How to get rid of bedbugs for good

Treat the entire area with pesticides and vacuum all cracks and crevices with the crevice attachment. Two products with essential plant oils, Eco-Raider and Bed Bug Patrol, have proven to be as effective as commercial-grade insecticides.

Take the bed completely apart (70 percent of bed bugs are in the bed) and clean, vacuum and treat it thoroughly. Enclose the mattress and box spring in a cover. Replace the treated mattress and box spring on a bedframe with legs, not on the floor.

Move bed away from wall and other furniture, where the remaining 30 percent of the bugs are hiding. No bedding should touch the floor. Place sticky traps or Climbup insect interceptor traps under each leg of the bed.

Clean and treat remaining furniture and other rooms where people watch TV. Remove all clutter. Use vacuum’s crevice tool along seams and folds and along edge of wall-to-wall carpet to get hard-to-remove bedbug eggs. Follow all sanitary recommendations made by your landlord and commercial pest control company.

Launder or dry clean all bedding. Washer water temperature should be at least 160 degrees. Items such as backpacks can be tumble-dried on the dryer’s hot cycle at 120 degrees for at least 30 minutes. Some items may go in the oven at 120 degrees for several hours. A hair dryer or commercialgrade steam cleaner will also kill bedbugs.

To kill bugs on shoes, small appliances or other loose items, place them in a sealed garbage bag with Hot Shot No-Pest Strips for a week outside the bedroom.

If you must remain in an infested space, sleep on a portable cot with bug traps under each leg. A mosquito bed net or small tent on top of a cleaned and treated bed with traps set under each leg will work until a comprehensive control effort is conducted.

Don’t assume bedbugs are gone until eight weeks have passed since the last bite.