Successful DIY Bedbug Treatment - without pest control
It's been over 10+ weeks without any sign of bedbugs or bites and I finally feel free enough of the PTSD/superstition of this awful time to post and share my advice.
Context: I stayed in an unclean airbnb, one where you had to take your own sheets and duvet, and I believe I brought back either bites or eggs in my duvet. I had LOTS of bites - but only ever saw one live bug in my bedding (but later accidentally spread them to the sofa where I did see dead bugs).
Here's how I got rid of them 'naturally' and without any pest control intervention.
- Get rid of anything on the bed that you can't wash - electric blankets can't be washed and therefore need to be taken far, far away. The same goes for any general clutter in your room. The less the better.
- Hot wash all linen and any clothing that you can! I found it best to tumble dry bed sheets and mattress protector on high before washing to ensure the eggs were killed.
- Repeat this every single time you get a bite/see any sign of life (it's a lot, but worth it).
- Make a neem oil solution - about 30 drops per 100ml of water. Spray liberally over carpet, sheets, anything fabric as often as possible (multiple times per day in peak anxiety era).
- Sprinkle diatomaceous earth around the base of your bed/furniture.
- HOOVER. It's effort but for peace of mind vacuum as often as you can.
- STEAM anything (clothing, mattress, duvet, pillows) that you can't machine wash. I used a hand-held steamer and did the entire box spring bed frame.
- Get a high-quality zip-up mattress case that refers to being bed-bug resistant (I think most of the bugs lived within my mattress).
- Apply lavender oil liberally to your body and pillows each night - I don't know if it does anything but it helped me sleep thinking it did. I <3 placebo
How to get rid of them if you spread them to the sofa:
- vacuum sofa - remove any bugs (use a bagged vacuum)
- spray neem oil solution frequently
- sprinkle diatomaceous earth liberally in the seams
It was a truly awful 4-5 weeks in my life. The anxiety and PTSD are unlike anything I've ever experienced before and I felt truly alone in the suffering which was awful. People really aren't exaggerating on here when they say it's a harrowing time, but if I can survive it, so can you. It did unfortunately lead to a big OCD flare up which I'm now back on medication for, but all-in-all I am really thankful that I managed to get rid of them, and in a budget and environmentally-friendly way by avoiding using professional pest control (though worth noting this was mainly for budget reasons - if you have the money, probably worth paying up straight away to try and get rid asap).
Sending solidarity and hope to anyone else reading this and going through it right now!