The Truth About
Vacuums and pests
Every once and a while we come across everyday household products that purport a high level of effectiveness at pest removal. The fact is, there aren’t any silver bullets when it comes to comprehensive pest detection, removal, and defense. Especially when it comes to bed bugs.
Keeping a clean house by regularly vacuuming, doing laundry, and generally using heat to kill potential infestations are all excellent ways of pushing the odds to your favor. But at the end of the day they’re just a series of individual steps that, when undertaken without a more comprehensive plan in place, are unlikely to make a lasting impact.
just how ineffective is it?
As much as turning the tables on a bloodsucker (by sucking them up into a vacuum) may give you a sense of catharsis, there are a few things you should keep in mind. To begin with, any vacuum cleaner – even those that claim to be specifically for the removal of bed bugs, should be considered the very first line of defense. They will only be effective in keeping pests (and not exclusively bed bugs) at bay so far as they both remove the things pests are drawn towards, and remove the pests themselves.
The greatest issue here is one of scale. Adult bed bugs are so tiny, unless you’ve got a microscope and you’re inspecting every thread of fabric, the chances of you being able to vacuum all of them up is pretty slim. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that an effective vacuum equates directly to effective pest removal. You have to see it in order to get rid of it.
Add to this the fact that bed bug eggs are tiny relative to adult bed bugs, and you can see the inherent issues at work. So what is effective for adults will not be effective for their eggs. Given the rapidity of their egg production, this is of chief concern. And all it takes are a few paltry eggs left behind to re-start an infestation. Even if you’ve effectively vacuumed up every other pest on your carpet.
In the case of a more advanced infestation, the number of bed bugs one is dealing with significantly affects the ability to quickly eradicate them from your home. A big part of this is the general body shape of bed bugs, which allows them to fit into close spaces you may not be able to get to without rearranging your furniture.
Simply put, a DIY product doesn’t hold a candle to the type of dependable service you’ll receive by hiring an actual pest control company like Armor Pest.
What should I do next?
Give us a call at (269) 424-3458. We’d be happy to walk you through both the removal AND prevention process. Once we’ve eliminated the pest problem, you’ll want to make sure you eliminate any of the underlying issues that brought them there in the first place. When using vacuums designed for bed bug extraction, once the the pests have been sucked up you’ll want to keep the vacuum itself securely stowed away and cleaned. This last step of is of paramount importance, as re-infestation tends to occur when precautions are not taken to regularly clean such products.
- Call us to discuss a tailor-made plan of attack: (269) 424-3458
- We'll treat the affected areas, and provide guidance on ways to eliminate further pest issues.
- You may wish to seal any cracks or holes you find in your building's walls (remember - these critters are tiny!)
- Routinely wash and dry your linens on the hottest setting recommended by your dryer's manufacturer
- Make sure you're consistently checking the affected spaces for signs of re-infestation.
We’re here to assist! Give us a call at (269) 424-3458!