When bed bugs make their way into your safe space, you want them gone as quickly as possible. Since alcohol can be used to kill small organisms that would infect your body, does alcohol kill bed bugs?
It’s Not All About Sanitation
Bed bugs do not depend on the lack of sanitation to survive. Alcohol is a great sterilizer, but bed bugs will walk over a sterile or non-sterile area alike to reach their host. They just want that blood meal.
Even though lack of sterility does not lend itself to bed bugs, cleaning areas with alcohol can help remove scents that would attract other bed bugs to a place you are trying to eliminate them from.
An Ineffective Kill
Alcohol can kill a bed bug, but it is an ineffective control mechanism against bed bug populations. Alcohol evaporates quickly. As soon as it is gone, it is gone. In fact, bed bugs would need to be soaked in alcohol to die from it. So any bed bug you could effectively treat with alcohol, you would be better off just squishing it with the stomping method.
What Can Be Done?
There are many bed bug control devices available on the market including:
- EPA registered chemicals
- Traps & monitoring devices
- Heat treatments
- Cryogenic freezing
- Fumigation
Each of these tools has its strengths and weaknesses. As with most things, it is best to use a combination of effective tools and methods to efficiently reach complete control. The experts at Rove Pest Control can provide you with the tools and know-how needed to get the job done right the first time and let you avoid further bites from blood meals.