Quick DIYs to Safely Clean Bed Bug Stains
Quick DIYs to Safely Clean Bed Bug Stains exist, landing you a hand in what can be quite a tricky process. Bed bugs are creepy and tiny creatures that not only trouble you during sleep. They can also leave stains on your mattresses, upholstered furniture, bedsheets, and pillows. Why?
It’s because they consume large blood meals for completion of their life cycle. So, after feeding, they leave behind fecal matter on areas they hide in.
This fecal matter leaves reddish-brown stains which leaves your sheets and other upholstery items in bad shape. To help you act on bed bug stains, here are some tricks that can quickly help you get the work done.
Here is what you need to do.
Cold Water Treatment
Mark the spots containing stains and immediately clean with cold water. As these stains have organic matter, cold water will loosen the matter and won’t allow the stain to stick on the fabric.
Make sure to keep a check on areas to stop the problem from rebounding.
Hydrogen Peroxide, Ammonia
It is one of the chemicals that are potent yet harmful to the ones using it. You can use these chemicals to spot treat your fabrics only in cases when other options are not working in your favor.
But before you apply this, you must know that hydrogen peroxide and ammonia can lighten the color of your fabric. Ideally, you must keep the item only for 10 to 15 minutes to avoid any unnecessary damage to your fabric, a quick DIYs to safely clean bed bug stains.
How to Avoid Using These Stringent Measures?
To avoid using ammonia and hydrogen peroxide, you can start by locating the nesting areas in your home using a flashlight. For instance, you can look for their hiding spots, such as carpets, corners, carpets, clothing, and other fabrics.
Begin the process by killing bed bugs with heat or cold. Since we already mentioned cold treatment, we have let’s move on with the other.
Thermal Radiation
A temperature of around 125 degrees Fahrenheit is suitable to kill the bed bugs. If you don’t achieve that you will again feel troubles in situations where bed bugs leave stains affecting your valued articles. But if you are not lucky enough, here is what you can further do to remove the stain.
Enzyme Based Fabric Stain Remover
You can also pre-treat your stains with a stain remover. All you need is to spray on the area and directly remove all the stains. However, you must check the label to find the time allowed to let the cleaner sit on your fabric.
Mostly, it’s around 30 minutes. Wash the fabric with cold water and let the stain come out after the regular wash cycle. You can easily find such stain removers from general or grocery stores.
Air Drying
You can keep your fabric out in the sun, away from the direct heat. Once the blot dries, you can use the methods mentioned above to wash the fabric.
This method is suitable for the bed bug stains that are set or are impossible to remove. You can also dry your laundry using low heat and treat the stains accordingly.
In short DIYs to Safely Clean Bed Bug Stains
One must focus on finding the best ways to watch out for bed bugs. You can go for regular pest control services as well to keep a check on bed bug shells and spots. However, if you don’t feel the need for now and still find a few spots, you can go for these DIY methods to clean those occasional bed bug stains within days.
Photo by Morgan Lane on Unsplash