How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs, Recognize the Causes, How to Handle and Prevent Them from Coming Back

Kapanlagi.com - Bed bugs are small insects that often hide in the crevices of mattresses, sofas, and upholstered furniture. Although they are very small, their presence can cause itching, skin irritation, and even disrupt sleep quality if left to breed.

These insects do not appear solely because of a dirty home. Bed bugs can be brought in from hotels, lodgings, public transportation, suitcases, and even used furniture that enters the home. Because they can easily move from place to place, handling them needs to be thorough to prevent them from reappearing.

Getting rid of bed bugs is not just about spraying insecticide. Inspecting hiding areas, using extreme temperatures, and maintaining cleanliness in the home are important steps to break the life cycle of bed bugs. Here are the complete methods that can be carried out, summarized by Kapanlagi.com from various sources on Wednesday (5/8/2026).

1. How to Recognize Signs of Bed Bugs

Identifying Signs of Bed Bugs/Freepik

Before extermination, first ensure whether the house is truly infested with bed bugs. These insects are active at night and usually hide in dark and narrow places.

Some of the most common hiding spots for bed bugs include:

• Mattress folds and seams.
• Bed frames and headboards.
• Cushions, upholstered chairs, and pillows.
• Cracks in walls or peeling wallpaper.
• The back of paintings or picture frames.
• Electrical outlets and gaps in floorboards.
• Luggage, clothing, and piles of fabric.

In addition to finding the bugs directly, you can also recognize their presence through small blood stains on sheets, black spots from droppings, shed bed bug skins, or clustered bites on the skin after waking up.

2. Inspect All Areas Suspected of Being a Nest

The first step is to conduct a thorough inspection of the room suspected of being a breeding ground for bed bugs. The inspection should ideally be done using a flashlight to make it easier to see narrow areas.

Check the seams of the mattress, the crevices of the bed frame, the folds of the sofa, curtains, and the back of furniture. Don't forget to check items that are rarely moved, as these areas often become hiding spots for bugs.

The sooner the infestation location is found, the easier the extermination process will be before the bugs spread to other rooms.

3. Utilize Hot and Cold Temperatures

Bed bugs cannot survive at extremely high or low temperatures. Therefore, extreme temperature methods have become one of the commonly used strategies.

Some steps that can be taken include:

• Wash sheets, pillowcases, blankets, and clothing using hot water.
• Dry laundry in a high-heat dryer for about 30 minutes.
• Use a steamer on the mattress, sofa, carpet, and furniture crevices.
• Sun-dry items that can be placed outside for a long period.
• Store certain items in the freezer at around -19 degrees Celsius for several days.

This method helps kill adult bugs while also reducing the chances of eggs hatching again.

4. Thoroughly Clean the House

After fleas are found, perform a thorough cleaning to ensure that no eggs or flea remnants are left behind.

Focus the cleaning on the bed area, sofa, carpet, curtains, and room corners. Use a vacuum cleaner to get into the crevices of the furniture, then immediately dispose of the vacuum bag into a tightly sealed plastic bag.

If possible, use a special mattress protector (mattress encasement) so that any remaining fleas cannot escape or breed again.

5. Use the Right Insecticide if Necessary

If the flea population is quite large, using insecticide can be an additional option after the cleaning process is done.

Some common active ingredients include:

• Pyrethrins and pyrethroids.
• Diatomaceous earth or boric acid.
• Chlorfenapyr.
• Neem oil.
• Neonicotinoids.
• Insect Growth Regulators (IGR).

Use the product according to the instructions on the packaging and avoid excessive spraying. Also, avoid using fogging or bug bombs as they often cannot reach the crevices where fleas hide.

6. Avoid Habits That Trigger Bed Bugs to Return

After successfully eliminating bed bugs, daily habits also need to be considered to prevent a re-infestation.

Some simple steps that can be applied include:

• Regularly washing bed sheets and pillowcases.
• Reducing clutter around the bed.
• Cleaning the mattress and sofa regularly using a vacuum cleaner.
• Inspecting second-hand furniture before bringing it into the house.
• Sealing small cracks in walls or floors that could potentially become hiding spots for bugs.

These habits can help reduce the risk of bed bugs breeding in the home.

7. Tips to Prevent Bed Bugs After Traveling

Tips to Prevent Bed Bugs. (Image: Freepik)

One of the causes of bed bugs entering the house is being brought in from hotels, accommodations, or transportation while traveling. Therefore, checking luggage becomes an equally important step.

Some methods that can be implemented include:

• Use a luggage rack when staying in hotels.
• Avoid placing luggage on the bed.
• After returning home, immediately wash clothes in hot water.
• Clean the luggage using a vacuum cleaner before storing it.
• Store clothes in vacuum bags while traveling.
• Check hotel sheets if staying for an extended period.
• If possible, use a special luggage heater to kill any bugs that may have been brought in.

These simple steps can help prevent bed bugs from entering the home and breeding unnoticed.

8. When Should You Contact Pest Control Services?

Not all bed bug infestations can be handled independently. If bed bugs continue to appear despite repeated cleaning of the house, it's likely that their population has become large enough and spread to various corners of the room.

Contacting pest control services becomes an option if bed bugs are found in several rooms at once, their numbers keep increasing, or residents are still experiencing bites after various methods have been tried.

Professional handling generally uses a combination of thorough inspections, heat treatments, and specialized insecticides to minimize the chances of bed bugs reappearing.

9. Frequently Asked Questions About How to Exterminate Bed Bugs

1. What causes bed bugs to appear in the house?

Bed bugs are usually brought in through luggage, clothing, bags, hotels, public transportation, or infested second-hand furniture.

2. Can bed bugs disappear just by airing out the mattress?

Airing out can help reduce the number of bed bugs, but it is usually not enough to exterminate all the bugs and their eggs, so it needs to be combined with other methods.

3. Can bed bugs live on clothing?

Yes. Bed bugs can temporarily attach to clothing, bags, or luggage before moving to the mattress and home furniture.

4. How long can bed bugs survive without humans?

Under certain conditions, bed bugs can survive for several months without feeding on blood, so comprehensive handling is necessary.

5. How can you prevent bed bugs from coming back?

Inspect items after traveling, regularly wash bed linens in hot water, clean the mattress using a vacuum cleaner, and check second-hand furniture before use.

(kpl/rao)