The invasion of bed bugs in Bulgarian homes has become a real epidemic. More and more families are facing this problem, but few know how to fight it properly.
This article is not intended to introduce you to the basic facts about bed bugs - this information can easily be found here or on Google. Instead, we will reveal the most common mistakes in fighting them and the reasons for failures in DIY treatment attempts.
First Signs: Don't Panic Prematurely
If you wake up one morning with a rash on your body, this does not yet mean that you are a "victim" of bed bugs. The bumps may be due to allergies, food poisoning, or bites from another insect.
Important: It's possible to "coexist" with bed bugs without any traces of bites while they have already taken over your entire home. At the first suspicions, immediately seek a specialist. Any delay worsens the situation and costs dearly.
Contradictory Information on the Internet
On the web, you will find extremely opposing opinions:
On one hand - desperate users in forums claim they have tried everything without results. Others advise throwing everything out of your home, dismantling ceilings and floors.
On the other hand - advertisements for "magical" preparations and promises of "fantastic" results with minimal treatments.
How is it that bed bugs are such a serious problem, yet companies promise easy solutions?
The Truth About Products
There Are No Specialized Products Only for Bed Bugs
First rule: If somewhere you are advertised a product "only for bed bugs" - this is fraud. There is no registered product effective exclusively against this pest.
Beware of "Company Secrets"
If a DDD company representative claims they have a unique poison just for them - send them away to lie elsewhere. Every biocide must be registered with the Ministry of Health. Manufacturers have an interest in selling as much as possible - it's impossible for someone to keep an effective product "just for themselves."
The Danger of "Miraculous" Products from Abroad
Other "specialists" claim they import poisons from abroad that are very effective and not available in Bulgaria. This is also an attempt at fraud. If a product is good, there's no reason not to import it to us, unless its use is prohibited for EU countries.
Using banned preparations is extremely dangerous:
- Besides being punishable, it can be very risky for your health
- You know nothing about the composition, scope of application, consumption rate, or toxicity
- Where and how was the product tested? Who is responsible for its safety?
Would you risk having your home treated with an illegal product about which you have no information?
Always demand information about the preparations and check online for a valid permit from the Ministry of Health.
With poor results from past treatments, it's wrong to increase the insecticide dose without changing the treatment technology and without replacing the preparation. This only leads to the rapid appearance of resistant insects and even more difficult control later.
Technical Equipment: Why Home Sprayers Don't Work
Professional vs Home Sprayers
The most common spraying equipment is hand sprayers, but not all are the same. Fighting bed bugs requires:
- High pressure (5 atm)
- Very fine droplets that don't run
- Mixing liquid with air to reach hard-to-reach places (cracks, furniture joints, sills)
Only specialized professional sprayers have such functionality, which are not available to households. That's why even the best preparations don't give results with improper technique.
Cold Aerosol Generators (ULV)
To reach the most inaccessible hiding places (paneling, suspended ceilings, floor coverings, decorative panels), a handheld cold aerosol generator is used. This machine generates fog obtained from mixing insecticide and air with droplets of 15 to 100 microns, which reaches almost everywhere in the room.
Important: Works well only with fast-acting insecticides with "provoking" action (forcing pests to leave their shelters). Aerosol insecticide bottles have a similar effect.
Insecticidal Smoke Bombs
Their action resembles aerosol generators, but the preparation comes out as hot smoke. The advantage is better penetration due to high temperature. The disadvantage - requires good room sealing and minimum 24-hour exposure, followed by mandatory ventilation.
"Magic" Machines Don't Exist
On the internet, you'll find advertisements for machines that achieve quick results without home preparation. Such machines don't exist for the following reasons:
- It's impossible to treat wardrobes and cabinets without clearing them of clothes, linens, medicines, cosmetics. This carries serious risk of developing allergies and skin irritation
- The thick layer of clothes, blankets, bedding acts as a natural shield for bed bugs
- They filter even the finest aerosols, which protects the pests
For this very reason, items must be removed from the treated room or placed in well-sealed plastic bags.
Preparation: The Most Important Stage
Where Bed Bugs Are Located
Since they feed on blood at night, bedrooms are most affected:
- Around beds and under mattresses
- Nightstands, bed frames, and wardrobes
- Later - in carpets, under wallpaper, in paneling and decorative panels
- Wardrobes and carpets in adjacent rooms (along with clothes and bedding)
How to Determine the Degree of Infestation
Look for traces in exactly this sequence - this will help you decide what preparation is needed. In many cases, treatment only in the bedroom is sufficient, but if there are people sleeping in other rooms, bed bugs have almost certainly taken over the entire dwelling.
Staged Treatment When Unable to Leave
Many households cannot leave their dwelling for a long period. This requires treatments to be done in several stages, room by room. Nevertheless, one should not sleep in treated rooms for at least one night.
Mandatory Preparation
At initial stage: Treatment of beds in the bedroom, soft furniture, and surfaces around sleeping and resting places is sufficient.
With greater infestation: Complete decontamination of the entire room is necessary:
- Collect all clothes, linens, blankets in thick plastic bags
- Wash everything at high temperature - it's not necessary to wash everything at once, but it's important to open the bags immediately before washing
- Return items only after the end of treatments, when you're convinced the room is clean of pests
- Critically important: Don't carry items in and out without bags between rooms - this guaranteed spreads bed bugs throughout the dwelling and deepens the problem
Recommended: Remove rugs, runners, and carpets until treatments are completed. Cleaning them with a powerful vacuum cleaner and steam cleaner will almost certainly remove bed bugs and their eggs.
Important: Home preparation is the responsibility of owners and is a very important condition for success in fighting bed bugs.
Non-Chemical Methods: Possible, but Difficult
Temperature Method
High temperatures: Bed bugs die quickly at temperatures above 60°C and slower at 50°C. If you manage to heat the dwelling to above 55°C for 24 hours, this will destroy bed bugs and their eggs.
Machines used: Powerful heating devices are used that heat the rooms where they are placed.
Practical problems:
- Possible only in summer during hot days
- In theory, with these treatments it's not necessary to empty rooms of clothes and other items, but in practice, if you leave them, they would act as thermal insulation and maintain lower temperature under them or in furniture
- The same applies to blankets, sofas, soft furniture, and mattresses
- To reach temperature above 55°C inside these items, air temperature must be much higher
- This definitely leads to risk of fires or damage to objects that don't tolerate high temperatures
Practical application: During hot sunny days, it's enough to take packaged items in black plastic bags to the terrace for several days to be sure bed bugs and their eggs won't survive.
Cold: Bed bugs die in about 3 days at temperatures below -5°C. So if there's a possibility for your dwelling to cool down that much for the necessary time in winter, you'll get rid of the invaders. However, this is impossible except in very cold mountain regions. Low nighttime temperatures in winter can also help you decontaminate items and furniture - it's good to wrap them in stretch film to protect them from moisture.
"Starvation" Method
Possible only if you leave the dwelling for at least 6-7 months. Bed bugs feed only on blood - they need it not only for nourishment but also for transitioning from stage to stage (egg, nymph, adult).
Biological facts:
- Nymphs (larvae) can survive starvation for about 3 months from hatching to death
- Without drinking blood, they won't become adults and lay eggs
- Adults can survive starvation much longer - they fall into incomplete lethargy and patiently wait for the host's return
- Although most bed bugs will die in the next 4-5 months, some more resilient ones will survive 7 months and more
Problem: Bed bugs can drink blood not only from humans but from any other warm-blooded animals. If rodents or other animals (including pets) enter the "abandoned" home, the "starvation" strategy won't work.
Conclusion: When to Seek Professionals
Can you deal with bed bugs yourself? Yes, but only at initial stages of infestation. How exactly this is done will be discussed in the next blog post.
With larger infestations of this serious pest, however, definitely seek help from professionals. Any experimentation and delay only worsens the situation and ultimately costs much more.
