat treatments for bed bugs.
Tips in Testing For Bed Bugs after Heat Treatment
There are a few things that you can do to test if there are still bed bugs left and the pest management professionals did their job successfully. Check out the following:
- Use Bed Bug Interceptors
Bed bug interceptors act as a barrier from these critters and prevent them from climbing up your bed or furniture pieces. All it takes is simply putting the interceptors underneath each bed leg or furniture leg. You must check it daily for any signs of bed bugs that are trying to climb up and reach you.
- Place Bed Bug Detectors Around Your House
There are various detectors that you can use for your property to detect bed bugs. The Surge Power Bar is a discreet way of continuously detecting the bugs even after getting a treatment. It attracts the bugs from where they are hiding, which will help you check whether there are still bugs left in the infested area.
Another option is the Sensci Volcano and Lure. You can easily place these anywhere in your home. The Sensci Volcano can be used as it and can be placed near bed or furniture legs or wherever you think these critters crawl to reach you. Adding the lure makes the volcano more effective as it will attract the bugs to come out of their hiding places and go inside the detector.
The advantage of using interceptors and detectors is that you can monitor bed bug activities without letting these critters get near you. You just have to check the detectors and interceptors regularly to see whether one treatment worked to kill the bed bugs or another treatment is needed.
What to Do After Heat Treatment for Bed Bugs?
Just like any property owner, among the first things that you’d ask is what you should do after your home is treated with heat. Well, the things you do after the treatment will play an important role in making the treatment more effective and successful.
Some of the things that you can do right after the treatment are the following:
- You can immediately start cleaning right after the treatment. It is recommended that you cool down the room by opening it up before you start cleaning. Wait for the area to cool down for a maximum of 10 hours.
- Before starting, you want to make sure that the room temperature is tolerable for you or a family member helping you to clean. Keep all sprinkler covers on to prevent them from going off while the room is still hot. Wait until the temperature reaches 75 degrees.
- Your goal in cleaning is getting rid of all dead bugs and eggs from all your belongings. For soft surfaces, you can start vacuuming all items thoroughly. Focus on outside crevasses, as these are common areas where these critters burrow when they try to hide from the heat.
- For hard surfaces, any regular cleaning product will do. Wipe off debris from furniture pieces and other items. Just make sure that you clean not only the outer surface for furniture pieces but also the inside of each drawer.
- You want to make sure that all the bed bug debris are removed from all possible hiding spaces. always vacuum them to capture all dead bugs and eggs that aren’t easily seen with the naked eye.
Cleaning up will help you determine the level of bed bug problem that you had based on the bed bug debris that you collect. After cleaning, it is also necessary that you still monitor any bed bug activity in your property. Use bed bug interceptors and detectors around your property to keep track of any bed bug activities.
Implementing pest management methods after a treatment will keep you updated about the current infestation issue in your property and know when bugs are starting to reproduce. You can take action at the earliest possible time and prevent another full-blown infestation from happening.
Preparing Your Home before a Heat Treatment to Attain Successful Results
Before a heat treatment starts, you should prepare your home for the pest controllers. Since heat is involved in the treatment, there are a few things that you must do to make your home ready for the procedure. Some of these are the following:
- Avoid bringing infested items as you leave your home. Prepare a set of clothes that you can wear during the day of the treatment. Wash and dry them in the hottest setting and put them inside clean and clear plastic bags.
- Clean your residence. Get rid of pet waste, trash, spoiled or leftover food and other unsanitary items. Vacuum the infested areas and get rid of the vacuum bag.
- Secure all items that could be removed or knocked down by strong air movements. These may include nightstands, loose papers, end tables, and breakable/valuable items from shelves.
- Remove all flammable materials inside your home.
- It is also recommended that you remove unopened bottled and canned beverages, musical instruments, and live plants.
- If you have a fish tank that is less than 10 gallons, you can place it in the basement, bathroom, or any approved area by the pest control experts.
When opting for the services of professionals for bed bug infestations, property owners are provided an ample amount of time to leave the property and prepare it for treatment. Once the personnel arrives, you can leave the property and leave them to perform the service.
Preventing Another Infestation from Happening in Your Property
Aside from using detectors and interceptors, it is also necessary that you observe doing preventive measures to avoid bringing bed bugs in your house. Some of these are:
- Always wash and dry clothes and other washable items in the highest setting possible.
- Avoid going to places where you potentially got the bugs when you first had an infestation.
- If you can’t avoid public places prone to infestations, always practice throwing in your used clothes in the washer and dryer before getting inside your property. You can also place them inside sealable bags first just to prevent any bugs that may have hitchhiked from crawling inside your home.
