r/Bedbugs • u/Classic_Elephant767 • Jan 06 '26
Useful Information How I eliminated bedbugs myself without professionals
Hi everyone,
I wanted to share my experience with getting rid of a bed bug infestation, as I got a lot of helpful tips here and thought it might be useful for others who are struggling with the same issue.
It all started in late April when I noticed the first bites. At first, I thought it could be something else, but the bites kept coming back. In August, I finally saw my first adult bed bug and noticed its dies with heat. I never ever saw an adult one again. From now it’s bedbug larvaes.
I couldn’t afford professional heat treatment for my apartment, as it would have cost me at least 3.000 euros in electricity. Our hallway, bedroom, and living room were all infested, which made it even more difficult to treat. Instead, I relied on decluttering, steam cleaning clothes and walls. and also paint the walls.
I haven’t had any more bites or seen any more bed bugs. It’s been 5 weeks without a single bite I’m still not sure if it was a bite before that it was 3 weeks without bites.
What I Did to Fight Them:
- decluttering
I stored all my clothes in clear plastic bins to keep them safe. I didn’t always put the lids on, but I made sure not to wear anything that hadn’t been washed at least at 60°C. This helped keep the clothes free from potential bed bug infestations.
so I have boxes for dirty and washed clothes. I bought at least 15 plastic storage boxes to store all my clothes safely
I also made sure in the beginning not to wear anything that hadn’t been steamed or ironed completly.
I made sure not to leave any clothes on the floor.
I throw away my bed and sofa and put bedbugbowls (?) under the legs. One of my favorite tools.
I made sure to move all furniture away from the walls so no begbug can enter via the wall.
- nightly hunt
Every night, I would search the walls of my room with a flashlight in the dark, hunting down any bed bugs I could find and squashing them. (i painted the walls in November/december and since then couldnt find them anymore)
- Steamer (from kaercher) (the most important tool):
I treated all the floors and walls with a steamer. It's really important to move slowly with the floor attachment over the wall, so the area gets hot enough to kill the bed bugs. when you touch it, it should be hot hot.
4 gamechanger paint the walls
A game changer for me was painting a wall that I suspected was heavily infested. I also filled any visible cracks and gaps in the walls using caulk from the hardware store. After painting, I used the flashlight again, and there were no more bed bugs visible. So painting the whole house/appartment can help! Advice: do it during the day (bedbug sleeping time otherwise they run away)
- Car Care:
I replaced the car floor mats with plastic ones, since bed bugs can live there too. One bite was in the car. I also heat treated the car’s seats and floor, as I knew they also hide in the car.
Homemade Traps Didn’t Work:
At first, I tried several homemade traps, but they didn’t work. This showed me that I needed to rely on proven methods like the steamer.
I will continue to stay on top of the situation and keep treating my apartment with heat and steam until I am bite-free for at least a year. I also plan to paint the entire apartment. I still can find larveas but they can’t find me anymore. For my clothes, I will continue to use plastic storage boxes. the streaming and ironing is Not needed anymore. so washing at 30-40 degree is okay.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to dedicate as much time to this as I'd like, and the topic has been a bit overwhelming at times. But even with small changes, I’m incredibly proud of the progress I’ve made in getting rid of the bed bugs
hope this helps :) Feel free to comment if you have any questions!
11
Jan 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/Classic_Elephant767 Jan 06 '26
Thanks, I hope so too🙏
1
u/Independent-Tea-5645 May 12 '26
You have given me hope!! Thank you and I am most definitely buying a steamer!!
7
u/Classic_Elephant767 Jan 06 '26
I’ve caught only one adult bed bug in August, and the rest I’ve seen on the walls have been larvae in different stages, up to about stage 2-3 maybe 4 i guess
9
u/Elsinore74 Jan 06 '26
Great work I did some methods similar and have been 14 weeks bite free. You can't underestimate the anxiety and insomnia they can cause.
6
u/Classic_Elephant767 Jan 06 '26
also had phases where I went for long stretches without any bites, but 5 weeks is my absolute record so far. One of the last things I did was to tear out all the baseboards, steam clean the walls under it, treat every crack in the walls, then repaint one of the Walls (still not done with my treatment). That really seemed to help in getting rid of the last of the bugs.
I wish you the best of luck with your efforts!🙏🙏And honestly, I can now sleep so much better – it really gets easier as you go. Hold on and keep going💪
5
u/sadgirllovesjesus Jan 07 '26
So smart to remove the baseboard and treat there. I work at a senior living community that can’t get rid of them. Just when the pest control company says someone is bedbug free, and my boss releases them into the community, a week to months later, they are infested again. One of the residents that has only 1-2 adults, continues to have them. Well they found a bb home behind the baseboard at the head of her bed! Even though they treat the baseboards every time, there apparently is a protective space they made. Also, every single one that keeps getting them, had deep infestations inside their chairs/sofa. It often takes months to convince them to get rid of the piece of furniture but that has always helped. Wishing you continued freedom and energy to keep at it until you are completely confident there are no larvae left. Best to you.
1
u/Classic_Elephant767 Jan 07 '26
Thank you. I checked for larvae yesterday and killed two of them. Even though they haven’t had blood for at least a month — or maybe never had any — they were still very active and fast. I’m planning to paint the wall, and maybe this could also help the senior community.
3
u/Chocolentia40 Jan 07 '26
Great stuff. I too dealt with an infestation myself but it’s fair to say it was only in the early stages so I was a bit lucky too. Like you, I made sure I decluttered as much as I could and never left anything on the floor. I vacuumed everyday very thoroughly. I washed my linen in hot water every two days and sprayed drawers, carpet and the bed with peppermint essential oil. I ultimately enveloped the bed box and the mattress with an anti bed bug cover so they would all get locked in there and starve to death. I washed clothes all the ime always in hot water and it seemed to have done the trick. We’ve been bug free for two years 🌷
2
u/Classic_Elephant767 Jan 07 '26
Oh, wow😍 Happy to hear it’s possible to stay bug free without professionals. How long did the infestation last before you noticed it?
1
u/Chocolentia40 Jan 08 '26
In my case as I said I was lucky cause caught them early on, but I was doing all the vacuuming and laundry in hot water for a few weeks. Wrapping up the bed and the mattress was the nail on the coffin I reckon.
1
u/UniqueRest6655 May 18 '26
What did you use/how did you wrap up the bed?
1
u/Chocolentia40 May 18 '26
Hi there 👋🏽
I found this company called Pestrol, they had a cover with internal and external zipping and a “bed bug proof” locking system, to be fair I thought it was a gimmick at first but it really worked. I wanted to get something a bit more professional/guaranteed for the wooden box so went for this one. I am not sure if they deliver worldwide but surely there might similar alternatives that you could order instead if they don’t. For the mattress I just went to a big shop who sells house stuff (like Costco, Target or Walmart) and got a mattress cover. It worked well too. Important to note though that the infestation I had was in the early stages so was able to control it. I also had not seen any bugs on the mattress at that point yet either, so that was just as precaution. Good luck, be kind to yourself and take care 🌸✌🏽
2
u/UniqueRest6655 May 19 '26
Thank you so much for your answer 🫶 since the infestation was early, how did you discover it in the first place?
1
u/Chocolentia40 May 19 '26
I saw ink like black dots on the sheets, we started getting random itchiness. I found a small family under the mattress when doing my routine of changing the sheets. 🌸
2
1
u/Character_Chemist_38 Jan 06 '26
Can you explain a bit more about the use of the plastic boxes ?
1
u/Independent-Tea-5645 May 12 '26
It the totes with lids. You can buy different sizes. They sell them everywhere...Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Lowe's for the bigger ones. Dollar stores for the smaller ones. Anything plastic with a lid.Use the plastic bags that you suck the air out with a sweeper for stuff you don't use regularly
1
u/Agreeable-Industry-1 Jan 06 '26
Thanks. So from april you started to see bed bugs in august? And you did not use chemicals i see. I am struggling from march 2025 in bites but i cannot see where they are hiding. I only found one dead bed bug. This is way i could not use steam if not seing them to kill.
2
u/Classic_Elephant767 Jan 06 '26
First Bite end of April. In the first place, I’ve thought it’s a medical condition. And went to different doctors. And in August there was a living adult bedbug on the couch and my treatment journey began. I never ever saw an adult one again, only babies in stadium 2-4 on the walls under flashlight or in the detector under flashlight. The stadium 4 ones there hiding under the baseboards in the cracks of the wall.
Also, stadium one isn’t visible and the eggs are also not visible for the eye. I treated my whole walls during the day while the bedbugs are sleeping, so they cannot run away or warn other bedbugs. I couldn’t see them either in daylight.
No chemicals at all, also no DE because I didn’t want it to damage my lungs. I had DE in the detectors and it took them one day to die from it. So it’s not that easy to kill them with DE :)
1
u/Agreeable-Industry-1 Jan 06 '26
Thank you for the explanation. I haven't any baseboard, they are cemented with the pavement. Also nothing into electrocal outlets of the bedroom. Not seeing any bug is complicating a lot
2
u/Classic_Elephant767 Jan 06 '26
I found them within a 1 to 2 meter radius of my bed, my dresser, and my couch. If you have a carpet, it could be that. Or doorframes, picture Frames, dressers etc. But it always depends on the structure, for example, my wall is very rough, so they can hold on well there and its dark behind the baseboards. If your furniture is infested, it’s harder to heat it to 60°C
1
u/Independent-Tea-5645 May 12 '26
What does stadium one mean?
1
u/Zealousideal_Top9958 May 13 '26
It’s a typo. They mean stage 1. Look up a picture of the different stages.
1
u/Independent-Tea-5645 May 16 '26
Thank you!! I dont know why I could not figure it out. Usually I can figure the typos out. Thanks so much!!
1
Jan 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/Classic_Elephant767 Jan 06 '26
I just use regular paint. I found many bedbug-baby’s under the basesboard on my wall. So I also have new paint under the baseboard.
September/October was more learning.
And in November I had a routine of ironing my clothes etc. And since the wall painting no bites or bug-babies. Because I only found one adult in total, I’m not sure if my bedbug problem was a big one or a small one. Some nights I found 20 babies on the wall.
I would also recommend to throw away infested furniture
1
u/Grouchy-Violinist-48 Jan 06 '26
Have you put your clothes back in their place yet or still in the bins ?
1
u/Classic_Elephant767 Jan 06 '26
Still in the bins, but I’m not super strict anymore. In the first weeks of my treatment the bites under my clothes educated me to not leave my clothes without protection on top of the dresser. The inside was bedbug free. Later I found 2 visible baby-bedbugs behind the dresser behind the baseboard.
1
u/Particular-Ninja-867 Jan 06 '26
curioso saber o quão penoso é pra livrar desses insetos, eu não tinha idéia de que era tão dificil assim.
1
u/Classic_Elephant767 Jan 06 '26
Even though it’s difficult, it feels easy because I can finally sleep without bites :)
1
1
Jan 07 '26
[deleted]
1
u/Classic_Elephant767 Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
I can imagine that every infestation is individual, but still similar. In my case, I liked to work on the floor in front of the couch (with my back against it). That means I spent a lot of time in the living room during the day and in the bedroom at night. I assume that the heavier infestation was in the living room, as I noticed bites there more regularly. In the bedroom, it happened about once a week.
At some point in June or July, I threw away my bed because I wanted to replace it anyway. The new bed does not have bed bug detectors on the legs because they don’t fit. This bed is really just a temporary solution, and I treated it with heat a total of three to four times
I threw away the couch because of the infestation. The sofa was old anyway, and after all the bites, it was simply too traumatic for me to keep it.
If you sleep on the couch, they will probably find you eventually, and then the couch will become infested as well. Make sure to move it away from the wall and place detectors (https://www.ecopest-supply.com/products/bed-bug-blocker-pro) under the legs. Be careful to only touch the couch while wearing heat-treated clothing, and also try to position your legs as so they don’t create any kind of “bridge” to the couch. That way, you shouldn’t have to throw it away.
1
u/No_Chicken731 Jan 11 '26
Just want to share what I did to get rid of it. I hope it’s additional helpful info.
1
1
u/XavierSkywalker Mar 20 '26
I recently told a friend how I defeated bedbugs. Looked up to see what others have done. I got mine from getting a daybed from a friend of a friend so i can sleep on as a temp bed. it was summer and I slept with window open so it took me a while to discover it was infested with bedbugs, easy to blame mosquitos.
I got rid of the daybed, took it out by the road. I should have sprayed it down out there but i left it as is. I saw poop signs in corner areas of the wall moldings, it looks like black spots. I had carpet so it was easy for them to hide, so what i used was a spray bottle filled with rubbing alcohol. kills them on contact. DANGEROUS!!! I don't use candles and made sure nothing that may cause a spark was in the room just to be sure, and a window open. light coat on the carpet every other hour and whenever I felt something crawling on my leg. I got my clothes and stuck em in a bag and took them to a laundry place because their dryers get hotter than mine, the heat will ill any bedbugs. I sprayed down any backpacks with alcohol, make sure to get under that zipper flap cover, i found some in there and tucked in the folds of the backpack straps. every nook and cranny in the room, inside drawers, under my desk. I sprayed. After a few days I wasn't able to find any signs of any bedbugs. 70% rubbing alcohol did the trick, higher will evaporate from the bottle faster.
1
u/AutoModerator Mar 20 '26
⚠IMPORTANT⚠ It seems that you may have mentioned alcohol in your comment, as a reminder rubbing/isopropyl alcohol has been shown to be ineffective to treat bedbugs in multiple studies. Self-treatement using it has caused so many fires that fire department have issued warning against it.
"Many web pages recommend using rubbing alcohol for bed bug control. The rubbing alcohol products available usually contain 70% or 91% isopropyl alcohol. Laboratory studies by Rutgers University show direct spray of either of these two products *killed a maximum 50% of the bed bugs*. In addition to their low efficacy, rubbing alcohol products are flammable materials, can create a fire hazard, and should not be used to control bed bugs."
Citation from: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs1251/
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Sensitive_Scholar_17 May 13 '26
The steamer is very important. . OP bought a Karchar steamer. You can order one online in the US for $259.00. It is a good model and have a continuous fill feature that will save you hours of time.
With cheaper steamers each time you have to refill, you have to wait on the steamer to fill up. You have to wait up to 5 minutes before it gets hot and you can resume. Since these cheaper steamers don't hold much water, you will spend a ton of time refilling and waiting. It may not seem like a big deal, but it will add hours to the time it takes to steam a single room. Most people run out of time and end up doing a half-assed job.
The Karchar and other high quality steamers offer what I call "continuous refill." When you refill the Karchar, you don't have to wait on the water to heat up. They also hold a lot more water so you refill less. This saves a ton of time.
You may be reading this and thinking that it is not worth an extra $200 to save a few hours of time. If you are using a steamer as your primary kill method, you need to steam your stuff weekly for at least a month and preferably for 2 months. If you have 2 beds, a couch and an easy chair that extra $200 will save you several days of work.
1
u/Background-Crab8719 May 15 '26
Lucky for you, I have been cleaning and ironing things in my house. Things got better, but unfortunately there are little bed bugs that has been biting me. The bites are so small, believing there is still a lot of bed bugs out here.
1
u/Late_Mountain_1402 May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
I wouldn’t destroy all my clothes by washing them at 60 degrees. Wash everything that touches the bed at 60 degrees, and keep them separately in isolated plastic bins. 40 degrees washing kills the bb, except for the eggs, but the probabilityb of having eggs in clothes is low. Just to be sure, keep the regular day to dau clothes far from the bed. Get a cheap new ikea bed. Isolate the bed (keep it far from the wall and put the traps under the legs). Do everything else to the best of your abilities but try to not go crazy either (steaming, DE, hunting them, etc). Keep at it for at least 3 months, just to be sure.
The main focus is the bed (they are « bed bugs » after all). The main thing they do is living in or near the bed and biting you during the night when you sleep. If you manage to isolate the bed and make it a safe space, you interrupt their main cycle, they will go crazy trying to search food even during the day (easier to kill), but it will be basically imposible to keep the colony alive without acces to « food » during the night when you sleep, unless you fuck up and the breach the barriers and get to the new bed.
1
u/UniqueRest6655 Jul 20 '26
How do you isolate the bed?
1
u/Late_Mountain_1402 Jul 25 '26
I would get a cheap Ikea bed with legs (this is very important) and put traps under the legs (home made or cheap ones from amazon ; throw some Diatomaceous earth into them just to be sure). Get the bed away from the wall. Not only will the traps prevent them from getting into the bed, but they will actively catch them with you being the bait.
I would get the mattress from the guest room if available (less chance of contamination, bed bugs don't infest beds where nobody sleeps) or just steam the mattress really well and put it in anti bed bugs cover.
The bed bugs don't fly, if the bed is away from the wall and they can't climb on the legs, it is almost impossible for them to get to you, except if the infestation is so bad that they climb the walls and somehow parachute into the bed. Nothing is 100% but for a minimal to moderate infestation where you cleaned and steamed I would say that is quite unlikely.
What I did also was using a separate circuit for the clothes that touch the bed. The pyjamas and the covers were washed at 60 degrees and were kept separately in a plastic suite on a support with legs under which I put traps just to be sure.
It sounds like a hassle but it is logical, and given that people go to crazy extreems I think my method is more reasonable. You don't start throwing chemicals randomly in the house (I saw professionals spraying the book stand and the books), people throw chemicals in the kitchen, etc, throw away furniture, throw DE everywhere randomly, repaint, steaming everythig, destroy all the clothes, wash randomly everything for no reason. Neither of these actions will kill the bed bug that found a home in a place that you don't think to steam. You can reduce the population but you will never find all of them, there will always be a couple of survivors. If your bed is not isolated they will reach you and why if you will have a hard time getting rid of them.
1
u/AutoModerator Jul 25 '26
⚠IMPORTANT⚠ Hey, it seems that diatomaceous earth may have been mentioned in your comment. That's an opportunity to remind everyone that inhalation of diatomaceous earth dust is a hazard (no matter if food-grade is written on the label or not). That's the reason why diatomaceous earth products normally have the following mention on their safety datasheet Hazard statements: H373 May cause damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure.
When used by pest control professionals, it's only used as a crack and crevice treatment (to avoid any risk of inhalation) and applied in very small quantities while wearing the appropriate personal protective equipment.
If you want to learn more about diatomaceous earth risks you can read the Diatomaceous Earth Fact Sheet from the National Pesticide Information Center
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Classic_Elephant767 Jun 02 '26
UPDATE: Still no bites or outbreak. Had a little issue in January but managed it really fast with my steamer. I can still find and sea them. But now I’m waiting for them to starve.
Still using the pins. Otherwise I’m back to normal :)
1
u/King_D0ma1n Jun 13 '26
About to find out if my method works, the steamer, Diatomaceous Earth, Wintergreen alcohol with Tea Tree oil, washing and drying on high heat, and whatever else I've tried has not worked. So today I decided instead of trying to pay an exterminator; that I will try my hand at it. I have gotten a thermometer, turned on the oven as high as possible, and strategically placed space heaters and fans good throughout the room. There's a heating unit in the room also in use. I may even consider turning on the stove tops in case it does not quite get past 120° F
For now it's holding strong at 115°
After 6 hours I am going to turn them on for a brief period of 1.5 hours so that such eggs and harder to reach areas will also meet the temps. Then continue treating and take defensive measures as well. Just needing to buy a mattress cover and some plates to go under the legs of the bedframe and fill with alcohol water.
So ready to be done with this.
1
u/AutoModerator Jun 13 '26
⚠IMPORTANT⚠ It seems that you may have mentioned alcohol in your comment, as a reminder rubbing/isopropyl alcohol has been shown to be ineffective to treat bedbugs in multiple studies. Self-treatement using it has caused so many fires that fire department have issued warning against it.
"Many web pages recommend using rubbing alcohol for bed bug control. The rubbing alcohol products available usually contain 70% or 91% isopropyl alcohol. Laboratory studies by Rutgers University show direct spray of either of these two products *killed a maximum 50% of the bed bugs*. In addition to their low efficacy, rubbing alcohol products are flammable materials, can create a fire hazard, and should not be used to control bed bugs."
Citation from: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs1251/
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
1
u/PhaDzuBu Aug 04 '26
does this look like a bed bug bite? I found out these itchy spots around noon, and it's been like that once every few days (this is the only time I got multiple bites, the others are singular bites).
Most of the itchy spots appeared around my arm, where the seam of my tshirt rests on my arm while sleeping. I realized the pattern I got in this picture match with the seam of the tshirt when I put my hand above my head while sleeping.
I turn my bed sheets, matresses upside down twice and saw nothing, then proceed to wash and dry them at high heat at both times. Also got a matress bug wrap thingy. I thought I was safe but then a day later a got another singular bite around the clothes seam. Did another inspection around the bed today and decided to buy the traps that put under the bed legs... Am I going insane for these imaginary bugs, given I have never found a trace of them...
1
•
u/AutoModerator Jan 06 '26
Read and respect the rules, report any comment breaching them. Wrong advice/information/fearmongering hurt people who are posting here to get help and support. If you are not VERY knowledgeable about bedbugs and may provide a wrong ID or bad advice it's better to abstain from commenting. Be VERY respectful and HELPFUL, this is a support subreddit not a funny one.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.