Sunday, June 13, 2010

Ways To Prevent Bed Bug Bites

By Aidyn Huffman

When we were all little we heard about bed bugs but many of us just laughed them off as one of those tales. Now we are older and we know that they really exist. In fact, many of us have had to suffer through their attacks! Now, tired of being their meal, we ask ourselves: how do we stop bed bug bites?

With all the misguided people in the world it's easy to understand why there is so much information that it floating around in space. Unfortunately a great deal of it is wrong. There is this rumor that bed bugs are actually creatures that hide in you mattress and eat the dead skin that humans shed when they're asleep. This isn't true. These creatures actually suck blood just like mosquitoes. They only difference is, because they are so much smaller their marks are to scale.

Scratching all day is no fun and neither is walking around looking like you have the chickenpox. No one likes little bugs who steal their blood so naturally, we want to get rid of these bugs. So, how do we do it? One of the most frequently used methods is via insecticide bug sprays and powders. They require a lot of consideration when purchasing them (i. E. Will this be safe around children or dogs, will it ruin my furniture, will it make my carpet fade, will it smell bad, and so on) but if the right kind is purchased they can be effective. Just make sure you get a kind specifically for this particular insect.

Heat is another way of ridding your home of them, though it can be a pain and very expensive. If you live in a hot, dry environment this may be easier to do, but if you live in a place with a generally low temperature it may be not only a chore but expensive. It is recommended when using your homes heating system to allow the house to heat to 120 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure the death of all these bugs. The house should remain at this high temperature for at least twenty minutes.

It's not all that difficult to understand why doing something like that would be impossible for some. So, instead you can use a hand held steam cleaner on furniture and in closets to kill bed bugs. This will take more time but the bugs will be killed quickly so you will not find yourself having to go over many areas more than once. However, keep in mind that these creatures do not only make nests in the cloth parts of furniture. They will also make nests in the nooks and crannies of furniture, such as in the frame of your bed or in the under wire of couches. A dryer that reaches the same temperatures can be used to sanitize clothing.

Another method of keeping these bugs out of your furniture is called the Barrier Method. It is not the best option, as it does not eliminate these bugs from your house, per say, it only keeps them out of certain articles of furniture. Bed bugs cannot cross over petroleum jelly. In addition to this they have trouble climbing up smooth surfaces such as metal, glass, or marble. This being the case, putting the legs of your furniture in, say a coffee can, and smearing the bottom of it with jelly will keep the bugs from entering your bed through that route. That is not to say that if your bed is propped against a wall they will not climb the wall and drop down onto your bed but you will at least be slowing them down. Barriers can also be created with double-sided tape but this can be hampered by pets, rodents, or clumsiness.

When you're trying to stop bed bug bites from occurring you may opt to simply call an exterminator. If you do so you will have to expect not only one visit but a number of follow ups as well. If you do it alone, you will have to keep at it or the bugs will come back. All in all, the problem will take time and effort to fix.

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