Essential Oils for Bed Bugs
I don’t want to think about these small crawling things either, but sometimes it takes talking about and prepping for them that makes all the difference in keeping bed bugs away from you and your loved ones.
Bed bugs are parasitic insects that feed exclusively on blood, particularly human blood. They live in headboards, mattresses, cushions, furniture and dark colored clothes. Their bite leaves reddish, painful and itchy blisters on the skin.
They usually come out when it’s dark and are extremely fast. You seldom get to see them on the mattress for the first few hours or days. To make things worse, they can survive without food for a year!
Ok, thats enough unpleasantness right? Let’s get on with how to keep them away.
How an infestation starts
They take only a few days to breed and multiply to invade your home. Most commonly these creatyres travel from one place to another and infest your home by managing to hide in your travel bags, suitcases, curtains, gym bags, backpacks or new unfamiliar items brought into your household.
Being hardy insects, unfortunately not all pest control sprays have an effect on them. I’ve heard of someone in the city calling the exterminator 3 times to the same apartment, and still not being able to get rid of them.
The better solution
A better alternative is using essential oils to eliminate bed bugs. These pure essential oils can be added to a spray or atomizer of distilled water and sprayed around your sleeping area.
They are especially useful to spray the inside of your luggage, bags and anything that gets exposed while traveling. This helps prevent carrying the insects back home after your trip.
Pro tip: It’s even better if you spray the oil inside your luggage before you pack your belongings.
How to prevent bed bugs from infesting your bed
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High temperatures
Bedbugs can’t tolerate any temperature rise. Dry steaming your bed, couch, curtains, pillows, etc makes an effective strategy of removing bed bugs.
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Wash travel gear sand upholstery that may be infested with hot water
Washing your travel bags, upholstery, pillows and pillow covers in hot water after a trip kills all types of germs and pests in your bedding.
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Vacuum cleaning
Vacuum cleaners not only clean your rug and mattress but also suck in these little professional hiders.
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Sunshine
Bed bugs feel uncomfortable in sunlight. So let in as much sunlight and airflow in as possible to make the room warm enough for them to leave. The heat also dries any moisture on the bedding, which they’re attracted to.
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Essential oils
Use essential oils correctly to naturally and safely remove bed bugs. Unlike pesticides, essential oils offer the benefit of not being harmful to your health.
| Model | Non-GMO | Price | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Highly Reccomended
|
doTERRA Clove Essential Oil | $ 18.67 | Buy now | |
| 2 |
Organic and Pure
|
Organic Neem Oil | $ 15.70 | Buy now | |
| 3 |
|
NOW Foods Tea Tree Oil | $ 17.70 | Buy now | |
| 4 |
#1 Lavender Oil
|
doTERRA Lavender Essential Oil | $ 28.00 | Buy now |
Essential oils for bed bugs
If you’re looking for the right oils to effectively kill and repel bed bugs, here they are:
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Lavender
Bed bugs hate the strong lavender oil smell that we humans love. If you’ve already been bitten, lavender’s soothing, calming nature also makes it one of the best essential oils for bed bug bites.
Uses: Spraying a few drops around your bed will make bugs uncomfortable enough to leave your space and let you sleep peacefully with its aroma.
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Tea tree oil
The strong disinfecting smell of tea tree oil helps deter the bugs while it’s antibacterial and antimicrobial properties kill both them and their eggs.
How to use: Mix a few drops of the oil with some lukewarm water and sprinkle over your linen, rugs, carpets, and couch.
You will find bed bugs running away within minutes of spraying the oil because of its smell. You can also add a few drops to your laundry to keep it smelling fresh and prevent infections and infestations.
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Lemongrass
Bed bugs cannot tolerate the strong, but pleasant smell of lemongrass. It not only repels the bugs but also kills bugs and prevents eggs from hatching. Be careful when using with kids around because this citrus oil may be too harsh to use directly on sensitive skin.
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Clove
The pungent clove oil smell deters these pesky bugs while its eugenol compound is toxic to bugs and kills them.
Uses: Splash the oil in possible hiding places for bed bugs to prevent its breeding and multiplication.
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Neem essential oil
Neem is such an effective pesticide that mosquitoes and insects even avoid going near its tree! Though neem oil may not have a pleasant aroma, this is the best essential oil for killing bed bugs.
Reminder: It is recommended to diluted with a carrier oil or water if you want to use on the skin.
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Eucalyptus oil
Eucalyptus oil efficiently kills bugs and their eggs with its antiseptic properties. It is also is the best essential oil to for bed bug bites
Application: Just spray a few drops of the oil onto your bedding and surroundings and see the effects.
Comments
Jessica July 28, 2018 at 11:25 am
Hey Billy!
So sorry to hear you’ve dealing with a bed bug situation! Definitely want to get rid of those pesky buggers ASAP. Eucalyptus is one of the essential oils that both deter and kill these bugs so that is a great place to start. Lavender is good for your skin to calm down the bites if you’ve already been bitten. While wall plugs ins are good, it might not tackle the ones that are already existing in the room or the areas that are not by these plug ins. Definitely would recommend washing your sheets throughly, vacuum vacuum vacuum if you can to capture the ones that you can, then I would suggest adding some essential oils around the affected areas if possible.
So maybe a combination of the two to tackle first deterring new ones, and then killing existing ones.
Hope that helps and you get rid of them for good!