Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

These do not attract bed bugs, they do not kill bed bugs and they do not prevent an infestation. But than again it doesnt really claim to do any of these things. It claims to trap them so you can spot an infestation. Thing is it does this by basically being a glue trap and hoping that a bug happens to walk across it. Even for its stated purpose you need a ton of these all over the place and hope the bug happens to walk over it. That pretty much means that even when these are working as intended, they are a pointless waste of time. You will get as much protection from these as a piece of double sided tape (which isnt much...) As bed bug killers and prevention these are 100% useless (but it technically doesnt claim to do these things) As bed bug detectors (which they claim to be) they work about 20% of the time and require the bugs to accidentally step in them These are basically a gimmick with a cute name that is designed for a quick sell in the hopes you arent smart enough to read the package and realize just how worthless it is ---- If you want to get rid of bed bugs; the most effective way is going to be from a professional exterminator. If that is currently not an option the best home treatment is diatomaceous earth food grade. All of your bedding and clothing needs to be washed and dried regularly (every few days); the most important thing is to ensure that you have a dryer capable of achieving over 120 degrees temperature, this will kill eggs. Specially designed heating boxes can also be used and have the advantage of being usable for things you wouldnt normally put in a dryer (you can heat treat your luggage and books, etc) Bed frames need to be completely dissembled and examined for infestation. Once put back together a bed should be isolated from the floor using two pans (one smaller inside the other and the bed legs sitting in it). Mineral oil is placed in the pans. No bedding can be allowed to drape off the bed onto the floor and nothing else should touch the bed. Bugs that make it into the pans will not be able to get out of the oil and youll be able to tell if they were coming in or trying to get out by which pan they are in. This is the closest you will get to early detection for more bugs. Mattresses should be sealed in plastic, pillows too. diatomaceous earth food grade should be spread between mattress and box spring, under the bed and dusted in a circle around the bed. This can also be used in sofa cushions, and under and around furniture. If you get enough you can spread it into all wall cracks and around the edges of rooms. Also, make a circle of the stuff around your dryer (bugs will try to escape the dryer as it warms up) The beauty of diatomaceous earth is that it also kills many other bugs as well. Its a safe all natural substance that is so dry it causes insects to dry up and die. If there are any gaps in your circle around the bed, the bugs will walk around the earth and get to the bed, they will attempt to avoid areas treated by it If you need a direct contact spray to kill bed bugs: 91% alcohol sprayed on them, will kill them. But this requires direct contact and wears off of the area quickly so it is only usable if you happen to see them in full view or stumble on a nest that needs to be cleaned. You cannot use it as a long term preventive spray, it simply evaporates. Rather than spraying individual bugs I simply keep a roll of tape near the bed and use the tape to pick up stray bugs (not that this is a long term solution, but in the first days of dealing with the problem and while you prep your other supplies to clean up the house, having a roll of tape nearby for picking up stray bugs is better than nothing) diatomaceous earth food grade, mineral oil isolation pans and heat treatments are the only effective methods of long term prevention and detection that are even close to effective without an exterminator. Spray alcohol and scotch tape are cheap (very short term) solutions to individual bugs Take a very close look at garbage products like buggy beds, there are lots on the market which are simply glue traps, tape traps and expensive variations on plastic trays used to isolate a bed (which can be done with cheap aluminum pans that dont break as easily). Most of the sprays are no better than alcohol and just as short term effective. Also, I do not recommend bug bombs for bed bugs: bug bombs work in two ways: first they chase away bugs and than they leave behind a residual residue. Thing is, for other bug types that get chased off they might stay away; bed bugs dont, they will just come back so the first part is going to be useless other than to spread the problem to your neighbors, it wont get rid of most of your own either. The second part, the residual works only on bugs that clean themselves by licking (like cockroaches), but bed bugs do not clean themselves which means they never ingest the residue and they wont die from it. diatomaceous earth drys them from the outside on contact so it will kill them and is the only type of residue that works vs bed bugs (vs other types of bugs diatomaceous earth works even faster if they ingest it by cleaning themselves)