I found bed bugs in my love seat and couch set after my children slept on the couch and woke up looking like they had chicken pox. I immediately tossed the love seat and couch, tore up the furniture and poured paint on it so that scavengers would not come and take it and infest their own home. So after I did that I ordered a professional steamer that the boiler temperature is 230 and tip temperature is 212 degrees. I plan on vacuuming every area in the house from top to bottom, ceiling settling cracks, window sills, furniture everything. I am laundering everything in the home that can be laundered. I will steam the whole home from top to bottom, air out the house and the following day spray and bomb/fumigate it. Then I plan on the following day to do the steam again over the course of the next week on a daily basis, Everything that can be steamed done. I’m washing all our bedding and stuff and immediately sealing them in the vacuum seal bags and storing them in the garage. I am undecided yet on what I will do with all our stuffed animals and things besides laundering them and hoping that rids them of it should it have it. I have zipper mattress protectors I just bought yesterday and after steaming and drying the mattresses and spraying them with RID I will be placing them on all 6 mattresses in our home.
Upon inspection of the entire home it seems as though the infestation was limited to the love seat and couch areas, but I want to be extra sure that it’s not anywhere else. None of my children nor myself have been bitten since we have been sleeping in our own beds in the back of the house. I have yet to see any other signs of bed bugs since tossing the couch and loveseat, but I know that doesn’t mean a thing considering I had no idea until the problem was horrendous and my children sick with a stomach bug all decided to just sleep in the livingroom watching movies 🙁
So what do you think. Anything I should add or something else I should do instead?
I have had Orkin come out before because I had suspicions and they didn’t ever find any evidence, even after taking the backing of mattresses and doing a once over of my couch and loveseat. They said if I did have an infestation they would steam them and then use insecticides, so I had asked out of curiosity back when school started how much that would cost me and the price well over 500 dollars for just one room. I can’t afford that.
Putting child proof plugs in the electrical outlets will keep bugs from coming through them in case they get in side the walls. Bedbugs like to stay inside of walls during the day and come out during the night. You are doing good with what you sre doing. They get under night stands and furniture too.
Herbal Bed Bug Spray Insecticide
This spray will act as a good deterrent. In higher concentrations, it might stain clothing and bedding, and could even cause headaches and nausea, so don’t increase the essential oil concentrations unless you plan on being out of the room overnight and have stripped the bed. Oh, and the term essential oil is a misnomer. The liquid isn’t oil based so don’t worry about greasy residue.
Bed Bug Spray Recipe
1 Cup Water
10 drops lavender essential oil
10 drops rosemary essential oil
10 drops eucalyptus essential oil
3 drops essential oil of clove (optional)
Place in a fine mist spray bottle, and shake well before using.
I want to include some cautions here. Never work with essential oils unless you are wearing gloves. Undiluted essential oils can be dangerous if absorbed through the skin. Another possible problem is that essential oils, even diluted, can have an adverse effect on some cats, so keep kitty away.
It would be worth adding a professional consultation to this plan.