8 Best Essential Oils for Bed Bugs and How to Get Rid of Them

Bed bugs are a nightmare; once you get them, it's more difficult to get rid of them than almost any other pest. They're tough to kill, they breed quickly, and their eggs can lie dormant for years before hatching. Adults can live for up to a year without feeding, too.

Often, people resort to fumigating their whole home to get rid of them. That's because it's one of the only ways to be sure that you've wiped out the entire breeding population of adults and all the eggs, too. The downside, of course, is that you'll have to leave your home for some time and your home will be filled with toxic chemicals.

While those chemicals will have dissipated by the time you're allowed to return to your home, you still be uncomfortable with the thought that they were used there.

In addition, some people simply can't afford the costs of fumigation. In addition to paying a pest control company, you also have to find a place to stay during the process, which often costs even more.

There are natural, affordable, and effective methods for removing bedbugs that can work just as well as fumigation, but by far the best approach is to prevent bed bugs from getting a foothold in your home to begin with, or at least to get rid of them before they spread throughout the home.

Essential oils can be an extremely helpful tool in preventing and removing bedbugs, and they're clean, safe, and frankly they smell much better than the pesticides used by pest control companies.

All About Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are small insects that feed on human blood. They get their name from the fact that they're nocturnal. Since they're active almost entirely at night, they tend to live and infect beds more than any other part of the home, and most bites occur in bed.

That doesn't mean they only live in beds, though. Bed bugs can be and are found in all parts of the home, and if you're a night owl living with a bed bug infestation you'll likely see bed bugs crawling around on your skin while sitting on the couch watching TV late at night.

Many people mistakenly treat only their beds or bedrooms when trying to remove bedbugs. Even if they only live in your bed right now, they can easily travel to other parts of your home.

Bed bugs are small, flat, oval-shaped insects with a dark brown color. They only eat blood, and adults can live for a year without eating, so they can be very difficult to get rid of.

An individual bed bug only eats once or twice a week, so with minor infestations you may go several days between being bitten.

Body heat and carbon dioxide attract them to you, rather than scent. Since they prefer exposed skin, you're most likely to find bites on your face, neck, arms and legs. A bed bug infestation is not the result of poor hygiene, as is commonly believed.

Hygiene has nothing to do with it, and you can find your home infested with them no matter how clean you are. Bed bugs do not live on skin, so pets and other animals are also not a vector for bed bug infestation.

Instead, bed bugs spread on furniture, clothing, backpacks, and other personal items. They can also spread through proximity- in apartment buildings, for example, it's common for bedbugs to spread through the duct work and walls.

Symptoms of Bed Bug Bites

While its rare, some people do experience an allergic reaction to bed bug bites. Other than these rare cases, bed bug bites are largely harmless. Bed bugs are not known to carry diseases like other biting insects, nor do they inject any sort of toxins.

The biggest problem with bed bug bites is that they're itchy and uncomfortable, not unlike a mosquito bite. While this doesn't sound too bad, a major bed bug infestation can result in dozens of bites every night, and it's enough to drive anyone crazy.

Bites are usually the first sign that you have bed bugs. Since they're active primarily at night and mostly bite while you sleep, it's unusual to spot them before you're bitten. If you're waking up each morning with new bug bites, you know you have bed bugs.

Bed bug bites produce swelling with no redness, although a red spot may appear when the swelling subsides.

Getting Rid of Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to exterminate. If you don't kill every single bed bug, the infestation will come back very quickly. Pesticides are common and effective, but they are not the only option.

Heat is a very effective tool for killing bed bugs. Placing sheets and other fabric in the dryer can kill bed bugs at all life stages, and clothing steamers can kill them, too. One common approach is to buy specially made rubber mattress wrappers that trap the bed bugs inside the mattress.

While this works, it only kills bed bugs that are in the mattress, which may not be all of them, and you'll have to leave it one for over a year, since adults can go that long without eating.

Essential oils can be used to repel bed bugs, just like any other insect. Regular and consistent use of essential oils may even end an infestation by driving the bugs to leave your home in search of other food sources.

Essential oils may work better than other non-pesticide solutions simply because they're easier and more pleasant to use with consistency.

Some essential oils may simply prevent the bed bugs from locating you, while others will actively repel them, or even kill them. Using a combination of several essential oils may prove to be most effective. You can also use essential oils to relieve the symptoms of bed bug bites.

Best Essential Oils for Bed Bugs

Not every essential oil will repel bed bugs, so it's important to choose the right essential oils. The following oils are all known to be effective against bed bugs.

Clove Essential Oil

Peppermint Essential Oil

Cedarwood Essential Oil

Cedarwood Oil is commonly used as an outdoor insect repellent in gardening, and it's very effective. In fact, cedar trees produce this oil specifically to repel insects to protect themselves from predation. It is literally a natural insecticide.

The aroma of cedar oil repels insect, and if the oil comes in to physical contact with them it's lethal. That means cedarwood oil has a double effect as an insecticide, as it both repels and kills them.

If you've ever smelled a cedarwood scented candle, or just fresh cut cedarwood, you know what cedarwood oil smells like. It's a sweet, woody, fresh smell that's remarkably pleasant.

Cedarwood has numerous other benefits, as well. It's an anti inflammatory, so you can apply it to bed bug bites for quick relief. It also regulates blood pressure, improves sleep, and can even treat acne.

This cedarwood oil is steam distilled from Moroccan cedar trees. The scent is a bit sharper than other cedarwood oils, and the oil itself is pure and potent.

Lavender Essential Oil

Tea Tree Essential Oil

Eucalyptus Essential Oil

Lemon Essential Oil

Lemon oil is most common in cleaning products, where it provides a fresh scent as well as powerful cleaning properties. It helps to relieve stress, promotes sleep by relieving insomnia, and can also treat fevers.

The scent of lemon oil repels insects, although it may work best in combination with other oils rather than on its own. As with other oils listed here, it probably doesn't actually harm them, but they still find the smell offensive and it will repel them.

While many oils are distilled, lemon oil can be easily obtained by pressing lemon peels. This cold pressed lemon oil is made with pristine Italian lemons. It has a wonderfully bright, fresh scent that instantly freshens up a room.

Frankincense Essential Oil

Frankincense has been used for medicinal and religious purposes for thousands of years. Frankincense comes from the sap of a species of tree native to the Middle East, India, and parts of North Africa. The oil is distilled from that sap.

Frankincense is a very powerful anti inflammatory, so it's an excellent choice for treating bug bites. It's also a very soothing scent that can help you to relax- a valuable benefit in a situation as stressful as a bed bug infestation.

Frankincense has been used as a natural insect repellent since ancient times. The smoke of burning frankincense keeps mosquitoes away, much like modern citronella candles. Bugs hate the smell of frankincense, so it's an effective insect repellent.

This frankincense comes conveniently packaged in a roll-on bottle, so it's an ideal choice for treating bed bug bites. The only ingredients are frankincense oil and MCT oil, so you don't have to worry about any toxic ingredients.

How to Use Essential Oils as Insect Repellent

The best way to use essential oils as insect repellents is to mix a few drops of essential oils with water in a spray bottle. Once you have your anti-bed bug spray mixed, you'll need to apply it correctly.

First, spray your mattress, box spring, and bedding thoroughly. Once that's done, spray all along the base boards in every room of your home. Bed bugs like to hide in the walls, and covering the base boards in insect repellent prevents them from climbing the walls or finding cracks to hide in.

Next, spray down all of your fabric-covered furniture. Couches, chairs, guest beds, etc. Every place where bed bugs could potentially hide needs to get a good dose of insect repellent. You don't want to drive them out of your bedroom and into a different room in the house.

The next step is critical: keep applying that spray. Remember: adult bed bugs can survive for a year without eating. One application isn't going to be enough, and you definitely want to reapply the spray before you see bed bugs again. Two or even three applications a week for a year should do the trick.

Conclusion

Essential oils can be a great way to get rid of bed bugs. They're non-toxic, effective, and they smell great. It might take a bit more work on your part than other treatments, but it's much more pleasant and usually much cheaper than using pesticides. Any of the essential oils on this list will work, but for best results mix a few of them together.

Are there any other essential oils for bed bugs which were not mentioned in the blog post? Share them in the comments below.

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