Four Effective Ways To Kill Bed Bugs In Pillows

This page is an expert guide on getting rid of bed bugs from infesting pillows in your home using the products and methods suggested by our experienced pest control specialists. Follow this guide and use the recommended products and we guarantee you will be successful in eliminating bed bugs.

Have you ever woken up to itchy irritating bites and welts on your skin? More often than not, this is a surefire sign of bed bugs being present. Beware: they are not just in your bed or in your pillows.

While you may be convinced you have bed bugs, proving it by finding a live bed bug can be tough. Bed bugs are small wingless parasites that are very skilled in finding places to hide in your bed. Before you can take a good look, you will find these little devils crawling right underneath your pillow.

As soon as you examine your pillow and find nothing, you may conclude that they have disappeared. However, that is not the case. Bed bugs don’t just disappear; they hide. Many times, they are hiding inside your pillow cover or have moved over to your mattress or box spring.

Wherever they may be, one thing is for certain: you will need to carry out a bed bug control program and do so quickly before the population grows out of control.

What do Bed Bugs Look Like

Bed bugs are tiny blood-sucking insects that range between a 1/4th to a 1/3rd of an inch long in length, oval-shaped, flat and brown. After having a blood meal they become elongated and swollen and are more of a reddish tone. Bed bugs range from a pinhead size up to an apple seed size.

Bed bugs also have a distinct smell that they produce that is a somewhat sweet but musty odor.

Bed bugs are usually felt before they are ever seen since they bite people in their sleep and go into hiding when people wake up itchy.

Where Do Bed Bugs Hide

Although bed bugs are not microscopic insects, seeing them becomes difficult due to their hiding ability and knack for operating in the dark. However, there are signs that can clearly tell you if your bedroom has been infested by bed bugs. Here are the most obvious indicators of bed bug presence on your pillows and bedding:

Despite the name, bed bugs don't just hide in pillows and bedding. Bed bugs will hide in any tight space, so check every crack and crevice in the room. Start with the mattress, checking underneath tufts and folds. Look for any blood stains, droppings, or smears on your bedding, blankets, pillows, and mattress.

When inspecting your bed frame, check any joints and gaps bed bugs can hide in. Lift up any removable slats, and check the crevices between the actual bed and the frame, including the headboard.

After inspecting your bed and its frame, look in the secondary locations for bed bugs. Look behind picture frames, underneath and inside electronics like clocks, radios and TVs, behind and inside dressers and drawers, underneath chairs and other furniture, behind electrical plates, among curtains and along the curtain rod, along or under baseboards, and even around door frames. If there are any other tight spaces you feel a bed bug could get into, such as bookshelves, inspect them for activity.

Bed bug activity is typically isolated to one room. If they go beyond that, then you’re dealing with a severe infestation.

How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs

If you have confirmed bed bugs are infesting your bed and pillows, you will need to implement a treatment program to get rid of the population. We recommend going with a multi-pronged approach to getting rid of bed bugs rather than using one treatment option for best results.

Step 1: Wash Your Bedding

The first technique is to thoroughly wash your pillows, pillow covers, and bedsheets. Pesticides are not to be applied to pillows but should be just washed and dried to address bed bugs that may be infesting them.

Transfer the bedding into a large plastic bag then into the washing machine. Toss them in your washing machine on the highest heat setting then follow up with a high heat cycle in the dryer. This will kill adult bed bugs immediately.

Once the bedding is all washed, we recommend not putting them back onto your bed but rather place them in a plastic bag until your bed and home are thoroughly treated.

Once the bedding has been washed, you'll want to treat the infested room with products like Flex 10-10 and Gentrol IGR. These together will kill and control bed bugs in all stages of their life cycles in multiple environments.

Step 2: Spray Mattress with Flex 10-10

Flex 10-10 is a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide that will provide a quick knockdown of Bed Bugs while being safe to spray on your bed. The application rate for a severe bed bug infestation is to mix 6.4 fluid ounces of Flex 10-10 into 1 gallon of water.

Do this with a handheld pump sprayer. Don’t broadcast this product over the whole mattress; instead you’ll spray just the mattress tufts, edges, seams, and folds.

Step 3: Spray Bed Frame, Box Spring and Crevices with Gentrol IGR mixed with Flex 10-10

Then, mix 1 fluid ounce of Gentrol IGR into your solution to treat 1,500 square feet. Once combined, spray the bed frame, box spring, furniture, closets, flooring, and baseboards.

Apply to your box spring after removing the netting to access all the cracks and crevices. Then apply to other areas of the room such as the carpeting or flooring beside the bed and all other rooms adjacent to the bedroom to prevent the bed bugs from transferring from the bedroom to another room.

Step 4: Spray Pyrid Aerosol

Since bed bugs hide away in tight cracks and crevices, use a flushing agent like Pyrid Aerosol to clear them out. Pyrid is a botanical insecticide that will kill bed bugs on contact. With its red straw and actuator in place, stick the end of the straw into the crack or crevice to be treated and spray along its length.

Step 5: Use D-Fense Dust

For spots where liquids are ill-advised, like behind the electrical outlet, D-Fense Dust will kill and control insects that attempt to cross its dry barrier. It’s also resistant to moisture, making applications near water heaters ideal.

You’ll need a handheld duster in order to apply this product. Just fill the duster halfway, and apply 2 to 3 puffs to thoroughly coat the application area.

Step 6: Protect your Bed and Box Spring with a Bed Bug Encasement

Once the room has been treated, we recommend you use bed bug mattress and box spring encasements. The Clean Rest Pro Encasements comes ready-to-use as purchased and require no additional tools to install.

When used properly, bed bugs will be unable to cross through the encasement in any direction, which either protects your mattress from infestation or entombs any bed bugs inside so they die out. These bed bug encasements are sold in a wide variety of sizes, so be sure to get the right covers for your mattress.

Prevention

Once you have eliminated bed bugs from your home, you can keep bed bugs from invading in the future by regularly vacuuming your home, an occasional heat treatment of your home with a steam cleaner, washing and changing your sheets on a bi-monthly basis and checking your belongings after traveling to make sure you aren't bringing bed bugs home.

When coming back from traveling, vacuum out your luggage and wash your clothes immediately upon return to eliminate any chances of bed bug reinfestation.

Key Takeaways

• Bed Bugs are an irritating pest known for their itchy bites. They infest pillows and bedding but can also travel to other spaces in the home when the infestation is large.
• The top 4 effective treatment methods we recommend are 1)Washing your bedding, 2))Eliminating the bed bugs with Flex 10-10, Pyrid Aerosol and Gentrol IGR, Preventative dusting with D-Fense Dust and 4) Protecting your mattress and box spring with bed bug encasements.
• Prevent bedbug reinfestations by being diligent about vacuuming your home and washing fabrics regularly.