After waking up to red bites on your body and searching your mattress, you may have discovered that you have been sharing your bed with bed bugs. While bed bugs do not only take up residence in beds as their name suggests, you may be wondering if there is anything you can do to help reduce their numbers and to help you sleep at night. Along with contacting a professional pest control service to get rid of them, use the following tips for treating your bedding after discovering that you have a bed bug infestation.

1.  Lay Your Pillows and Large Comforters in the Sun

One thing you can do to help get rid of at least some of the bed bugs that are hiding in your beds is to lay your pillows and large comforters out in the sun. Bed bugs cannot survive in environments that are extremely hot, and the ultraviolet rays of the sun can help kill them.

However, you cannot simply lay your bedding out on the lawn. You also need to wrap everything up in thick plastic to help contain and build the heat. The bedding should also be exposed to the sunlight for a couple of days, so check your weather forecast for consecutive sunny days, and leave everything outside.

When you are finished, take everything out of the bags while they are still outside, and shake them. Then, use the next tip to help kill any bed bugs that may have survived their ordeal.

2.  Wash Your Bedding a Couple of Times a Week

Once you have given your larger items a sunbath, the next thing you should do is to wash everything, including the sheets, blankets, pillows, and comforters. When you do this, make sure that you use the highest temperature settings on both your washing machine and dryer.

Along with using regular detergent while you are washing your bedding, also add about a half of a cup to a cup of rubbing alcohol, depending on the size of the load. The alcohol adds another offensive measure to kill the bed bugs. You will need to repeat this process a couple of times until you can get some help with exterminating the bugs.

While using the above tips can help keep the bug population somewhat under control, bed bugs are very difficult to get rid of by yourself. As soon as possible, contact a pest control company that offers bed bug removal services to discuss your options for getting the bugs out of your home.