How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs In South Africa
What Are Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs are parasites that feed on the blood of their human hosts – they usually don’t have a taste for pets. As larvae, they are transparent in colour; adults are a reddish brown. They are largely nocturnal and love to live and breed in warm, dark places like beds, sofas, and other furniture.
Bed bugs are insects from the genus Cimex that feed on blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health impacts including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptoms. Bed bug bites may lead to skin changes ranging from small areas of redness to prominent blisters.
How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs In South Africa
Encase Your Mattress / Remove Hiding Places
Bed bugs and their eggs are most likely hiding in or on your mattress, box spring and pillows, which is why you need certified bed bug proof mattress encasements. Our bed bug encasements from SafeRest are used to protect and seal off the mattress and box spring while preventing bed bugs from entering, escaping, or feeding through its proprietary non-vinyl fabric.
- Kill bed bugs hiding in your mattress
- Protect your bed from invading bugs
- Keep your mattress fresh for years
Isolate Your Bed / Stop the Biting
- Stop bed bugs from reaching you
- Cut off the bed bugs’ feeding source
- Monitor the population
With your mattress and bedding now free from bed bugs, it’s important to keep it that way by adding ClimbUp Interceptors to each leg of your bed. Bed bugs are not just found in your bed — they often hide in furniture, along baseboards, and inside walls, cracks and crevices. ClimbUp Interceptors can stop bed bugs from climbing up your bed by trapping them in a talcum-lined pitfall.
Steam & Clean the Room
- Kill bed bugs hiding in your clothes
- Vacuum away bugs and eggs in hiding
- Kill remaining bugs with our bed bug steamers
Bed bugs are likely hiding in different parts of your room, like the edges of carpet, inside wood cracks, behind picture frames and inside books, magazines, furniture, etc. In this third step, we’re going to clean, declutter, vacuum and steam areas of the room where bed bugs might be. This will cut down on the bed bug population while making it harder for remaining bugs to hide
Spray & Powder Cracks & Crevices
- Kill immediately with a contact spray
- Get 12 weeks of protection with residual sprays
- Seal entry points indefinitely with natural powders
We recommend using a combination of both contact and residual sprays, designed specifically to kill bed bugs. Contact killers will kill bed bugs quickly, but offer no long-lasting protection. Residual sprays, applied after the contact killer spray, offer protection against future bed bugs for up to 12 weeks, but kill more slowly — this is why we use both.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
How can I quickly get rid of bed bugs in South Africa?
Wash bedding and clothes in hot water for 30 minutes. Then put them in a dryer on the highest heat setting for 30 minutes. Use a steamer on mattresses, couches, and other places where bedbugs hide. Pack up infested items in black bags and leave them outside on a hot day that reaches 95°F (35°C) or in a closed car.
Is it possible to permanently get rid of bed bugs in South Africa?
The heat of the steam can kill bed bugs and their eggs. Take your steamer and slowly spray each room with it. Pay extra attention to the baseboards, closet shelves, window trim, and even the carpet. Make sure the steamer is set to at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit and use a low setting for the airflow.
What kills bed bugs and their eggs?
Isopropyl alcohol can kill bedbugs. It can kill the bugs themselves, and it can kill their eggs.
What poison kills bed bugs in South Africa?
Pyrethrins and Pyrethroids: Pyrethrins and pyrethroids are the most common compounds used to control bed bugs and other indoor pests. Pyrethrins are botanical insecticides derived from chrysanthemum flowers. Pyrethroids are synthetic chemical insecticides that act like pyrethrins.
What is the main cause of bed bugs in South Africa?
They can come from other infested areas or from used furniture. They can hitch a ride in luggage, purses, backpacks, or other items placed on soft or upholstered surfaces. They can travel between rooms in multi-unit buildings, such as apartment complexes and hotels.
What natural ingredient kills bed bugs?
Diatomaceous earth is a great chemical-free option for getting rid of a number of pests, including bed bugs. This natural powder contains properties that can dehydrate bed bugs, absorbing their fat and oil, and killing them dead as a doornail. Spray or sprinkle in infected areas and allow it to sit for at least a week.
Do bed bug ever go away?
Bed bugs can live for as long as 4.5 months or more in an empty house before completely dying off. The two primary factors that determine how quickly or slowly the bed bugs could die off are the existence of a blood meal host, and the temperature of the house.
What kills bed bugs instantly?
The high temperature of steam 212°F (100°C) immediately kills bed bugs. Apply steam slowly to the folds and tufts of mattresses, along with sofa seams, bed frames, and corners or edges where bed bugs may be hiding.
How long do bed bugs live?
Under normal circumstances adult bed bugs will live for about 2 to 4 months. Young nymphs can survive without a blood meal for days up to several months. Older nymphs and adults can survive longer without a blood meal, up to a year under very favorable conditions.
Can bed bugs make u sick?
Can Bed Bug Bites Make You Sick? Bed bugs do not directly make humans sick. In most cases where humans have become ill after bed bug bites, the underlying cause was due to allergies, blood loss, or infection.
Should I throw out my mattress if I have bed bugs?
No, you do not need to throw out your mattress after a bed bug infestation. In fact, this is discouraged entirely. Disposing bed bug infested items can be seen as reckless, as it could contribute to the infestation spreading.
Can bed bugs live in pillows?
Mattresses and pillows make potential habitats for bed bugs. Pillows may also be host to bed bug eggs, making them a potential point of bed bug infestations. A possible sign that bed bugs have infested pillows may be the appearance of bites.
What happens if you ignore bed bugs?
If you ignore the problem, bed bugs will reproduce and multiply and can quickly infest your entire house, from couches to carpets and even clothing. Once this happens you have a big problem that can get costly to get rid of.
Can bed bugs live in your hair?
Can bed bugs live in your hair? The short answer is no. That’s not to say they can’t bite you on your scalp, forehead, cheeks or neck, but bed bugs’ legs and bodies aren’t designed for crawling through human hair.
Do bed bugs bite every night?
The bugs can bite several times in a night to become full but only feed about once every one or two weeks. People that have only small numbers of the bugs in their homes may not experience new bites every night.
Do bed bugs go away when you wash sheets?
Washing your linens in a hot water wash has proven to be effective in killing bed bugs. Although this may not get rid of your infestation entirely, it will control the bed bug problem.