How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs in Michigan

When you first come across bed bugs, it’s important to act quickly so you can limit an out-of-control infestation from taking place in your home or spreading into other spaces you frequently visit. One of your best strategies for eliminating an infestation is to hire an exterminator.

When you get a professional involved, you will be given a treatment that is proven to remove entire bed bug infestation populations from your property. Typical treatments include:

1. Fumigation
2. Insecticides
3. Heat treatment
4. Steam treatment

Is Bed Bug Steam Treatment & Fumigation Safe?

If you are looking for chemical-free and safe treatments, your best approach is to have a heat or steam treatment. Fumigation is not safe until after it has run its course throughout your home. 

Both heat and steam treatments are effective ways to exterminate bed bugs. When using a steam remediation treatment, a lethal temperature is applied to inaccessible areas and deep recesses where bed bugs commonly hide. 

Considered the most effective at removing bed bugs, a heat treatment (thermal remediation), is low-risk, chemical-free, and non-toxic. Heat treatments also reduce disruption to your day-to-day life and eliminate the possibility of having to replace items in your home. 

Some of the benefits of heat treatment include:

• Once a heat treatment is done, infested furniture and mattresses can still be used. 
• If heat is above 120ºF, all stages of the bed bug life cycle will not survive. 
• With an average time of about three hours to complete, the treatment is done and considered “effective.”

Fumigation is a more serious approach to addressing a bed bug infestation. The property is tarped to prevent fumigation from being released and it will release the chemical-laden fumes into every inch of your structure. This method is highly effective and considered a ‘last resort’ for infestations. It is extremely disruptive as the home must be evacuated for several days and items will likely be ruined. 

Bed Bug Insecticide Use

Another common approach to bed bugs includes the use of insecticides. These range from dusts to liquids and are largely used for bed bug spot treatments. Insecticides can be applied to hotspots, which tend to be baseboards, floor and wall junctions, cracks in the floors and walls, behind electrical outlets, and more. 

By applying to the likely hiding places of bed bugs, the goal is to eliminate their daytime nesting areas. This treatment is more invasive than a heat treatment and may not be 100% effective after the first attempt. 

Do Bed Bugs Eat Food?

There is good news and bad news about the eating habits of bed bugs. If you didn’t know already, bed bugs only eat one thing: blood. While this means that they will leave your pantries and food alone in your home, this also means that they are coming to you and your family members each night to feed. Since bed bugs leave your food alone, you won’t have to worry about throwing anything out. You shouldn’t even have to dispose of your mattress after you have a treatment administered by a professional! 

How Long Can Bed Bugs Live Without Feeding?

Another unfortunate reality is that bed bugs can live an entire year without a blood meal! When temperature and humidity are ideal, adult bed bugs can go without feeding anywhere between 20 to 400 days. Bed bugs can live in your home for long periods, with or without a blood meal, and will not resort to eating anything else in the meantime.

Do I Have to Throw Out My Bed Bug Infested Mattress?

When an infestation occurs in your home, they have likely spread to other areas around your home – not just in your mattress. Simply replacing your mattress with a new one will only bring the bed bugs into your new mattress. It’s vital to treat your home for bed bugs first before deciding what to do with your mattress and box spring. 

Do You Need to Throw Away Bedding or Other Furniture?

Most, if not all, of your items should be salvageable after a proper treatment. Instead of just throwing out items, washing them in hot water will kill bed bugs and their eggs and can be used once again. 

This is also the case for furniture, as treatments should work on killing the insects and their eggs. Should you decide to remove any furniture that has been infested with bed bugs, make sure they have been treated first before taking them out of the home to prevent further spread to new areas. 

What’s the Best Way to Get Rid of Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs are phenomenal at hiding in areas around your home that you may not even consider. Should you come across bed bugs in your home, there’s no reason to panic and remove items. Moving forward quickly with a bed bug treatment from Griffin Pest Solutions can help you from potentially throwing out food, bedding, and more.