3 steps to determine of you have bedbugs. Bed bugs tend to stay close to their food source, which is blood. So if you or someone in your household wake up with some red itchy bumps, you might have bed bugs. Bed bugs are generally found in mattresses, pillows, cushions, clothing, boxsprings and furniture. They look like tiny black dots all gathered together and they spread fast, which is why it is important to detect them as soon as possible and act immediately. Follow the steps below to determine if you have bed bugs: Step 1 : Search the stiches Bed bugs hide in the small corners or crevices of mattresses, linens, pillows and clothing. The first place to verify is the stitching of the mattress itself, then places where bed bugs are most commonly found such as sheets, pillows, and cushions. Look for very small black dots (bed bug eggs) grouped together in grapes. Step 2: Check furniture and floors If you detect them after step 1, it’s also a good idea to check your furniture and carpeting as they spread quickly throughout your home.
Step 3: Size and severity Try to determine how far the infestation has spread by looking around and identifying the places you must perform a steam treatment. Verify all pieces of furniture, bedding and clothing in every room. How to kill bedbugs with steam. Here are some tips and tricks to help you get rid of bed bugs using a steam cleaner: Clean up and clear out Clean up and clear the clutter to eliminate hiding spaces. Vacuum your carpets, furniture, mattresses and box springs to get rid of dust and debris. Wash all linens and clothing in hot water. Dry, then seal in plastic bags to keep them protected. Thoroughly clean and disinfect your vacuum and any accessories used in the process. Make sure to throw all bags in the trash outside your home. Fill your steam cleaner with water and turn it on. Install the appropriate tool on the hose or extension tubes. The best tool for bedbug removal is the triangular tool with a microfiber cloth.
The key here is to work slowly, to ensure the steam has time to heat up the surface and penetrate it in depth. Take your time and steam everywhere very slowly. Steam your environment top to bottom, beginning with curtains or drapes and working your way down to other furniture. Steam you mattress by attaching a microfiber cloth to your triangular tool in order to insolate steam and pass slowly on the mattress. Set the steam cleaner on low or medium pressure to avoid pushing bed bugs deeper into the mattress instead of killing them. Slowly pass steam on all six sides of your mattress and repeat as needed to make sure you steamed everywhere. Dry out and wrap up Allow any steamed surfaces to dry. Wrap mattress, box spring and any freshly steamed furniture in tear resistant plastic for two weeks to ensure all living organism will die. Examine the furniture carefully for feces, skins, or living bed bugs. If signs of bed bugs are found after a week repeat the entire process.
The Dupray ONE™ steam cleaner is perfect to tackle all kinds of cleaning tasks around the house or at the office. With a steam temperature reaching up to 311°F / 155°C and pressure of 58 psi / 4 bar, the ONE™ is efficient, convenient, and especially easy to use. ONE Plus™ Steam Cleaner Equipped with CST™ technology, the ONE Plus™ will provide you with non-stop steam cleaning power. Compact, lightweight and easy to use, the ONE Plus™ is the ideal steam cleaner for cleaning everything at home or in your small business. The ONE Plus™ can produce steam at a temperature of up to 320°F / 160°C to effortlessly cut through dirt and grime in no time. Producing steam temperatures of up to 160ºC / 316ºF, it offers up to 2 hours of cleaning power per tankful. Its high-temperature output and low price make the commercial-grade Tosca™ ideal for any steam cleaning tasks. Hill Injection™ Steam Cleaner This steam cleaner features a non-pressurized dual tank system for continuous refill and hot water injection.
Producing steam up to 175ºC / 345ºF even the most heavy-duty tasks are no match for the Hill Injection™. It is the most powerful, portable 110V steam cleaner on the market. Carmen Super Inox™ Steam Extractor Available in 120V and 220V, the Carmen Super Inox™ produces steam temperatures up to 180ºC / 356ºF. It also comes fully equipped with continuous refill, a built-in wet/dry vacuum system to extract residue and detergent injection. Car detailing steam cleaners Grout and tiles cleaning Home and commercial steam cleaners Getting rid of bed bugs Chewing gum removal and graffitis Vinyl removal for car detailing Dust mites and allergens Steam cleaners for wineries Steam cleaners for hotels Steam cleaners for restaurants Health care steam cleaners Steam cleaners for clean rooms Conveyor belts andindustrial steam cleanersShocked by a new epidemic of homely bloodsuckers, Judith Woods called in the bugbusters I've never been the sort of person who cares much what the neighbours think.
At least, not until a Rentokil van drew up and parked outside my front door for all to see.The house phone rang immediately, my mobile soon afterwards. One neighbour offered to lend me her cat, no questions asked. Another gave me the address of a website detailing how to build a humane mousetrap – well, I do live in slavishly eco-friendly north London.Both callers assumed I had a problem with rodents – I didn't disabuse them of the notion, because the idea of tiny feet scampering unhygienically across my worktops seemed altogether less shameful than the truth. The Rentokil technician – for that is what they are called – had come to search my home for bedbugs.Bedbugs, you see, are everywhere. We're experiencing an epidemic that has seen a 500-fold increase in these egregious little parasites, especially in major cities.No longer confined to grotty bedsits and dodgy bed-and-breakfasts, they are creeping into the folds of the finest furnishings in the land, colonising the best hotels, twitching beneath the Egyptian cotton sheets of Middle England and gorging on their occupants' blood.
Along with deep-vein thrombosis, airport taxes and carbon emissions, bedbugs, it seems, are yet another unwelcome by-product of modern travel. As we get more mobile, so do they. They hide in the seams of our clothing and bury themselves in our luggage, until we arrive home, unpack the suitcases in our bedrooms, and hey presto, come lights-out it's a midnight feast for a horde of hungry Cimex lectularius. They thrive in the moderate UK climate while global warming is thought to be another factor in their spread. If your neighbour has them, chances are they'll march over to you through cracks in the wall."Bedbugs are really on the increase and they're very hard to get rid of," says my Rentokil pest controller Ben Knorton, as he rather offputtingly dons a pair of blue latex gloves to lift my duvet. "They gather round the seams of mattresses and in curtains, they can hide in crevices in the bed, in cracks in the skirting board and in light fittings, and although they usually feed every five to 10 days, they can lie dormant for up to a year without feeding on a host."
When we treat a hotel room, we don't just treat the affected room itself, but two each side of it, and the rooms immediately above and below. A female can lay up to 500 eggs in eight weeks, so if you inadvertently pick up three or four from a seat on the bus or train, you can have an infestation of thousands within two months."So far, so revolting. I had assumed that, as with dust mites, bedbugs were invisible to the human eye. Flat and opaque brown, they swell and grow darker after a snack. Measuring up to 5mm in length, they can consume four times their own body weight in 15 minutes. They are relatively easy to spot as a result – and their effects are immediately felt."Most people call us in because they've been bitten. A bedbug will crawl on to you, pierce your skin and drink your blood through two hollow tubes. They often leave a line of bites," says Knorton. "They don't transmit diseases, they're just pretty disgusting."The bites itch and can cause allergic reactions. The cleanliness of your house is immaterial, as bedbugs feed on people rather than on waste food, according to Knorton, who has been called into a number of Knightsbridge hotels, where the telltale signs were immediately apparent."
Blood spotting on sheets or brown faecal smears from the bugs are a giveaway," he says. "But people can sometimes confuse these with flea bites and they dismiss them, or they only treat the mattress, not the whole bed and bedroom, which is storing up trouble for later."I was called in by a lawyer living in a Georgian townhouse who had been bitten but didn't know what by. She was shocked when I broke the news that she had bedbugs, because she kept her home spotless. But anyone can pick up a bedbug without knowing it."The lawyer got rid of her bed, both mattress and frame, which ideally anyone with an infestation should do. Her room was then sealed and sprayed with insecticide three times over as many weeks.The cost of the treatment varies according to the level of infestation, but starts at about £150. Some local councils will also carry out bedbug pest control and there are sprays available, which you can buy on the internet, but you must ensure you dismantle the bed and treat every possible crevice.
Bed linen can be washed at the highest possible temperature – but Knorton advises throwing it out."I've seen sheets literally moving with the sheer number of bedbugs under them," he says. "In that situation you really need to take drastic action."Back in my own bedroom, he is running his hands over my mattress, brow furrowed in concentration. There's a shameful amount of dog hair, dust balls and fluff but – praise be! – no brown smears or scuttling horrors.It's the same story in the other bedrooms, where all he manages to uncover is a ladybird attempting to hibernate in the guest room and a moth, which he insists on calling a common clothes moth, but which I refer to as a cashmere moth, as it sounds classier and besides, I know exactly which sweater it's been nibbling. Interestingly, where once I would have shrieked in horror, suddenly moths seem positively benign compared with the ghastly alternative.As far as bedbugs go, to my great relief, I receive a clean bill of health for my beds.