Bed bugs are extremely infuriating and difficult to remove household pests. Living inside the walls, furniture and bedding of your home, bedbugs venture forth at night time to feed on the blood of unsuspecting sleepers, leaving irritated and inflamed bites.
Engaging a pest control service to rid your home of bedbugs can typically cost thousands of dollars, requiring the disposal of valuable belongings and temporary relocation while potentially exposing your family to dangerous chemicals.
Diatomaceous Earth: A Natural Bed Bug Pesticide
Diatomaceous earth is an extremely effective alternative to dangerous chemical bed bug pesticides. The unique molecular structure of diatomaceous earth, or DE, binds to the exoskeleton of bedbugs and absorbs the lipid oils and moisture from their bodies.
A bedbug exposed to diatomaceous earth will dehydrate and die within just a few hours without the need for harsh synthetic pesticides or repeat treatments.
A significant advantage of DE over traditional pesticides is the low cost of treatment and the fact that DE bed bug treatment doesn’t require the disposal of homewares or temporary relocation. Safe to use around children, pets and even food, diatomaceous earth is easy to apply and inexpensive.
Removing Bed Bugs With Diatomaceous Earth
Removing a bedbug menace from your home with diatomaceous earth is an extremely simple five step process. Before beginning, it’s best to seal up the entrances and windows of your home, along with any small crevices that could potentially provide a hiding spot for the pesky parasites.
This increases the effectiveness of the treatment and significantly lowers the chances of a re-infestation.
By following these five simple guidelines, natural bed bug removal is swift, easy and permanent:
- Use a steam cleaner to sterilize your home.
- Launder all fabrics and bedding.
- Vacuum & sweep your entire home.
- Apply diatomaceous earth to infested locations.
- Repeat until infestation is removed
Step 1: Sterilize Your Home With a Steam Cleaner
Steam cleaners are inexpensive to hire or purchase and are an effective first step in removing bedbugs from your home.
By heating linen, bedding, curtains and carpet without damage, a steam cleaner will expose bedbugs to temperatures they cannot survive at. Temperatures above 130°F will destroy any bedbugs that are exposed to steam cleaning.
Step 2: Launder All Fabrics and Bedding
The second step in removing bedugs from your home involves washing and quarantining your fabrics. Wash all of the fabrics, clothes, cloth and bedding in your home on either extremely low or high temperatures, then dry on a high setting or in bright sun for an extended period of time.
Once washed, place fabric and bedding in an airtight plastic bag to prevent reinfestation. Using a carpet cleaner will remove bedbugs from your flooring.
Step 3: Vacuum & Sweep Your Entire Home
Once you have completed the first two steps and remove all clean fabric from your home, it’s time to thoroughly vacuum every surface. Be sure to move or dismantle furniture to ensure you’ve vacuumed even hard to reach areas and sweep, disinfect and mop floorboards or tiled areas.
After vacuuming your entire floor space, proceed to vacuum all of your furniture, regularly emptying the vacuum cleaner into an outside bin.
Focus on the seams, joints and frames of furniture, as these are areas in which bed bugs congregate.
Step 4: Apply Diatomaceous Earth to Infested Locations
Once your entire home is cleaned and sterilized, the next step in completely removing a bedbug infestation is the application of diatomaceous earth. A DE applicator will make this process easier by streamlining the application process and providing an even spread.
Working as both a natural pesticide and a bedbug deterrent, DE will protect your home from bedbugs both immediately and in the long term.
Tips for effective diatomaceous earth application:
- Apply DE liberally to areas in which you have observed bedbugs.
- Focus on cracks, crevices, cornices, behind furniture and appliances, around door frames and window sills and around moulding.
- If your home provides access to a crawl space ensure your apply diatomaceous earth there, as well as behind power outlets and switches.
- Use liberal amounts of DE on mattresses, carpet or couches and work the powder in manually with your hands.
Once you’ve covered your entire home in diatomaceous earth, it’s best to leave it for up to a week to ensure it has time to trap and destroy all bed bugs. Although living in a home that has been treated with diatomaceous earth can be somewhat messy, it’s important to leave it for as long as possible.
Once you’re ready to remove the DE from your home, consider hiring an industrial vacuum to remove it as it can be exceptionally hard on less powerful home vacuum motors.
Step 5: Repeat Until Infestation is Removed
Ensuring success in using diatomaceous earth to remove bedbugs from your home involves repeating this process multiple times. Although the bedbug infestation may appear to be gone after one application, eggs will hatch that will re-infest your home unless the above process is repeated every 7-10 days.
For best results, repeat the DE bedbug removal process four times subsequently, then re-apply once every four months for a year to guarantee success.
While using diatomaceous earth can be more complex than hiring a professional pest control service, it can save tens of thousands of dollars in pest removal fees and discarded furniture and fabric, as well as ensure the long term health of your family.
Diatomaceous Earth Information Guide:
We have a wide variety of food grade diatomaceous earth resources for you look through to make your life a little easier and chemical-free. Please check out the other valuable resources and versatile application uses for silica-rich diatomaceous earth below:
- Diatomaceous Earth Supplementation
- Truth About D.E. Food Grade Silica Supplements
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- Diatomaceous Safety Risks
- What Is Diatomaceous Earth?
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- Diatomaceous Bed Bug Removal
- Diatomaceous Dog Flea Treatment
- Diatomaceous Earth Cleanse
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- Diatomaceous Health Safety Risk Warnings
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- Diatomaceous Cat Flea Treatment
- Diatomaceous Application Tips
- Diatomaceous Beginner's Guide
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- Diatomaceous Organic Exfoliation Skincare
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- Diatomaceous Natural Ant Hill Treatment
- Diatomaceous Home Tick Removal Treatment
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- Diatomaceous Earth, Honey, Coconut Oil Cocktail
- Diatomaceous Earth Safety Precautions
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- How To Use Diatomaceous Earth Powder
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- Diatomaceous Home Bugs & Insects Defense
- Diatomaceous Earth Food Storage Tips
- Where To Find Diatomaceous Earth Online
- Diatomaceous Natural Kitty Litter Odor Control
- What Is Diatomaceous Earth?
- Diatomaceous Organic Fly Repellent
- Diatomaceous Dog Ticks Treatment
- Diatomaceous Carpet Deodorizing Treatment
- Diatomaceous Wasps Hornets Treatment
- Diatomaceous Earth Natural Deodorant
- Diatomaceous Earth Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
- Diatomaceous Home Termite Removal Treatment
- Diatomaceous Natural Aphid Control
- Diatomaceous Natural Cleaning Products
- Diatomaceous Natural Slug Control
- Diatomaceous Organic Feline Tick Control
- Diatomaceous Earth Organic Backyard Tick Control
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- Silica Supplements Guide
- Silica Mineral Benefits For Hair
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- Silica Mineral Benefits For Teeth & Gum Health
- Silica Water
- Bamboo Extract
- Orthosilicic Acid (Organic Silica)
- Diatomaceous Earth DIY Bath Bombs
- Diatomaceous Earth Squeeze Duster
- Diatomaceous Earth All Purpose Cleaner
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- Diatomaceous Earth For Cleaning Grease & Oil Spills
Please reach out regarding any information above. In the future, more share-worthy useful enhancements, experiences and effects of diatomaceous earth will be added as the benefits continue to pile up. Always welcome for more insight and awareness, click the button to see the most recommended beautifully blended product that combines both high quality food grade diatomaceous earth powder and pure organic silica together in one formula.
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