Even though they are not poisonous, bed bugs are some of the most dangerous creatures on earth. Why such a bold statement? Because few living things can destroy your peace of mind as bed bugs do. They multiply like crazy, hide in the toughest to reach spots, survive very long periods without food, and, like the demon spawns they are, they can be incredibly hard to get rid of.

We’ve had clients call us at Command Pest Control, half-mad with desperation, barely waiting to be patched through before hitting us with an all too familiar question: what kills bed bugs in my home?

If you’ve never experienced the stinging itch of a bed bug, count yourself lucky because these resilient creatures are virtually impossible to control. Well, that is what we believe the overwhelmed homeowner would say shortly before resorting to professional help. However, judging by the frequency of these calls, and by how often we educate people on how to curb infestations before they start, we can say that trying to kill bed bugs is rarely a DIY job.

That said, we do have some suggestions on how you can kill small bed bug populations before they turn into a full infestation.

Using Household Items to Kill Bed Bugs

If you’re bent on finding a quick answer to the question “how do I kill bed bugs in my home,” here are a few items in your home that can be turned into bed bug destroyers. Of course, these will never be as effective as a professional exterminator, but the goal here is cutting down their numbers using everything else except chemicals like pesticides.

So, on our list, we have stuff like rubbing alcohol, iron boxes, and the odd item or two, like electric tape. They all work, but only to some degree, so don’t count on them as surefire fixes to your bed bug problem.

1. Rubbing Alcohol

More often than not, we answer the question “how to kill bed bugs in my home” with a simple two-word response: rubbing alcohol. Alcohol is quite effective at killing bed bugs on contact. The problem is, it evaporates almost immediately, and has no lasting effect on the troublesome critters. Still, it is safer than mainstream pesticides.

For this method to work, you need to see the bed bug and spray alcohol directly on to it. Obviously, that’s a tall order because they’re not exactly strutting around on your sheets waiting to die. Rubbing alcohol can kill only up to 60% of adult bed bugs. In comparison, Command Pest Control kills up to 100% of bed bugs using contact killers (pesticides and whatnot).

2. Heat

Heat is a good tool to use to kill bed bugs, but you have to expose them to a very high temperature without burning down your house. Over the 25 years, we’ve been in this business, we’ve seen people use iron boxes, clothes dryers, and even hair dryers. Do they work? Yes, but, again, only to some degree.

The trick to using heat is to have a constant amount of it directed onto the bed bugs for several minutes; otherwise, you’re just getting them warm and toasty. Tossing sheets in the dryer is good, ironing clothes for a few minutes is also good, and so is pointing a hairdryer directly onto the little buggers. If your bed bug problem resides in cracks, bed frames, and hidden nooks and crannies, the heat treatment is not going to be very useful.

3. Glue traps and other adhesives

There was a running theory a few years back that bed bugs cannot get past sticky or slippery surfaces. Everyone with bed bug issues tried this at some point, but reports suggest that it did little to hinder the nightmarish insects, which strolled past their traps with ease.

Using double-sided tapes, Vaseline, and even commercial glue traps isn’t going to get rid of your bed bug problem by any stretch. Simply put, some bed bugs won’t be deterred by anything when it comes to sucking your blood, so consider more direct and effective means instead, like calling Command Pest Control.

4. Pesticides and desiccants

There’s no question about the effectiveness of these two measures—they absolutely work. The problem here lies mostly with you. Are you certain you know how to handle these chemicals without accidentally poisoning yourself or your pets, or family members? Do you know where to apply these dangerous pesticides and the kind of protection to gear up with when doing so?

If you have even the slightest doubt that you can administer pesticides to the affected areas, then please don’t risk it. Handling dangerous pesticides is what we at Command pest Control have been doing for decades, and we know how to efficiently destroy a bed bug infestation without harming anything other than those devilish insects.

How Can I Keep Bed Bugs Away from My Home?

Indeed, many of us don’t realize we have a bed bug problem until it gets out of control. That’s sad, especially since curbing their spread is easy during the early stages of infestation. Here is what you should do when you suspect a bed bug family is squatting at your place of residence:

1. Take every item that’s infested, seal them in a plastic bag, and treat them using a pesticide. Make sure you’re adequately protected when you do this.
2. Anything that can’t be saved should be placed in a plastic bag, given the same treatment, and left alone for up to 12 months until you are confident that the bed bugs are dead.
3. In the case of furniture that cannot be recovered, wreck it. Break the wood, rip up the stuffing, use spray paint—do everything you can to deter anyone else from taking it into their home.
4. Furniture that can be treated should be taken outside and sprayed down with n pesticide. Otherwise, leave any infested item for the trash pickup company.
5. Always empty your vacuum as soon as you’re done. Please make sure the bag is tightly sealed before you put it in the outdoor trash can.

As Always, Seek Professional Help When Overwhelmed

If you’d rather have someone else dealing with your bed bug problem, you’re in luck. Command Pest Control offers comprehensive extermination services for a wide range of pests, including bed bugs. In fact, the best answer to the question “what kills bed bugs in my home” is professional exterminators.

We’ve been doing this for over 25 years, and we are dead set on doing exactly what our customers need and getting out of there as quickly as we arrived. The perks of choosing us are that you get to deal with the exterminators themselves, not corporate guys that try to upsell you on services you don’t need.

We are extremely professional, and if you contact us, we handle everything from the beginning to the end without sub-contracting. Command Pest Control is one of the few companies that strictly adheres to federal and state guidelines. What’s more, our biggest priority is customer safety, so we’ve invested heavily in advanced clearance devices that annihilate pests like bed bugs without putting our customers at risk.

Simply put, Command Pest Control is a company you can turn to in your hour of need. Pest control is what we do, and we do it the right way all the time.