How to Fog for Bed Bugs

Instructions for Complete Control. This program is designed for Pest Control Operators, maintenance personnel and housekeeping to perform their own insect control/extermination. You can adapt this information for use to also control fleas, roaches or other insect infestations.

Because bed bugs like to move from place to place and room to room, we have put together a protocol that if followed, should completely eliminate the problem. Below you will find a very detailed plan that will first stop the insects from migrating into adjoining rooms, then treating the main rooms.

Before fogging into the infested room, we need to fog the rooms on both sides of the main room or rooms first. Just like a dog would herd cattle into a corral, from the outside in…we will do the same with the bed bugs. By fogging the adjoining rooms first, the bed bugs will no longer want to travel into those treated areas, eliminating the migration problems that others encounter. You do not have to do a real thorough job in the adjoining rooms, but an adequate one would be in order.

Instructions for treating the adjoining rooms of infested room.

1. Turn off all furnaces and pilot lights.
2. Turn off all fire alarms in room/structure
3. Put towel under door so the fog doesn’t leach into hallways.
4. Un-screw and take off plug covers in wall.

You’re now ready to start with a hand held or back-pack spray apparatus, spray into the wall sockets, all the drawers, the cavity inside the dresser, legs of all furniture and between the wall and molding on floor.

Once this is accomplished you can now start fogging. Begin with the flooring or carpet from the furthest part of the room and move backwards until you get to the exit door. Making sure the entire flooring/carpet area is moist. You would then stand at the door and fog until it is hard to see through the room. Pick up the towel from the door-way, open the door and place the towel on the outside of the door, this will stop the fog from leaching out into the hallway. Do this protocol on both sides of infested rooms.

Instructions for treating the infested room.

You are now prepared to start on the room that is infested. Turn off all furnaces and pilot lights and alarms as per steps 1-4 above.

1. Take down all artwork and pictures from walls and look behind. Bed bugs love to hide behind paintings and photographs hanging on walls, using the hand held sprayer, spray the back thoroughly. Use a flashlight: Bed bugs are tiny (adult bed bugs are about 1/5" long and reddish-brown) and come out at night. Look behind any loose wall paper.
2. Take the linen off the bed and place it in plastic bags, lean the mattress and box-spring up against the wall. Check under your mattress, then pull back the fold on the top of the mattress, using your hand held sprayer get that area good and damp. If your box spring has the protected mesh on the bottom tear that off then lay down flat on floor and spray into your box spring making sure you spray in corners and crevices, the objective is to get all the wood areas moist (then cover the box spring and mattress with the bags provided in the kit) Bed bugs like to hang upside down from the bottom of box springs. Also check the frame where they have been known to hide in corners. These are all places that bed bugs will hide during the day. (If there is a couch or chair in room do the same agenda along fold and tear off mesh from bottom of couch or chair. Make sure you get the cushions on all sides at least damp, keep the cushions off of couch and chairs while fogging)
3. Pull out dresser drawers and spray in the corners and crevices of the drawers. Spray inside the cavity of the dresser in the corners and crevices very well. Do the same thing for night stands. If you can, flip the dresser and night stand upside down and spray underneath that as well.
4. It is highly suggested you take off all plug covers and spray in their vigorously.
5. Using the hand held sprayer, shoot a stream along the edge of dry wall and where the base board meet, then spray down all the furniture legs. For apartment, condos and homeowners don’t forget the closet including inside shoes and clothing.

You are now ready to fog the structure.

Using the fogger for infested rooms is very effective when used correctly

1. As you just used the hand held sprayer you will now repeat steps1-5 above, except you will use the fogger you will fog at a distance of approximately 20 inches from everything that you just sprayed; this will ensure good penetration of the Solution deep inside the cracks and crevices. You need to un-zip bags over mattress and box-spring and fog inside, then seal up again.
2. You will now move to the farthest part of the room from the door which you will exit. You will fog the entire carpet or other type of flooring side to side walking slowly backwards until you reach the exit door.
3. Prior to leaving, point the fogger straight in the room, turn on high and fog until there is a dense fog in the air. When it is hard to see through the fog, pick up your towel at the bottom of the doorway, open the door and close as quickly as possible then put the towel along the outside of the door so that the solution doesn’t leach out to the hall.
4. You will leave the room closed up for a minimum of 5 hours preferably 24 hours prior to re-entering. Upon re-entry open up all windows and turn on A/C so that the air will circulate.
5. Clean up room thoroughly (Do not wipe under box spring or inside of dresser drawers, night stand drawers or in there cavities, let dry naturally).
6. Inspect for any movement of insects. Although there should not be any bed bugs alive at this time, there is always a chance that some have simply not died, repeat fogging instructions only, when necessary.

Check-outs and Monthly Maintenance of rooms

Using 32 ounce spray bottle housekeeping should remove all bedding from mattress and spray on top and along the sides of mattress and box-spring including pulling back the folds on top of mattress and spraying in there. Spray inside of drawers and around the legs of bed and other furniture. (On the hand held sprayer turn the settings of nozzle to mist, not stream) Once, every 45 day’s maintenance should spray rooms along the cracks between the wall and baseboards, complete carpeting area, inside drawers, plus spray under the box-spring.

This all natural protocol will eliminate the bed bugs today and help you control any future outbreaks of bed bugs, roaches, ants, mites and other nuisance insects.