Can You Vacuum Away Bed Bugs?

If you’ve ever suffered a bed bug infestation, you are well acquainted with desperation. Even after taking numerous steps, you might still suffer from annoying bites when you wake from a long nap. Finally, you hear of a special vacuum for bed bugs, and you wonder whether it will help rid you of your unwanted house guests.

Yes… and no. A vacuum can certainly help tackle a bed bug infestation, particularly if you combine it with several other methods (washing all sheets in hot water, decluttering, and so on). But it’s not exactly a surefire way to kick bed bugs to the curb. Why not?

A vacuum might not get to all of them. You can vacuum all the usual places, such as your couch, bed, and rugs. But because bed bugs often burrow deeps into mattresses and cushions, or get into cracks, your vacuum might not be able to pull all of them out. They might even get into places you wouldn’t think to vacuum, like behind a picture on the wall. And once they’ve invaded the floors, walls, or ceilings, forget it. Your vacuum won’t reach there.

Still, you’ll put a dent in the problem if you vacuum regularly. Things might slow down and become manageable for a few days until you get professional help.

A vacuum won’t always work on eggs. Regular cleaning will slow down your bed bug population, but miss even just a few eggs and you’re starting over again pretty quickly. Since bed bugs have a short life cycle, new creepy crawlies will be hatching out continuously.

If you do vacuum regularly during a bed bug infestation, be careful not to re-infest your own home! Change the vacuum bag each time you clean, and seal the discarded one in a airtight plastic bag. Otherwise, the unwelcome pests you just tossed into the trash will crawl back out.

So, what does work to eliminate bed bugs? Bed bugs are no joke; they’re so tiny that a dozen of them can hide in the hole left over from a screw in the wall. But we’ve dealt with these situations many times before. Give us a call, and we’ll discuss targeted, professional solutions that will get to the source of your infestation and eliminate it.