The appearance of bedbugs in the room is a fairly common problem that almost every person has encountered at least once. Many are thinking about how you can remove these insects on their own, without the use of chemicals that are harmful to people. This is especially important for those who have children or pets in their apartment. In this case, essential oil from bedbugs will only benefit: it will relieve insects and strengthen health. This method is an effective and sustainable way to control these insects.
The appearance of bedbugs in the room.
Why are bedbugs afraid of odors?
Folk ways to help get rid of bedbugs are based on the fact that pests are afraid of the pungent smell of some plants. This method helps to scare away insects, but it works only at the initial stage, when the population is in units.
What essential oils repel bedbugs:
- tea tree, eucalyptus;
- lavender;
- peppermint, thyme;
- clove.
Ether-containing agents will not help kill bedbugs and have absolutely no effect on their eggs, therefore, when choosing this method of dealing with "unwanted guests", it should be understood that the battle will be long and persistent.
Essential oils, mint, eucalyptus
And what about in practice?
The main reason for using natural remedies to combat bedbugs is safety, because spraying synthetic drugs in the house is risky for health. Therefore, the following work was aimed at assessing the impact of an essential oil-based product in apartments. During the experiment, 409 residential apartments were divided into 3 groups: the first used a spray based on cedar oil, in the second - an artificial insecticide, and in the third - a combination of the two previous methods. The processing was carried out for 2 days, and then a break was made for 12 days before the previous measurements. This made it possible to assess the long-term effects of essential oils. Upon completion of the experiment, it turned out that all three formulations got rid of more than 90% of bedbugs, and in every 5th apartment the bedbugs completely disappeared. This example shows that under normal conditions, the effectiveness of natural remedies is comparable to synthetic ones. In addition, they found that 76% of residents did not even know about the problem in the apartment and did not take any action to resolve it (Changlu Wang, Richard Cooper, Rutgers University, USA, 2014).
An interesting experiment was carried out in 2020. Essential oils from bedbugs were tested not only in a Petri dish, but also in conditions close to real: in a garbage bag. The oils were tested for the ability to get rid of bedbugs in the laboratory, after which the most effective were used in the following experiment. To continue the experiment, only those substances were selected for which a mortality rate of 100% or close to it was noted. Towels soaked in active ingredients and samples of bugs at different stages of development were placed in bags with specially collected garbage. After 5 days, it was found that even under these conditions, rosemary essential oil killed up to 100% of insects, and a ready-made spray based on neem oil showed similar results (Mark Feldlaufer, Kevin Richard Ulrich, Agricultural Research Service, 2015).
This way, essential oils will keep bedbugs out of your home or apartment.They can become the very magical remedy that will get rid of the annoying problem. Now you can stop being afraid that parasites will return to you after another useless treatment, because the effectiveness of the oils was tested in laboratory conditions!
Premises preparation
Using essential oils against bedbugs is quite expensive because they are sold in small quantities and are not cheap. Therefore, preliminary preparation of the premises is of great importance:
- it is necessary to do a good cleaning: vacuum the carpets, baseboards, wash the floors, checking all the places where bedbugs accumulate at the same time;
- the solution is usually prepared with water: 20-25 drops of the product are diluted in 5 liters of water, all surfaces should be well treated with the prepared mixture, paying maximum attention to the lower parts of the furniture and the bed frame;
- the solution is sprayed with a spray bottle, thus treating hard-to-reach places.
For a more lasting effect, treatment with a mixture of several agents is used. One of the most effective recipes:
- 10 drops lavender remedy
- 6 drops lemon grass,
- 6 drops tea tree and 10 drops. thyme.
Mechanical insect control
This method determines the use of the vacuum cleaner at maximum power. If your vacuum cleaner is equipped with a dust collection cup, the contents should be immediately disposed of and then rinsed with all removable parts of the household appliance with hot water. If a paper bag is used to collect garbage, it must be burned after mechanical cleaning of the apartment.
This method is applicable when the number of blood-sucking “pets” is still very small. When cleaning, turn on the highest possible power for cleaning carpets, floors, bedding, toys and upholstered furniture. With poor absorption, half of the bugs will remain in place. Also, do not forget about cracks and gaps in the flooring.
Using wormwood
Wormwood has been used for a long time in the fight against various pests in the house and in the garden. Aromatic oils from bedbugs based on it were used in ancient Greece. It is customary to hang bunches of fresh wormwood even now in villages throughout the house to repel insects. Linen and clothes were also washed in water with the addition of wormwood broth.
Sagebrush
Interesting!
Wormwood is used not only by people, but also by birds that bring it to the nests to clean it and protect the chicks from fleas and ticks.
Wormwood oil is added to water (a few drops) and the furniture, floors and shelves are washed with a solution. This procedure is repeated daily: there should be a pungent smell of wormwood in the house, which will scare off bed bugs.
Testimonials
Got a dorm room and found bed bugs. I decided to fight in folk ways. I did a general cleaning and treated the whole room with a solution of wormwood oil, however, I had to repeat it several times. But the remedy helped - there are no more insects.
I tried, on the advice of a friend, to fight bedbugs with aroma oils, but the effect lasted only for a couple of days: the bugs returned. Then he could not stand it and called the pest control service for bedbugs.
Tea tree oil
This is a fairly effective remedy that helps and scares off bloodsuckers in order to leave their inhabited habitats. Tea tree oil is used for bedbugs as an auxiliary measure: after thorough cleaning of the room, all things must be washed with the addition of a few drops to the water.
To process a sofa, furniture, a solution is made from the ratio: 18 drops per 0.5 liters of water, which is sprayed from a spray bottle onto all objects and carpets.
Important!
To make the effect stronger, it is recommended to treat household items and furniture with a solution twice a day.
Other effective remedies
Before using this or that remedy, experts recommend testing for an allergic reaction.Take a drop of oil and apply it to your elbow or wrist. An allergic reaction can occur within a few hours.
Much of the success of ether depends on where you use it. Use oil to protect exposed skin. Soak a cloth or gauze napkin well with wormwood or orange. Place it under the bed and next to it.
A good remedy is a mosquito repellent cream. Use glycerin as a base, mix it with the existing base. It is a fragrant, effective defense. This product is applied to the skin of exposed parts of the body.
An interesting method is a bracelet that protects against insect attacks. It's pretty simple to do. In addition, this method is suitable for both children and adults. Take wormwood essential oil or another oil and rub it over the bracelet. Remember - the bracelet must be made of natural materials or fabrics. To get a good result, just a few drops are enough.
Using lavender
Lavender oil from bedbugs helps to scare them away, while at the same time has a beneficial effect on the nervous system of the owners of the apartment. It is often used in insect repellants. Lavender oil is used together with coconut oil at the rate of 20 caps. 50 ml, mix thoroughly and rub into the skin. This remedy will not only scare off parasites, but also reduce the itching from past bug bites.
Rosemary and lavender
Where do they come from
Anyone who has encountered bed bugs in the house is wondering where these unpleasant insects came from in a clean room, which always cause associations with unsanitary conditions. Neighboring premises are the main source of infection at home, especially when it comes to old high-rise buildings or houses in rural areas. Often parasites come from afar:
- with suitcases brought from travel;
- with purchased furniture, especially if it is already in use;
- on clothes - parasites often hide in removed things, so they can easily be brought from guests;
- with household appliances - insects like to sit in warm places, so they live in laptops, microwaves and other appliances;
- on animals - despite the fact that pets rarely become carriers of bedbugs, this option should not be ruled out.
Other essential oils
Camphor essential oil from bedbugs is used in conjunction with turpentine. The mixture is prepared from a camphor drug purchased in a pharmacy in a bottle and a tube of turpentine ointment. This substance must be carefully anointed on the lower parts of furniture, bed frames, mattresses. The disadvantage of this method is a pungent suffocating odor, which can only be removed by airing.
There are still some odorous substances that the bug is afraid of: clove oil, rosemary. To get rid of parasites, beds and sofas should be treated with them. You can also use ready-made herbal sprays.
To protect against "bloodsuckers", sharp-smelling geranium leaves from bedbugs are also spread around the apartment. Geranium oil is used in a similar way, which not only scares away insects, but is also used to prepare an ointment for bug bites.
Does it work?
Proof of the effectiveness of essential oils for bedbugs was found by researchers from the United States, who compared the effects of 8 essential oils to the effects of traditional insecticides. Each was sprayed from a distance of 15 cm onto adults. bed miteand then data on tick mortality were collected regularly for 4 days. The results showed that 5 out of 8 sprays destroyed 80 to 100% parasites within one day, making them as effective as traditional remedies. In the first effective spray, the predominant substance is d-limonene (found in citrus fruits), second spray - oil cedar (5-20%), third - oils rosemary (1.5%) and peppermint (2%). Oils carnation (1%), rosemary (1%), peppermint (1%) and thyme (0.5%) also got rid of parasites in the composition of 4 sprays, and 5 of the product contained oil nima (five%). These formulations can be prepared at home and used as needed or for prophylaxis. (W. A. Donahue, M. Donahue, A. Showler, Sierra Research Laboratories, USA, 2015).
A similar study was conducted a year earlier. It also compared the efficacy of sprays based on essential oils and insecticides. This time the most effective were compositions based on oils of cedar (1%) and cloves (0.003%) and peppermint (1%). The bedbug mortality rate was 90%. In addition, the first agent also destroyed 87% of the eggs, which means that it is able not only to fight adults, but also to prevent their appearance in the future (Narinderpal Singh, Changlu Wang, Richard Cooper, Rutgers University, USA, 2014).
The principle of action and effectiveness of aromatic oils
Before embarking on an independent solution to the problem with the help of an available means, it is necessary to understand that any actions are exclusively temporary in nature, which will only scare away insects.
Bedbugs are, in fact, unique creatures with many characteristic features. For example, they perceive and distinguish smells and aromas by means of receptors located on thin hairs - sensilla, in turn, on which neurons are located. With their help, the existing aroma is determined.
So what herbs can really help when bedbugs bite a person? Which of them, at least temporarily, will be able to get rid of nocturnal parasites?
- Sagebrush. A very effective herb for fighting various insects, including bedbugs. Wormwood is especially effective in complex measures in conjunction with other folk or chemical agents. No less effective for scaring off parasites is wet cleaning with a decoction of bitter wormwood. In the use of this tool, there is only one drawback - the quick completion of the tool. Usually after 4 days, the action ceases, and the parasites bite again at nightfall.
- Tansy. Tansy flowers not only scare off parasites, but due to certain ingredients lead to temporary paralysis of blood-sucking parasites. To get a similar effect, it is enough to scatter plants in the corners of the bedroom.
- Ledum. Powder from wild rosemary, mainly collected in September, should be scattered in places where bedbugs live. For maximum effect, you can also fumigate the room with flower powder.
- Air. The action of calamus is a lot like the effect of using tansy. It is necessary to carefully sprinkle with calamus powder the places where the most pronounced accumulations of bedbugs are observed. These are skirting boards, bedding for animals, etc.
- Pharmacy chamomile, which can be purchased at any pharmacy, is no less useful. And if you mix the flowers with a saline solution, then the effect of the product will be even more pronounced. As a result, the bugs will disappear, if not forever, then for a fairly long time.
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All of the herbs presented, perhaps with the exception of chamomile, can potentially harm the human body if used incorrectly.
Therefore, their use against anyone provides maximum caution, after use, the room must be ventilated.
Temperature drops are no less relevant for the fight against bed parasites.
Bed bugs are known to bite and reproduce in general at temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius.
Any other temperature regime, even slightly different from the average, is extremely uncomfortable for bed bugs.
If the room provides a low (below 10) or high (from 35) temperature, then such actions are likely to be able to save residents from annoying parasites.
The main thing is to ensure the temperature without fluctuations, otherwise such folk methods will not be useful, and the bugs will gradually adapt to temperature extremes.
Most of all, bugs are afraid of temperature changes. A positive temperature, which reaches 20-30 ° C, is favorable for their habitat.Lowering it by 10-15 degrees has a bad effect on their reproduction. If they are poisoned in this way for a long time, the bloodsuckers will leave and find other owners for themselves, where they will feel comfortable. In winter, you can open the windows in the apartment for 2-3 days so that the bugs leave your home. Temporary ventilation will not help.
The above methods scare away bloodsuckers, but will not help get rid of them forever. Therefore, the best option is to contact special services that will carry out pest control, or purchase effective means to destroy bedbugs.
The use of aromatic oils in the room allows you to fill it with a persistent specific odor that protects humans and reduces the number of bedbugs. The fact is that these blood-sucking insects have poorly developed hearing and vision. Their body is covered with small, sensitive antennae. They are guided in space by smell and also find their prey.
Herbal scents scare away but do not kill bed bugs. They can leave their habitat for several days or simply temporarily stop biting. But, getting hungry, the bugs will still attack their prey. Aroma protection helps to comfortably survive several days in anticipation of high-quality disinfestation.
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After sanitation and the death of arthropods, the risk of their reappearance in the house is not excluded. To prevent such an unpleasant neighborhood, it is recommended to periodically treat living quarters with strong aromas.
Chemicals against blood-sucking neighbors
When we talked about the weak points of parasites, we noted that their comfort zone falls within the range of -10 to 45 degrees. Thus, bedbugs can be removed if the weather conditions in the apartment are changed.
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Freezing is effective when outside the window is -15 degrees and below. Be sure to close the batteries before opening windows. The expulsion procedure should take at least two hours.
Note! This method can play a cruel joke with household appliances and apartment heating. If there are not too many insects, you can solve the problem differently. You can get rid of, say, bed bugs by putting the mattress on the balcony during the winter season.
If freezing the room is effective during the cold period, then in the summer it is time to “add heat”. You can raise the temperature in the apartment with an air conditioner or heater. All bedding must be washed at a temperature of 60-65 degrees. The fabric may shrink or shed heavily, but when the temperature decreases, the eggs of the pests may persist, so choose what is more dear to you: your own blood or bright bedding.
While visiting forums on getting rid of annoying insects, you can stumble upon unusual user reviews. Their methods for removing blood-sucking pests are to place contaminated items in the interior of a car. In the scorching sun, the temperature inside the vehicle rises to 50 degrees, creating conditions incompatible with life for bedbugs.
What if the two previous methods did not work? It's time to tackle chemicals that have strong and pungent odors. These include kerosene, naphthalene, turpentine, vinegar, denatured alcohol, transformer oil. You can also use ammonia for bedbugs.
You can prepare a caustic mixture in the following ways:
- dilute a liter of water with three tablespoons of vinegar;
- mix 5 g of naphthalene and 150 g of denatured alcohol;
- add 100 ml of turpentine to 20 g of naphthalene;
- pour 15 ml of transformer oil into 200 ml of water.
Mix turpentine with naphthalene balls and you get an excellent mixture for treating walls, floors and furniture from bedbugs
The resulting solution must be used to treat upholstered furniture, hard-to-reach corners, bed legs and inner edges of carpets. The more unpleasant the apartment smells, the sooner insects will hatch.
Recommendations
You should not take the situation into your own hands if traces of pests are present throughout the entire area of \ u200b \ u200bthe housing. In such situations, professionals are required to act, cleaning and cleaning must be carried out around the entrance or the whole house. Parasites easily penetrate neighbors' dwellings or empty apartments.
Only the hoods are not able to overcome a large population, the bugs actively use the feature of their body and do without food for a long time. By driving them out of the same room, people can aggravate the situation of neighboring residents.
Apartments where children live are subject to immediate cleaning if pests are found in neighboring apartments. Children do not always understand the danger of small insects, therefore, pests should be dealt with by professional means. Esters should be left to the prophylaxis phase.
Rosemary applications
Rosemary today is associated mainly with a herb, but has been used as a medicinal plant since ancient times. It is used as a remedy for pain, stomach problems, epilepsy, to increase the clarity of thinking. Modern researchers have found more than 30 active substances acting in synergy in it.
Rosemary has an excellent antioxidant effect, antiseptic, choleretic, hepatotoxic (protects the liver and gallbladder), anticancer effect. Stimulates hair growth, prevents hair loss, and at the same time kills the germs that cause dandruff.
Found an effective way to get rid of bedbugs forever -
Orange freshness
Orange oil is also a well-known effective remedy for bed bugs. For a person, its smell is very pleasant, but for “unwanted household residents” it is sharp and frightening.
Orange oil smells good and repels bedbugs - excellent functional load
Recipe # 2
The recipe for making orange oil is also simple. The first step is to collect orange, clementine or tangerine skins. All three types can be mixed. The skin should dry well and feel a little harsh to the touch. This will take a week.
Remember! The skins must not be placed in the oven or dryer, as valuable oils may evaporate.
Already dried peel needs to be chopped. As it is convenient for anyone: using a simple knife or food processor. Pour the crushed peel into a jar, cover with alcohol or vodka, and close the container tightly with a lid. Shake the jar daily for two weeks. The longer the solution is infused, the brighter the orange tint it acquires. A clean filter or a piece of cloth should be put on the neck of the jar and left for a week, so that the alcohol evaporates from the orange extract. After that, the finished product is also filtered through a coffee filter.
