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Get an exterminator/pest control expert, especially if you are living close to other people. It is not just your problem if your natural remedy doesn't work, it is their problem too. The only effective way to stop an infestation is to attack it as strongly as possible as quickly as possible. This is not something you should try to lifehack your way out of.

Heat, cold, and diatomaceous earth all kill bedbugs.

Cold --
I've successfully rid a home of bedbugs by turning off the water, blowing out the pipes, pouring antifreeze in toilets, tanks, and u-traps, then opening the windows in January to let the house freeze (this in a northern climate). Temperatures in the house hovered between -20F and 40F for two months. Not extremely practical, but nobody was living in the house. And it worked. The infestation was crazy (millions) and this apparently killed the bugs and the eggs. I think the important thing here might be (and this is conjecture) that eggs likely hatched on warmer days, then it would freeze again and kill the starving critters.

Heat --
Close your windows, remove any aerosol cans, gas cans, hydrocarbons, clean out and turn off your fridge, get your food out. Common sense things. Take off your baseboards to allow air to circulate better there. Then heat your house to 60C for a few days, using fans to blow the air around. I've never tried this, but logic says it would work. Problem, there may be leaks to the outside, e.g. in a wall, that keep a space cool and the bugs don't all die. Probably best to get an infrared camera and use that to make sure everything is heated enough. Or, get a pro to do this.

Diatomaceous Earth (DE) --
This is like micro glass shards, and totally natural (shells and remains from dead ocean diatoms). Take off baseboards and remove outlet covers. Sprinkle DE everywhere, including in your sheets, on your pillow, on your mattress, in your drawers, in the outlets, and blow it under the drywall. Walk around in the stuff for a few weeks, making sure that your sheets have it every night. This kills by bleeding out the poor bastards, poking them so they loose all their moisture, but it will be soft on your skin. You need to have it around for each hatch, and gotta get enough of it so it kills them before they lay eggs. Hence several weeks.

As you can see, anything other than concentrated chemicals is a PITA.

Tough thing, you probably want to swing the chemical mace. There are mainly two natural ways of getting rid of bed bugs that actually work, but neither one is really easy or straightforward.

1. Starve them. This takes time. A lot of it. You can starve lice within a day or two, and flea within 4-5 days. Bed bugs, uh... more like 2-3 months. So unless you have a summer residence and can move there over the summer you're out of luck.


2. Heat them. Bed bugs are moderately sensitive to temperature. What does "moderately" mean? Well, 48-50°C (around 115-120°F). Keep that for an hour or two, and your problem is gone. No, I'm not joking. What can I say but: be grateful it isn't 75°C. I'll admit that heating up your bedroom to that temperature can be a challenge.

So, all in all, chemicals aren't the worst option, really.

What did I (with success):

• Used a steam generator to process all the beds including the smallest holes.


• Surrounded all the beds' legs with the dry boric acid making sure that the only way for the bugs lays through it (when they go towards their food - sleeping people).


• Bugs contact with acid and die some time later (not instantly). About a month may be required for getting rid of all of them.

Three words. BORIC ACID POWDER. Period.

works for small roaches and other insects as well. The powder has long life and is not harmful for humans. Even children. Be sure to spread in the right areas i.e. all around, inside, under beds, electric sockets etc.

Also second natural ways by leaving house to extreme cold temperatures. Usually a warm area problem so this solution will not be applicable most of the times. In warm climates take all furniture, beds, sheets, Clothing and put under direct sunlight during daytime.

You should seek professional help as @llama suggested. However, I just wanted to add another answer with some references I found from UMN and Cornell due to the lack of references in the other answers and my rep is too low to comment.

https://www.bedbugs.umn.edu/bed-bug-control-in-residences - Suggests ways to control bedbugs

https://www.bedbugs.umn.edu/what-not-to-do AND https://nysipm.cornell.edu/whats-bugging-you/bed-bugs/bed-bug-faqs/#15 - These mention various examples of what not to do when an infestation strikes... Like throwing out the mattress since this can cause further contamination or using chemicals when not a trained professional for health reasons.

*This is my first post on this SE! Please edit as needed!

Don't over look the simple solution. We leased an apartment here in Tulsa for almost five years and finally had to move out due to the stupidity of the management and tenants. The cat lady upstairs had bedbugs (and fleas). The bedbugs would occasionally get through the electrical conduit holes from upstairs, arriving in our bathroom. Until then, I didn't even know what a bedbug looked like.

What kept us from getting bedbugs was that we put all our mattresses and box springs in bedbug-proof covers. Then get the bed out from touching any wall, or foreign object. Spray the legs of the bed with bedbug spray. Always make the bed up tightly, so insects have difficulty crawling into the bed clothes.

The Yacht Club Apartments in Tulsa, Oklahoma weren't bright enough to figure out that the upstairs renter was feeding the problem. So between bedbugs and water leaks that cause black ceiling mold, we had to move out.

The black mold can be quickly controlled using a spray for horse barns from Tractor Supply. But when the water keeps leaking from above, you cannot fix stupid! So we had to move out!

I know one of the process of getting rid of bedbugs but you need to spend some energy. It will take a week but it is very effective. You can call it a natural way or may be other.

Everyday make a strong diluted solution of detergent powder (we use surf excel or Ariel here) not detergent liquid after which you have to wash your entire floor with that solution. If not possible then sweep with that solution everyday. Also make a strong concentrated solution of detergent powder and pour it in a liquid sprayer bottle. Evenly spray it in infested area everyday.

A slight contact with this solution instantly kills the bedbug and even it's eggs get infertile.

The detergent powder solution is alkaline. But I never understood why they were killed?

I covered the lot in anti bed bug powder that I found in the shop, not sure what it was made off, but I also wrapped all my mattresses and pillows in clingfilm for a couple of months, also covering them in the powder.

Also used celo gel, the stuff you find in new shoes, on the floor under the bed mixed with the powder.

And used a spray of places like keyboards etc.

All that seemed to work, but I lived in a small flat and caught infestation early.

Getting rid of bedbugs begins with cleaning up the places where bedbugs live. This should include the following:

Clean bedding, linens, curtains, and clothing in hot water and dry them on the highest dryer setting. Place stuffed animals, shoes, and other items that can't be washed in the dryer and run on high for 30 minutes.
Use a stiff brush to scrub mattress seams to remove bedbugs and their eggs before vacuuming.
Vacuum your bed and surrounding area frequently. After vacuuming, immediately place the vacuum cleaner bag in a plastic bag and place in garbage can outdoors.
Encase mattress and box springs with a tightly woven, zippered cover to keep bedbugs from entering or escaping. Bedbugs may live up to a year without feeding, so keep the cover on your mattress for at least a year to make sure all bugs in the mattress are dead.
Repair cracks in plaster and glue down peeling wallpaper to get rid of places bedbugs can hide.
Get rid of clutter around the bed.

https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/bedbugs-infestation