No one likes talking about bed bugs, much less seeing one skitter across your bedroom floor. They are parasitic, which means that they live by feeding off of your blood. Your mattress, box spring, headboard, carpet, and sometimes even your clothes are hotbeds for a bed bug infestation because these are close to their hosts, you.

Bed bugs can be difficult to get rid of, but beating them with heat in Portland, ME can restore your home to the safe haven it was before the infestation.

There are different methods for bed bug heat treatments:

Hot Box

Place infested items such as suitcases, clothes, blankets, etc. into a hot box, which is a box that can withstand tremendously high heat temperatures. Temperatures that are lethal to bed bugs range from 117 degrees Fahrenheit all the way up to 122 degrees.

The walls of hot boxes reach higher temperatures than the lethal degrees in order to penetrate the infested items within and kill all the bed bugs in every stage of life. If you’re going to use a hot box as your heat treatment method, you must use extreme caution. Using an incorrect heat source can cause a fire or damage your items. Proper ventilation must be applied to hot boxes in order to safely use them indoors.

Steam

Another heat treatment method used to kill bed bugs, larvae, and eggs is steam. Steam is as laborious a method as a hot box, but it’s not strong enough to deeply penetrate your items in order to kill hidden bugs. Steam works on items like your box spring, bed frame, blankets/sheets, and curtains. Steam can be used on several items without causing damage to them.

Dryers

Your home dryer can help you beat bed bugs. Sometimes a hot wash in the washer can destroy them, but for those items that are “hand wash” recommended, a spin through the dryer won’t cause any damage while killing the bed bugs. It is recommended to put the dryer on the highest heat setting and let the infested items spin for at least 20 minutes.

Professional Bed Bug Heat Treatment Portland, ME

If your home heat treatment methods aren’t working for you, you need Maine Bed Bugs and Pest Control. Our bed bug experts know just the heat method that will work to kill your bed bug problem and clean out your home, all the while keeping your items safe from harm. To beat bed bugs with heat in Portland, ME, call Maine Bed Bugs today at (207) 650-8654.