You’re waking up to itchy bug bites on your body. When you inspect your bedding, you discover ugly stains on your sheets. Some are red and appear to be dried blood. Others are black dots, about the size of a pencil tip. You ask around and learn that the bites and spots are evidence of bed bugs. The dots are feces. Ugh, gross. What is the best and fastest way to get rid the horrid things? You’ll find a variety of products available online and in retail outlets. Among them is Hot Shot Bed Bug Spray. Keep reading for information and tips on how to use it to get rid of the problem.
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What Do Reviewers Say?
Bed bugs are blood feeders, and they feed on people and animals. They attack while you’re sleeping and defenseless. They leave their feces and spots of blood on your bedding. There’s no way around the fact that bed bugs are not only pests, they are also disgusting. They are also a challenge to eradicate.
Prevention is the best way to avoid problems with bed bugs. That is easier said than done. It’s getting more difficult to kill bed bugs because they are becoming resistant to some pesticides.
Positive Reviews
Hot Shot Bed Bug Spray is a highly-recommended pesticide intended for use as a spot treatment for bed bugs. Consumers report success in eliminating their bed bug problem with Hot Shot products. The spray contains chemicals that are effective against bed bugs. The chemicals are synthetic versions of pyrethrum.
Negative Reviews
Negative reviews have generally been the result of not understanding or not following the instructions. Success also depends on knowing how bed bug infestations occur. It’s important to apply the spray at the first sign of infestation. Depending on the severity of the infestation, the spray should be used in conjunction with Hot Shot Egg Kill and Hot Shot Fogger.
How Effective Is This Spray
It’s important to identify the pest that’s invading your home before using any pesticide or insecticide. The wrong product is not only ineffective; it gives the bug time to reproduce and spread.
Although bites are indicative of a bed bug infestation, other bugs also bite. Juvenile bed bugs have six distinctive life cycles, making them even harder to identify.
Descriptions of the three primary stages of growth are:
- Egg,
- Nymph,
- Adult.
Each stage looks different, and each also leaves behind identifiable debris on your bedding.
Adult bed bugs are:
- Small, no more than 1/4 inch long
- Oval shaped
- Flat and brown if hungry
- Swollen and reddish after eating
- Smelly
They have wings but are not able to fly.
Juvenile bed bugs are:
- Called nymphs
- Smaller than adults
- Translucent or whitish if hungry
- Bright red after eating
If a nymph is more than five days old, you’ll see dark eyespots.
Bed bug eggs are pearly white, tiny, and almost impossible to see.
If you inspect very closely, you can find evidence of each stage of bed bug growth. You might find broken egg shells, skin the nymphs have shed, and the telltale blood and feces spots left by the nymphs and adults.
How Do I Use It?
Bed bugs easily hide in cracks and crevices that are barely visible to you. In fact, experts say that if you can slide a credit card in an opening, it’s big enough to hide a bed bug.
They also hide in the tufts and piping of mattresses and folds of bedding. If there’s a major infestation, you’ll find bed bugs in various stages of maturity in the bed frame, headboards, and any other dark hideaway.
Hot Shot Spray makes it easy to treat all those hiding areas. It kills on contact, so being able to spray it in narrow or hard-to-reach spaces maximizes the number of bugs you can kill.
The products are manufactured from chemicals that are poisonous to bed bugs and other inside pests. Part of what makes this spray effective is the way it causes the bugs to come out of their hiding places so you can zap them.
This spray is a powerful pesticide. For effectiveness and for your safety, it must be used correctly. We are presenting an overview of the instructions here, but you still need to carefully read the information on the label before use.
Bed Bug Spray Is a Spot Treatment
Understand that the spray is a spot treatment. It is not a room spray. It is also for indoor use only. Your pets and children cannot be in the room that you’re treating. Cover or remove plants. Do not spray food or any food storage or preparation area.
Start by shaking the container well. If appropriate, spray a test patch on an inconspicuous area of carpet or fabric such as draperies.
Spray wherever you’ve seen bed bugs. Use enough of the spray to thoroughly dampen the area. Be sure to spray all the cracks and crevices.
Include hiding spots such as:
- Behind the baseboards
- Around door frames
- Between floorboards
- Bed frame
- Headboard
- Foot board
Allow all surfaces to completely dry before using.
The spray is safe to use on your mattress, but only as a spot treatment. Avoid using it on your bedding. Your bedding should be washed in hot water and dried at a high temperature.
Blood is the only food that bed bugs want, and they prefer human blood. When desperate, they will feed on animals and birds. After the eggs hatch, the juveniles need at least one meal between each stage of their life cycle. They also molt between each stage.
Adult bed bugs can live up to a year. They must consume blood regularly or they can’t mate. A fertile female lays up to 500 eggs during her lifetime. The eggs mature into fertile adults in about a month.
Where Can I Buy This Spray?
Hot Shot products are easily available online and from a variety of retail outlets, including:
- Amazon
- Home Depot
- Lowe’s
- Walmart
Some sellers provide a kit or discount if you’re purchasing more than one bed bug product at a time. Some states don’t allow some these products to be shipped to consumers in their state. You may be able to purchase Hot Shot from local hardware and household retail outlets if you can’t obtain it online.
How Does The Spray Kill Bed Bugs?
It kills them on contact. The pesticide in it flushes out some bed bugs when you spray it where they’re hiding. Then you’ll have the opportunity to kill any that crawl out.
You may have more success by first shining a light in any crevices and into the seams of your mattress. The light will cause them to scatter and you can more easily zap them. The spray does have some residual action but works best when sprayed directly on bugs.
Hot Shot contains a pesticide that’s proven to successfully kill bed bugs. Because the bugs hide in tiny dark spaces, it’s difficult to destroy all of them with one application. You’ll probably need to spray at least one more time.
Hot Shot manufactures more than one product designed to eradicate bed bugs.
You may want to use the one or more of the following bug killers with the spray:
- Dust, which contains diatomaceous earth and other desiccants to kill bed bugs by dehydration.
- Egg Kill, which contains cypermethrin to destroy bed bug eggs before they hatch.
- Fogger, which contains several pesticides for use in severe infestations.
These products are all effective in killing bed bugs when used according to directions.
There’s information in this article about other brands, such Raid Max Bed Bug spray, that contain many of the same ingredients as Hot Shot products, as well as fragrances.
The Hot Shot formula is water-based and won’t stain water-safe fabrics or surfaces. You can learn more about oil-based products such as JT Eaton Bug Spray here.
Pros and Cons
Hot Shot Bed Bug spray is an effective pesticide, but like most products, it has pros and cons.
- Water-based, so it doesn’t leave an oily residue.
- Pre-mixed, so it’s easy to use.
- Full line of products, so you don’t have use potentially dangerous combinations of brands.
- Good customer service, so you can always contact them for advice or help.
- Available in several sizes, so you don’t have to buy more than you need.
- Some individuals find that the spray nozzle causes cramps in their hands with prolonged use.
- The spray is a spot treatment, and other products must be purchased for severe infestations.
- For indoor use only.
- Unsafe for humans and animals.
The company is receptive to feedback and offers a money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied with how their products work.
It contains potent pesticides and cannot be used around someone with respiratory problems. You can learn how to prepare homemade bed bug spray with natural ingredients here.
Bed bugs don’t go away on their own. If not completely eradicated, they continue to reproduce until they infest every room in your home. Along with their sprays, dusts, and egg kill products, Hot Shot makes a glue trap. It traps any insect that walks across it. That helps you know whether you have bed bugs or another pest. It also tells you where the bugs are entering your home as well as where they’re hiding. Once you use Hot Shot Bed Bug spray to kill the ones infesting your bedroom, you can then seal any entrance points to prevent additional infestation.
