Bedbug passions: insects in the sofa

• By Vil Malinoshevsky
• About bedbugs

Bed bugs most often settle in sofas and beds, since here they are closest to the food source - a sleeping person. Since they do not feed on anything other than human blood in the apartment, they have to constantly move from places of shelter to a sleeping person to feed. The sofa itself, on which people constantly sleep, is ideal for arranging such bedbug nests.

Judge for yourself:

1. From the nest in the sofa, the bug needs to move very little to bite a person and drink blood. The less he has to run, the lower the risk of being caught by a person and being destroyed. In a sofa, this risk is minimal: an insect needs to literally crawl from one side of the mattress or upholstery to the other - and that’s it, breakfast (or dinner) is served;
2. Then, there are a lot of places in sofas that are suitable for arranging nests. Folds of upholstery, joints of pillows, cavities between the upholstery and the frame, cracks in the joints of the frames are almost ideal hiding places. Here, bedbugs are difficult to get hold of, but thanks to their narrow body, each parasite is reliably hidden from prying eyes. In our practice, there were many cases when the sofa had to be disassembled literally down to the bolt, including tearing off all the hardboard and fabric from it in order to get to well-hidden bedbug nests - with eggs and nymphs;
3. Finally, sofas have more complex designs that are suitable for hiding places than simple beds. Large numbers of bedbugs can safely hide here, but it is more difficult to find them here, and if you can find them, it is more difficult to remove them from here, especially on your own, without the services of an exterminator.

Simply put, sofas are the safest and most comfortable place for bed bugs to live. It is not surprising that if they appear indoors, they multiply in the greatest numbers here, in the sofas.

The photo below shows what sofa structures infested with bedbugs look like:

Why do they even start on the couch? It's simple: bedbugs are either brought into the house by the residents themselves, or they migrate here from neighbors' premises. They can be accidentally brought in in a bag, on clothes, you can even accidentally buy a used and already contaminated sofa and bring it here.

If your neighbors have bedbugs, and your apartment is not well-renovated, it is almost certain that the parasites will sooner or later get into your home. And first of all, they will settle near the places where you sleep. Sleeping on the couch? They will probably settle near him and in him.

Reasons for the appearance of bedbugs in the sofa

To explain where bedbugs come from on the sofa, you need to note the following features:

• they move along ventilation or external walls of apartments at a speed of about 1 m per minute;
• bloodsuckers freely penetrate windows, even if a mosquito net is installed on them: in this case, they squeeze between its frame and the window frame;
• parasites prefer to hide in warm, dry and hard-to-reach places: for example, under upholstery and in the folds of upholstered furniture, including the sofa;
• they can live for a long time without food in secluded places, so they often appear in the house along with old things.

The main routes of penetration of furniture bugs into living quarters

• From basements, where they parasitize rodents and stray animals.
• Along with furniture, not only used, but also new. If the sofa or armchairs were stored in unsatisfactory conditions, then there may well be bedbugs in their joints and folds.
• From the next apartment. The flat shape of the body allows the furniture bug to effortlessly squeeze into adjacent rooms through ventilation holes, sockets and any cracks. Most often, the migration of these parasites occurs in old multi-story buildings, especially those located in the suburbs.
• Along with purchased old things and antiques. Blood-sucking insects hide not only in furniture and mattresses, but also in soft toys, clothing, as well as household appliances and electronics.

Bed bugs can appear in the sofa and other pieces of furniture due to the fault of the owners of the apartment or house. Firstly, poor cleaning of the premises increases the risk of parasites settling and developing in living rooms. Secondly, you can literally carry bloodsuckers on yourself. This often happens after staying in budget hotels, where bed linen and furniture are not properly maintained.

The first signs of bedbugs in upholstered furniture

The following signs indicate that there are bedbugs in the sofa:

• Black spots on furniture and bedding. These are waste products of blood-sucking parasites.
• Pinpoint bites on the skin in the form of a track, which appear 1-2 times a week: bedbugs do not feed on blood every day. A person can receive about 500 bites in one night. The bite site is a swelling with a bright red dot in the center.
• The appearance of an unpleasant odor. Bedbugs give off a specific smell, which has been compared to the aroma of nutmeg, rotten raspberries or cheap cognac. Furniture in which these blood-sucking insects parasitize acquires a stale, musty smell.
• Traces of blood on the skin and bed linen. They remain after insect bites, and also if a person, changing body position in a dream, crushes them. Traces of bedbug excrement are observed not only on the piece of furniture that they occupied: black dots appear within a radius of 3-5 m from it, on the walls, in the area of ​​the baseboards. Bedbug bites not only cause discomfort: they can cause allergic reactions, the formation of ulcers with the addition of a secondary infection, and in severe cases, iron deficiency anemia.

How to protect your apartment from bedbugs: basic secrets

To protect your apartment from bedbugs and prevent their reappearance, you must:

• Perform general cleaning once every 1-2 weeks.
• Seal cracks and crevices in the walls, glue peeling wallpaper, and seal leaky joints in structures.
• Cover the ventilation passages with a fine mesh that prevents the movement of insects, but does not trap air.
• Wash all textiles in the house at the highest possible temperatures, inspecting each item for bedbug infestation.
• Wash floors and wipe surfaces (on shelves, in dresser drawers, in closets) with an undiluted concentrate or solution of 9% table or apple cider vinegar.
• Use the aroma lamp regularly. Bedbugs do not like the smells of lavender, cedar, pine, cloves, tea tree, eucalyptus, and grapefruit.
• Place fresh and dried (not older than 2 years) bunches of rosemary, tansy, chamomile, wormwood and thyme in some places in the apartment. You can put them in corners, under the sofa, next to the baseboard.
• Regularly use incense sticks, incense, perfume, air freshener and air aroma at home.

How to detect bedbugs in a sofa?

Everyone who is faced with the problem of blood-sucking insects is looking for ways to get rid of bedbugs in the sofa. The first thing to do is find the nest of parasites.

What to look for when inspecting furniture?

When inspecting furniture, we advise you to look not only for adults, but also for the eggs they have laid, as well as for larvae. The body of a mature bug has a flattened shape, its size does not exceed 3-4 mm if the parasite is hungry. If it is saturated, then the dimensions reach 8 mm.

The color of the body of a blood-sucking insect also depends on satiety and varies from light brown to rich brown.

Bedbug eggs look like rice, each size is no more than 1 mm. They can only be viewed with a magnifying glass. Parasites lay eggs in hard-to-reach places on furniture.

The size of bed bug larvae reaches 0.5-2 mm. The body shape is the same as that of adults. The main difference is that the body of the larvae has no color: it is transparent.

How can you tell if it's a bug?

It is very easy to recognize bedbugs - you just have to lift the mattress or dismantle the sofa. The fact is that not a single insect settles in a sleeping area in such a dense and numerous colony. The bugs themselves look like small cockroaches - monochromatic and without wings. Look at these photos to “know the enemy by sight.” The presence of parasites is also indicated by the smell of bad cognac or spoiled raspberries emanating from the furniture, as well as bites on the body located nearby.

For your information! Bedbugs molt, shedding their skin. If you notice the chitinous shells of bedbugs on the sofa, immediately begin to fight the parasites.

See also: What bedbug bites look like on a person (photo)

How to find nests in a sofa?

To detect nests of parasites in the sofa, you need to lay out the furniture and arm yourself with a magnifying glass.

The inspection begins with the internal surfaces, paying special attention to holes and depressions. You can examine them using a plastic card: gray husks, black dots, and eggs will appear on its surface.

It’s not enough to examine the sofa: move it aside and look at its back, as well as the wall.

How to lure parasites to the surface?

To force bedbugs to leave the sofa, you need to:

• Make noise: knock on furniture, move it to the side. The awakened insects will come out.
• Apply low temperature to them. Parasites do not tolerate such conditions, so in winter you can open all the windows in the room and leave them in this position for several hours.
• Exposure to high temperature. Bed bugs cannot tolerate temperatures above 45 degrees. To force them to leave the secluded corners of the sofa, it is recommended to use a steam generator or an iron with a steamer. The outer parts of the sofa can be ironed.

Bedbugs that have emerged from secluded corners can be destroyed mechanically, that is, crushed.

Can there be bedbugs in a new sofa?

Sometimes bedbugs enter a living space along with new pieces of furniture. They can infect it at any stage of production and sale: from the preparation of lumber and fabric upholstery to storage in a warehouse.

About once a month, people contact our disinfection service who bought a new sofa in a store, and after that they began to develop bites.

Should I throw out a sofa with bedbugs?

Blood-sucking insects will not necessarily disappear from an apartment or house, even if you throw away an infested piece of furniture. The fact is that the sofa can be only one of many places in which they “take refuge”: during a large-scale invasion, they can hide in armchairs, mattresses, behind carpets and baseboards.

Blood-sucking insects will disappear only if they only managed to occupy the sofa. As practice shows, this rarely happens, so throwing away furniture does not help.

Sofa treatment for bedbugs

It’s not easy to deal with bed mites in a sofa on your own: while most of the adult ticks can be destroyed, it’s not easy to get to the eggs they lay. The most reliable method of dealing with “uninvited guests” is calling a special service.

The following video shows the process of treating a sofa against bedbugs using a steam generator. This way you can kill insects in folds, upholstery seams and sofa cushions.

Self-treatment includes the use of insecticidal preparations and the use of folk remedies.

How to quickly remove sofa bedbugs?

To quickly remove pests, you can use the heat treatment method.

For the procedure you will need:

• household steam cleaner;
• industrial (construction) hair dryer;
• washing machine.

This method works because temperatures above +50 degrees kill both bedbugs and their larvae and eggs.

First, remove the bedding and place it in the washing machine, setting the cycle to 60 degrees or higher.

Treat mattresses and pillows with a steam cleaner or hot iron. You can also use it to go through the bed frame, warming up the joints and fastenings.

Disassemble the wooden frame of the sofa as much as possible and warm up all its elements with an industrial (construction) hairdryer. Processing should take at least an hour.

Warm up the soft parts of the sofa with a hairdryer and steam cleaner, depending on the accessibility of the area.

Dry cleaning

Another way to help remove bedbugs is dry cleaning. During the treatment, special products are used that help quickly remove parasites, and the furniture is dried at high temperatures.

Effective ways to remove bedbugs

How to get rid of sofa bugs? There are several effective ways to combat these unpleasant insects. Let's look at each of them.

Method 1. Mechanical

You can collect bedbugs by hand (an extremely unpleasant process) or use a powerful vacuum cleaner with a disposable dust bag. At the end of the process it must be burned.

Method 2. Temperature treatment

Another inexpensive and easy option. Bedbugs and their eggs die at very high (above +50°C) and very low (-18°C) temperatures. In winter, the sofa can be taken outside for two days. In summer - treat with heat (only special services do this) or scald with boiling water.

Method 3. Chemical treatment

There are various insecticides sold in stores. Aerosols and liquid concentrates are most convenient. The first ones are ready for use, the second ones need to be diluted with water and poured into a container with a spray bottle. The best remedies against bed bugs include Executioner, Karbofos, Raptor, Klopomor, Dichlorvos, Reid, Kombat, Perfos and Mashenka chalk. Most of these drugs are toxic and therefore pose a danger to animals and people. Ideally, the treatment of the sofa should be carried out outside, but if this is not possible, “evacuate” all residents from the room and strictly follow the instructions on the packaging. When working with insecticide, do not forget about protective equipment - a respirator and rubber gloves.

How to properly use insecticide at home?

• In order for the product to penetrate into the farthest corners of the sofa, it needs to be disassembled. Only this will make it possible to treat all surfaces on which adult individuals and egg laying may be hiding;
• When applying the product to the soft parts of the sofa, increase its consumption, because these surfaces are highly absorbent;
• Pay special attention to the back wall of the sofa. It practically does not bend, and therefore is a favorite habitat for bedbugs. Be sure to remove the upholstery from the back wall and immediately spray it with an insecticide solution.

Advice! A sofa treated with a chemical cannot be cleaned for two days. At the end of this period, remove dead insects using a vacuum cleaner and a damp cloth soaked in a soda solution (1 part baking soda to 4 parts water).

Method 4. Call pest control services

This is the most reliable method, but also the most expensive. However, you need to resort to it only if bedbugs have managed to settle not only in the sofa, but throughout the entire house. You can solve the problem on a smaller scale yourself.

If you are unable to cope with bedbugs yourself, then you urgently need to use the services of a special pest control service.

See also: the best and fastest way to get rid of bedbugs!

Method 5. Folk remedies

What to do if there are bedbugs in the sofa, but there are no chemicals on hand? Use folk remedies known since ancient times:

• Herbs. Bedbugs cannot stand the specific smell of tansy, cloves, wild rosemary and wormwood. Place fresh or dried herbs in insect habitats (all over the sofa, in linen drawers, on the floor under the sofa) or wash its surface with herbal infusion. This method is very popular, but you need to be careful. Firstly, herbal aromas can be dangerous not only for insects, but also for humans. Secondly, having escaped from the sofa, bedbugs will find a new place of residence in your apartment;

• Vinegar. You can also poison bedbugs with table vinegar. Mix it with water, soak a rag in the solution and wipe the entire surface of the sofa and always the back wall;
• Salt. This simple ingredient, found in every kitchen, is among the effective home remedies for bed bugs. Prepare a solution of salt, water, alcohol and hydrogen peroxide. Use to treat the sofa.

You can treat floors, walls, and furniture with a solution of table salt to protect yourself from re-infestation of your apartment with bed bugs.

Advice! When trying to remove bedbugs yourself, do not treat the sofa with denatured alcohol or turpentine. This “cocktail” will ruin the upholstery forever.

How to get rid of bedbugs using folk remedies? 8 ways

Proven means

For those who want to know how to get bedbugs out of a sofa on their own, this rating of proven means for killing blood-sucking parasites will be useful.

Get Total

This insecticide is presented in the form of a suspension. The active ingredient is chlorpyrifos. The product is sprayed on the surface of bedbug-infested furniture, as well as other objects. Microscopic capsules of the suspension adhere to the limbs of the parasites, which carry them into the nest. Getting on the body of a blood-sucking insect, the active substance of the Get Total insecticide disrupts the passage of nerve impulses and destroys the chitinous layer, and also causes paralysis and death of the pest. Before use, the suspension is diluted with water. The resulting composition is sprayed using a spray bottle.

Get Total is not dangerous for humans and pets.

Avalon

The drug contains temephos, which has a detrimental effect on blood-sucking insects. Organic substances that are part of the active component disrupt the metabolism in the pest’s body and block its movements. Avalon disrupts the vital functions of bed bugs.

Before using the insecticide, measure 15 ml of the drug and dilute it in a liter of water. Treat infected areas.

Xulat Micro

The drug is available in the form of a liquid, which consists of many microcapsules. The active ingredients of Xulat Micro are cypermethrin, tetramethrin and piperonyl butoxide. Capsules containing toxic compounds stick to the extremities of insects and cause their death, causing paralysis and impaired respiratory processes.

Application of the drug on the surface of furniture guarantees protection against re-infestation of parasites for 6 months.

Lambda Zone

This insecticide, like those listed above, is available in the form of a microencapsulated liquid. It contains lambda-cyhalothrin, a substance that causes paralysis and death of an insect upon contact with it. To prepare a solution for treatment, you need to dilute 5 ml of insecticide in a liter of water. The effect after use lasts for two months.

But keep in mind that the drug does not destroy bedbug eggs.

Executioner

The drug contains fenthion, which has a pronounced toxic effect. Penetrating into the body of the parasite, this substance has a nerve-paralytic effect, causing death. The advantage of the Executioner insecticide is that it equally effectively destroys adults, eggs and larvae.

Dilute one bottle of the drug in 500 ml of water. The resulting composition is enough to treat 5 m2 of space.

Agran

This insecticide has a combined composition: it contains chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin. The drug has a distinct unpleasant odor. Agran has a contact and intestinal effect on parasites. After contact with the insecticide, they die within 24 hours. Drug concentration: 5.5 ml per liter of water. This means that the contents of the bottle (50 ml) are diluted with 9 liters of water.

Cypermethrin

The drug is a clear liquid without a distinct odor. It comes in different forms.

• powder for dissolution in water;
• pills;
• emulsion concentrate.

The drug acts by contact: the parasite becomes infected by interacting with a surface treated with Cypermethrin. The standard dosage is 25 ml of the substance per 1.5 liters of water. The prepared solution can be stored for no more than 8 hours.

When working with any insecticide, be sure to use personal protective equipment: rubber gloves, a respirator, goggles and protective clothing.

How to clean a sofa from bedbugs yourself?

It's time to act! Follow our instructions and you will forget about bedbugs.

Cleaning from bedbugs includes 5 stages

1. Use a vacuum cleaner. Remove the brush from it, leaving only the pipe. Vacuum every crevice of the sofa. Do not forget to vacuum the cleaner after this, the bedbugs will not die there.
2. Find and borrow a hot air gun from your neighbors. It will treat furniture at a temperature of no more than 100 degrees, due to which individuals of any age die within 3-5 seconds. Remember, this treatment is only suitable for fabric sofas. But do not overheat the fabric of the sofa. Temperatures should not be allowed to exceed 100 degrees and exposure to a section of sofa fabric should not exceed more than 10 seconds.
3. Spray every inch of the sofa with chemical insecticides. Follow safety precautions. Pay special attention to deep places. That's where they most often hide. When the sofa is completely wet and treated, cover it with film. Wrap it so that no air reaches the furniture at all. Popular insecticides: “Executioner”, “Klopomor”, “Kombat”, “Karbofos”, “Fufanon”. There are many options at the hardware store.
4. After 4 hours, remove the film and wash the sofa using detergents, with the addition of anti-bedbug products, which we will discuss below. Once the sofa is dry, repeat the steps with a vacuum cleaner, this will help remove dead larvae.
5. Ventilate the room thoroughly and inspect all rooms for the presence of parasites. Check your sofa every day for a week; to be sure, you can repeat the procedure after 5 days.

How to remove bedbug stains on a sofa?

After eliminating the parasites, one more problem remains: small black spots from excrement. To get rid of them, you need:

• Wet blackheads with cold water immediately after discovering them. The liquid should not be hot: stains are organic, so low-temperature water will weaken its adhesion to the material of the sofa or fabric.
• Treat stains with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia mixed in equal proportions. This product can lighten the fabric, so it is recommended to use it with extreme caution. The composition can be applied with a spray bottle. If blackheads remain in hard-to-reach places, you can soak a cotton swab in the liquid and gently rub it over the dirty area.
• Rub stains with a microfiber cloth. This method is suitable if the contamination is fresh. To enhance the effect, the rag can be slightly moistened with liquid soap.

It is much easier to prevent bedbugs from appearing indoors than to remove them. To prevent the invasion of these parasites, it is recommended to place bunches of dry lavender in the ventilation ducts through which they can move. It needs to be changed every 2-3 weeks. It is also necessary to inspect all rooms to detect cracks. Even the smallest of them must be treated with silicone sealant.