Okay, you should have carried out the first part of the extermination i.e. de-cluttered the room, laundered or heat treated garments and soft furnishings and used the vacuum to get rid of eggs, nymphs and bugs from EVERY area, including furniture.

It's time now to make a informed choice - which bed bug killer to use?

You may decide to hire or buy a steam cleaning machine, bed bugs cannot withstand heat so using steam is a excellent bed bug killer! After you have used the vacuum cleaner on the whole room, methodically follow the same path with the steam cleaner, you will find more information on how to do this in my article How to Kill Bed Bugs Using Steam.

Alternatively you could go for a bed bug spray, this is not very straight forward as there are vast numbers of products available. Personally I have bought one called Bed Bug Patrol which is manufactured using just natural plant extracts like Euginia Carophylla, Mentha Piperita, and Sodium Lauryl Sulphate from Coconut Extract. These constituents are completely harmless to humans and pets but lethal to bed bugs, killing them immediately and at all stages of development. Some alternative products do not kill bed bug eggs because they are unable to permeate the outer skin.

Speaking honestly I would have to say that using both these methods as a combination is probably the most effective way to kill bed bugs. So the process would be Vacuum --> Steam --> Spray.

But, there are yet more things you can do.

Using of fossil shell dust can also be a good bed bug killer. As an alternative to a non toxic spray, having thoroughly steam cleaned the room you might want to sprinkle a dusting of this around. Fossil shell dust too is 100% natural and is produced by crushing fossil shells and other marine life. It kills quite simply by getting into the waxy skin of the bed bugs causing them to dehydrate and die.

You might purchase bed bug traps! These are extremely easy to use and again 100% natural. Stick one trap to each bed post, chair leg or whatever and as the bugs begin to climb to feed ( on your blood) they become helplessly stuck on the trap and die. Believe it or not these are actually really effective!

The final product you may want to consider buying are mattress and box spring encasements. These can be used for two purposes, to prevent bed bugs ever infiltrating your mattress and box spring should you be unfortunate enough to have an infestation. Secondly you may use them to trap any remaining bed bugs which will eventually die. However, it has to be said, these horrid little bugs can survive for up to a year without feeding so, don't be tempted to remove these encasements too soon.

As you can see there are many options for getting rid of bed bugs but finding the right bed bug killer is not always easy. Doing the job yourself will save you money but it will take a good deal of time and effort.