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Got Bed Bugs? Eliminate Bed Bugs with IPM

Bed bugs are making a comeback in apartment buildings, dorm rooms, hotels, hospitals, and homes.

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Updated:

August 5, 2024

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Bed bugs are making a comeback in apartment buildings, dorm rooms, hotels, hospitals, and homes. Why now? Both people and the things they buy are traveling greater distances more frequently, causing hitchhiking bed bugs to spread more rapidly. Follow the steps below to learn how to identify, prevent, and control them safely and effectively.

What Is IPM?

Integrated pest management (IPM) uses information about the pest to choose methods of control that are safest and most effective. IPM methods include pest prevention, exclusion, and nonchemical tools first. If chemical pesticides are needed, products are chosen that pose the least risk to human health. With IPM, you start by asking, "Why is this pest here?" and try to remove the conditions allowing the pest to enter and live. This approach solves pest problems rather than just treating the symptoms. It also reduces the need to use pesticides repeatedly.

Steps for Managing Bed Bugs

Step 1: Pest Identification

What exactly are bed bugs? Bed bugs are blood-feeding parasites that bite people at night and hide during the day. They are tiny, less than 1/8 inch long, wingless, chestnut brown in color, with flattened, generally oval-shaped bodies. They become swollen, elongated, and dark red after a blood meal (about the size of an apple seed). Bed bug bites may cause itchy welts on their victims. They often leave small dark spots on sheets and other surfaces. Bed bugs do not cause or spread any diseases, but they do cause mental anguish—no one wants to "let the bed bugs bite"! They are difficult to control because their small size enables them – and their even tinier eggs (1/16 inch) - to hide almost anywhere in and around their feeding sites on mattresses/box springs /bed frames, in cracks/crevices in walls, under peeling paint, and in other furniture. Unlike head lice, which remain on human heads, bed bugs only stay long enough to feed before moving away to hide.

Various life stages of bedbugs — Various life stages of bed bugs shown on a human hand.

Step 2: Prevention

Bed bugs cannot fly, so they infest homes by being transported in on clothing, backpacks, suitcases, mattresses, or other furniture. They can also walk in from adjacent apartments or rooms through cracks or conduits for electrical wiring or plumbing. They search for a sleeping human by moving up walls, bed linens, bed legs, or anything touching the bed.

Prevent bed bugs from gaining a foothold in your home, by following these best practices:

Carefully inspect clothing and baggage after you have traveled. Consider placing clothes in sealed plastic bags until they can be laundered. Also, avoid bringing your luggage into your bedroom; consider taking luggage directly to your laundry facility and doing your laundry promptly. Do not store luggage in your bedroom.
Make sure that ALL clothes are dried at high heat (over 140°F/ 60°C), loaded loosely, for at least 30 minutes.
Avoid acquiring used furniture and mattresses—these may be infested.
Remove clutter from the home, especially the bedrooms where bed bugs can find added places to hide. Belongings may be kept in clear plastic bins with snap lids. These can be stacked and easily moved for inspection, cleaning, or treatment.
Keep dirty laundry in hampers, never in piles on the floor.
Vacuum frequently to remove bedbugs which may have been accidentally transported into the home.
Seal cracks and crevices, especially those that lead to other rooms/floors.
Keep beds clear above and below. Do not store items under beds and do not pile coats or clothing on beds.
Protect both mattresses and – more importantly – box springs with encasements, specially designed bite-proof covers to keep bed bugs either inside (where they starve to death), or from getting inside. Be sure the encasements fit tightly.
Use solid, light-colored sheets—these make early detection of bed bugs easier.
Look for eggs, nymphs, adults and shed "skin" from molting in seams of mattresses and box springs when changing bedding. After feeding, bedbugs leave reddish-black fecal stains on bedding and mattresses as well as in and around cracks and crevasses in bed frames, molding, furniture, even around wall outlets near beds.
A lint roller may be used for inspecting bedding and beds.
If you live in an apartment building and are concerned about bed bugs, keep them from climbing up the bed by pulling the bed away from the walls and making sure no bedding touches the floor. Around each bed leg, spread a thick layer of petroleum jelly (e.g., Vaseline) in a band at least 2 inches wide and about 6 inches off the floor. Bed bugs cannot crawl through this barrier. You can also use small, nested dishes of soapy water (in the outer dish) under each leg or commercial devices called interceptor cups designed to catch and retain bedbugs. Insect monitor cards, or “sticky traps” can also be used to monitor bedbugs.

Step 3: Controlling Bed Bugs Safely

To control bed bugs effectively, you will need a combination of actions. Control is difficult, so it is best to consult a licensed and experienced pest management professional to help rid your home of these pests.

For Safe and Effective Control

An initial assessment of the severity of infestation is key. The pest management professional must conduct a thorough inspection of the home to look for bed bugs and signs of bedbugs in their harborage sites for targeted cleaning and treatments
Inspect and vacuum mattresses, box springs, and bed frames, as well as carpets and cracks and crevices that bed bugs may hide in during the day
After vacuuming, immediately seal the vacuum bag or the contents of the dust cup in a zip-lock plastic bag before disposing of the contents.
Steam clean mattresses, bedsprings, furniture, and carpets. The steam temperature must be at least 130°F but should not have a forceful airflow, or it may cause bed bugs to scatter. Use a diffuser to prevent scattering. Spend 10 to 15 seconds to move the steam head across the surface of one foot of space. Steam heads with brushes should be avoided as the steam pressure and bristles may inadvertently dislodge bed bugs onto the floors.
Enclose mattresses and box springs in zippered encasements that are rated to prevent piercing by bed bug bites or their escape through zippers (e.g., Protect-A-Bed ®). Any bed bugs or eggs remaining on the mattress and box spring will be trapped inside the cover. Do not remove the covers. They are your new mattress and box spring surface. Be careful not to rip or tear the cover.
Wash bedding, pillows, and clothing in hot water (140°F /60°C) or dry them in the dryer on the hottest setting for at least 30 minutes.
Portable heating chambers may be needed to treat any items that cannot be easily vacuumed, steam cleaned and may have bed bugs or bed bug eggs.

Using Pesticides on Bed Bugs

If bed bugs have been found in your home, resist the urge to use household bug sprays or “bombs.” Bed bugs are resistant to many common pesticides. Using bug bombs and sprays on mattresses and in bedrooms will only increase your exposure to more toxins, not control bed bugs. Since pesticides are poisons, they should be used sparingly and carefully.

If insecticidal dusts (diatomaceous earth (DE) or silica gels (e.g. CimeXa®) are used, they should be blown into cracks and crevices, and into voids inside walls, doors, window frames, bed frames).
Boric acid products should not be used: they have no effect against bed bugs.
Dusts should not be used for surface treatments; they are respiratory irritants. Do not use insecticidal dusts on mattresses – they are also very irritating to the skin. They may be used inside a box spring.
If other chemicals are to be used, seek assistance from a licensed, professional pest control company trained to deal with bed bugs. A biopesticide specifically for bed bugs has been developed and is very successful in controlling bed bugs. The product, Aprehend ® has a novel application system that allows for faster treatment with less preparation than conventional treatments. It is non-toxic to humans and other mammals, but kills bed bugs in about three weeks, and has continuing activity for up to three months. This is a professional-only product; ask your pest management professional.

Why You Need Help

Common household products generally will not kill bed bugs and can cause them to spread and infest other parts of the home.
"Bug bombs" do not reach into the tiny cracks and crevices or into clutter where bed bugs can hide.
Insect repellents sprayed on people or mattresses will not kill the bed bugs or stop them from biting. Repeated use of these products in this way can pose health threats to you and your family.
The insecticides that are most effective are those used by trained and licensed professionals and may require specialized equipment to apply. These are not readily available as household products and require state certification to purchase and use. Licensed Pesticide Applicators are schooled in proper techniques and have an assortment of management tools at their disposal.
Follow up inspections and treatments are necessary because many chemical pesticides will not kill bed bug eggs.
Pesticides alone will not eliminate bed bugs. Regular monitoring, exclusion (encasements), and cultural controls (housekeeping and vacuuming) are necessary for control and prevention.

Professional Pest Control

When choosing a pest control company, make sure the company meets all the legal requirements that qualify them to service your home, including a Pennsylvania Pesticide Applicator Certification or Registered Technician card, a business license, and general liability insurance coverage. Also, ask for a list of local references so you can learn about their past performance in treating bed bugs.

For more information, contact us at either location listed below.