How to Kill Bed Bugs With Items From the Hardware Store

Bed bugs are extremely annoying creatures that can keep you from getting a good night's sleep. They also ruin mattresses and bedding if left untreated. In some cases, it isn't necessary to spend a great deal of money on an exterminator to get rid of your bed bug problem. In fact, you can sometimes kill bed bugs by simply purchasing a handful of items at your local hardware store. 

• Blast the mattress with hot steam. Hardware stores sell steamers for about $30-$50, and they are effective in eliminating bed bugs close to the surface of the mattress and box springs. It is important that you use the hottest temperature setting on the steamer to actually kill the bugs. Lower temperatures usually do nothing but give the bed bugs a warm, misty shower. It's ideal to use this treatment along with other methods using hardware store items.


• Use human-safe insecticides. There are some recipes of bug killers that contain canola oil and pyrethrins that can be effective in getting of creepy crawlers on your bed. It is a good idea to use these types of formulas if you have children or pets.


• Create a beg bug trap using a plastic dog food tray that has the two bowls for food and water. Turn the tray over and apply a fabric to the outside of the tray that will allow the bed bugs to climb up the sides and fall into the spaces between the inverted bowls. Line the area with talcum powder so you can see the bugs you have trapped and to prevent them from escaping. Sit a thermos of dry ice on top of the bowls so that the carbon dioxide given off by the dry ice can be released to attract the bugs away from your bed and into the trap. Open the straw so the smell can escape. Be sure to use the trap in an area that is well ventilated to ensure no humans are harmed from the dry ice.