There’s a myth that baking soda kills bed bugs. So, let’s clarify now: baking soda doesn’t kill bed bugs. However, there are numerous methods that effectively eliminate bed bugs, which we will discuss in this post.
There is lots of misinformation that suggests that baking soda is effective, but take it from us as pect control experts, baking soda doesn’t work, and there’s absolutely no substantial evidence that suggest otherwise. Sorry, clickbait ticktock videos don’t count as evidence.
Ok, lets delve into what actually does work:
Heat Treatment
Heat treatment is the gold standard in pest control for eradicating bed bugs. These pests are sensitive to temperature changes, and exposing them to temperatures of at least 50°C (122°F) for over 90 minutes will kill 100% of bed bugs in the room, 100% of the time. Pest control professionals utilise specialised equipment to heat entire rooms, ensuring that bed bugs at all life stages, from eggs to adults, are completely eliminated.
Heat treatment is a professional service, as special heating equipment is needed. This service requires expertise in identifying cold spots in the room and in managing insect migration.
In a domestic setting, you can use a tumble dryer on a hot setting to heat clothes and bedding suspected of containing bed bugs, thus eliminating the insects and any eggs that might be present.
However, it’s worth noting that bed bugs might be hiding in other places in the room that can’t be put in a dryer. Such places include headboards, furnishings, cracks, crevices, and wall sockets, among others.
Sniffer Dogs
Sniffer dogs are trained to search for bed bugs. They are about 98% effective when properly trained and paired with a skilled dog handler. Sniffer dogs show the handler where the bed bugs are, allowing the handler to eliminate them with heat or other spot treatments.
Spot heat treatments are used when the location of the bed bugs is known, and heat is applied to that specific area. This method is often more affordable than whole-room heat treatment. Sniffer dogs are combined with spot-heat treatment as a method of screening multiple rooms in large buildings, where whole-room heat treatment in every room wouldn’t be practical.
Merlin boasts the UK’s first and most well-established bed bug sniffer dog team, and our services are available to all UK businesses.
Freezing
Freezing also kills bed bugs. This method is used in domestic settings, particularly in the absence of a tumble dryer. The process involves taking all the bedding, clothes, and curtains from an infested room, placing the items in a plastic bag, and then placing the bag in a freezer for three days. This ensures that all bed bugs are killed.
Summary
Even if baking soda had any negative effect on bed bugs then, then the issue you’d have is finding the bed bugs onto which to apply the baking soda. Well that, or you’d need buckets of baking soda to effectively carpet bomb the entire room. But since baking soda doesn’t work, you can save yourself the hassle of living in a room covered in baking soda, by just using whole room heat treatments or sniffer dogs and spot-heat treatments instead.
