Updated at: 05-10-2022 - By: Sienna Lewis

How long does it take for exterminated bed bugs to die after extermination? The truth is that the length of time it takes for bed bugs to die varies depending on the approach utilized to eradicate the infestation.

Whatever the case may be, there are a slew of things you should be aware of. So today, we’ll take a look at how long it takes for bedbugs to die following various methods of extermination.

In order to better understand bed bug removal, let’s unleash our inner researchers!

How Long It Takes For Bed Bugs To Die After Extermination

In order to rid their homes of bedbugs, individuals around the world engage exterminators.

There is good news and bad news about the time it takes for bedbugs to die. If you are one of them, you should be aware of this.

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Your exterminator’s technique will have an impact on this outcome. Is it possible to tell how long it takes for bed bugs to die following extermination?

Method#1. When the exterminator uses pesticides

When it comes to bed bug removal, sprays are frequently used to specifically target the insects. Bed bugs take a long time to die, and while this might vary based on the sort of spray, the volume sprayed, and its active ingredients, it is still bad news for people who are impatient.

Sprays are the most common method of bed bug extermination. According to brand, concentration, and active chemicals utilized, the time it takes for bed bugs to die varies greatly.

Pesticide extermination, no matter how effective it seems, can take weeks before it completely eradicates all of your home’s bed bugs. Ask your pest controller to give you an estimate of how long it will take to get rid of the pests.

After the elimination, eggs will hatch, but they will also be killed in order to eliminate the infestation.

Method#2. When the exterminator uses heat treatment

You’re in luck if you hired a heat treatment exterminator, because bed bugs will die quickly if you do. A few hours is usually all it takes to get rid of the problem.

You can also get rid of all bed bugs in a matter of minutes if you use the heat treatment method. To get rid of bed bugs, simply raise the temperature in your room to 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

After a heat treatment, there will be no bed bugs left in your mattress or bed frames.

How Long Should I Stay Away From Home After Extermination?

It’s advisable to stay away from your home for at least six hours after a heat treatment for bed bugs, even if it kills the pests within minutes. You can also inquire about heat treatment with your PCO.

On the other hand, unlike heat treatments, pesticides represent a number of health dangers to individuals when used in extermination.

Because of this, you should avoid returning to your home shortly after the exterminator has applied the insecticide because it can harm your health.

You can use the same mask and protective gear that pest controllers use to protect themselves from dangerous toxins if you need to enter your home immediately.

But if you have no pressing need to return to your home, you must stay at least two to four hours away from your residence.

For further information, you can ask your exterminator about the potential dangers of pesticides.

How Should I Clean After Extermination?

Once the bedbugs have been exterminated, it’s natural to wonder how to clean up after the exterminator has left.

Allow one hour of fresh air to circulate through your home’s walls once you’ve entered it. After that, grab all of your clothing and bed linens and get ready for bed.

After that, remove all of your clothing from your closet and put them in a clothes dryer set on high heat. The eggs and bed bugs that you missed during the extermination can be removed successfully.

While eradication is sure to have killed most of the bedbugs, these steps can prevent them from returning to your home in the future. You should also wash everything because eggs can still be found on things like furniture and towels.

Because of this, it is imperative that you thoroughly clean every surface you can see.

Also, be sure to look for any existing cracks or crevices. Using home remedies, you can get rid of any bed bugs you still notice there or anywhere else in your house.

In addition to cleaning goods and making your own sprays, there are a number of other alternatives for these DIY treatments.

How Long Do Bed Bugs Live After Spraying?

Insecticides sprayed on a house can kill any bugs it encounters within a few hours or less. For many days following usage, insecticides are quite effective.

This means that they can collect live bugs even after the area has been sprayed with insecticide.. There are still flaws that can creep past even the most comprehensive programs. There is a good chance that some of the bugs and their eggs will be able to evade the spray.

Once every seven to 10 days, pest control experts will return to your home and re-spray. Because they didn’t catch everything they should have, they’re doing it again. Eggs that have been dormant for 20 to 30 days may still exist, though.

Bed bug eggs can and will survive repeated treatment if the environment is too chilly. During the warmer months, they would return to the house in quest of new victims to bite.

It’s possible that pest treatment companies will mistakenly believe that an area is clean and thus pronounce it bug-free, only for the new bugs to surface weeks later as the leftover eggs hatch out. Do not be discouraged, though; regular treatments should help.

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How Effective Is a Spray Treatment?

The time it takes for a spray treatment to kill bed bugs depends on a number of interrelated factors.

To begin, it’s critical to know how big the infestation was to begin with. The more widespread the infection, the more challenging it will be to eradicate it. They spread from their original hiding spots as the number of bed bugs grows.

As a result, there will be more places to treat. For larger infestations, it may be necessary to use many treatments instead of simply one or two in order to completely eradicate them.

Additionally, the type of dwelling is critical. Apartments are more difficult to separate and treat since they are spread out across a larger area. If you suspect a bed bug infestation, you should contact the property manager/owner immediately.

It’s critical to check every room for bed bugs during the inspection and treatment process. A laundry room, for example, should be included in the inspection because it is a common section of the building. Most likely, your apartment is not the only one plagued with bed bugs.

What Happens After Bed Bug Treatment?

Most people wait a long time before deciding to get rid of bed bugs. As a result, they may not be able to come up with a solution since they are in denial or embarrassed. They expect their bed insect problem to be solved overnight once they begin treatment.

Prior to beginning treatment, it is critical that you adjust your expectations. You can only get rid of bed bugs gradually if you use a spray that you produced or bought. The reason for this is that most sprays only operate on contact, and it’s nearly hard to spray every single bed insect.

This is equally true if you hire an exterminator as well as if you take care of the problem yourself. Pesticides used by pest controllers are quickly proving ineffective against bedbugs. Even if you hire a pest control company, you may still have bed bugs.

Will You See Bed Bugs After Treatment?

After treatment, you might expect to observe a lot of bed bugs. There is no guarantee that there will be more or less right away. It takes time for most therapies to work.

Sprays are the most common method of bed bug extermination. The time it takes to kill bed bugs varies depending on the kind of spray, the concentration at which it is administered, and the active components.

Consult with your PCO to get an idea of how long the process will take. No matter what happens, the infestation cannot be eradicated without the death of some eggs.

Heat treatments are not included in this. In just a few hours, an effective heat treatment will eradicate all bed bugs. Most of that time is spent raising the temperature to a safe level.

Bedbugs die within minutes of furniture, mattresses, and bed frames reaching 122 degrees. After heat treatment, you shouldn’t be looking for bed bugs.

How Long After Bed Bug Treatment Can I Return Home?

You’ll have to leave your house for six hours or more if you’re getting a heat treatment. Clearly, this is not because the heat therapy is harmful to you. It’d be really uncomfortable, to put it mildly.

Inquire about the length of time it will take for an exterminator to do heat treatment before hiring them.

When returning too soon after a spray, it can have a negative impact on your health. Exterminators utilize high concentrations and volumes of pesticides that can be harmful to humans. When pest controllers go to work, they wear masks to protect their health from the toxic fumes they are exposed to.

Before returning to your house, you should wait for two to four hours. The insecticide is absorbed into the carpet, furniture, and bedding during this period.

The exterminator should be able to answer all of your questions before they begin spraying your home with pesticides if you’re unsure about anything.

Cleaning After Bed Bug Treatment

You can return to your home once your exterminator has finished their work. Take their advise and find out how long it will be before you can go back inside. When you return to your home or apartment, open the windows for at least an hour to allow fresh air to circulate.

Launder your clothes and bedding first. Launder your bed linens and any other clothing you own at a high temperature. Dry them in a hot oven as well.

For any remaining eggs or bugs that may have escaped the spray, this should be sufficient. However, your actions here could make all the difference. There won’t be many.

Do you have to wash all of the items? The answer is “no.” The eggs of bed bugs are commonly found in furniture, but they can also be found in piles of clean towels or the back of your wardrobe. To be on the safe side, make sure to wash as much as you can.

Regardless of whether the exterminator was successful in eliminating all of the bed bugs, you could begin your own do-it-yourself bed bug treatment. It’s cheap and simple to do it yourself, plus it might deter them from returning. Bed bugs can be killed with household cleaners and DIY sprays.

Should You Vacuum After Bed Bug Treatment?

After your exterminator has finished their work, hold off on vacuuming. Carpets and bedding will remain sticky with pesticide residue for weeks after application. Don’t vacuum right immediately to preserve this lingering impact, which aids in the eradication of your infestation.

Do DIY Bed Bug Treatments Work?

Try to get rid of bed bugs yourself if you can’t afford an exterminator. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that home remedies for bed bugs are less effective and take longer to work.

How Does DIY Bed Bug Treatment Work?

Do-it-yourself methods exist for dealing with bedbugs. Use commercially available sprays, such as those for cockroaches. These sprays have the same ingredients as your exterminator’s spray.

It’s sprayed under your mattress and on neighboring furniture, places where bed bugs are most likely to be found. Besides that, of course:

  • A mattress encasement can be installed to keep bed bugs out of your mattress.
  • Traps and lures can be used to catch them when they’re searching for food.
  • Alternatively, you can use diatomaceous earth, a fine powder that kills on the spot.

The bedbug population in your home will begin to decline if you utilize all of these measures. To ensure that your exterminator doesn’t come back, and to kill off any that are left, use these thereafter.

How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs Fast & Permanently: The Ultimate Guide (2022)

How Long Until DIY Treatment Kills Bed Bugs?

This might be a lengthy process. Pests tested a number of DIY insecticides that you can buy. Pyrethroids and neonicotinoids are both insecticides in Temprid SC. EcoRaider was the brand name of the other essential oil spray.

It took a long time for both therapies to take effect. Tempris SC showed no effect after two weeks, according to the results of the study.

The average number of bedbugs in the set of flats studied remained about 60. However, the EcoRaider was able to reduce the average bed bug population from 70 to 45.

Both sprays reduced the count to 30 after six weeks of use. Slightly better results were seen after six weeks of treatment. This was finally achieved after twelve weeks, when the average number of sprays per animal was lowered to zero. That suggests that there were still some bedbugs, but they were significantly less than before.

Additionally, bed bugs may be a persistent problem in your home. They could be coming from your neighbor’s apartment, for example.

It doesn’t matter if you use the best treatment money can buy; you’ll always have bed bugs unless you seal up the holes they’re able to get through.

How Long After Bed Bug Treatment Can I Return Home?

You don’t have to leave if you’re treating your own bed bugs. You don’t have to leave your house to use the sprays you may buy and use at home.

You can normally utilize them in the comfort of your own home and get on with your daily routine. Make careful to check the spray can to see if you’re allowed to do so before you get started.

Bed bug bombs are the only exception. Fumigation sprays like this can be left to work on their own for 30 minutes to an hour. You must leave the house for at least an hour or so to utilize these sprays. To be safe, double-check the label.

Bed Bugs Worse After Treatment

Don’t be alarmed if, after treatment, your bed insect problem worsens. Several factors contribute to this, however it is not uncommon. Just because you’re seeing more bedbugs doesn’t always mean that there are more bedbugs now than there were before.

This is not the result of inbreeding, but rather of the medication increasing their level of activity. Bed bugs, like us, rely on our five senses to get about.

Because a bed bug can detect the presence of pesticides or other harmful substances in their environment, they naturally seek a new habitat. As a result, people become more active.

In addition, bed bug sprays take time to act, as previously stated. In just a few minutes, they eliminate every single bed insect. It’s a good sign that more bedbugs are getting into contact with your spray or powder, so take it as such.

Bed Bug Treatment Didn’t Work

Finding out your bed insect treatment didn’t work is the worst feeling ever. Especially if you hired a professional exterminator to rid your home or business of unwanted pests.

How to Tell Bed Bug Treatment Didn’t Work

Your treatment options will have an impact on this. After paying for heat treatment, you should see a dramatic change in your skin.

Bed bugs must be eradicated. Heat treatment didn’t work if you’re still experiencing bites after it has cooled down.

A pesticide application by a professional exterminator could take up to two weeks before you see results. To put it another way, it’s because the bedbug eggs that they laid have yet to hatch.

Pesticide must be applied to the eggs after they have hatched. Eggs can take anywhere from a week to nine days to hatch, so that’s a minimum.

Getting rid of bed bugs takes time, especially if you’re doing it all yourself. Mean bed bug numbers dropped to almost zero during a 12-week period in the study above. Getting rid of your infestation will take just as long.

Reasons Why Your Bed Bug Treatment Didn’t Work

One or more of the following may be to blame if your bed insect treatment didn’t work: Pesticide-resistant bed bugs are becoming more widespread. For example, pyrethroid resistance is becoming more common. Because of this, they are more likely to withstand both professional exterminators and DIY sprays.

Journal of Economic Methodology reports that experts are working to discover new means of combating bed bugs in their research findings. These newer pesticides and repellents, albeit effective, aren’t without their flaws.

You may also have been ill-prepared for the storm. It is expected that professional exterminator treating a home will clean up any debris, close any holes in the walls, and spray liberally. Bedbugs may have escaped if the exterminators failed to complete their work properly.

You or your exterminator may have overlooked a harborage, which is another possibility. If you didn’t already know, harborage is the term for a bedbug’s home.

In most cases, they can be found under your mattress, but they can also be found in the walls or the floor. It’s easy to overlook bed bugs due of their camouflage. It’s possible that you won’t get rid of every bed bug if you don’t spray them immediately.

They may also have been reintroduced. A rogue bed bug from the neighbor’s or a friend’s house may have re-started the infestation after the spray was used. Could happen, especially if you have no idea where the infestation came from in the first place.

Bed Bugs After Second Treatment

The bedbugs are still there, no matter how many times you’ve had them sprayed or treated. As a result, bed bugs are very certainly being returned.

If you live in an apartment, the pest problem is most likely the fault of your next-door neighbor. To determine if there are any other incidents of bedbugs in the area, you may want to contact your block’s management team.

Do not pay for more treatments until you know why the bedbugs are still present in your home. You’d be better off just throwing your money away. There are numerous options available to you, including the following:

  • Don’t be afraid to look in places you haven’t previously. See if you can enlist the assistance of someone who hasn’t previously assisted you in your quest, since they may notice something you haven’t.
  • Consider bringing in a canine bed insect sniffing to help with the investigation. Bed bug sniffer canines are trained to detect the presence of bed bugs in their surroundings. A dog can see them right away. Problematic is that you’ll be charged for it.

Moving out is another option. If you have a bed bug infestation that continues returning, and it’s coming from a neighbor, you’re completely at their mercy.

What if they refuse to get rid of the pests? How long would it take for them to get rid of the infestation in their own home? It’s possible that moving out might be a better option for you.

Can I Sleep in My Bed After Bed Bug Treatment?

It feels good to get started on bed bug treatment. It’s a guarantee that you’ll be able to go back to your former life. Is there anything else you need to do? After a bed bug treatment, can you sleep in your own bed?

If you haven’t already, you should. When it comes to sleeping, you don’t want to leave your room. For example, if you sleep on the couch, you’re encouraging bedbugs to live there. You don’t want to propagate the infestation any farther.

Sleeping on the floor will just encourage the bed bugs to come out and feast. After you’ve sprayed your home, you need to get the bedbugs to come out of hiding. Because residual bed bug sprays continue to kill for weeks after application, luring them to your location actually aids in their eradication.

How to Stop Bed Bugs Coming Back

There are a number of things you may do to prevent bedbugs from returning. Not all of them have anything to do with cleaning up after yourself:

  • Determine the source of your bed insect infestation. Do you have proof that you received them from your place of employment? Is it from a family member or a friend? If this is the case, you should take actions to avoid it happening again.
  • Set up a quarantine for bed bugs. Seal up all of your outside gear, including your coat, hat, gloves, and bag, as well as any work outfits. When you’re going out, wear these. Bed bugs cannot enter your home if you separate these items.
  • All of your clothing should be washed before wearing it again. If there are eggs on the surface, they will be killed by this method. Check out our tips on washing bedbug-infested clothing, as there is a rigorous procedure to follow.
  • If you live in an apartment and see any cracks or holes in the walls, you should immediately take steps to repair the situation. Not only can your neighbors bring bed bugs into your home, but they also serve as an excellent hiding location for existing bed bugs.

Pesticide sprays continue to kill and repel insects for some time after they’ve been used. Nonetheless, the effect is just temporary. On average, it lasts for about two months. And even if they were, the lingering effects wouldn’t have been sufficient to put an end to the intruders.

Can Bed Bugs Come Back After A Year?

Wrapping Up

It may take a long for the bedbugs to be exterminated, but the wait is well worth it.

Finding out how long it takes for bed bugs to die after elimination can provide further insight into the process of getting rid of bed bugs.