How Do You Know If the Bed Bugs are Gone?
It is difficult to detect any bed bug infestation at an initial stage as they are extremely small in size and their bites are often confused with bites from other pests.
While there is no way of eradicating bed bugs, there are various methods like Steam Cleaning, Vacuuming, Heaters, Foggers, etc. which can help you in getting temporary relief.
How do you know if the bed bugs are gone?
At times, it gets really tough to determine if the bed bug treatment(s) used by you has/have worked effectively or not because of their extremely small size which makes them almost invisible to human eyes.
However, you should check the time mentioned on the product, by which you would be able to see the results of the treatment.
Apart from that, the following are some factors that would help you in determining if the bed bug treatment has worked effectively or not.
1. The size of the original infestation
Since bed bugs don’t disappear in a single day, you should wait for a few days and notice the size of the infestation and compare it with the one before the treatment.
If you notice the level of infestation decreasing with every passing day, it would mean that the treatment is working.
If you were dealing with a large-scale or severe infestation, it would obviously take some more time and multiple treatments before you get to see the desired result.
This is because when bed bugs increase in number, they migrate from their original hiding place and spread over to areas that have been treated before, complicating the whole treatment process.
2. Type of treatment
There are two reasons that the treatment opted by you is not working, the first being that bed bugs have become immune to that treatment, and second, single treatment was not enough to tackle the severe infestation.
Therefore, if you don’t see the desired results after a single treatment, do it a couple more times (as instructed on the product label). If there is still no difference in the infestation size, you need to opt for another treatment or product to get rid of bed bugs.
A lower number of bed bugs or small-scale infestations can be treated effectively and more quickly by doing the treatment at every crack and crevice so that bed bugs don’t get a place to hide.
3. The treatment procedure
There are many treatments recommended for bed bug infestation removal and you can’t expect your house to be bedbug-free if the treatment is not up to the mark. Therefore, you need to select the right type of treatment as per the scale and severity of the infestation.
Every step of the bed bug treatment is significant, but isolating your bed is the most crucial step as it stops them from multiplying and reaching you.
Once bed bugs stop increasing in number, then eliminating them becomes way easier with the help of various treatments such as chemical spray treatment, heat treatment, and chemical plus heat treatment, which make use of eco-friendly products and are quite effective.
4. Type of home
Apartments are more inclined to bed bugs infestation. So, if you are living in a multi-family house, then it is important to speak to the manager/owner immediately in case you see an infestation.
During the treatment and inspection, make sure that the contiguous units and the common sites like the room, laundry, lounges, dining, and mailroom are also treated as bed bugs increase at a rapid rate and spread quickly from one infested area to another.
5. Monitor bed bug bites
While assessing the infestation post-treatment, make sure that you check for living bed bugs and their bites. If you still get bitten by bed bugs, then the treatment was not effective.
To prevent this, establish mattresses encasements as they help in protecting your furniture from probable infestations and make it easier to do a quick inspection.
In addition to encasements, you can also get interceptor traps that can be placed under the legs of the bed, couches, and chairs to monitor for bed bug infestations.
How to check the effectiveness of bed bug treatments
The following are some of the primary monitoring methods and Do-It-Yourself Techniques that can help you in measuring the prosperity of the treatments and ensuring that the place is now bed bug-free:
- One of the simplest ways to know if you still have bed bugs is to monitor the first 50-60 days post-treatment for bedbug arrivals. This Grace Period of 50 to 60 days, permits bed bugs to get back to their usual feeding habits and ultimately remain in the home or leave. So, if you don’t find any bites or other indications of bedbugs after the grace period, it’s a promising indication that they are gone.
- Install Interception Monitors under or around your bed to check if there are any bed bugs. If you don’t see anything on the monitor during the grace period, there are high chances that your house is bed bug-free.
- However, you should not depend on the monitors alone as it is seen in 80% of the cases that it fails to catch bugs lying in low-infestation areas. It is best to use them in co-existence with other methods for accurate results.
- Active monitors like the Night Watch can also be used to grab bugs as they lure bed bugs by discharging Carbon Dioxide and heat. These monitors generally run in bigger sizes but are very useful in locating bed bugs in your home.
