We spend as much as 35% of our lives snoozing under the duvet, but have you ever stopped to think about who you’re sharing your bed with? We’re not talking about your partner or even your pets, but instead bedbugs.

Bedbugs aren’t an uncommon issue for households throughout the UK, but removing them doesn’t have to involve an expensive pest control company. Instead, by following the advice outlined in this post, you can remove and prevent bedbug infestations in your home.

What are Bedbugs:

Bedbugs are small blood sucking insects, roughly the size of an apple pip, which are attracted by body heat and carbon dioxide. Predominately the bugs live in the cracks and crevices in and around your bed, coming out at night to bite your exposed skin and feed on your blood, and in some people this will result in itchy red bumps developing.

Whilst bites from bedbugs can result in red bumps, it is worth noting they aren’t dangerous and the bites cannot transmit diseases, but they should still be treated.

How To Spot Bedbugs:

It is estimated approximately 70% of all bedbugs in a typical infestation are found in the mattress, and signs which you may have an infestation include:

• Black spots on a mattress, which is likely to be dried bedbug faeces. Alternatively, mottled brown shells on the mattress are present as bedbugs mature and shed their skin.
• Blood spots, which occur if you’ve squashed a bedbug after it has fed.
• An unpleasant, musty scent in your room. This is more common in rooms with a large infestation, particularly as adult bedbugs produce such an odour when their glands are disturbed.

Whilst the above are all signs that you may have an issue with bedbugs, it is worth noting that an infestation can quickly spread, as a result of the speed bedbugs can crawl – either along the floor, furniture, through holes in walls or pipes.

Should you spot an infestation of bedbugs, it’s important to make sure you take action immediately.

Remove Bedbugs Yourself at Home:

When it comes to removing bedbugs from your home, there are a number of things you must do if you want to prevent them from coming back, and these include:

• Washing all bed clothes and bed linen on a 60⁰C wash for a minimum of 30 minutes, the clothing should then be left either in the sun to dry naturally or placed in the tumble dryer for at least half an hour. The heat will kill the bedbugs and any eggs they’ve laid.
• Use a vacuum cleaner with a mattress tool attachment to clean your mattress, making sure to vacuum all sides of your mattress and any crevices.
• Once you’ve vacuumed the mattress, use a steam cleaner to go over the mattress. The hot temperatures produced by the steam cleaner will kill any bedbugs and eggs which are remaining, due the bugs not being able to withstand the heat produced from the appliance.

Whilst the above methods for removing a bedbug infestation from your home are tried and tested methods, there are other methods which have been recommended. Previously, in our post “How to Clean Your Home…Using Food” we spoke about the cleaning power of food, and it can also be used to tackle an infestation of bedbugs.

Both turmeric and peppermint oil are cited as being ways to remove bedbugs from your home. Turmeric is a useful weapon in the fight against bedbugs because it contains curcumin which is an anti-microbial agent which creates unfavourable conditions for bugs, cutting off their oxygen supply and killing them.

To effectively use turmeric to kill bedbugs, it’s recommended to spread it over the mattress, as this prevents the bugs having anywhere to go. Alternatively, peppermint oil can be used in the same way. This is an effective way to tackle a bedbug infestation as bedbugs are attracted to mint, however it causes an allergy within them which effectively chokes them.

How To Prevent a Bedbug Infestation:

Despite the myth, bedbugs aren’t attracted to dirty areas. But this doesn’t mean you should neglect your cleaning, as regular cleaning will help keep bedbugs at bay.

To help prevent bedbugs in your home, we recommend you regularly vacuum all areas of your home and where possible use a steam cleaner to provide a deeper clean. As touched upon above, the heat produced by the steam cleaner will help to kill off any bedbugs and eggs which are lingering.

Further steps to keeping bedbugs at bay is to wash your bed sheets on a fortnightly basis, whilst your pillows and duvets should be washed every couple of months, with the pillows being washed on a 60⁰C wash.

When washing either your pillows or duvet, it is important to make sure you’re loading your washing machine correctly to help prevent any damage being caused. It is recommended to wash 2 pillows at a time, as this will keep a balanced load. As for the duvet, this should be folded in half to make sure it fits into the machine and the weight is dispersed evenly.

Taking the time to regularly change and wash your bedding will help prevent you from having any nasty surprises when it comes to who you are sharing it with, meaning you can sleep soundly without worrying about any bugs feeding off you.

Tags: Bed Bugs, Cleaning Tips