How To Get Rid of Bed Bug Infestations in Your Home
Residential Bed Bug Treatments
Identifying a Bed Bug Infestation
You want to find bed bugs as soon as possible before they start to lay eggs. Smaller infestations are much more manageable in cost and difficulty to deal with; However, smaller infestations are also often much harder to detect. It is rare that you will immediately notice and identify bed bugs unless you are able to recognize the bite patterns right when they start to occur. Identifying the bites and then finding signs of bed bugs or bed bug activity before there is a full-blown infestation is the best way to increase the odds of successful treatment.
We always recommend seeking professional help when it comes to identifying bed bugs because we do a proper inspection, and we know what to look for.
Bed bugs have extremely thin bodies when unfed which allows them to fit in any small crack or crevice:
Places to look out for bed bugs:
- In the creases of the mattress
- In the folds or the frame of the box spring
- In baseboards
- In the folds of furniture upholstery
- In electrical outlets & appliances
- In the frame of paintings, posters, and mirrors
- In cracks in the bed frame and headboard
- In the carpet around the bed
- In joints of wooden furniture
- In open screw holes in wooden furniture & framing
- Inside wall cavities
- In / around pet bedding
- In wallpaper
Signs of Bed Bugs or Bed Bug Activity:
- Live bed bugs or nymphs; Adults are about ¼ of an inch long and are red, nymphs are white and so small they are difficult to see without magnification
- Reddish blood stains on your mattress from feeding
- Dark pellets that bleed into bedding (bed bugs droppings)
- Small, pale, yellow eggs

Once bed bugs have been identified, population growth mitigation and extermination strategies must be implemented to ensure that bed bugs are completely eliminated.
Containing a Bed Bug Infestation:
Once you know you have bed bugs, you need to try and keep them contained and prevent them from spreading to other areas of your home. The first step to combatting bed bugs is to try and capture as many as you can with the vacuum. Be sure to thoroughly run the vacuum over:
- Bed & bedding
- Dresser drawers and joint edges
- Carpet
- Electronics
Once you have vacuumed up the bed bugs, you must throw out the vacuum bag and thoroughly clean your vacuum. This is critical to ensure that you don’t accidentally spread bed bugs around your house, then next time you vacuum.
Next, gather all sheets, comforters, linens, and bedding and run them all through a couple wash cycles and a dry cycle. Each cycle should be done on the hottest setting to ensure that the heat levels kill off any active bed bugs, nymphs, or eggs. Each item should be exposed to high temperatures repeatedly for at least 30 minutes to ensure that even the eggs are completely neutralized.
It is important to note that bed bugs can go into a hibernation period when they cannot access a blood meal that can last over a year. Bed bugs can sometimes lay dormant for as long as 400 days without a meal so anything that cannot be thrown in the washer and dryer should be quarantined and sealed properly to ensure that bed bugs are contained. Any items that are deemed trash should be left out for collection and marked with the words “bed bugs” so no one attempts to recover the infested materials.
Encasements
Mattresses and box springs are expensive so it may not make sense for most families to discard something so valuable. That being said, the mattress and box spring are likely the 2 most infested pieces of furniture in a household facing bed bug problems. The easiest method of containment when replacing a mattress and box spring are out of the question is using the proper encasements. You can buy mattress encasements that trap the beg bugs inside until all stages of the life cycle completely starve to death. They are designed to be left on your mattress for a year and a half and are made of materials designed to prevent bed bugs from being able to escape or feed on you while you sleep. They are a much more affordable solution and are a very effective method of bed bug control.
Traps
Traps are generally used for identifying a bed bug problem, but they can also be used to help contain and minimize the impacts of bed bugs. Moat style traps are used to isolate and intercept bed bugs as the crawl their way onto your bed. These traps are placed under the footers of your bed and the smooth interior of the traps make it impossible for bed bugs to gain any traction, so they get stuck. Sticky pads provide a similar solution and are used under your mattress to catch bed bugs.
Preparing for a Bed Bug Infestation
Before you start battling bed bugs, ensure that you are taking steps that will help increase the likelihood of success. Make sure all your bedding, clothes, towels, and drapes are all cleaned properly on high heats. It’s also very important to minimize places for bed bugs to hide. Throw out anything that isn’t deemed valuable from infested rooms and never bring items from infested rooms into rooms that have no signs of bed bugs – we want to avoid spreading the bed bugs.
Next, implement exclusion strategies. Seal up any areas of entry around your house, seal edges of electrical outlets, and make sure your bed is at least 6 inches away from the wall.
Stripping the bed
- Remove and quickly seal bedding in plastic bags to prevent the spread of bed bugs
- Wash and dry bedding using hot water and the hottest dryer setting for at least 30 minutes each cycle
- Slowly and thoroughly steam the mattress and box spring to heat kill all remaining bed bugs
- Vacuum remaining dead bed bugs, nymphs, and eggs
- Dispose of any content of the vacuum cleaner inside & clean vacuum
- Check joints to ensure the bed frame is free of bugs and spray pesticides to kill remaining bed bugs on contact.
- Utilize mattress and box spring encasements to trap any surviving bed bugs
Treatment
There are several treatment options for bed bugs. The primary ways they are normally dealt with include:
- Temp control – introducing extreme heat (115 F) or cold (32 F) into the infested environment.
- Chemical treatment – using contact and residual pesticides
- Eco-friendly pest management strategies – using non pesticide applications like diatomaceous earth and boric acid
Heat Treatment
Some of the most common non-chemical methods include using heat:
- Washing and drying bedding and clothing on high heat
- Steaming infested furniture, mattresses, and upholstery to heat kill bed bugs
- Packing up infested items into black trash bags and leaving them out in the heat
- Using industrial heaters to raise the temperature of a home above 115F for 30 minutes
Each of the above strategies is a simple way to raise the temperature above the bed bugs heat threshold. Cold treatments take much longer and require extremely low temperatures that are difficult to maintain at scale. It is much more difficult to cool a large space for the necessary period, so heat treatments are generally preferred. Heat treatments are recommended for full homes to ensure complete eradication. If individual rooms are heat treated only, there is the chance that the bed bugs will migrate to areas that are not being treated to escape the high temperatures.
Pros and cons of heat & steam treatment
Pros:
- fast, effective, and non-toxic
- work well in smaller spaces with low ceilings
Cons:
- Most expensive option
- If treatment isn’t done across an entire home, it can drive bed bugs into non infested rooms
- Does not have any residual impacts
Chemical Treatments
Chemical treatments are insecticides and pesticides that are EPA approved which include:
- Pyrethrin: The most common chemicals class used in bed bug extermination
- Pyrroles: Compound that kills bed bugs by disrupting their cells
- Neonicotinoids: Synthetic nicotine that damages bed bug’s nervous systems
- Foggers: Bed bug bombs are an option when it comes to killing bed bugs, but effectiveness has shown to be minimal because the fog is unable to penetrate cracks, crevices, and wall cavities where bed bugs might hide
- Insect growth regulators: These chemicals interrupt an insect’s life cycle development
When buying a pesticide product is it best to make sure it is:
- EPA registered & approved
- Make sure the product specifically targets bed bugs
Be sure to follow instructions closely and ensure that chemical applications make direct contact with the bed bugs. Improper use may result in pesticide resistant generations of bed bugs which make extermination even more difficult.
Pros and cons of chemical treatment
Pros:
- Pesticides are the least expensive bed bug treatment option
- Works well with other treatment options
Cons:
- Can’t be used on areas like mattress surfaces due to hazardous chemicals
- Could need multiple treatments before successful eradication
- Chemical pesticide resistance in most bed bugs
- Bed bugs can outlive the residual effects of pesticides
Non-Chemical Treatments
These treatments are generally less effective than their chemical pesticide alternatives if implemented alone; However, these also make for good secondary offense strategies that help support the other treatment options.
- Desiccants: Is a material that destroy the bed bugs protective outer layer which helps dry out the bed bugs. Bed bugs cannot become resistant to them, but they do work slowly. Look for products like boric acid and diatomaceous earth.
- Plant oil products: These are generally all natural plant oils derived from plants that provide beneficial insect deterrents.
Monitor for Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are notorious for being difficult to exterminate completely and it often takes multiple attempts to fully get rid of them. Leave out traps on the footers of your bed and encasements to minimize the threat of bed bugs coming back. Be sure to check the traps regularly over a span of several months to ensure there are no further signs of bed bug activity. Regular monitoring should probably last for a bare minimum of 2 months with occasional checks lasting up to a year.
Bed Bug Retreatment
If signs of bed bug activity have returned, then it is important to retreat as thoroughly as possible. This should be done quickly to minimize the potential for another outbreak. If several attempts have been made with little success, professional help should be introduced to ensure that the bed bugs are not spread any further than their current infestation.
Are Bed Bugs Hard to Get Rid Of?
Bed bugs are notorious for being some of the most persistent bugs pest control companies have to deal with. They are extremely difficult to get rid of for the following reasons:

- Pesticide resistant: Historically, the primary chemical used in most bed bug pesticides was pyrethrin. It has been shown in test studies that most bed bugs today have some level of chemical resistance to pyrethrin, making them more difficult to kill.
- Reproduction rate: In optimal conditions, a bed bug population doubles every 2 weeks. Bed bugs can live up to a year and in that time, females feed at least every week in preparation of a new egg batch.
- Bed bug behavior: The way bed bugs travel and hide make them impossible to eradicate. They are generally active at night when they are least likely to be noticed. They are also capable of hiding just about anywhere and they continually spread via hitchhiking on an unsuspecting person’s clothes or luggage.
- Durability: Bed bugs can survive without food for over a year in a dormant hibernation phase. They will become active at any point during that time once signs of food are readily available.
Can You Get Rid of Bed Bugs on Your Own?
To increase your chances of success, it is recommended that professional pest control specialists are introduced because they have the training and experience necessary to deal with bed bugs. Getting the right equipment necessary for whole house heating will be difficult to navigate without a pest control company to provide support. At EcoGuard Pest Management, our team can help with all bed bug extermination strategies and our guarantee ensures that we resolve your bed bug problem.
How Long Does It Take to Get Rid of Bed Bugs?
The length of treatment time for dealing with bed bugs generally depends on how thorough you were in your first round of treatment, how bad the infestation was, extermination strategies, and luck.
It is recommended that you pull out all the stops if you are dealing with a bed bug problem. By attacking using all 3 treatment options, you are able to gain the benefits of each treatment option. Heat treatments will be the best initial attack targeted at wiping out the entire population all at once. Chemical treatments should leave a residual killer out for any remaining bed bugs and non-chemical options should help minimize any chances of survivors. If the first round of treatment is successful, you should know by the end of the first 4 – 6 weeks. In that same period, you should also find out if there are any additional signs of bed bugs that may require additional treatment. In the event that new signs of bed bugs are found, the process and timeline will start over.
What Not to Do When Getting Rid of Bed Bugs:
- Panic: Having bed bugs can be devastating to your mental health, don’t let it overwhelm you
- Throw out everything: Your clothes, mattress, and furniture should be salvageable so there’s no need to trash anything
- Wear insecticides: applying harsh chemical pesticides on your skin while you sleep likely won’t provide much relief
- Use pesticides not designed for bed bugs: Using the wrong pesticide has little effect on bed bugs
- Using non-EPA registered products: These pesticides are not recognized as safe for contact
- Moving furniture: Moving furniture can potentially introduce bed bugs from an infested area into a clean area
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs in a Mattress
The knee jerk response to finding out that you have bed bugs feeding on you is to ditch the mattress asap. That being said, if there are no steps taken to clean other parts of your infested area, the mattress is likely only part of the problem. Removing bed bugs from your mattress needs to be done carefully and thoroughly. Using chemical treatment on something you sleep on usually isn’t recommended but if you plan on using any chemical treatments, you need to make sure it is EPA approved for mattresses otherwise there is the risk of using something unsafe for human contact.
In addition to the chemical application, it is recommended that heat treatment is applied to the mattress. This can be done using a steamer as the machine will push hot steam through the mattress killing all bed bugs, nymphs, and eggs. You should make several slow passes over the entire area of the mattress including the seams, creases, folds, and corners. Then vacuum thoroughly to remove the dead bed bugs before sealing the cleaned mattress in an encasement.
Eliminate Bed Bugs from the Box Spring 
A box spring has tons of hiding places for bed bugs but since your body is not touching the box spring, a chemical pesticide is more appropriate to use here. You will need to remove the fabric liner to get at the joints in the frame as well as the material on the underside of the box spring. Like the mattress, using heat and steam to kill off any remaining bed bugs prior to vacuuming and encasement will be an effective strategy when cleaning the box spring.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs in the Furniture:
Bed bugs have been seen on other pieces of furniture and not just on the bed. They are common on couches, recliners, dressers, nightstands, and even picture/poster frames.
Sofa and chair:
Sofas and recliners are another common place to find bed bugs because they are used frequently in the evenings and people will often stay sitting for hours while watching TV or movies. The process of getting rid of bed bugs from a sofa or chair is similar to a mattress. We recommend steaming thoroughly before vacuuming. Then in addition to chemical applications, we would introduce dusting to help dehydrate any remaining bed bugs. There are limited couch encasements, but it is still recommended that footer traps are still used to identify if and when the bed bugs return.
Bedroom furniture:
Bed bugs will venture away from the mattress, but they never leave too far from their host. This means that bed bugs will end up in furniture close by the bed. They are commonly found in the drawers and joints of nightstands and dressers. The best way to address these pieces of furniture is to isolate them in an already infested room and remove all the contents. Trash any contents that don’t need to be kept and inspect and clean the rest of the contents using the proper protocols. Then spray the furniture with bed bug specific pesticides paying special attention to the insides of drawers, the cracks at the joints, screw holes, and any other crevice thin enough for a bed bug to survive in. Once the pesticides dry, use a powdered desiccant to dust as a final layer of protection. To be 100 percent certain of bed bug extermination, heat treatment will have to be done to the area, but this comes with the risk of warping wooden furniture.
Picture Frames:
Bed bugs are capable of scaling walls and are known to reach pictures and posters hanging around the bed. A quick inspection of these should reveal signs of bed bugs. If there are signs of bed bug activity, heat might not be the best solution given the damage it might cause to the image. That said, a quick vacuuming followed by a pesticide spray and dusting should help eliminate the bed bugs.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs in the Carpet:
Bed bugs generally don’t live in the carpet, but they do travel often in search of new food sources. If there are signs of bed bugs in your carpets, it’s more likely that they are on the prowl for a new hiding place close to a new food source. You can get rid of bed bugs in your carpet by:
- Steam: Heating the carpet using a steam cleaner is a good way to kill off any bed bugs in your carpet. Use very slow passes to ensure that the floor is swept through a couple times and be sure to pay special attention to the edges of the room.
- Vacuuming: Once the bed bugs have been killed, use a vacuum to remove any bed bugs, nymphs, or eggs. Be sure to get rid of the vacuum bag in a plastic trash bag immediately to prevent any survivors from escaping.
- Insecticides: This method is not recommended as a broad cover spray. Since bed bugs likely aren’t going to be found in the exposed area of the carpet, it only makes sense to target the carpet around the edges of the room where the carpet meets the walls.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs in Clothes:
Bed bugs will hide in clothes when traveling and it is recommended that these steps be implemented before returning home to ensure that bed bugs are not brought into your house.

- Keep contaminated laundry separated and sealed in a plastic bag. This will attempt to contain them until you reach a laundry machine
- Wash and dry your clothes on high heat
- Store clean clothes in a sealed plastic bin if possible while other treatments are being implemented
- Dry cleaners will need to be notified for special care clothing. This will help them keep your infested clothes separate until they can be cleaned using PCE which kills bed bugs.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs in Luggage:
Bed bugs are notorious for being in places that are frequented by many travelers. This results in hotels and motels being hot beds for bed bug activity. If you find yourself in an infested room, there is a good chance that bed bugs will find their way into your luggage. A few important things to note when traveling and cleaning your luggage:
- Inspect the mattress and headboard for bed bugs prior to unpacking while traveling
- Do not put luggage on the bed or on the floor in your hotel room
- Put your clothes in a sealed bag and then directly into the laundry after traveling
- Steam clean the luggage and wrap in a plastic trash bag when not in use.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Permanently:
Getting rid of beg bugs permanently requires professional assistance because bed bugs can always find their way back. Having a professional team provide ongoing maintenance services will help identify a bed bug problem faster and deal with the problem more effectively and efficiently. There is usually more than 1 treatment plan that must be implemented for successful extermination and having a professional exterminator help increases your odds of eliminating your bed bugs permanently. Be sure to call EcoGuard Pest Management to schedule an inspection today.
Prevention Tips:
The most important aspect of bed bug control is prevention. Keeping bed bugs out of your home in the first place is much easier than trying to exterminate them after the fact. Be sure to follow the following tips to ensure that bed bugs don’t become a problem:

- Keep clutter out of your house
- Steam, vacuum, and wash bedding and furniture
- Cover your mattress and bed spring with a bed bug encasement
- Check for bed bugs in hotel rooms and avoid setting luggage down on the bed or floor
- Check luggage and travel clothing before returning home
Hire an EcoGuard Professional Bed Bug Technician
If you want to save yourself the headache of potential failed attempts at bed bug extermination, call EcoGuard Pest Management to get a licensed and trained bed bug exterminator to help. Our years of experience and equipment help us ensure that we are able to effectively treat your home for bed bugs. Our team will provide you with a checklist of items that should be done prior to treatment which should help expedite the time it takes until you are bed bug free.
Getting Rid of Bed Bugs FAQs
