Lavender oil won’t do it: do any “natural remedies” work for bed bugs?
By nobugsonme on Jul 11, 2007 in DE, FAQs, bed bugs, bedbugs, diatomaceous earth, heat, ice, lavender, melatonin, natural remedies, sleep, sweet rice, tea tree, thyme, travel, treatment
A new article in the UK’s FirstPost online magazine Thursday offers the usual warnings about travel and bed bugs, some data on the spread in the UK and the US, and the caveat that five-star hotels, too, can be infested.
Don’t think that booking into a five-star hotel will offer you protection. Earlier this year, a US lawyer sued a luxury hotel in London after he and his wife had been badly bitten.
And then this bit of misinformation:
A better - and cheaper - alternative is never to go anywhere without a lavender oil spray: apparently, it’s the one thing the little bastards can’t stand.
I can vouch for the fact that lavender oil sprayed on people and bedding will not keep bed bugs away. They may not like it (that’s possible), but hungry bed bugs will persist.
Better advice for travelers: watch the CBC video about bed bugs, which includes a demonstration of how to inspect a hotel room for bed bugs. It is about 10-15 minutes long and you will be glad you watched it. Read our FAQ on travel. Inspect your bed, keep your clothing sealed in XL ziplocs inside your suitcase, and inspect it after you come home too. While there may be bed bugs in the room that you miss on inspection, it’s unlikely to be one of those nightmare stories with 50 bites in a night. That kind of infestation, I have a hunch you’d see signs of, if you look.
And if you do have bed bugs at home, already, don’t waste your time spraying lavender, thyme, tea tree, or eucalyptus in the sheets, or sprinkling sweet rice or boric acid around your bedroom.
The only home remedy I think is safe and works is food grade diatomaceous earth, which is a mechanical killer, not a repellent. But that is unlikely to quickly clear up the entire problem. And it is not wise to start self-treating, since some PCOs won’t even treat you if there’s evidence you have.
I always send people to find a good PCO who knows bed bugs.
Believe me, if there was evidence supporting a quick, easy, natural cure, we’d be all about it here. Bed bugs are so resilient, they can withstand 100 degree temperatures (for a while), survive a stint in your freezer, and even live through multiple pest control treatments, before finally succumbing. They can live, apparently, for a year without eating. They want to live, breed, and suck your blood. A little essential oil is not going to ward them off.
There is one thing lavender is good for, when you have bed bugs: it’s known to make you a bit sleepy. Dab some on your pillow, ask your doctor if it’s okay for you to pop a melatonin (natural sleep enhancer found where you buy vitamins), and it just might help with the bed bug-related insomnia.
Update 7/19/2007:
Non-chemical methods of treating bed bugs that can work (if done properly) are steam, thermal, and freezing. There is information on the “dealing with clothing and other stuff” pages, including a link to Stephen Doggett’s Bed Bug Code of Practice, which covers these briefly, and to Dr. Michael Potter’s research on heat, steam, etc. Keep in mind it is probably not possible for you to kill your own bed bugs by freezing or heating your home. You may live in an area where professionals know how to and can employ this technology. The temperatures must be changed quickly, and this is why, for example, setting up space heaters in your home is not going to cut it (though you may spread bed bugs around the building, and you may start a fire!)
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James Buggles | Jul 12, 2007 | Reply
All true, but they are no match for your shoe — not that you’ll ever get that oppotunity. See: http://www.angelfire.com/vamp/shoopshoop/cockroach.html
nobugsonme | Jul 12, 2007 | Reply
Yes, I take it back. Shoes are a perfect natural remedy for bed bugs. The only problem is fiding one to hit. And being awake to catch it.
nobugsonme | Jul 19, 2007 | Reply
updated to direct people to more information on thermal, cold, and steam.
willow-the-wisp | Jul 26, 2007 | Reply
Melatonin is a naturally occurring biological substance in many creatures–including us.
Just a reminder that if you take more than the 2 mgs as suggested on the label — or is it three, I cant recall off-hand, then you can do your body a serious disservice.
Really … heed the warnings on the melatonin labels. They are there with good reason. 99.999% of the time more is not better, where pills are concerned. Melatonin most definitely falls into that category. It is a very effective sleep aid. This is so, so true. I took it for a few years–a few years back, on and off. I never went above the prescribed limit. Didn’t even feel a need to try TAKING MORE AS, it is that effective if taken in the prescribed dose.
Heated milk for those of us who are not lactose intolerant can try this too–the release of L. tryptophane, an essential amino acid–also helps.
However, they took the L. tryptophane pills … off the market … as people were doing serious liver damage by popping them like candy 24/7.
I knew a person who fit into this category … when they took it off the market
Poor case he was … you could see him drinking milk 24/7, trying to get his L. Tryptophan “knock-out dose.” He was a nervous wreck to begin with … that got worse, much worse…
Aaron Taylor | Oct 17, 2007 | Reply
Hi,
I’m moving out of a shelter, into a hotel suite that I am renting. Every bed in the shelter has bedbugs in it. I have found them on my clothes durning the morning shortly after leaving the shelter, but I have not recieved any bites. Does washing and thoroughly drying my bedding and clothing kill bedbugs, or is that not hot enough. Please let me know as soon as possible. I am petrified of bringing an infestation into a new building if I don’t have to. Also, I have no money right now. Is there any affiliation who will support me with funds to fumigate, or choose a more invasive form of pest control.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration,
Sincerely,
Aaron.
persona-non-bugga | Oct 17, 2007 | Reply
Hi Aaron, there’s an FAQ about how to eliminate bedbugs from clothes and other items on the blog. It might be very helpful to you.
http://bedbugger.com/faqs/stuff/
The most common advice I’ve seen is to wash clothes & bedding on the hottest setting. Then dry the clothes & bedding on the hottest setting for 20 minutes beyond the point when they’re bone dry. This will kill them.
My advice is to launder them directly on the way to your new home. Don’t launder and then bring them back to the shelter where they’ll get reinfested.
What will you be transporting your clothes in? Bedbugs hitch rides in suitcases. Do you have other belongings - like books or small furniture? All crevices are potential hiding spots. The FAQ has advice on how to deal with that stuff, but I think it will be quite challenging to eliminate them from anything that’s not washable.
91% isopropyl alcohol is a contact kill. It has to make direct contact with the bug to kill it. If one is hiding in a crack somewhere where the alcohol can’t reach, then the bedbug will survive and live to bite again. But if something is non-washable, you can try drenching and saturating that item in 91% alcohol. No guarantees though, so proceed carefully.
If you try the alcohol, I wouldn’t treat any belongings in the shelter only to get reinfested again. I wouldn’t treat these items in your hotel suite either. That’ll give them a chance to hop off and set up house at your new place. Better to spray them outside in a parking lot or some other relatively safe location.
BTW, if they’re on you, the bedbugs are most likely biting you. You’re probably not allergic to them.
Congrats on getting out of the shelter. Good luck with the move.
nobugsonme | Oct 17, 2007 | Reply
Everything P-N-B said, and just to be super clear: when you wash and dry the clothing, SEAL them in a clean plastic bag in an airtight manner. It is possible to seal a garbage bag in an airtight manner, but you have to take care (one single knot into itself works, if you know what I mean. Most of us use ziploc XL bags which are HUGE and have handles. It’s an added expense but they can be reused: clean for clean. Bag any dirty clothes and shoes you used to move–everything must be discarded or washed on hot or dried from dry on hot. See the FAQ PNM recommended.
luci | Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
I’v washed all my clothing, and dried them….. but possible not at the HOTTEST setting …….. so doesn’t drowning them in the wash water work?
has anyone had success (after the funigators have come 2 times already — my landlord is paying for it) with using double sided carpet tape….. at least to detect how much bugs are left , and to catch a few more?
and the alchohol….. would it work to wash floors with alchoh and soapy water…. jsut for cleanliness and to get rid of crumbs/ ect that they feed on, or do they simply need blood?
can they crawl up metal/ or wooden cabinets/ shelving? once I’v cleaned my containers and inspected cardboard boxes/ replaced old boxes with new ones, and inspected objects whjile transfering them to the new ones….
should I be able to see them, even if they are partically transparent… or are they as tiny as a pin head, or tinyer?
thanks
hopelessnomo | Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
Luci, the FAQs may be of help in answering all your questions.
After you have read at least the basic FAQs, please visit the forums for help from others currently also suffering from bedbugs. You can repost your questions there. But I suggest you read the FAQs first.
aballen | Mar 9, 2008 | Reply
The very same night that I introduced bed bugs into my home on a blanket that I had used on vacation, I slatered my neck and upper body in Lavender Oil in order to induce relaxation and sleep. I woke up with about 25 bed bug bites, most of them in the area with the Lavender Oil. It was also the area of my body exposed, not under the covers. So, they had nooooooo problem with Lavender Oil on my body.