Bed Bug Integrated Pest Management Solution

The standard bed bug treatment requires a combination of efforts. Failure to fully comply with each of the following may result in an incomplete treatment and result in the bed bugs coming back.

1. Launder all clothes and bedding and leave them in the dryer on the hottest setting for at least 20 minutes. Heat kills bed bugs at all stages, including eggs. After removing from the dryer, immediately double bag everything in garbage bags. This prevents bed bugs from reinfesting clean clothing and bedding.

2. Clean and remove as much clutter as possible. Clutter provides bed bugs with hiding spaces and decreases the effectiveness of any treatment.

3. Vacuum daily the mattress and box spring, plus the cracks in the bed frame, dressers, nightstands, all upholstered furniture, all carpets, curtains and curtain rods, and all cracks in the floor and baseboards to remove any bed bugs that hatched or moved in from a neighbouring unit. Throw out the vacuum bag immediately after you are done. Vacuum bags are not bed bug proof and bed bugs may escape.

4. Install box spring and mattress bed bug encasements to trap bed bugs already in the bed and to prevent new bed bugs from hiding inside.

5. Install ClimbUp^® Insect Interceptors to legs of beds and couches to trap bed bugs trying to make their way off the furniture, as well as bed bugs trying to make their way up.

6. Seal all cracks and crevices in sleeping areas, including those around baseboards, electrical plates doors/window frames, vents, pot/recessed light fixtures, etc.

7. There are a variety of treatment options for bed bugs, including heat or cryonite treatments, and steam cleaners. Industrial vacuums can be used to vacuum cracks and crevices, and pesticides applied. However, pesticides do not kill eggs and vacuums do not remove all eggs. A liquid residual is applied to all cracks and crevices to kill any bed bugs that cross through after treatment.

If you live in a town house or apartment, speak to your management and neighbours in surrounding units. Your management may already have pest control in place and will need to do a thorough inspection of surrounding units as well.

• Bed bugs can travel from unit to unit. Check with the units to either side of you, and those above and below you. It is important to coordinate bed bug treatment efforts so that bed bugs do not spread back to recently treated units from untreated ones.

• A neighbouring unit may already have bed bugs. However, everyone reacts differently to bed bug bites so they may not even know that they have a problem.