Bed Bugs have been terrorizing homeowners and businesses for decades.  When people talk about bed bugs they get really weirded out especially considering that these vampires suck your blood.  As a result of the panic around bed bugs many myths have promulgated over time.  NashvilleBedBugs is here to debunk these myths and help guide you to a true understanding of the problem so that you can find a solution.

Moth Balls

The theory around moth balls for bed bugs is that they will be repelled by the pungent smell of the moth ball.  In order to make this theory work it is suggested that one place several of these balls around your bed and where you think bed bugs may reside.

Myth or Fact?

MYTH – The biggest problem with this “solution” is that we should all know by now that we don’t ever want to repel bed bugs.  If you repel them, then you spread them throughout your home and make it much harder to actually eradicate them at all.  That being said, Rutgers University did do a study and found that this remedy failed to solve the problem.  It was interesting to note that up to 60% of the bed bugs in the study died; however, the nymphs and eggs survived.

Baking Soda

The idea here is to dehydrate the bed bug by having it come in contact with the baking soda by sprinkling it around their common pathways.  The suggestion is to vacuum up the dead bugs every few days and then reapply until you’ve killed all the bugs.

Myth or Fact?

MYTH – There is nothing deterministic about this idea from science.  Even if it worked, the bugs would have to go through the soda enough times to cause dehydration.  Regardless of whether or not that would work we know that this method would not kill the nymphs or the eggs.

Clean Bedding and Dry it

Strip your bed and immediately place into plastic trash bags.  Transfer the linens to the washer and wash on the hottest setting.  After washing be sure to dry on high heat.  The heat from the combined use of the washing machine and dryer will kill all bed bugs, nymphs and eggs.

Myth or Fact?

FACT – Heat is the only proven method to kill all life stages of the bed bug.  That being said, bed bugs typically don’t nest in the sheets but instead find a location close to their food source like the headboard, or inside the box springs to nest.  This method is great for reducing the number of bed bugs but to thoroughly treat and kill all bed bugs one would want to heat the whole cavity where they may be located to ensure all of them are killed in all the locations they may be at.

Dryer Sheets

The scent of dryer sheets will cause bed bugs to run away.  Place them around your bed and in-between the mattress and the box springs.

Myth or Fact?

MYTH – Again we don’t ever want to repel bed bugs because that spreads the problem around.  We want to keep them in a naturally centralized location so we can apply affective kill techniques to kill the whole population without repelling and spreading them.  In addition to the premise above know that there is no proven reproducible science that has shown this method to work.

If these myths have you wondering what to do know that you aren’t alone in this fight.  Trained, certified professionals at NashvilleBedBugs are ready and willing to come along side you to solve this problem with the proven treatment of using heat in targeted areas.  Remember from above, you don’t want to do the wrong thing and end up exploding your problem by causing the bed bugs to scatter and infest other areas of your house.  Call the professionals at NashvilleBedBugs first upon first thinking that you have a bed bug problem.  Call today for help.