Treatment

Click here for 8 (detailed and comprehensive) Steps to Get Rid of Bed Bugs

(Overview)

  • STEP 1: Create A Safe Zone

  • STEP 2: Dealing With Your Personal Belongings

  • STEP 3: Dealing With Large Furniture

  • STEP 4: Use Diatomaceous Earth

  • STEP 5: Sealing Cracks and Crevices

  • STEP 6: Floors and Walls

  • STEP 7: Consider Using Pesticides

  • STEP 8: Visiting Friends and Family

Install Bedbug Traps

  • See Prevention page for bedbug trap details.

  • IMPORTANT: Only set up traps AFTER the bed has been thoroughly decontaminated, the linens washed, and the mattress treated and/or encased in a bedbug cover.

Heat Treatments

  • Utilize your dryer; a good 45 min at high heat will kill bed bugs in all life stages.

  • Use a hair dryer for inspection of objects with small cracks/crevices/openings. (e.g. Blast book spines with hot air to see if any bed bugs try to escape.)

  • Use the Zappbug! This is another method for heat treatment and the MoveIn Vision Team owns one so ask about borrowing it if you live in Canada.

  • Use your oven for items that can’t go in the dryer like books. Put the oven at the lowest temperature (usually around 170C). REMEMBER that the heat in the oven is much higher than the dryer so if you’re baking something that has meltable parts (book binding, internal parts of running shoes), let the item cool thoroughly without touching it after you remove it from the oven to reduce damage/deformity.

Professional Treatment

  • These typically use a combination of heat and chemical treatment.

  • Heat is the most effective treatment as it kills adult bugs, nymphs, and eggs. However, it is not as easy as simply spraying a room or piece of furniture.

  • If having professional treatment done, ensure you follow the preparation instructions exactly.

  • IMPORTANT: Do not wash baseboards, walls, or furniture for several months after treatment (residual pesticide will kill any bed bugs that walk through it).

  • Immediately after the spraying, take all preventative measures and anti-bed bug precautions. 

Tips & Tricks

  • Keep treated (clean) items in sealed ziplocks and clear garbage bags closed with tape. The clear bags will save you from having to open bags unnecessarily to see what’s inside.