House bugs are a difficult problem to deal with. A complex action is needed to destroy not only adult active individuals, but also parasites that are resistant to the effects of poison, namely insect larvae and eggs. With a strong infection, it is very difficult to deal with bedbugs on your own. You have to use several methods at once. An overview of the most effective of them is presented below.
Habitats for bedbugs and their larvae
In order for the fight against bedbugs at home to be effective, it is necessary to determine the habitats of parasites and their larvae. This will allow you to carefully process the territory and destroy the population. Bedbugs often live on bookshelves, in old drawers and boxes, behind pictures on the walls, in travel bags and suitcases, shoes, linen closets, window curtains, and flooring. Find places in hard-to-reach placesclusters of insects are heavier. Bedbugs can live in electrical outlets, holes and cracks in walls and floors, radio, audio and television equipment, any equipment, ventilation ducts.
Home remedies for bed bugs
Means of dealing with bedbugs at home can be divided into radical destroying and preventive repellents. If parasites are found in the apartment, it is better to first try to completely get rid of them, and then use a repellent to prevent further penetration of insects into the apartment. Certain chemicals, concentrated essential oils, some types of plants will not ensure the destruction of bedbugs, but only repel insects. It is a good preventive or anti-relapse remedy.
When the degree of infection is high, deterrent measures are completely useless. The fight against bed bugs at home is most often carried out with special preparations. Modern means are safe for humans and effective, but protective measures should be observed. Insecticides are sold in the form of gels, aerosols, liquids, powders, crayons, and so on. The most effective are liquid insecticides and powder-based solutions. Gels and pastes are best used as barrier preventive protection due to their long residual action. The fight against bedbugs in the apartment should be started independently only after the preparation of the premises. Additionally, protective equipment must be provided.
In general, all existing methods of dealing with bedbugs inhome conditions are divided into five groups according to the method of exposure: physical or temperature; mechanical means; folk methods proven over the years; removal of parasites with insecticides; ultrasonic repellers. When choosing a method, you need to focus on the number of insects in the apartment. With a large-scale infection, it is worth starting with aggressive chemicals, and if there are few bugs, then thermal and mechanical methods are effective. It is best to combine several methods and means of dealing with bedbugs at home. If the methods used are ineffective, it may make sense to contact the pest control service.
Temperatures unsuitable for survival
The essence of the physical method of dealing with bedbugs at home is to create an aggressive temperature regime in the habitats of insects. But first, in any case, you need to carefully examine the home to find nests of parasites and destroy them with a vacuum cleaner. The reusable dust collector should be shaken out only on the street, and then doused with boiling water or boiled if the bag is fabric. Unfavorable temperature conditions can be created by freezing or strongly heating the room.
Fighting bedbugs in an apartment on your own, that is, without involving special services, involves maintaining temperatures incompatible with the life of parasites: +55 0С and more or -20 0C and below. It is difficult to create such a regime in an ordinary city apartment, and the method itself does not give a full guarantee of destructionall insects. But the physical method of dealing with bedbugs at home is absolutely safe for the he alth of residents.
Exposure to high or low temperatures
It is necessary to disinfect with boiling water all the habitats of parasites - cracks in the floor and walls, joints and baseboards. It is advisable to pour boiling water over everything that can withstand such aggressive heat treatment twice. Bedding, personal items, pillows and blankets should be treated with a steam cleaner or steamer. You can use a regular household iron, but the effect will be less. It is recommended to disinfect the most inaccessible places with a powerful building hair dryer, the maximum temperature of which reaches 200 degrees Celsius.
The effectiveness of this method of dealing with bedbugs at home depends on the thoroughness of processing. Heat treatment is recommended to be carried out at least twice. To consolidate the effect after heating, you can use liquid nitrogen or liquefied gas. Low temperatures can be created using special spray guns or cans that contain liquefied substances. Personal items, bedding, blankets, soft toys and pillows are enough to hang out in severe frost, but this is not available in all regions and not throughout the calendar year. After processing, all bedding must be packed in vacuum bags, and mattresses and upholstered furniture should be covered with special covers, all joints and cracks should be treated with special sealants.
The impact on parasites should be targeted, that isit is not enough just to open the windows wide open on a frosty day. This tactic only contributes to the freezing of heating and water supply systems, but it will not work on bedbugs. For the instant death of parasites you need -72 degrees Celsius or +100 0С. The treatment with a household steam cleaner is effective (at least 1,400 W of power and with a pressure of more than 4 atmospheres), and for a small area it is better to choose a compact model, for example, the Rolsen SC3510 GR steam generator with universal and angled nozzles, as well as with a long nozzle.
For cleaning hard-to-reach places and equipment, a pneumatic sprayer with compressed gas is suitable. Such processing is safe, and the substances used are not flammable. With the task of instantaneous cooling of surfaces, a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher does a good job, leaving no marks when used. The gas temperature is about 72 degrees below zero.
Pros and cons of the physical method
In practice, such methods of self-control of bedbugs in an apartment are rarely used, since they are characterized by a high cost of work and the need for very careful processing. The indisputable advantage is only absolute harmlessness for the tenants of the apartment and pets, but there are much more disadvantages. During processing, there is a significant risk of deformation of the coatings. There is also no residual effect against new larvae and transits after exposure to temperature.
There is a high risk that the heat treatment will not completely destroy the bedbugs. Short-term exposure to low or hightemperatures, the vital activity of insects can only slow down for a while. With insufficient strength or speed of steam flow, low pressure or temperature, the parasites will not completely disappear. In addition, unlike chemical treatment, thermal treatment does not lure bugs out of their nests, which does not make the task of getting rid of insects any easier.
Mechanical cleaning of the room from bedbugs
The mechanical method of dealing with bedbugs at home is practically not used as the main one, but one cannot do without it. Firstly, in order to detect parasites, it is effective to create vibrations (move furniture, tap). Secondly, when a bedbug nest is found, you will have to crush insects and clean off the seams if there is no insecticidal spray on hand. To lure insects mechanically is not as effective as chemicals, and it is better to remove nests with a vacuum cleaner. In addition, vibrations without the subsequent destruction of the detected parasites will only contribute to the fact that the bugs will settle throughout the apartment.
An effective, but relatively expensive method of dealing with bed bugs is to lure them out and attract them to one place - a bait trap. For this, thermal effects, carbon dioxide or special chemicals are used. Domestic manufacturers do not yet produce such traps, and buying foreign ones is too expensive. But you can use mechanical Velcro traps. This is not the most effective way to deal with bedbugs, fleas and other householdparasites, but sometimes it helps.
Insecticide use
The chemical method of dealing with bedbugs in an apartment is the most commonly used method, simple and effective. In stores you can find a large number of tools, including professional and household. Repellent and attraction drugs do not always work, but the most effective is the use of contact agents that destroy insects moving on treated surfaces and larvae.
For self-control of bedbugs with insecticidal agents, you will need individual protective equipment that will avoid the negative effects of chemistry on the human body: goggles, a respirator or gauze bandage, a special suit or clothing that can be disposed of later, rubber gloves. To treat the room with liquid substances that are not equipped with an atomizer, you need to purchase an additional atomizer.
Preparing the apartment for processing
It is imperative to prepare the apartment for chemical treatment. All residents, along with pets, must leave the premises before starting insecticidal treatment. You can return to the apartment no earlier than three hours after the sanitary work and ventilation. Before processing, you need to wash the floors, vacuum the carpets and upholstered furniture, wipe the dust. All utensils, food, personal items, children's toys and hygiene products must be placed in bags, equipment should be covered with foil, turned offelectricity.
What to do after home disinfestation?
After completing the treatment of the apartment with chemicals, you need to ventilate the room for 3-5 hours, wipe all surfaces with a solution of soda ash (40-50 grams per liter of water) and soapy water. Processing is carried out only in rubber gloves. Adults and pets can return to the home only after prolonged ventilation and thorough wet cleaning.
Choosing a chemical remedy for bedbugs
For effective control of bedbugs with insecticidal agents, it is necessary to take into account the degree of infection of the apartment. A small number of parasites, for example, can be quickly destroyed with special sprays, and in difficult cases, concentrated liquid agents will have to be used. The main means of self-control of bedbugs in the apartment include:
- Highly concentrated liquid products: "Sinuzan", "Tetrix", "Forsyth", "Averfos", "Primadid", "Insecta Dibro-Fin", "Cucaracha", "Fufanon", "Executioner". Most drugs are used in the form of a solution of the required concentration. Fluids allow large areas to be treated.
- Microcapsules: Xulat C25, Delta Zone, Minap 22, GET. The toxic substance continues to act on parasites for six months, destroying insects in large quantities. The preparations are completely safe for residents and pets, odorless.
- Aerosols, which include two or three effective insecticides: "Raid", "Combat","Dichlorvos", "Raptor", "Prima-U", "Karbozol". Sprays have an immediate effect, but do not destroy parasite eggs. It is recommended to re-treat with aerosols from time to time to fix the result. Such poisons are convenient to use in hard-to-reach places.
- Powdered insecticides, dusts: "Riapan", "Clean House", "Karbofos", "Microfos", "Phenaksin", "Fas", "Pyrethrum" and others. Such funds help to fight not only domestic bugs, but also other parasites. The drugs are high intensity and long lasting.
- Bug gels: "Blockbuster", "Global". The effectiveness of such drugs is very controversial, since it is necessary that the particles of the drug enter the digestive tract of the insect.
- Fumigators. Judging by the reviews, the Raptor aquafumigator is considered the most effective in the fight against bed bugs.
When processing, several features must be taken into account: insects may be resistant to certain poisons and have the ability to adapt to insecticidal preparations. Therefore, you need to try different means and change the method of exposure (even if the result is positive, because over time the parasites usually adapt to the poison).
The most effective drugs
An effective means of combating bedbugs is the drug "Executioner". It is a yellowish liquid with no pungent odor. The poison is packaged in plastic bottles of 6 ml. The treatment solution is prepared on the basis of ordinary water. The concentration of the main component of fenthion inpreparation reaches 25%. In the body of warm-blooded animals (including humans), a weak poison is neutralized by special enzymes, so a small amount of the drug is safe. The drug has a neuroparalytic effect on parasites.
GET deserves good reviews. This is a microencapsulated suspension that effectively destroys not only bedbugs, but also other parasites. The product is poured into plastic bottles of 100 ml. Inside the capsule is the active substance - chlorperifos, which poisons a large number of insects. As a result of damage to the nervous system, paralysis occurs. The bug clings to the paws of the capsule and can infect other insects in the nest. The composition of the product does not contain allergen substances, the preparation is resistant to ultraviolet rays and temperature extremes, is completely safe for people and pets, has a light (non-aggressive) smell and leaves no pollution. In addition, GET is quite economical, because one bottle is enough for high-quality treatment of a 40 m2 room2.
Means of a new generation - "Hector". The peculiarities of the drug are the mechanical effect and the composition without toxic substances. This is a highly absorbent powder that, upon contact with the parasite, draws out the liquid from it, leaving absolutely no chance of survival. "Hector" retains protective properties for a long time, is safe for people and animals, destroys bedbugs that are able to resist chemicals.
"Foresight" refers tohighly effective and safe means, therefore it is often used to destroy parasites in an apartment. The active ingredient is perimethrin. It is best to use "Foresight" with barrier methods. The duration of exposure to the drug after treatment of the premises is approximately two weeks. After that, you need to re-process. Judging by the reviews, two treatments of the apartment are enough to completely get rid of bed bugs.
Folk ways to deal with bedbugs at home
In the apartment, such methods are used very first. Parasites are known to avoid the rich smell of certain plants. Chamomile, tansy, wild rosemary, wormwood can be used both fresh and dry, as part of concentrated aromatic oils. Smelling herbs are laid out in the places where bedbugs may live in the dwelling, they spray the room with decoctions and infusions, and carry out wet cleaning.
More modern folk remedies - vinegar, kerosene, naphthalene, transformer oil, turpentine, denatured alcohol and others. It is important that all folk remedies for dealing with bedbugs in the apartment only help temporarily, so it is better to use them as a preventive measure.
Contacting the pest control service
In case of extensive contamination of the premises, it is advisable to contact the sanitary and epidemiological station or the pest control service. Professionals have experience in dealing with parasites, use a large number of special equipment and preparations. It is better to contact a well-known company with a good reputation. The cost of the services of such firms will be higher, but the probability of completely getting rid of bedbugs in the apartment is alsoincrease.
It is imperative to find out what means the company's employees use, whether they have hot or cold fog generators at their disposal, what drugs are used, whether the chemicals have been certified (services are allowed to use only those drugs that contain not too dangerous for humans and pet substances). Commonly used are Tetrix, K-Otrin SK 50, Seachlor, Empire 20. The specific choice of drug depends on the type of room and the degree of contamination. Processing is done twice.
Prevention of indoor contamination
To protect the home from bedbugs, various preventive methods are used. These are folk remedies and traps that you can make yourself. But to get rid of the problem forever, you have to make a quality repair. Effective insect protection and prevention depend on how well the migration routes are blocked. If it is impossible to make repairs, then you need to close up all the cracks well, change the sockets and switches, close the ventilation ducts with a mesh with small holes.
