Home Remedies for Bedbugs: What They Actually Do: Lewisham

This is a cautious look at the remedies we hear about most, what each one does and what it does not. We do not name products. If you have used any of these, tell us when you ring; it is useful to know, and nobody will think less of you for trying.

Diatomaceous Earth

A fine powder made from fossilised algae. It works as a desiccant: it damages the waxy outer layer of an insect that walks through it, and the insect slowly dries out. That part is real, and professional treatments use desiccant dusts too.

The problems are in how it is used at home. It works slowly and only on bugs that walk through it, so it has to be in a thin layer exactly where they travel, not heaped in piles they will walk around. It does nothing to eggs. And spreading a fine powder across a bedroom means breathing it in, which we would not suggest. Used carefully in cracks and voids it has a place; sprinkled over the carpet it mostly makes dust.

Tea Tree and Other Essential Oils

Some oils can kill a bedbug if it is soaked directly. In practice, a spray bottle of diluted oil reaches the few bugs you can see and none of the ones in the frame joints and skirting. There is no lasting effect once it has dried. Strong smells may also move bugs to a new hiding place rather than kill them, which spreads the problem around the room. Oils can also irritate skin and upset pets.

Rubbing Alcohol

Alcohol kills bedbugs it soaks on contact, and evaporates within moments, so it does nothing to the ones you miss and nothing to eggs. More importantly, it is highly flammable. Spraying it over a mattress, bedding or carpet has led to house fires, and we would strongly advise against it. Please do not use it near heaters, candles or anyone smoking.

Steamers

A steam cleaner that produces properly hot, dry steam does kill bedbugs and eggs it hits directly, and some professionals use steam as one tool among several. At home, the difficulties are that it has to be moved very slowly, that it only works on the surface in front of the nozzle, and that it cannot get deep inside a frame joint or wall void. It also soaks a mattress if overdone, and a damp mattress is a problem of its own.

Steam is not the same as a heat treatment. A heat treatment raises the whole room at once and holds it, so bugs cannot move away from the hot patch into a cooler one. The guide to surviving heat explains why the whole room matters.

Ultrasonic Plug-ins

Devices that plug into a socket and claim to drive bedbugs out with sound. We are not aware of good evidence that they have any effect on bedbugs. The main harm is that people wait while the problem grows.

Shop Sprays and Foggers

Not strictly home remedies, but worth a line. Most shop sprays kill on contact and leave little behind; foggers settle on open surfaces and miss the cracks. Both can push bugs deeper into the room. The guide to professional chemical treatment explains how it differs.

What to Do Instead

Keep sleeping in your own bed, so they stay in one place. Strip and hot-wash the bedding, and put clean bedding into sealed bags. Do not throw out the mattress or the bed. Then get it confirmed and treated. Treatments start at £220, with heat costing more than chemical, and you get the price before anything is booked. If you rent, report it in writing; the Lewisham overview covers what that means in a converted house.

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