Using cold to kill bed bugs

Bed bugs are small-bodied insects, but they can quickly become a big problem once they infest a home, apartment, hotel, hospital, or other structure. If you’re researching bed bugs and cold, you’ve probably heard by now that freezing bed bugs a highly effective means to exterminate. Pest Management Professionals (PMPs) across the country are using Cryonite to eliminate these critters, and for a good reason. Our patented carbon dioxide snow kills pests on contact.

This article will provide you with answers to common questions people routinely ask us when their home or business becomes infested with bed bugs and how Cryonite can help.

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An adult bed bug. Where do they come from? Is freezing an effective solution?

Where do bed bugs come from?

People often wonder about the source of their infestation. In many situations, it’s nearly impossible to give the definitive source because these pests are notorious hitchhikers.

Bed bugs can be found in any part of the world and may harbor luggage, handbags, clothes, and backpacks. If a child goes to school with bed bugs in their backpack or on their clothing, it can quickly spread to other homes within a couple of days. Similarly, going to the movie theater could result in a few bed bugs crawling onto your clothes and hiding until you get home. Bed bugs’ ability to move through taxis, buses, retail establishments, and restaurants allows them to spread and introduce themselves in various environments.

What do bed bugs do once they get inside a home, hotel room, or apartment?

In a word, spread. Don’t let the name deceive you; bed bugs won’t just live in a mattress or box springs. Like most living things, they want to be close to food (humans) and shelter. Because of this, bed bugs may hide in all kinds of places. In addition to beds, you may find bedbugs in:

  • Couches
  • Curtains
  • Wallpaper seams
  • Door hinges
  • Toy boxes
  • Bedding
  • Underneath rugs
  • Closets
  • Books
  • Pet beds
  • Window moldings
  • Electronics
  • Behind posters and picture frames
  • And many other places

How do bed bugs survive?

It’s obvious, and it’s the most disturbing thing about bed bugs, but they survive by feeding on blood. But bedbugs don’t come out of hiding without reason. They usually only come out to feed, and that happens about once a week. 

They like to hide near their food source, so you can usually find them 5-10 feet away from where they are getting their meals. However, some bedbugs have lived up to a year without a meal, and it only takes two to begin a more significant infestation.

What kills bed bugs?

Most conversations about bed bugs end up coming down to one idea: what is the best and most efficient way of killing them? Bed bugs are one of the most challenging pests to exterminate completely, so we highly suggest that anyone with a bed bug problem consult a professional. 

There are do-it-yourself pest control methods that you can try, such as vacuuming routinely, encasing your mattresses, and placing glue monitors underneath every leg of a bed frame. While these methods might help contain an infestation, they are usually not enough to eliminate the problem.

  • Heat treatments have become popular over the years, but they are expensive and almost always used in conjunction with a residual treatment. When treating bed bugs with heat, you must heat the bed where bed bugs are living to at least 118 degrees, and this heat needs to penetrate far enough down into whatever hole or crevice they are hiding in for it to be effective. If not, the heat won’t kill the bed bugs, creating the need to use additional residual treatments.
  • Residual applications of insecticides are a primary way of killing bed bugs, but it is limited in use. Many places where one might find bed bugs, such as electronics, stuffed toys, backpacks, etc., cannot be treated residually.
  • Fumigation effectively eliminates bed bugs but is expensive, and people need to vacate their home/business for 2-3 days. Bed bugs have also shown resistance to some pyrethroid insecticides.

Will freezing kill bed bugs?

Yes, freezing kills bed bugs. Freezing with Cryonite is a quick, safe, and effective way to kill bed bugs. Cryonite is safe to use on electronics, books, toys, clothing, bedding, and other sites where bed bugs may harbor but where residual treatments cannot be applied. Combined with vacuuming and residual treatments into bed bug harborages like wall voids and cracks, Cryonite can be the key component in a fully integrated bed bug control strategy.

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The Cryonite system, proven enemy of bed bugs.

How can Cryonite help?

We’re glad you asked! At Cryonite, we want to help people, and our equipment does precisely that. Our technology has been tried and tested, and the results are unanimous. What happens is this: carbon dioxide snow (or dry ice snow), which is about -110° F, comes out of the nozzle and is sprayed onto bed bugs or other insects. 

The bed bugs/insects are killed instantly by freezing, with no residue remaining after application. It is non-staining and non-damaging to almost any place or objects bed bugs and other pests may hide.

Hopefully, we’ve answered your questions about bed bugs and the technique of freezing them as a pest control method. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the Cryonite method, contact us—we’d love to help!

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