How to Repel Bed Bugs from Skin: Naturally, While Sleeping

if one room has bed bugs do they all
Bed bug Cimex lectularius parasitic insects of the cimicid family feeds on human blood

Explore the various ingenious ways you can use to repel bed bugs from your skin. So if you feel that bedbugs may be unfairly targeting you, which is not necessarily true, you may consider going a step further to embrace bed bug deterrence techniques.

Why bed bugs bite only me?

Well, this is usually a common problem across the globe, because apparently you may find that in a family of three or more people, only one person is always being bitten by these parasites.

At the moment scientists are still working on this, to find out exactly what attracts these bugs to some people and not to others.

Nevertheless, there is a general theory that bed bugs are usually attracted to us based on the scent of blood and our bodily warmth.

In that case, if in your family you are the only one that is being bitten by these bugs then perhaps your blood scent is stronger than that of other family members.

Or it could be that your body temperatures are good to these pests, making them to prefer your body that those others.

The other reason could be that you are highly stressed than the other people you are living with. In particular, there is a hypothesis that the smell of stress attracts more bugs to an individual.

That means if you are sleeping with another person who is less stressed than you, then the bugs are more likely to bite you than the other person.

Further, if you are obese or pregnant (if you are a woman that is) you are more likely to attract these bugs than those individuals who are not obese or pregnant.

These groups of people generate more carbon dioxide and heat, which these bugs love than the other people.

Lastly, if you like exercising too much then it means you are generating a high level of lactic acid. Bed bugs just like the other kinds of bugs get attracted to the odor produced by high levels of lactic acid.

Automatically, if you are the only one exercising in the family, then that gives you an answer why you are the bed bugs’ favorite person.

How to repel bed bugs from the skin

Given that your skin produces a specific scent that attracts these parasites it means we have a chance to use specific methods to ensure that we keep them away from our skin.

For instance, you can use pharmaceutical repellants, which you can easily buy at various authorized pharmaceutical stores across the globe.

I have used the term “authorized’ to emphasize the essence of purchasing the repellants from stores that have been allowed by the government to sell their products.

Remember, some stores may be selling ingenuine repellents, which may have severe side effects to your skin when you use them.

Well, after you have purchased these repellents ensure that you only spray them to the open skin areas every night before you sleep because that will be the main target for these pests.

The other method is the use of sweet-smelling oil, which entirely depends on your preference. These oils will help in hiding the scent of your blood and other odors that usually attract the bugs.

If you apply the oil every night before you sleep, then you would have successfully managed to keep the bugs away from your skin.

The other easiest approach you can use is to always wear long pajamas, which covers all your body parts.  That way the bugs will have no access of your skin.

How to prevent bed bug bites naturally

The most natural of preventing these parasite bites is through the maintenance of general cleanliness. Always make sure that your house is well washed and arranged to prevent these bugs from infesting in your house.

They mostly like dirt and therefore, when you remove dirt, you have denied them a hiding place.

Also, make sure that your beddings are well washed, perhaps after every two days to prevent creating a hiding place for the bed bugs.

Bed bug repellents for Skin

The optimal bed bug repellents for human skin are those that have a minimum of 25 percent DEET.  Having said that, the following are suck kind of repellents, which are highly recommended for you to use.

#1. OFF

OFF consist of 98 % DEET (IUPAC name: N, N-Diethyl-3-methylbenzamide). The product has been proven to be exceptionally effective in repelling bed bugs, especially if applied well before one retires to bed.

You can buy OFF across the major stores such as Walmart, Amazon, and eBay, or any other authorized pharmaceutical store near you.

#2. Bug Barrier Insect Repellent

This product contains 100 percent DEET. It has 83 percent repellency after 8 hours. That means if you apply it at 10 pm, you will be protected throughout the night against bed bug bites.

The product can be bought at any online store like eBay, Walmart, and Amazon, or any other government-licensed pharmaceutical stores across to your place.

Homemade bed bug repellent

You can make the repellent at home using vinegar. In a particular case, you are supposed to do the following:

  1. Buy vinegar from authorized stores such as Walmart.
  2. Into an empty bottle pour all your vinegar and tighten the lid to make sure it is safe.
  3. You can spray it directly onto the bugs to kill them or make them run into an area that has a higher concentration of vinegar.
  4. To ensure that these pests do not come back, you can soak your carpets, and mattresses and spray all the areas including corners using vinegar.

How to trick bed bugs

There are a number of ways you can trick these bugs, but the easiest is throwing all your heavily infested clothes, beddings, and socks into an extremely hot dryer and let them be there for not less than 30 minutes.

This trick will kill all the bugs on the infested clothing or beddings.

FAQs on bed bug repellents

Certainly, there are several frequently asked questions about these parasites, but the most common are:

Do fabric softener sheets repel bed bugs?

Yes, they can repel these parasites, but one is required to use them together with the other methods of repelling or preventing the heavy invasion of these parasites.

References on bed bug repulsion

  • https://animals.mom.me/bugs-bite-only-certain-people-5932.html
  • https://experthometips.com/home-remedies-for-bed-bugs
  • https://www.bed-bugs-handbook.com/bed-bug-repellent.html

READ MORE: Easy Steps to Remove Bed Bugs in Mattress Covers Permanently

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