Can Bed Bugs Live On Metal Furniture
You have to take the necessary precautions to make sure that bed bugs won’t be able to survive in your home. People may also find themselves wondering whether bed bugs can live on metal furniture or not so that they can create a bug-proof living area and pick the right types of furniture.
Can Bed Bugs Live on Metal Furniture?
Metal bed frames are less appealing to bed bugs than wooden beds and frames. These bloodsuckers like warmth and since metal is naturally cool, they are less likely to live in wooden bed frames.
Wooden beds contract or expand as humidity falls and rises, causing cracks and crevices to form. These gaps are the ideal hiding places for bed bugs since it provides the warmth that these pests need to survive. A bed bug infestation can promptly develop once they find a space that gives them warmth and shelter.
Metal bunk beds can hinder bed bugs, but there is no assurance that these critters won’t infest your bed. You can pair a metal frame with a bed bug proof mattress and box spring cover as an extra precaution.
Is it Possible for Bed Bugs to Climb Plastic?
Plastic is usually a smooth surface, so bed bugs may find it hard to conquer. These pests can’t climb up smooth surfaces easily. However, it will work as a temporary solution for a limited time. You can cover mattresses, clothes stored in your closet or furniture with plastic to prevent bed bugs from taking up residence in these areas.
Just remember that this method won’t provide a great result for a long time. Bed bugs are simply adaptable and resolute. They may find it challenging to climb up plastic, but they will just look for another route. You should consider putting off covering your furniture in plastic unless you really want to try this method.
However, you should also keep in mind that some kinds of plastic are not as smooth as they seem. If you think that plastic is enough to protect your furniture from bed bugs, you are wrong. You need to take other measures against these oval-shaped pests if you really want to kill or deter them. For instance, bed bugs will climb the walls instead and then come down from the ceiling onto your bed.
What About Metal?
Metal is a smooth surface just like plastic. Although bed bugs find it taxing to climb up metal, they do have a strong grip. They will look for a solution. Although bed bugs find it easier to climb up wood, fabrics, and concrete, they will still look for an alternative route until they discover a secure place to hide.
They may have a difficult time climbing up a metal frame but once they reach their target, they only need to rest and wait for a living human to feed upon. They will come out of your mattress easily. Don’t assume that your bed is safe just because these pests find it challenging to climb up metal. If you have bed bug problems, you should act fast to get rid of them and implement the right pest control methods.
How Can You Deal with Bed Bugs?
Although bed bugs can’t live on metal and plastic, you should not be careless because these critters are persistent and determined. Extra measures should be taken if you think that you have a bed bug problem.
Set traps to determine if there is a bed bug infestation in your home. Place the legs of a piece of furniture such as a chair into a bowl of water, which will serve as temporary protection to prevent bed bugs from reaching you or the furniture. Bed bugs are capable of floating for a brief period of time, but they will eventually die if they are submerged.
If there’s really a bed bug infestation, you will probably find some bodies within 1 or 2 days. Bed bugs will try to navigate over the bowl of water and drown. Call a reliable pest control company once you find concrete evidence of these critters. This way, you can address the problem immediately and effectively.
How to Control Bed Bugs on Your Own
If you want to control bed bugs on your own, you need to find and capture or squash them. You need to have a lot of patience to ensure your success and check the places where bed bugs hide. Although this method won’t get rid of all bed bugs immediately, it can definitely reduce their number if done constantly.
There are some tools that you need to kill bed bugs. You don’t need to worry because these tools can be purchased at hardware stores. These tools include the following:
- Plastic Bags
Use plastic bags such as garbage and shopping bags for storing bedding, clothes, and other items that are probably infested with bed bugs. This way, you can move infested items without the risk of spreading these pests to other parts of your home.
- Flashlight
Bed bugs can live in crevices and cracks as well as dark areas. Their normal colour is brown or dark red, but starving bed bugs are light brown in colour which makes it difficult to see them. When looking for bed bugs, you should hold the flashlight parallel to the floor or surface being examined. Small bed bugs and eggs will create a shadow, making it easier for you to find them.
- Mattress Encasement
Surviving bed bugs won’t be able to feed once the mattress encasement’s zipper is closed. Basically, you place the mattress inside the encasement to trap bed bugs. An encasement is needed for each box spring and mattress in your home. Bed bugs trapped in the mattress encasement will die within 2 weeks, but you should not remove the encasement for at least 1 year. Since there are different kinds of mattress encasements, you should use one specifically made for bed bug control.
- Tape
You should use wide plastic shipping tape to capture these pests. Since the tape is clear, you will be able to see them clearly and confirm whether it’s really a bed bug or not. When you’re digging along crevices and cracks, make sure that the sticky side of the tape is exposed so that you can trap bed bugs.
- Old Credit Card or Plastic Playing Card
Use a plastic card or one with a plastic coating so that when you push its edges into crevices and cracks, you can drive bed bugs out.
- Warm Soapy Water and Cloth
Dip a piece of cloth in a pail of warm soapy water and use it to capture bed bugs. As you wipe a surface, check the cloth for bed bugs. Submerge the cloth in the pail and then wring it to get rid of excess water. There is no need to douse the area that you’re wiping.
You should also check the surface that you wiped because starving bed bugs may start moving again due to heat. A cloth dipped in warm soapy water is especially effective when there’s a cluster of bed bugs in the area. Just remember that the wet surface will reduce the tape’s effectiveness.
Aside from these methods, you can always turn to the use of various bed bug monitoring and detection products. Find high-quality bed bug monitors, traps, and detectors at bedbugsos.ca to control the infestation in your home.
