There are several ways to kill bed bugs infesting a home. Usually a combination of several steps and methods will eliminate them altogether.
For best results and total elimination, a comprehensive cleaning of the house, and an insecticide application to infested areas, should be carried out, under the advice of a professional pest control expert. However in cases where that kind of comprehensive treatment is not required or infestation is only suspected, there are several other steps a homeowner can take to kill bed bugs.
Bed bugs come out at night to feed on the blood of the host. So one of the first steps that can be implemented to kill bed bugs is to remove the physical possibility of their traveling from wherever they are hiding to the host at night. This can be done by separating the bed from any adjacent furniture or walls. Legs of the bed can be coated with Vaseline or mineral oil. Coating should be about 2 inches in width. A barrier of silica aerogel or chalk can also be placed around floor of the bed posts.
Another method that can be used is placement of sticky tape on bed posts so that individual bed bugs can be captured. This punaises de lit 94 would also make it possible to identify the infestation clearly. Double sided carpet tape can also be used to trap bedbugs.
It is also possible to physically remove some of the bed bugs and their eggs. One of the many misconceptions about bed bugs is that they cannot be observed by human eyes. In fact they are about a quarter of inch in length and can be seen. They are not much observed because they tend to hide out in dark crevices and only come out at night. After a through examination around the sleeping area they should dislodged by brushing and scraping their hiding places and by immediately vacuuming before they scramble to another hiding place. Trash in the vacuum bag should be sealed and disposed of safely. Any hiding places and crevices found through this method should be caulked and filled up if possible so that they do not offer shelter to bed bugs in the future.
Various insecticides can be used to kill bed bugs. Most such insecticides available commercially can kill lot of other pests like ants and cockroaches as well. Generally insecticides that kill bed bugs come in the forms of aerosols or dusts, and can be sprayed or spread on the bugs and their hiding places. Unlike with some other insects, bed bugs cannot be baited. These insecticides generally remain effective for a long period.