Bed Bugs Guide

What Does a Bed Bug Treatment Program Include?

Bed bugs are unsettling pests, but they can be eliminated with a methodical approach. Whether you’re dealing with a home or office infestation, a DIY treatment can effectively remove bed bugs while fitting your schedule and budget.

While treating bed bugs requires diligence and consistency, our 4-step guide will walk you through the process:

1. How to Prepare a Room for Bed Bug Treatment
2. How to Treat a Room for Bed Bugs
3. How to Treat a Mattress for Bed Bugs
4. How to Kill Active Bed Bugs and Repeat the Process

Before starting, ensure you’ve correctly identified bed bugs by checking our guides on what bed bugs look like and where they hide to confirm the infestation.

Before starting your bed bug treatment, it's essential to prepare the affected room(s) and any adjacent rooms sharing walls with the infestation. Remove items that cannot be treated or have already been treated, and seal them in plastic bags before moving them to another area. This step helps prevent unseen bed bugs from spreading to other spaces. In apartments, bed bugs can easily travel between units, so consider seeking assistance from your landlord if the issue persists.

Take down any paintings or wall art and inspect them thoroughly to avoid transferring bed bugs to another room.

For heavily infested mattresses, cover them with a bed bug-proof mattress encasement before moving them. Additionally, protect your box spring with a box spring encasement.

If you need to dispose of an infested mattress, wrap it securely in plastic to safeguard sanitation workers and label it with "Bed Bugs" to inform others.

Wash infested sheets, linens, and garments in hot water and dry them on high heat (over 120°F), as this effectively kills bed bugs. For items that cannot be washed, consider dry-cleaning or discarding them, as insecticides are not suitable for these materials.

Certain bed bug products have limitations on where they can be used, and bed bugs can develop resistance to specific insecticides, such as pyrethroids, making them more challenging to eliminate. To achieve the best results, it's essential to use a combination of products that target bed bugs in different ways. We recommend utilizing one of our comprehensive bed bug kits, which contain a selection of our most powerful and effective treatments. These kits are designed for various applications, helping you save both time and money while ensuring thorough control.

To eliminate bed bugs from a mattress, apply an aerosol spray specifically labeled for bed bug treatment, such as Bedlam Aerosol Spray. Spray or mist the insecticide onto the mattress, focusing on the seams, tufts, and folds. Ensure the mattress is damp but not soaked, and allow it to dry completely before remaking the bed with freshly laundered sheets that have been dried on high heat.

Encasing for Prevention

After treating the mattress or box spring, encase both in bed bug-proof covers. These encasements prevent re-infestation and simplify future inspections and treatments. Ensure the treated surfaces are completely dry before encasing them. Once encased, you will not need to re-treat the mattress or box spring.

If Not Encasing

If you choose not to encase your mattress or box spring, reapply the aerosol spray every 7–10 days until no further signs of bed bug activity are detected.

Follow-Up with Insecticide Dust

Enhance the treatment by applying insecticide dust to hard-to-reach areas, such as the corners of mattresses and where mattresses meet box springs. Dusts provide long-lasting protection, often lasting several months.

Dust Application Tips:

• Dust the box spring, including corners and crevices.
• Remove the dust cover from the bottom of the box spring and treat hidden areas.

Encasing your mattress and box spring is highly recommended to avoid the need for repeated treatments and to provide lasting protection against bed bugs.

Once your mattress has been treated, focus on the rest of the affected room(s) and any adjoining spaces sharing walls with the infestation.

Prepare a bed bug spray by mixing an insecticide labeled for bed bug control, such as Alpine WSG or Temprid FX, with water in a pump sprayer. Follow the product label for the correct ratio. Apply the spray to baseboards, corners, door and window frames, bed frames, and under furniture. Avoid broadcasting the spray over entire carpets or floors. Allow the treated areas to dry before proceeding to the next step.

Key Areas to Target:

• Bed and Furniture Legs: Treat wheels, casters, posts, and legs, as bed bugs often hide in these areas.
• Carpet Edges: Spray where carpets meet baseboards to address common hiding spots.
• Door and Window Frames: Apply the spray around frames and thresholds to prevent movement between rooms.

Reapply the spray as needed, following the product label for safe intervals between applications.

After completing Step 2.2 and allowing the insecticide mixture to dry, follow up with a bed bug aerosol spray. These sprays are designed to penetrate deep into cracks and crevices, targeting areas that liquid concentrates may not reach. Combining a liquid insecticide and an aerosol spray increases effectiveness, especially against bed bugs that may have developed resistance to one product.

Bed bug aerosol sprays typically include a straw applicator, making it easier to apply in hard-to-reach areas like furniture joints, mattress seams, and small cracks. Be thorough, treating drawers, picture frames, bed frames, and any other crevices you can find. Let the treated areas dry completely before proceeding.

Key Areas to Target:

Upholstered Furniture:

Inspect and treat all furniture in the affected rooms. Pay extra attention to tufts, seams, folds, furniture legs, and dust liners. Always spot test a small area before applying to the entire piece.

Baseboards:

Apply the spray where the baseboard meets the wall, carpet, or floor, as well as any cracks. This prevents bed bugs from traveling along or beneath the baseboard to other rooms.

Entire Bed Frame:

Treat more than just the mattress. Focus on the box spring, bed frame, and headboard (especially if it is fabric-covered). Spray along seams, corners, stapled dust covers, and inside screw holes or voids.

Pictures and Wall Hangings:

Remove wall hangings, treating the back and corners of each piece. Spray any cracks or crevices in the frames or on the wall behind them. Wait for the spray to dry completely before rehanging items.

By thoroughly treating these areas, you can target hidden bed bugs effectively and prevent further spread.

After completing the insecticide spray and aerosol application, the next step in bed bug elimination is to use a bed bug dust insecticide. This powder-based product works as a slow kill, so it’s recommended to use it alongside other treatments (see Steps 2.2 and 2.3).

Apply the dust with a hand duster to reach cracks, crevices, behind wall outlet covers, and other hard-to-reach areas. While applying dust can be challenging, its long-lasting effectiveness—often lasting months or even years—makes it an essential component of bed bug control.

Key Areas to Focus on When Applying Bed Bug Dust:

Electrical Covers or Faceplates

• Remove outlet covers or faceplates and apply dust inside the wall voids.

Baseboards

• Dust along the edges where carpets meet baseboards, as well as in cracks and corners of the baseboards.

Mattress and Box Spring

• Apply dust in the areas where the mattress meets the box spring, especially at the head and foot of the bed.

Headboard and Footboard

• Detach the headboard from the wall and disassemble enough to access screw holes, crevices, and voids. Repeat the process for the footboard, if applicable.

Drawers and Furniture

• Remove drawers from dressers, nightstands, and end tables. Dust inside corners, edges, and crevices. Don’t forget to flip the drawers and treat their undersides, as well as the undersides of furniture.

Wall Fixtures and Lamps

• Dust the areas behind wall fixtures and beneath lamps to ensure thorough coverage.

By applying dust to these targeted areas, you can create a long-lasting barrier against bed bugs, significantly reducing the chances of reinfestation.

For visible live bed bugs, we recommend using Steri-Fab, a fast-acting spray that combines a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide with isopropyl alcohol to kill bed bugs on contact. In addition to being an effective insecticide, Steri-Fab also functions as a sanitizer.

Since Steri-Fab leaves no residual effect, it can be applied almost anywhere. Shake the product well before use, then spray directly on the areas where bed bugs are present. Bed bugs will typically die within 10 minutes of application.

To effectively eliminate bed bugs, it’s essential to repeat all steps in Step 2 (excluding mattress and box spring treatments if they are encased) every 7-10 days. Continue this cycle until no one in the household is experiencing bites, and there is no visible evidence of bed bugs, such as live insects, cast skins, or blood spots.

Repetition is crucial to success. Depending on the severity of the infestation, the process may take a minimum of 7-8 weeks, including multiple treatments. Skipping steps or failing to remain thorough can extend the infestation and make bed bug elimination more difficult.