Summary:Spray and dust
insecticides can be used to eliminate any bed
bugs and eggs that may have been missed during
the cleaning of bedding and bedside furniture.
Jack DeAngelis, PhDOSU Ext. Entomologist (ret.)
Using a bed bug
spray/dust
The most important part
of any bed bug treatment is to thoroughly clean
places where bed bugs hide and lay their eggs. These
areas include mattress seams and folds, cracks and
crevices in bedroom furniture, baseboard molding,
and other places near beds where bed bugs might hide
(see Bed Bugs for
additional information). Cleaning can be done with
an ordinary vacuum cleaner and mild upholstery
cleaner, but steam cleaners may be the most
effective.
Once hiding places are
as clean as possible you can apply some type of
residual insecticide to control any bed bugs and
eggs that you might have missed with cleaning alone.
This application is tricky, however, because
products applied to bedding or bedside furniture has
the potential to contact anyone who subsequently
sleeps in the bed. For this reason the material
applied must be safe and used strictly in accordance
with the label instructions.
Bed bug
(4th instar larva, unfed) - about 1/5".
After feeding bed bugs become less
flattened, more rounded.
Insecticidal dusts (see
below) should be used to treat crack and crevices
around baseboard moldings, bedside furniture and the
like. Dusts are easy to apply to small cracks and
openings without danger of over-application and
spillage. Dusts also exhibit longer residual activity
than most other types of insecticides.
Is bed bug spray
necessary?
Surfaces like mattresses
can be treated with a residual spray insecticide but
only use products that are specifically labeled for
this use (check package instructions). The table below
lists products that currently (Feb. 2010) are
registered but this list can change so check product
labels carefully.
Residual spray
insecticides are not absolutely necessary if all
surfaces are thoroughly cleaned. However, it is easy
to miss a few areas where bed bugs might be hiding, or
a few eggs that are tucked inside the fold of a
mattress. This is where a residual insecticide comes
in, to eliminate the last few survivors of the
cleaning process.
Apply a very light
spray to mattress seams and folds, the
undersides of bedside furniture and the bed frame. Do
not saturate, a light spray is all that is necessary.
Bed bug sprays alone should NOT be substituted for
thorough cleaning of mattresses and treatment of
cracks and crevices with a dust insecticide.
Products like Kleen
Free (tm) are enzyme-based clearers, and are
not registered or tested as insecticides. They work
like other soaps that have insecticidal properties
(see Insecticidal
Soaps for more information), and like other
soaps they don't exhibit any residual insecticidal
activity.
Basic Bed Bug Control In Homes, Dorm
Rooms, Motels/Hostels
Using
the
following
steps you should be able to easily clear, and prevent,
most bed bug infestations so long as you catch the
infestation at a relatively early stage.
Launder
bedding as normal.
Treat
cracks
and crevices
where bed bugs hide in rooms and around beds with
a dust insecticide containing pyrethrin. "Crack
and crevice" treatments should include basebords
and furniture, and other small, protected places
where bed bugs can hide during the day. Dusts
should be applied with a duster that allows you to
puff dust into tight places.
Clean
soiled mattress fabric with steam.
Apply
an aerosol spray or wettable powder insecticide to
mattress surfaces and seams, follow
label
instructions
for approved uses.
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