Does Lavender Oil Keep Away Bed bugs?


Dave Campbell

Bed bugs are some of the most dreaded pests that could ever invade your living space. While some pests, such as roaches and ants invade your food, bedbugs target you for food. Besides the painful bed bug bites and the reddish rashes left behind, they will actually cause discomfort that will rob you of sleep and sanity. The nightmare with bed bugs is the worst at night when all you need is a warm place to lay your head. This is when they come out in troops and prepare for a hearty meal. No matter what you do, its impossible to ignore bedbug bites. If they are bothering you will want to know how to kill bed bugs fast.

Does it work?

An ideal hiding place, an available host, and warmth to support breeding and multiplication are exactly what bed bugs look for before invading a place. If your home, car, office or restaurant is invaded, it probably is because it provides these essential basics. Although there are many purported remedies out there, only a handful actually work. Natural solutions such as using essential oils, come highly recommended as chances of side effects are ruled out. The last thing you need is inhaling chemicals from your mattress all night long.
me. This is where natural lavender oil for bed bugs and bedbug nymphs may be helpful.

bed bug

Natural essential oils, such as Lavender, have variant uses around the home.Lavender has for a long time been used to repel insects, bugs, and pests. People who have home gardens have particularly experienced the power of lavender spray. While certain insects keep weeds off their gardens, they can be a nuisance to humans. Rubbing a bit of lavender on your skin will keep bed bugs off of you.

So, does lavender oil for bed bugs work? The answer is, Yes it does help, but only when implemented correctly. In this case, using lavender oil in all your infested belongings could successfully get rid of bed bugs over time. Using a spray bottle of concentrated lavender oil directly on bed bugs is lethal and one method that may possibly destroy the larva and young ones on the spot.

Did you know that there are different species of lavender? Most people do not. With the wide array of lavender oil in the market, you are likely to get duped into buying fake products that will do nothing for your bed bug infestation. In order to successfully eliminate these blood-sucking bugs, it is important that you use genuine products. Some of the most popular natural lavender oils that you are likely to encounter in the market include;

(a) English Lavender
(b) Dutch Lavender
(c) French Lavender
(d) Spanish Lavender

These products normally have their botanical names stated on the bottles. This is how you distinguish between genuine and synthetic lavender oil. You’ll also be pleased to learn that each one of these different lavender oils has its unique use. For instance, the English Lavender oil is ideal for the skin. Its botanical name is L. angustifolia and it is the ingredient that you will find in most body care products. When applied to the skin, it will repel bed bugs so you do not have to worry about these little critters crawling around your body. It is also what campers and hikers use when out exploring nature.

lavender

Lavender – how to use it against bed bugs

If you have a bed bug infestation problem, you may need to apply this natural essential oil all over your body before getting cozy under the covers. The oil is one effective way to help repel bed bugs and make them source their meal for the day elsewhere.

As much as this will create a temporary solution, a bed bug infestation is a much bigger problem to deal with this way. You need a permanent solution that will render your furniture and home bed bug free.

Before facing the problem head-on, it is best that you are certain that bed bugs are indeed the problem. Bed bugs are not the only biters out there; rats, roaches, mosquitoes and other crawling insects will bite even when unprovoked. So it is important to know which smells will repel bed bugs.

picture of dead bed bugs

 

How to make a lavender oil spray

Drops of lavender oil may be used directly on the larva or young bed bugs to kills them. Alternatively, you could make a lavender oil spray whereby you mix a tablespoonful of lavender oil with 500ml of water. Spray the solution in all the areas that you suspect the bed bugs to be hiding out. These include; bed frame and joints, mattress seams, upholstery, sofa, carpet, cracks in walls, torn wallpaper and clothes. Use lavender oil in a spray bottle and it will repel the bed bugs and force them to seek refuge elsewhere around the home.

baby bed bug pictures
Bed bug development from baby to adult

Other ways of using lavender

Steam cleaning

Another grand way to use lavender oil to eliminate a bed bug infestation is by adding a few drops of it in your steamer. Bed bugs can not withstand high temperatures so steaming the infested garments, furniture, mattress and carpets/rugs might just do the trick. In this case, add the recommended amount of water in the steamer and add a few drops of lavender oil in it. Steam the areas without leaving a spot then wait. You might need to repeat this a few times before you can completely solve your bed bug problem. Before giving this method a try, it is best that you inquire if lavender oil is safe to use with the steamer. Some of them get blocked or malfunction if anything other than pure water is used while others function perfectly fine.

 

Powder

Another way of treating a bed bug problem, is to use lavender powder. While using lavender powder won’t kill bed bugs in your home or furniture, it could prove useful in keeping them at bay or making them stay away from certain places. You could try putting some powder on your bed sheets or carpets where there is an issue and see if it improves. It may also be useful in places that you don’t want to get wet if you had to use a bed bug spray. You would probably go through quite a lot of lavender powder, although it is quite cheap to buy.

Other natural essential oils to try

As well as using lavender oil, it might be worth trying other essential oils, such as using tea tree oil and eucalyptus oil. Mixed with water and used as a spray, they may prove an effective way to deal with bed bugs. They might not be able to kill bed bugs, but they may be useful as a safe alternative to chemicals.

FAQs

Can you use lavender directly on skin?

Yes, you could rub a mixture of lavender oil and some water on your body. The theory is the the aroma from the oil will repel bed bugs and stop them from biting.

A look at the benefits and uses of lavender oil for bed bugs and prove that it is effective in killing bed bugs and keeping them away from your home. However, if you want to kill the bed bugs and keep them away, this pest control method is only effective when implemented correctly. If too mild, the solution may not be strong enough to kill the bed bugs. If you fill your spray bottle with artificial lavender oil, the bed bugs will stay put and possibly increase in number. If you are looking for ways to kill bed bugs, there are other options for you to consider. Click here for effective bed bug sprays

 

 

Dave Campbell

I'm Dave Campbell and the owner of deadpestz.com. You can read more about me and my background on my About Me page.

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