In an age of viral home remedies and DIY hacks, bed bugs get their share of quick-fix solutions. One of the simplest proposed solutions you might have seen mentioned online is using fabric softening dryer sheets to prevent bed bugs. Simply put, this is not an effective method.
The latest urban legend says you should place dryer sheets under your mattress, in drawers, under sofa cushions and pretty much everywhere you think a bed bug might try to live. The hope is that this will drive away the bed bugs and ultimately get rid of your problem. Unfortunately, this is a myth and is not backed by any scientific studies. There’s no proof that dryer sheets will kill, or even repel bed bugs.
When you start to dissect this myth, other issues with it will quickly come up. Even if dryer sheets repelled bed bugs (which they don’t, that would cause these pesky bugs to just move to another space to avoid the dryer sheets. Instead of solving your bed bug problem, this would make it worse by causing the bed bugs to spread. If you were to place dryer sheets everywhere, and if they were to actually repel bed bugs, you would be faced with one of two dilemmas. Either your bed bugs would not die and continue to thrive as normal, or your bed bugs would disperse to areas without dryer sheets and continue to live and multiply.
Using dryer sheets will not get rid of bed bugs, and shouldn’t be taken seriously as a method to help clear up your infestation. Instead, speak with a pest management professional who can provide you with the best solution for treating your bed bug problem in a cost-effective way.
To talk to a member of our pest management team today to learn about effective bed bug removal methods, please give our office a call or learn more on our website.
151 Lake Rd, Easley, SC 29642 | Phone: 864-368-9261
