Do you want to deal with bed bugs in your home? Bed bugs live in your home. They are able to sense body heat coming from humans and animals, as well as the carbon dioxide you exhale. They are going to find you, almost always when you are asleep, then bite you and feast on your blood, leaving behind irritating bumps everywhere. Do not worry, there are some methods to get rid of bed bugs, one of which uses baking soda.
About Baking Soda
Baking soda is a salt compound recognized as Sodium Bicarbonate. Its formula is NHCO3. You are going to find it in nature in places like mineral springs. Looking like a fine powder, actually on the microscopic level baking soda is tiny crystals, individually sharp but together in a grouping. Baking soda feels soft and powdery. Of course, there are many uses for baking soda. Usually, people use baking soda for cleaning their house, odor control, baking, and even medicinal purposes like healing acne.
How to Treat Bed Bugs with Baking Soda?
Here are some methods to treat bed bugs with baking soda:
Method 1: Make a paste from baking soda and water
The first method, you are able to mix baking soda and water together in a bowl until a paste forms, approximately the consistency of honey. You have to use a brush and paint the paste wherever bed bugs might hide, such as your mattresses, box springs, armchairs, couches, bean bags, etc. Do not forget to get inside crevices and cracks. If there are holes anywhere in a piece of furniture’s frame, then you have to apply the paste around the hole, when the bed bugs come out to find you, they are going to walk right through it. Every several days, you have to vacuum up the dried paste and start again until your infestation is gone.
Method 2: Sprinkle baking soda
The second method, to treat bed bugs with baking soda, is to sprinkle a thick layer of baking soda around all of your furniture and inside cracks and small spaces. Even your carpet can be treated with baking soda. Just spread a layer of the baking soda all over it. You are able to vacuum up and repeat every three days. Keep in mind that a vacuum is a crucial part of getting rid of bed bugs, because it will remove them from your home instantly. By using it daily, you are going to get rid of bed bugs from your home.
Method 3: Piling baking soda
Another method by pilling baking soda. Of course, there are bed bugs that hide in places other than your bed. For this case, you have to crawl up the legs of your bed frame to find them. Now, you are able to pile baking soda in a thick layer all around your bed’s legs. The bed bugs are going to crawl through it and then they are going to get their death. You will be able to do the same thing with the couch, just piling baking soda around its base. All bed bugs coming and going from those areas will be forced to go through it.
Does Baking Soda Kill Bed Bugs?
In fact, chemicals are not the only things which can kill insects. Even though baking soda is not a chemical, it has the ability to kill bed bugs. Organic natural products are out there that will have a powerful effect on them, like a store-bought insecticide. Diatomaceous Earth and essential oils are two of those products, along with baking soda. Apparently, bed bugs are one of the hardest infestations to conquer. If used correctly, baking soda will be able to kill bed bugs, although it will not be instantly. Although you have to diligently stay on top of the application, the plus side is that there will not be any type of dangerous chemicals sitting around your own home.
Why Use Baking Soda to Treat Bed Bugs?
Need to know that baking soda is one of the most benign compounds you will discover. It is not only safe for human consumption, but it also will not harm your skin when it comes in contact with it. When dealing with a bed bug, a lot of products use chemical pesticides which are toxic to humans and pets and can burn your skin or eyes. Baking soda is a great alternative since it’s basically harmless. For your information, there are other powders out there which can also get rid of your bed bugs issues. One looks very similar, although it is made of a different substance. It is a Diatomaceous Earth. Based on the research, Diatomaceous Earth is a powder similar to baking soda in that it contains sharp pieces of material on the microscopic level. Unlike baking soda, Diatomaceous Earth is made from the fossilized remains of marine phytoplankton. Neither baking soda nor Diatomaceous Earth will harm humans.
How Baking Soda Works?
With pest control, baking soda will work in more than one way.
Here is an explanation on how baking soda works:
- Digestion
When baking soda warms up, then the chemical bonds begin to break down. The composition will change, releasing carbon dioxide gas. If bed bugs ingest the baking soda, this gas is going to release into their digestive tract and finally burst the lining, killing the bed bugs. - Exoskeleton
Sometimes, crystals in baking soda can be sharp enough on the microscopic level to cut the underbelly of bed bugs. When this occurs, the amount of damage they accumulate will cause eventual death. - Dehydration
As we know that baking soda is a salt. It has the ability to absorb things such as odors and moisture. When bed bugs come in contact with it, it will suck water out of them, dehydrating the bed bug to the point of death. It does not even need to ingest the powder for this to occur, because simple contact with it will do the job.
