Do these things to prevent Bedbugs from infesting your home
A bedbug is a small nocturnal and parasitic insect of the family Cimicidae which lives by feeding on the blood of warm-blooded animals, especially humans. Bedbugs are difficult pests to eradicate as they increase exponentially, reproducing three to four generations within a year. A bedbug can lay over 500 eggs in its lifetime. They can live closely a year without eating, and their nymph can stay for months without eating too. Their eggs are resistant to many bedbugs eradication techniques. Hence, the case of having bedbugs infest your home is an epitomic case of “Prevention is Better than Cure”. Here are some things to do to prevent bedbugs from infesting your home.
1. Avoid bringing second-hand household items into your house.
Second-hand items especially furniture and clothes stand a high chance of being infested with bedbugs. You should go for new furniture when you can afford it. If you must get fairly-used items like clothes, mattresses and furniture, thoroughly examine them and expose them to a high degree of heat before use.
2. Keep your home clean and unclustered.
Bedbugs are flat, small, hardy, and lentil-sized. These qualities make it easier for them to hide and difficult to detect. If your home is clustered, you are building a breeding place for them; try to keep your home clutter-free. Also, keeping your home clean at all times reduces their breeding. Vacuum and dust regularly. Use effective insecticides if you suspect or spot any bedbug to prevent them from rapidly spreading.
3. Use bedbug interceptors in your home.
Bedbug interceptors are simple devices designed to trap bedbugs. Bedbug interceptors can aid early detection of bedbugs; they can also be used to check the effectiveness of pesticides by observing the relative increase or decrease of the number of bedbugs in the traps. It can prevent bedbugs from climbing up bedposts. You can get four Interceptor cups for a bed. This is effective when the bed does not touch the walls and when there’s no part of the bed touching the ground. Place the interceptor cups under the bed, the bedposts, the sofa, wicker furniture or at the bottom of wardrobes. If you can’t afford a commercial bedbug interceptor, you can make yours using some household items.
4. Isolate your unit.
If you live in a public compound like hostels, tenements, or barracks, or when you are out for camping activities or if you live in a multifamily house, isolating your unit will be very helpful to you. Install door sweeps on the bottom of doors. It discourages them from creeping into your house through the door. Seal all cracks and crevices around the entrance of your unit so that they don’t creep in through wall voids.
5. Reduce travelling and visitation to infested homes.
Bedbugs in homes are often picked from infested furniture in acquittance’s homes, lounges, restaurants, barbershops, saloons, shops and vehicles. It is in human nature to travel and visit others. We cannot do without associating with others. Yet, it is advisable that we only do the most important ones. If you must meet one whose home you think or know has been attacked by bedbugs, it is better you meet in a clean lounge or bar; the risk of picking the bedbugs is lower this way. If you use public transport or stop by several places, do not sit with your clothes on when you get home; quickly freshen up and tie up the clothes you wore that day in a plastic bag tightly.
6. You may want to regulate the temperature of your house against the surviving temperature for bedbugs.
You can use heat-generating devices to heat an infested room with a minimum of 120 degrees Fahrenheit (48.889 degrees Celsius) for 90 minutes. You may want to increase the temperature to kill the bedbugs faster. On the other hand, you can use the freezing condition, but it requires more time than the heating condition. You can regulate the temperature of the infested area to be 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-17.78 degrees Celsius) for at least 96 hours. Yes, hours. Use a proper cooling device; a home freezer may not be efficiently effective. Use a thermometer to ensure that the room temperature is that low or lower. The lower the temperature, the less time it takes to eliminate the bedbugs.
In conclusion, bedbugs are disturbing insects that are hard to eradicate. Therefore, prevention and early detection are nicer ways of dealing with bedbugs. Avoiding fairly-used clothes, bedding and furniture, keeping your home tidy and clutter-free at all times, using bedbugs interceptors accurately and timely, isolating your unit, being careful with travelling and visiting, as well as regulating the temperature of the infested room to kill bedbugs will go a long way in keeping you away from bedbugs.
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