Natural Ways To Keep Bed Bugs Out Of Your St. Louis, MO Home

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When it comes to bed bugs, pest prevention can be complicated. Bed bugs in St. Louis are well known for the sheer variety of places around the house they can bunker down in, beyond mattresses and bedding to carpets, closets, and more. Since they are almost impossible to eliminate once they start spreading out, it is common for homeowners to try to use natural scents or essential oils as alternatives to professional pest control. The question is, do they work?

How Effective Are Essential Oils For Treating Bed Bugs?

Many people are curious about the effects of natural remedies for bed bugs; in fact, interest in the topic goes all the way to the top! Recently, the United States Department of Agriculture, or the USDA, conducted a study on various essential oils' effects on bed bugs. The USDA's findings were that every oil and scent tested failed to treat bed bugs effectively. Even so, the study was not a complete bust: The scents of blood orange oil, paraffin oil, silicone oil, and spearmint oil were all shown to at least draw an adverse reaction from bed bugs.

Controlling Bed Bugs With Tried-And-True Methods

Now that you know the truth about fighting bed bugs with scents and oils, you're probably wondering if there are tried-and-true strategies for dealing with bed bugs. While DIY methods can help to manage a bed bug infestation, the problem generally cannot be eradicated without help from the professionals, as DIY methods will only deal with visible bugs and not the full population you can't see. Some methods that may help control a bed bug population include:

  • Thorough vacuuming: If you discover bed bugs somewhere in a particular room, you cannot assume the spread is limited to just that area. Take a vacuum to the entire room, on carpet and wood alike, every day until you are able to contact a pest professional.
  • Extreme temperatures: Bed bugs despise extreme temperature shifts, so dry heating or freezing potentially infested items like pillows will kill off the bugs hiding away in them.
  • Declutter: The clutter of spaces like attics and cellars can be sanctuaries away from run-ins with human housemates. For bed bugs especially, closets are common hideaways, so if you have clothes piled up in yours, get the space organized as soon as possible.
  • Deep clean: A proper bed bug-removing clean requires more than just decluttering. Steam clean your mattresses or run articles of clothing at risk of infestation through a long, hot wash cycle in the washing machine.

Despite your best efforts to eliminate bed bugs, if you're worried about these parasitic pests, it's best to partner with a bed bug control professional. 

Arenz Pest Management Is The Solution To Your Bed Bug Problem

Even with tried-and-true pest control tips, getting rid of bed bugs is not a task to try on your own. The bugs are tough to eradicate, so if you want to eliminate their populations completely from your St. Louis home, you need a solid team to back up your efforts. Contact the pros at Arenz Pest Management for more information.

Tags: bed bug control | bed bug infestation | bed bug elimination |

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