Pest Strategies

After traveling, you may have returned home with some unwelcome visitors: bed bugs. Though bed bugs don’t pose an immediate threat to your health, they can irritate your skin and potentially cause an allergic reaction due to their bites. To help you with your infestation, Pest Strategies researched various products on Amazon in search of the best bed bug spray. Check out our top recommendations.

 

Buying Guide

Bed bug sprays include a wide variety of products, including repellents that keep bed bugs and other insects at bay and killer sprays designed to kill bed bugs on contact. From natural ingredients to powerful chemicals and travel-sized pocket sprays, here’s what to consider when choosing the best bed bug spray. 

• Contact vs residual: Contact bed bug sprays are fast-acting, meaning they’re intended to kill bed bugs and other types of insects shortly after they’re hit with the spray. Residual bed bug sprays provide a much longer-lasting effect to the areas you treat, but won’t kill bed bugs on contact. In the case of most bed bug infestations, it’s a good idea to use a combination of both. 

• Ingredients: Most conventional bed bug sprays use insecticides such as pyrethrin or pyrethroid to target and maim these pests. However, in recent years, bed bugs have been shown to develop resistance against these insecticides. Unless you want to opt for natural, non-toxic bed bug sprays, such as ones that use geranium oil or geraniol, look for insecticides like neonicotinoids that work in tandem with pyrethrin or pyrethroid. 

• Residue: No one likes wiping up smelly bed bug spray residue off of furniture and clothing, but with many bed bug sprays, unfortunately, that’s the case. Some bed bug sprays are designed to dry clear and won’t stain furniture. Make sure to read the instructions carefully before using, and apply a small amount of the bed bug spray onto an inconspicuous area. 

• Odor: Much like wiping up residue from chemical-laden products, conventional bed bug sprays are also known to smell bad. This smell will dissipate over time — to get a better sense of just how potent these smells are, read customer reviews for the product. Natural bed bug sprays that utilize essential oils are a worthy alternative that don’t smell as bad as chemical sprays. 

 

 

FAQs

• How do I know if I have bed bugs? 

Scratching or itching is the most telltale sign of a bed bug infestation. Other characteristic signs include seeing black fecal matter on the corners of your bed sheets or mattress. It’s also not uncommon to see a red stain on your bed after you’ve crushed bed bugs that have recently eaten. Sometimes, the empty exoskeleton of matured bed bugs is visible to the naked eye after the bed bugs have shed their skin. 

• Are bed bug sprays effective? 

While bed bug sprays may not eliminate all of the bed bugs in a given area, using a bed bug spray or a combination of multiple sprays will certainly help curb your infestation until a professional exterminator arrives. In any case, you should do a thorough search of your house and identify any places where bed bugs could be living. We recommend using a generous amount of spray regularly. 

• Are bed bug sprays safe to use? 

Even bed bug sprays that use potent insecticides can be safe to use around your bedding and on your clothing, so long as you carefully follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Don’t touch anything that you’ve sprayed until it’s fully dried, and if you’re concerned about exposure to toxic chemicals, consider opting for a natural bed bug spray that uses non-toxic active ingredients, such as essential oils. 

 

 

Pest Strategies provides reviews of select products that are top-selling on Amazon and/or popular in consumer searches. Our team evaluates the products based on industry research, consumer reviews, pricing data, and other objective criteria. Unless otherwise noted, these product reviews are intended to help inform buying decisions for non-professionals. Because pest control products can be dangerous to your family if mishandled, we always recommend consulting with an exterminator, even if just to ask for advice on how to apply pest control products yourself.