Bed bugs are one of the common problems in American households, According to EPA, the USA reports one of the five homes has a bed bug infestation.
Once bed bugs enter the home then it’s very hard for you to remove them if you don’t know how to get bed bugs out of mattress.
Because bed bugs infestation can quickly take over your house and waking up with red itchy marks on your skin could be a sign of bed bugs.
One of the important things you need to do after getting these types of signs you need to find them whether they are bed bugs, fleas, or anything else?
So first upon is really important for you to know what are the signs of bed bugs if you see these signs you can be sure it’s bed bugs then after you can do some steps to remove them from your house.
So let’s see what the Signs of bed bugs and then we will talk about treatment.
Signs Of Bed Bugs
- Small and red itchy bites on your skin (upto 5cm in diameter)
- Blood on your sheets
- Living or dead bed bugs
- Eggshells of bedbugs
- Musty odor around your bed
These are the common signs of bed bugs if you see them then you can be confident it’s the bed bugs.
Bed bug bites are commonly mistaken for mosquito bites, but however, if you see these marks after sleeping on your used mattress, after a long trip, or after moving used furniture into your home.
And it’s a good chance you have bed bugs in your home.
Most of the bed bugs are active at night while we are sleeping on our mattresses.
Bed bugs pierce the skin with their elongated beaks and they feed until they are roughly 7 times their normal size.
The bites of the bed bugs are painless at first but after some hours they develop into red welts on areas of the body which are been bitten and affected.
You are on this article means you already googled “how bed bugs look like on the mattress?” and see the picture of bed bugs now you are searching for how to get bed bugs out of mattress.
But in case you didn’t see bed bugs or how they look on the mattress then bed bugs are tiny and they often just look like a dark speck on a mattress.
Now after you know for sure it’s only the bed bugs problems you are dealing with then we can move on to the next step.
How to Get Bed Bugs Out Of Mattress in step by step
If you realize you have a bed bug infestation then don’t despair. Bed bugs can enter your house from second-hand mattresses, furniture, luggage, clothes, or pets.
You need to put rubber gloves for the treatment of these tiny bed bugs in your house.
But keep in mind you need to go through the process several times, bed bugs don’t carry any disease but they reproduce themselves too fast.
This can be long and tedious, if your problem is too big then you can call professional exterminators.
Step 1: Wash all clothes and beddings
Your first step is to wash everything which is washable which includes cleaning your mattress, pillows, pillowcases, sheets, and anything else which you suspect the tiny little creature is hiding in.
Before washing them read all instructions from their label and wash them at the highest temperature when you are transferring items from the bedroom to the washroom don’t use a laundry basket.
Because if you use your regular laundry basket then it will give them chance to escape and make it back to your bedroom.
So use a plastic trash bag and throw the bag into the trash outside of your house when every item you are transferring
Step 2: Vacuum and repeat
Once your bedding and all clothes are in the wash then while that time you can also vacuum your bedroom alternatively.
Now apply a stiff brush to the mattress seams to displaced bugs and eggs.
And immediately use a vacuum cleaner on the sleep of the mattress to remove displaced bugs and eggs.
Then vacuum the area around the bed and be sure to vacuum the small crevices in your mattress.
Empty vacuum bags into the plastic bags before sealing and tossing them into outdoor trash cans.
Be thorough and repeat this step several times.
Step 3: Dismantle bed Frames
Your treatment for bed bugs wouldn’t be complete if you did not take your bed frame apart.
Because bed bugs can hide smallest places and it’s worth taking your bed apart and searching every inch of the frame to find any hidden places.
You can use a flashlight or magnifying glass, this will help you to get a better look.
If your mattress has a box spring base then that is not immune to hiding the bed bugs, so search every inch and corner of your mattress.
Step 4: Steam Clean
If you use dry, high heat steamers then they are a good DIY method to get rid of bed bugs because of high temperatures exceeding over 120 degrees can kill bed bugs.
Steaming is a good alternative way to using chemicals and it also gets rid of allergies and bacteria.
(As a Word of Caution, steam is not ideal for memory foam mattresses)
Step 5: Use Insecticides That are Safe for Your Mattress
Before you use any type of aerosol spray and make sure you have good ventilation in the room and have read the directions on the container.
You need to be so careful in this step because this is the main step to getting bed bugs out of your mattress.
Also, make sure you have insecticide specific for mattresses.
You can then spray the affected areas of the mattress, furniture, and any other areas of your room which you are suspecting.
This is the best way to kill all living bed bugs using insecticide spray, and most of these sprays kill bed bugs on the spot.
But these steps can’t kill the remaining bed bugs who are hiding in any area around your room.
So that’s why the next step is also so important.
Step 6: Remove Dresser Drawers and clean all areas
Because you can’t kill bed bugs which you can’t see so that’s why searching for every area of your house is so important.
And the furniture is a favorite hiding place of bed bugs so remove all clothes from dresser drawers and closets.
And after then take out all the drawers and pull the furniture away from the wall if you can.
Remember to always use bed bugs products on your furniture also,
After then use a stiff brush on your mattress as well as your furniture to dislodge the eggs.
Vacuum the items and the entire room, make sure you clean every corner and every crack on the wall of your house.
If you do vacuum more than once then it will be best and make sure you dispose of the vacuum bag carefully and keep the vacuum outside of your house until your problem is not solved.
If Bed Bugs Don’t Go Away
If the bed bugs are still don’t go away in your mattress after following all these steps which I mentioned above then you have only two options left.
The first one is to contact an exterminator or the second one to dispose of your mattress.
Call the Pest
Calling in pest management service for their expertise is the smartest option if you have bed bugs in your house.
Exterminators use their special chemical treatment to kill all bed bugs from your house, it can be expensive but depending on the situation you have it’s worth it.
They completely seal your house in this treatment meanwhile you can vacation for a few days while your house is treated.
Dispose the Mattress
If your mattress has too many bed bugs and you can’t be able to get rid of them then it’s the best option for you to dispose of your mattress.
Removing a bed from your home reduces infestation and saves your time and discomfort.
Yes, it sounds so sad to dispose of your mattress but if you want to stop the infestation then you have to do this step because if you don’t then it can spread to all of your rooms.
So if the previous step doesn’t help you then simply dispose of the mattress and buy a new one.
How to Prevent Mattress from Bed Bugs
There is one saying “Prevention Is Better Than Cure”, and that one is absolutely true if you have do not have a problem with bed bugs now it’s time to be ready in the future so that won’t happen again.
Knowing how to get bed bugs out of mattress is hard enough for you but being able to keep them away from your mattress is another game.
You can follow these precautions to not get bed bugs again in the future.
And these precautions could save you the headache of dealing with bed bugs.
1. Mattress Protector
A mattress protector could be a lifesaver for your mattress because it will not only protect your mattress from bed bugs but also from any type of accident which will decrease the lifespan of the mattress.
And the best type of mattress protector is a fully encased one because they have special fabric which will prevent bed bugs, dust, mites from entering your mattress.
2. Regularly dust and scrub possible hiding places
Regularly cleaning hiding places of bed bugs is really important because you need to clean all areas of your house regularly,
Because cleaning and inspecting mattress alone can’t solve your bed bugs problem in your home.
Bed bugs can be anywhere like in the mattress, hidden corners of your home, and the furniture are their favorite place to hide in.
So regularly dust and scrub possible hiding places of bed bugs in your home.
3. Change All Bedding Regularly
If you regularly clean your bedding and launder all washable things then you are lowering the risk of bed bugs in your beddings.
Because if you launder your bedding in high temperature then bed bugs can’t survive that and you destroy all bed bugs which are present on the mattress surface.
Wash your bed sheets, pillowcases once a week, and all your washable comforters, pillows, blankets once a week.
And if your mattress is also not clean then you can clean your mattress once a month.
These all tricks help you to prevent the mattress from bed bugs.
Conclusion:
Bed bugs are a serious problem because they can bite humans and which will cause lots of itchiness and discomfort.
Another main problem is bed bugs can lay their eggs and reproduce them and multiply their count so fast and they will hide in our beddings,
And comes in the night while we sleep and bite ourselves.
So it’s necessary for you to take action immediately and know how to get bed bugs out of mattress as fast as you can.
If you have a bed bugs problem and you tried everything but you still have bed bugs then I suggest you call experts.
They will solve your problem immediately.
If you have any questions regarding this article then you can ask them in the comment section.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
How do you check a mattress for bed bugs?
Bed bugs are so tiny and they look like a reddish stain on your mattress, so check if you are seeing any like reddish stains or any tiny little eggs or eggshells.
And of course, you can see live bed bugs moving on your beddings because bed bugs can’t fly or jump they just crawl on your mattress.
How Much Does Professional Bed Bug Treatment Cost?
Bed bugs treatments are a great range of prices, if your bedroom has a bed bug problem then only the bedroom chemical treatment will cost you around 300$ to 1000$.
But if you want to do the treatment for all your home then expected to pay them between the 1000$ to 2000$.
Is there a specific scent to keep bed bugs away?
Yes, there are lots of scents that will keep you from bed bugs attack, and one of them is lavender essential oil.
Lavender is the perfect essential oil that will prevent bed bugs.
You can add 20-30 drops of lavender oil into baking soda then coat the mattress surface before letting the mattress sit for a couple of hours.
You can also apply lavender oil to your body which will prevent you from any kind of insects and bed bugs.