It is never easy to deal with bed bug infestations because of their bites and presence inside your home.
However, the first response would be to check out the situation and know the equipment you need to solve the problem. Unfortunately, it is more complicated than you may assume.
This article will take you through one of the most common natural remedies you can find online, essential oils and their effects.
However, keep in mind that although you can try DIY treatments at home, nothing beats trusting the pest control experts to do their job and successfully eliminate the infestation.
The article will help you learn about essential oils for bed bugs and other alternative methods.
Bed bugs can be a pain, especially if they leave painful bites and infest your whole home.
But, the worst part about these pests is that they are unnoticeable in plain sight and hide in the darkest spaces and cracks of furniture during the day.
Once night falls, these blood-sucking pests crawl out of their hiding places and come to feed on human blood like a buffet.
As they sink themselves into your skin, they inject an anesthetic that allows them to bite quickly without you noticing.
Upon seeing or noticing the effects of these nocturnal pests, it is most likely there are more of them.
Therefore, an infestation is just waiting to come out and take what they want. One of the visible signs of their presence is if you find stains of blood on your nightwear or bedding.
In addition, they leave tiny and dark crumbs or excretions and sheddings of their outer shell on your bed.
Once you notice these warning signs, you’ll immediately want to find a suitable solution to this annoying problem.
Essential oils are liquids extracted from aromatic plants through their stems, barks, flowers, roots, or seeds by using water or steam.
This extraction process requires condensation, evaporation, and isolation for oil collection to remove the plant’s highly reactive compounds.
Later, these become distilled plant compounds with active chemicals that people generally use as insect repellents or killers, antiseptics, and antibacterial.
Although it is a popular remedy to repel bed bugs, using essential oils in excess can be dangerous and toxic because of their high potency and concentration.
Research has proven the effect of essential oils on bed bugs. A study at Purdue University identified a few essential compounds that significantly impact bed bug control.
These directly applied compounds include carvacrol (extracted from oregano and thyme), thymol (thyme), citronellic acid (lemongrass), and eugenol (clove).
You may come across many products with essential oils that claim to kill or repel bed bugs effectively. However, a study at Rutgers University concluded that only some of them stay true to their word.
For this method, essential oils work when you spray them directly on bed bugs, as they are toxic to these annoying nightcrawlers and interfere with their nervous system functions.
Although they can kill bed bugs, it is not sufficient to get rid of the whole infestation problem at home.
Therefore, it is still best to use a combination of other methods to kill these pests on every surface once and for all.
Using essential oils is a popular option for homeowners for bed bug control because of their chemical-free and non-toxic properties. These characteristics make them safe to use around children and pets and on furniture and clothes.
With this, you can use essential oils and spray them on your bed, clothes, linens, and the surrounding areas of your bed, such as the headboards and legs, to discourage them from crawling on you while you sleep.
Furthermore, some users suggest mixing different essential oils but not more than three kinds at once.
Essential oils are beneficial for helping you recover from insect bites. They can also relieve you of any pain or discomfort you may experience from bed bug bites. Another feature of some oils is their antibacterial properties, which prevent any infection from occurring.
Remember that essential oils are highly potent and can pose a risk to your health. Therefore, diluting them before applying them to your skin would make them less harmful.
As long as you use them mindfully and in moderation, you won’t have to worry about any side effects.
Moreover, make sure to choose certified, and quality products, and never consume essential oils since some may have harmful chemicals that you may not be aware of.
Also, please do your research on each of them, as some are not suitable for babies, children, pregnant women, or those with specific pre-existing health conditions.
Tea tree oil (or Melaleuca oil) is known by many as a powerful antiseptic essential oil. In fact, one of its most common uses is to kill lice and prevent them from returning.
It is also anti-inflammatory, which makes it safe for use on the skin. Similarly, it is proven to be one of the best and most effective oils for bed bugs.
Lemon oil and lemongrass oil are derived from evergreen trees in Southeast Asia and revitalize the mind.
These oils contain citrus, which is effective at killing bed bugs. Because of their high acidity, you have to dilute them before applying them to your skin.
With a mixture of water, mint, and spearmint, peppermint oil originates from the Middle East, and its scent is strong enough to repel insects. For humans, the refreshing scent invigorates the mind and body.
This essential oil is extracted from lavender flowers. It is most known for its use in aromatherapy because of its effect on helping people feel calm and at ease.
Although lavender oil doesn’t kill bed bugs, its strong scent can repel them. This essential oil works well if you mix it with tea tree oil and is perfectly safe to use around children.
Eucalyptus oil is taken from eucalyptus leaves, which are quite popular in Australia. It is a potent essential oil that you need to dilute before applying it to your skin which is a good essential oil for bed bugs.
It is also efficient at killing bed bugs and their eggs as one of the best essential oils for bed bug treatment. In addition, it’s a great oil to use to clean the home and keep bugs at bay.
It’s true that hiring professional pest control or buying anti-bed bug alternative solutions like pesticides, traps, and equipment can be expensive, which makes it tempting to use DIY alternatives instead.
However, most DIY remedies enticing are those that use natural, non-toxic, and safe ingredients that guarantee your safety and health.
Other than that, these alternatives are relatively available in grocery or departmental stores and are inexpensive, convenient for an instant response.
The downside of going down this road is that you will get unsatisfactory results due to their low-efficiency rate, and it can be not easy to keep trying with failed attempts.
This is why we say that some things are better left to the specialists, as they offer services that can get rid of the problem in a matter of hours.
Furthermore, it would be best to use the appropriate procedures and equipment to eliminate the bed bug infestation you have at home.
Diatomaceous earth is a safe-non chemical alternative to the chemical insecticide for bed bugs. Usually, the grains are formed from silica as the material is highly abrasive.
It is mostly safe for pets and kids besides cheap. Sprinkle DE on bedsheets, in spaces on floors, window sills, and any logical areas where bed bugs might find refuge.
A powerful steam cleaner can penetrate dense surfaces and can be very effective until 3/4 of an inch deep. After that, apply a steam cleaner that almost immediately eliminates adult bed bugs, nymphs, and eggs.
Take care of corners in every corner of your floor, including mattress frames, mattress cushions, wall shelves, cabinets, cabinetry, and wall dick with a vacuum cleaner and crevice tool. The best bed bugs control solution is a bed bug vacuum cleaner is used.
Peppermint is a specific class of essential oils commonly known to humans in various applications. It's often used as a safer alternative when used to repel a host of pests which range from bed bugs to cockroaches and ants. What is burning on our skin like?
It would be a painful death on bed sparrows if applied as it's directly burned. Peppermint oil needs to be diluted well with oil and a carrier to the vehicle in question.
However, in any case, the use leads to skin problems and eye pains as well burns or irritations.
It can be useful as a flavor enhancer for different culinary recipes to amplify the scent in soaps and as the primary element in aromatherapy.
Bed bugs are tricky to kill and keep away, especially when relying primarily on unconventional treatments.
Although you can kill one or a few, this is ultimately ineffective in removing the whole infestation. We hope you learned a lot about using essential oils for bed bugs treatment,
Thus, the more time you spend exploring different alternatives, the longer they can live, reproduce, and spread across your home.
Do you want a guaranteed, effective solution to your bed bug infestation? Well, then hiring experts to do the exterminating would be the best choice.
24H Pest Pros have been in the business long enough to know how to assess your home infestation. Therefore, they apply the necessary treatments to rid you of this worry for a long time.
![How to Get Rid of Booklice - Book Lice Control Guide [2023]](https://www.24hpestpros.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/how-to-get-rid-of-booklice.jpg)
