Before The Bed Bug Treatment

Okay, so the worst has happened, or you suspect it has. What should you do.

We wrote this section as a handout for our own customers as a guideline on how to prepare a property for a bed bug treatment but it contains many useful pointers which you may find interesting.

The first thing we are going to tell you to do is DO NOTHING!

Nothing at least until you have had the infestation confirmed by an expert. You would be utterly amazed at how many times we turn out to an infestation which is ‘definitely bed bugs’ according to the customer, but which turns out to be something totally different, easier and cheaper to treat on inspection.

So the Golden Rule Number ONE is Positive Identification. DO NOTHING AT ALL until you have this.

We ourselves are U.K. based and operate in the North West , Manchester, Cheshire, Liverpool and Lancashire.

If you live in these areas we can call out to you to do an inspection. If you live anywhere else in the world we obviously can’t do a treatment for you but we can do an insect identification for you over the internet if you can send us a decent quality digital photograph of the insect or evidence that you have found.

The cost is UK £10 and we guarantee a rapid reply, a lot cheaper and quicker than booking a call out and it may put your mind at rest.

Just send a decent quality digital image (the more the better) to info@harrierpestprevention.co.uk and pay using the PayPal button  below.

 

Insect Identification

We will email you back with an identification as soon as possible.

Assuming you now have a positive I.D. and you have bed bugs what should you do?

Well, we will start with a list of what NOT to do!

DO NOT:

1)      Burn, destroy or otherwise remove your bed/mattress.  We can probably save the bed and you will only spread the bugs throughout the house whilst moving it. If you transport the old bed to a tip, refuse dump etc. you risk contaminating the vehicle you transport it in.

2)      Buy a new bed or mattress. It will be infested on the first night.

3)      Use any sprays, bleaches, powders or potions,  you will make it more difficult for the professionals.

4)      Sleep in another room, downstairs on the couch, or worse still go and stay with a friend or relative. The bugs smell your exhaled breath and they will follow you to other rooms in the house which may not be currently infested, thus making the task harder for your contractor and more expensive for you. If you stay with a friend or relative you risk transporting the bugs with you.

5)      Do not carry dirty linen unbagged through the house, you risk transporting the bugs.

What should I do?

Call in a professional. Bed bugs are a difficult pest to eradicate even for the pros!

They will guide you in every stage of the procedure but broadly speaking you will need to take the following steps.

1)      Involve any neighbours in any form of attached property. If you live in any form of communal housing, terraced house, semi-detached, apartments, condos or flats then you MUST involve your neighbours.

Bed bugs spread like wildfire in these properties and you risk the fact that the bugs have already spread. Worse still, they may have COME from your neighbours’ and unless they take action you will constantly be re-infested.

We will refuse to carry out treatment in these properties unless a full inspection and monitoring programme is carried out in every property, as we know that we would be wasting our time and your money!

2)      Your professional pest controller will identify with you and your neighbours (if appropriate) the extent of the infestation and will quote you a price for the work, if that has not already been agreed.

Before The Bed Bug Treatment.

We wrote this section has a hand out to our own customers on how to prepare for the treatment, your contractor may have similar instructions but this will give you a guideline of what is necessary.

Preparing for a bed bug treatment is a daunting task as EVERYTHING other than the furniture must be removed from the infested bedrooms.

It is somewhat akin to moving house in scale.

We suggest that you tackle it in the following manner.

1)      Obtain a large supply of good quality bin/garbage bags in two different colours.

2)      Bag up all bed linen and personal clothing in the bedroom, do not transport unbagged items as you risk the bugs dropping out all over the house.

3)      Pre-sort those items which can be washed from those that can’t.

4)      Those items which can be washed should be transported to your washing machine in sealed bags and washed on a high temperature **(above 50 c). This will kill any bugs or eggs. If your tumble drier can achieve these sorts of temperatures then tumble drying for ninety minutes will kill bugs and eggs.

5)      Those items which cannot be washed or tumble dried can be bagged and placed in a chest freezer for 5 days. It may be worth buying a second hand chest freezer for the purpose. Put the freezer on its coldest setting.

6)      Place all newly washed items in a different coloured bag and store away from unwashed items. Do not use the same bags you transported the unwashed items in, hence the idea of using different coloured bags.

7)      Empty all wardrobes and drawers in the room of ALL personal items and store in sealed bags. Those items which will not be damaged by freezing should go in the chest freezer **.

8)      You must leave in the room any paintings or mirrors etc.

9)      If possible unfasten any fitted furniture from the walls to enable the backs to be treated, this is absolutely essential in the case of fitted headboards.

10)   Take down and wash or freeze any curtains.

When you have finished your bedrooms should look as if you were moving house with the exception that the beds, stripped down to mattress level, should remain.

The house is now ready for the treatment.

There are many different preparations available to your contractor but he will use an insecticide which is licenced for the purpose in your country.

If he is doing the job efficiently he will treat everything in the room, undersides of drawers, inside box springs, backs of wardrobes, picture frames etc. He should also dust the insides of switch boxes and sockets**.

The insecticide used will probably contain a cocktail of chemicals including an insect growth hormone which will prevent any eggs which survive from developing.

Your contractor should then finish off with a precautionary spray treatment of stairs etc in case any bugs have been dropped during the washing process.

In situations where the preparations and the treatments have been carried out diligently it should only rarely be necessary to carry out a repeat visit but it should be established beforehand if any second treatment is included in the price or would require a second payment.

After The Treatment

Your contractor should advise you to stay out of the house for a period, usually around four hours after which you can start to put your house back together.

The following steps are essential.

1)      Pull the bed away from the wall and fit bed bug moats and bed bug proof mattress covers. Some insects will have survived the treatment but as they cross the treated zone to get to you they will touch the insecticide and die. Any bugs inside the mattress will not be able to get out and bite you and will die.

2)      DO NOT vacuum carpets or mop floors for a period of 28 days after the treatment. If you do you will remove the insecticide.

3)      DO NOT sleep in another room, any surviving bugs will attempt to get to you and die in the process.

4)      We recommend leaving the bed bug moats in situ permanently.

Other Types Of Treatment

In recent years other forms of bed bug treatment have become available usually involving extremes of temperature.

One such method is to heat the entire property to around 140F at which point the bugs and their eggs cannot survive.  Another method involves using freezing carbon dioxide.

Whilst we feel that both of these methods may have their uses in specific situations they both have one major drawback. There is no residual effect. As soon as the house returns to normal temperature it is safe for the bugs.

If just one single female bed bug survives then you have wasted your money!

By all means investigate them but I would strongly recommend an insecticidal method to give longer lasting protection.

We fully understand that many people do not like the idea of using insecticides in their homes and especially in their beds but all modern preparations are highly safe, licenced and fit for purpose, with extremely low mammalian toxicity.

I just cannot afford the treatment, is there anything I could do myself?

We fully understand that a properly done bed bug treatment is expensive and sometimes beyond the means of people. For that reason bed bugs do thrive in poorer quality housing where people simply cannot afford to have a professional treatment carried out. Yes there are companies who will carry out a simple spray treatment of the bed but please believe me, unless you do the job properly you will not cure the problem.

There are publications which claim to teach you how to eradicate bugs yourself, in the interests of fairness I have put links to a couple in the sidebar, they are inexpensive so by all means read them and try their methods and if they work well, then well done, but I suspect that eventually you will need a pro!

Good luck! Oh …and don’t let the bed bugs bite!

The author of this report, Ken Chadwick is a working pest controller, writer and broadcaster on pest control issues, hear him on a recent broadcast.

Any questions or issues please email info@harrierpestprevention.co.uk oh, and please read the legal disclaimer below.

 

Legal Disclaimer

** The information contained in this website is for general advice and information only, in all cases we recommend you seek the advice of a local pest control professional.

We refer in places to extremes of temperature to control bed bugs. Before carrying out any of these treatments you should satisfy yourself that the goods or garments will not be damaged by such treatments by seeking advice from the manufacturer. We will not be responsible for any damage caused and you should not attempt these treatments without seeking appropriate advice.

In places we refer to treating the insides of electrical sockets. It may be necessary and even a legal requirement in your jurisdiction to have a qualified electrician carry out this process. Please take advice locally before attempting this.

In short we offer just one piece of advice. DO NOTHING WITHOUT THE HELP OF A PEST CONTROL PROFESSIONAL.