The Chemical Challenge

August 17, 2018

Do chemicals and pesticides work to kill bed bugs? Seems like a straight-forward, yes or no question, right? The answer is a confusing “sometimes”. Here are the reasons why the answer isn’t a simple yes or no.

In order for a chemical to work, the bed bugs need to walk across it and have the chemical stick to its exoskeleton. Seems simple enough right? Spray some chemicals and pesticides around the house and wait. Oh no, it’s not that easy. The active life of most chemicals and pesticides is only about two weeks. What if all of the bugs don’t cross the chemical in two weeks? Well, the infestation lives on. What if the chemical doesn’t get where the bugs hide? Again, the infestation lives on.

Don’t forget that tomorrow’s biting bed bugs are unhatched eggs today. Most chemical sprays and powders won’t kill the eggs… and even those that will probably won’t come in contact with all the eggs. Once the eggs hatch, the young bed bugs will bite you and your family, grow, and potentially lay more eggs. These new bed bugs need to come in contact with the chemicals and pesticides before they can be killed.

This is why there needs to be reapplication every two weeks. It’s kind of like taking ibuprofen every four hours — it starts losing its potency so you take more every four hours. Chemicals and pesticides have the same challenge — they only last a few weeks before losing efficacy. Ok, no problem! Re-apply every two weeks. How hard is that?

Well, that can be a waste of your time because of a growing problem called resistance. Over the years, bed bugs have become resistant to some pesticides that contain the active ingredient Pyrethroid, which is very commonly used. So, now what? Change it up! Use a chemical with a different active ingredient every two weeks.

This means you’ll need at least three different chemicals and pesticides to get through the process. That’s not the easiest thing to find unless you are a professional pest control company. Yes, the chemical approach can work. You just need to understand the challenges and realize that it is a 6- to 8-week process when done correctly. Oh wait…. I forgot to mention the extensive preparation needed for a chemical application. You can find that here on the website. Thermal Remediation (Heat) is the easiest, most-thorough, and only 1-day treatment for bed bugs. Call us to see how a bed bug heat treatment can eliminate your bed bug infestation without chemicals or pesticides and help you sleep better at night.

Heat is different. Bed bug heat treatment technology is the only methodology that can effectively kill 100% of hatched insects and 100% of eggs, 100% of the time, every time. In just one treatment. As you consider your options, be open to the idea of heat. You may actually end up saving time and money. Call us at 717-478-HEAT and we will help you get rid of bed bugs today.

Don’t take our word for it

It's been 2-1/2 months of that blissful feeling of getting into bed with all of our uninvited guests. I brought the bed bugs home from working in-home care. It is not any one person's fault — these guys are the hitchhikers from H _ _ _. We sprayed, bombed, powdered and turned the rooms upside down and picked bugs and put them into soapy water (soapy-otherwise they will swim right out). When we called and talked to Bill, we KNEW this was our solution. Of course it makes sense to heat the entire house. We even had a quote from a “large” corporation that said they would “treat” 4 rooms for a price 1/3 higher than Bill’s. If we had gone with Bill right away, we would have saved so much money in bombs, sprays, laundering, and mattress covers — but also time and aggravation. The house also felt so fresh after the treatment. Bill takes the time with you for you to feel comfortable in your decision. We left for the entire day and felt completely comfortable with Bill having the run of the house. Poor Bill, though. We had our home treated on the day of the first winter storm in November. That man spent longer hours at our place due to the extreme winds and cold. What a trooper. We would say that Bill is the type of person that we now call a friend. He is welcome at our home anytime. Peg

Peggy Showalter
5 Stars: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
January 18, 2019