October 11th, 2021 by Sarah Miles

We often think of summer as the peak season for nasty things like bed bugs, and that is certainly when they breed the most rapidly, but unfortunately, that does not mean that they disappear in the winter. While their lifecycle slows down a bit - warmer weather means faster reproduction – they don’t need warmth to survive. Central heating and access to a food source (that’s mostly humans, although they can survive on household pets in a pinch) mean that they can survive just as well throughout the winter.

How do you get bed bugs?

Bed bugs usually arrive by bringing something infested into the house. Common ‘vehicles’ for bed bug infestations are nightwear and clothes after staying in hotels or other accommodation, on second-hand furniture, or even on clothes after travelling on public transport. While you can take reasonable precautions such as spraying furniture when you get it or your bags and clothes after a holiday, it is very difficult to completely eradicate the risk. That said, bed bug and dust mite mattress protectors and pillow protectors can really help prevent an infestation from taking root and bed bug traps can be taken to hotels and holiday accommodation, which would alert you to any bed bug presence.

While public perception of bed bugs is associated with dirty houses and unwashed bedding, bed bugs are not attracted to dirt, they’re attracted to blood. Plus, washing your bedding does not get rid of the problem so if you do get them, it is not because your home is dirty.

How do you know you have them?

Bed bugs are extremely tiny so you’re unlikely to see them. Often the first sign you have them will be red, itchy marks on your skin. These are bed bug bites as they survive by biting and feeding on blood. The red mark is actually an allergic reaction to their saliva so you may find that some people are more affected by this than others (just like with mosquito bites). If you have the marks but your partner doesn’t, you could still have bed bugs. It just means that they didn’t have as big a reaction.

Another common sign is a gritty feel to your bedding. This is made up of shed skin, droppings, and eggs. There really is nothing pleasant about bed bugs. Using the bed bug traps could confirm the issue.

How to get rid of bed bugs

As we’ve already mentioned, washing bedding – even at the highest temperature – will not eradicate the problem. That’s because they won’t be confined to the bedding itself. They can live in the mattress, the headboard, the pillows, and even the carpet.

Bed bugs are built for survival due to their tiny size (able to get into the tiniest crevice and pretty much invisible to the naked eye) and their ability to still hatch from eggs that have been treated. Therefore, to treat them you have to cover all bases which means different types of treatment and repeating after a few days to capture any eggs that hatch post-treatment.

Super Strength Bed Bug Killer and Retreatment Kit for 2 Bedrooms

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We would recommend a combination of the following:

Smoke bombs – to get into all the little nooks and crannies

Protector C spray – spray on all surfaces. As well as killing most bed bugs, it includes a growth regulator so any that do survive are unable to reproduce.

Dusting powder – useful for applying anywhere you can’t spray liquids, such as around electrical sockets

Kits with all of these products can be bought as a bed bug treatment bundle.

As we said before, always re-treat 5-7 days after the initial treatments to eradicate any critters that were missed the first time.