Who wants to deal with insects in their home? You’ll find a variety of them in Australia, such as ants, roaches, millipedes, and scorpions, to name a few. A bug that is incredibly horrible and annoying is the notorious bed bug. The good news is that getting rid of them is not impossible. There are several methods to get rid of bed bugs, one of which uses a natural product, baking soda for bed bugs.
These creatures live in your home and can sense body heat from humans and animals and the carbon dioxide you exhale. They’ll find you, almost always when you’re sound asleep, then bite you and feast on your blood, leaving behind irritating bumps everywhere.
A Natural Method
Baking soda is a salt compound known as Sodium Bicarbonate. Its formula is NHCO3 and, true to its name, is composed of sodium ions and bicarbonate ions. You’ll find it in nature in places like mineral springs. Looking like a fine powder, on the microscopic level, baking soda is tiny crystals, individually sharp but together in a grouping; they feel soft and powdery.
Uses for baking soda are many. People use it for cleaning their house, baking, odour control, and even medicinal purposes like healing acne. Who’d have ever thought you could use it for pest control?
Why Use Baking Soda for Bed Bugs?
Baking soda is one of the most benign compounds you’ll find. It is safe for human consumption and won’t harm your skin when it comes in contact with it. When dealing with a bed bug invasion, many products use toxic chemical pesticides on humans and pets and can even burn your skin or eyes. Baking soda is a good alternative since it’s harmless.
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There are other powders out there that can also get rid of your bug problem. One looks very similar, although it’s made of a different substance. Click here to learn more about Diatomaceous Earth for bed bugs.
How It Works
With pest control, baking soda works in more than one way:
- Digestion: When baking soda warms up, the chemical bonds begin to break down, and the composition will change, releasing carbon dioxide gas. If an insect ingests the baking soda, this gas will release into their digestive tract and eventually burst the lining, killing them.
- Exoskeleton:
Crystals in baking soda can sometimes be sharp enough on the microscopic level to cut the underbelly of bed bugs. When this happens, the amount of damage they accumulate can cause eventual death. - Dehydration: Baking soda is a salt and can absorb things such as odours and moisture. When an insect comes in contact with it, it sucks water out of them, dehydrating the bug to the point of death. And it doesn’t even need to ingest the powder for this to happen, as simple contact with it can do the job.
Liquid ammonia is used to clean with, among other things, including pest control. If you’re wondering, “Does ammonia kill bed bugs?”, you can go here to find out.
Does Baking Soda Kill Bed Bugs?
Chemicals aren’t the only things that can kill insects. Even though baking soda isn’t a chemical, it can kill bed bugs. Organic, all-natural products are out there that will have a powerful effect on them, just like a store-bought insecticide. Essential oils and DE are two of those products, along with baking soda.
If used correctly, baking soda can kill bed bugs, although it won’t be instantly. And although you’ll have to stay on top of the application diligently, the plus side is that there won’t be any dangerous chemicals around your home.
Top 3 Ways to Use
So, how can you use soda properly to kill your bed bugs?
There’s more than one way:
- Paste:
Mix soda and water together in a bowl until a paste forms, about the consistency of honey. Use a brush and paint the paste wherever bed bugs might hide, such as mattresses, box springs, couches, armchairs, bean bags, etc. Don’t forget to get inside crevices and cracks. If there are holes in a piece of furniture’s frame, apply the paste around the hole, and when the bed bugs come out to find you, they’ll have to walk right through it. Every few days, vacuum the dried paste and start again until your infestation is gone. -
Sprinkle:
Sprinkle a thick layer of baking soda around all furniture and inside cracks and small spaces. Even the carpet can be treated – spread a layer of the powder all over it. Vacuum up and repeat every three days. Remember that a vacuum is an important part of getting rid of bed bugs, as it instantly removes them from your home. By using it daily, you’ll get bugs that come out of hiding, putting a major dent into your problem.Keep an eye on your bed bug issue. No method out there will stop it in just one day; it usually takes many days, if not weeks, to take care of it. During treatment time, watch your home daily. If, after a week, you don’t see a difference in insect activity, either change the way you’re using baking soda or switch to a different product. Although soda is a trusted method, those bugs are sometimes incredibly stubborn. - Piling:
Bed bugs that hide in places other than your bed have to crawl up the legs of your bed frame to get to you. Pile baking soda in a thick layer around your bed’s legs; the bugs will have to crawl through it and soon fall victim to the soda’s deadly effects. Please do the same thing with the couch, piling baking soda around its base. All bed bugs coming and going from the area will be forced to go through it.
Borax, derived from boric acid, is a popular product you can find in most Australian stores. People use it for things like cleaning and even making slime. For more information on boric acid for bed bugs, click here.
If you’re ever unfortunate enough to find out your bed is being invaded by insects, go try and natural product. It’s cheap, it’s harmless to you and your pets, and it works to kill insects. Thanks to this versatile sodium compound, you’ll be able to sleep with peace of mind, hopefully never wake up to nasty bites again.
