Bed Bug Treatment Tools

For best results, apply ​​them in this order. Below, we briefly summarize what each treatment method adds to the process to get rid of bed bugs. Then, click to proceed to Step 4: How to Use Heat to Kill Bed Bugs.

Step 4 shows how to use heat to kill bed bugs. Steam it, wash it in hot water, dry it, or dry-clean it​. Heat works.

​Step 5 is using sprays effectively. Sprays are best ​as a quick-kill solution. That is, they take out ​the bed bugs you can see and hit with the spray. ​​But sprays have only a short-term residual effect. Please, please, please: Do not ​spray an​d assume you have taken care of the problem. Sprays will miss some bed bugs, and those survivors ​absolutely will re-populate your home. ​Spray as a starting technique and move on to the next tool: powders or dusts. Click here for a discussion of how to use sprays.

Step 6 shows how  and where to apply dusts. The value of dusts an​​d powders is that they last. They work by dehydrating bed bugs. They may take longer to work but they continue to work once applied. So start with ​heat and sprays and immediately follow up with these excellent “leave behind” residual killers.

Step 7 explains how to use protective covers to keep bed bugs trapped or seal them out. Encasing or covering ​furniture where you sleep or rest, such as your mattress and box springs, should never be a standalone solution. Always do this in combination with other options. Enc​​asement protects you from being bitten by bed bugs that are trapped inside. It does not protect you from those who are outside of the encasement. Use it, also, to protect items that are bed bug–free to keep them that way.

Generally, this is not a reliable treatment​. This is why it is not a step in our best diy bed bugs treatment plan. It's probably the lowest percentage ​method, but we cover it because the question of whether we can freeze bed bugs gets asked frequently.​ So we'll look at how and when to use the c​​old in your battle against bed bugs. ​