Using a bed bug steamer to kill bed bugs and get rid of bed bugs in your home is environmentally safe and highly effective. Bed bugs cannot tolerate heat above 120 degrees, and a bed bug steamer will kill bed bugs on contact. Even better, steam can penetrate into hard to reach areas and through the cloth wrappers of mattresses and box springs to kill bed bugs hiding inside as well. While highly effective, steamers are not inexpensive, but certainly not near as expensive as bringing in a professional bed bug exterminator. Using a bed bug steamer is at the top of the list for do it yourself bed bug treatment options, it works and is safe. >>> Check out the Vapamore MR-100 Primo on Amazon – Our Top Pick <<< The advantages of a bed bug steamer: While using a bed bug steamer is a highly effective bed bug treatment strategy, there are some disadvantages you need to be aware of: There are tons of threads on internet forums where people are complaining about how using a bed bug steamer doesn’t work.
In almost all of these posts, the bed bug steamer didn’t work because it wasn’t used correctly. Here’s how to use a bed bug steamer to get rid of your bed bugs: If in a few days, you still see signs of bed bugs, steam again. If you still see bed bugs after two steam treatments, you should steam one more time, then follow-up with a bed bug spray. Remember though, do not steam again for while after using the chemical! If you want to steam again, call the spray manufacturer and ask them how long you should wait before using the steamer again. Removing bed bugs using any method, including steam often requires multiple treatments. Don’t be discouraged if you have to steam a room 2-3 times to completely eliminate your bed bug infestation. Multiple treatments is common. There are a number of steamers available on the market, some far more effective at killing bed bugs than others. To even further confuse matters, some steamers will claim they treat bed bugs, but really won’t.
Others won’t claim they treat bed bugs but do! Here are a few things you need to pay attention to when selecting a bed bug steamer: When using steam to kill bed bugs, you don’t want to be constantly having to refill it with water. You’ll want a steamer that holds around 1.5 liters of water (around a half gallon). This will give you about an hour of continuous steam. Steamers that hold less and generally less expensive, but you’ll need to weigh out the cost difference vs the inconvenience and time required to steam an entire room having to refill it every 20 – 30 minutes. One key issue with steamers that require constant refilling is that while you are refilling, the bed bugs are moving. They can and will move into an area that was already steamed once it has cooled down (while you are refilling). Because of this, we highly recommend purchasing the largest capacity steamer you can afford. To minimize the amount of water usage and reduce the risk of mold and mildew, you’ll want a “dry” steamer.
One that produces steam with about a 5% water by volume. This will still effectively penetrate and kill bed bugs, but also allow the areas being treated to dry much faster, and significantly decrease the risk of mold and mildew. Effective bed bug steamers have a pressure adjustment. This allows you to adjust the amount of pressure coming out of the tip of the steamer. Pressure adjustment is important so that you can adjust the pressure to fit the surface or item being treated. For example, couches, mattresses and pillows would require more pressure, while hard wood furniture, carpet and box springs, less pressure. The risk of too much pressure is literally blowing the bed bugs around instead of killing them. Too much pressure will not allow the heat from the steam to contact the bed bugs long enough before just blowing them around. Many, so called bed bug steamers, don’t have a pressure adjustment are therefore are often ineffective. The number of and types of attachments that come with the unit or that are available is important.
The attachments will allow you to most effective put the steam where the bed bugs are to kill them. Important attachments include the clothes steamer attachment and jet tip attachment. A clothes steamer attachment works great on sheets, curtains, mattresses and box springs. A jet tip attachment is great for getting in corners, trim, and furniture. Last, but certainly not least, is temperature – probably the single most important consideration. If the steam temperature at the point at which the steam hits the bed bugs doesn’t exceed 120 degrees, the steam will not kill the bed bugs. There are many steamers on the market, but the majority of them cannot produce continuous steam in excess of 120 degrees. Many steamers will “burst” hot steam, but not produce it consistently. The risk here is that you will miss areas between bursts. Missing areas results in a bed bug infestation that remains. You’ll want to purchase a steamer that produces at a bare minimum 120 degree temperatures at the tip of the attachment consistantly.
We recommend buying a steamer that exceeds 170 degrees the tip to be most effective. There are a number of steamers available on the market, but only a small number are effective at killing bed bugs. Here are the best bed bug steamers using the criteria from our buyer’s guide: Vapamore MR-100 Primo Steam Cleaning System With Lifetime Warranty McCulloch MC-1275 Heavy-Duty Steam Cleaner Wagner 915 1,500-Watt On-Demand Power Steamer and CleanerThis FAQ explains how a steamer can be a useful and cost-effective tool in helping you get rid of bed bugs in your home. Steam can be used to kill bed bugs on contact. Many professionals use it, often before applying residual pesticides and dusts, and sometimes in lieu of pesticides (where necessary). You can also use a steamer yourself, but we recommend doing your research. This FAQ provides information, links to further information, and examples of steamers and other tools. Essential information on technique for killing bed bugs with steam can be found in the following articles:
Overview of advice culled from professional articles and forum discussions on killing bed bugs with a steamer: Many if not all of our experts, and many DIY-ers on the forums feel that steam is useful in the fight against bed bugs. Do your research first (see links above). Steam is a contact killer that can kill both bed bugs and eggs. Dry vapor steam is of the utmost importance: all steam methods increases the likelihood of mold growing in the home, but steamers labeled as producers of “dry steam” significantly reduce the mold potential. You can steam most furniture, floors, baseboards, walls, ceiling, etc. Do not try to steam electrical outlets. Steam and electricity are not a good mix. Many PCOs offer steam services, or you can do this yourself yourself as a complement to what your PCO is doing—but you should coordinate with the PCO about it. Heat may break down the chemicals the PCO is using, thus undermining their residual effect.
(Some PCOs use steam only and no pesticides. This would likely take a lot longer and require more repeat treatments.) You should wear a respirator as noted in this BIRC article (click for PDF). Truthfully, we should be wearing respirators any time we paint a wall or handle any chemicals like pesticides, herbicides or bleach. But steam, specifically, is going to vaporize any chemicals on surfaces, be they pesticide or household cleaning products, etc. PLEASE NOTE: the respirator is not the same as a basic dust mask. It is specifically labeled for “paint and pesticide vapors.” I was able to purchase one at my local hardware store for 30 bucks.Steam must hit bed bugs directly. If you are purchasing a steamer, the manufacturer should list a temperature at the tip of being over 200F. It may also be possible to purchase an infrared thermometer (aka infrared laser thermometer) to check your steamer temperature at tip. Stephen Doggett’s Revised Bed Bug Code of Practice (see above) says:
As with all equipment, the steamer must be properly maintained and the operating temperatures should be regularly checked with the aid of an infrared thermometer. Immediately after steam treatment the surface should be recording at least a temperature of 70 to 80 degrees C (=158 to 176 degrees F) Steam is dangerously hot. Don’t forget to stay focused and safe. This should be used as one piece of the integrated pest management puzzle. Professional pest control assistance and coordination with your landlords and neighbors (if applicable) is still essential in order to get rid of bed bugs in your building. Key things to look for in a steamer: The most economical dry vapor steam cleaner we know of is in the $300 price range: Vapamore MR-100 Dry Vapor Steamer from USBedbugs. A number of Forum users have reported positively on the Vapamore MR-100, and the specifications look good. As a bonus, US Bed Bugs sells it for under $300 with free shipping. Mangycur used the Vapamore for several years, and had some frustrating experiences detailed here.
If you’re able to go up to the next price range, KillerQueen recommends the Vapor Clean Pro5 (formerly TR5) for consumers and uses a Pro6 himself (formerly TR6 see this post). The main difference between the two is that the TR6 (designed for heavy duty use) offers continuous fill. The Vapamore Pro5 or TR5, selling for about $599 as of April 2014, is about $200-300 less than the Pro6/ TR6, and will steam continuously for 1.5-2 hours. or Bed Bug Supply. Bedbugger experts Franco Casini in Italy and David Cain in the UK have long used and praised the Cimex Eradicator, a Polti steamer designed to kill bed bugs. It’s extremely hot and efficient at doing so. It became available in the US as of 3/2015, and is state of the art, if pricy ($1495 as of this update). Here’s a video of Franco demonstrating the Polti Cimex Eradicator. “With a maximum tip temperature of 356 degrees Fahrenheit, this is easily the hottest steamer we have ever tested. There is also significantly less water vapor emitted by the Eradicator than by any other steamer we’ve seen, which means more heat penetration ability and less cleanup after the job is done.”
This is the hottest tip temperature we’re aware of at this price point or lower, and that makes for more efficient and thorough bed bug killing. Although it doesn’t have continuous fill like some other models do, the 2L capacity means you can steam for up to two hours without stopping. The Cimex Eradicator may see some stiff competition from another Italian steamer newly available in North America: the Armato 9000 Commercial Bed Bug Steamer, which offers a tip temperature of 284F, 90-PSI steam pressure capability, a tank capacity of 1.1 gallons, and continuous fill — which means you can keep working and topping up the water. This steamer retails for just under $1000 from Bed Bug Supply. S mentioned using the WhiteWing Steamer in this thread; needtosleep also used it. The WhiteWing is not widely available now. (Though for that price, you probably want to go for the Cimex Eradicator, which wasn’t available in 2008.) One pro recommended Amerivap steamers (specifically the Amerivap Steamax, which is available from Do My Own Pest Control for about $900.
Readers often ask about dry vapor steamer rentals. In the past, the firm Simplex in Québec rented the Polti VAP 2000, a dry vapor steamer, for $46 CAN per weekend — the link to this offer no longer works and has been deleted, but readers in Québec may wish to try calling the company. wchicago reports that Clark-Devon Hardware in Chicago rents out the White Wing Steamer. We’d welcome tips on other sources of professional dry vapor steamer rentals worldwide. Mangycur used an AO R95 paint / pesticide respirator mask from her hardware store. Collette, a reader, shared her success story about using steam to kill bed bugs in her home. You can read it here. Many thanks to Mangycur who wrote most of this FAQ, providing the helpful and succinct overview, suggestions about shopping for a steamer, and information about respirator use above. Thanks also to everyone else who contributed information to this FAQ, including hopelessnomo, needtosleep, bugbasher, pleasehelp, Winston O. Buggy, Lieutenantdan, and S.