Exterminating bed bugs in laptop or computer can be so tricky when you have no idea about how bed bugs live and choose a place to start their infestation. But, once you do know their habits, it is going to be easier to exterminate them. Here, you can set a trap based on their characteristics and behaviors.
First, let us start with why they choose your laptop or computer. If you observe their movement, you will find that bed bugs cannot crawl fast. Have you observed that there are only places and stuff near your bedroom that are being infested?
Here, it is. Bed bugs to stay near with their host to make sure they can have an effective move at night when they are most likely to act and find foods. A sleeping human is the best prey they have to look for. So, they will stay as close as possible with their host. Thus, it makes the bedroom is the best place for them, including behind the mattress, wall crack, and even your laptop or computer inside your bedroom.
Second, bed bugs only look for blood which means they wait for humans to fall asleep and then bite them. If you think clearly, sometimes, you will leave your laptop or computer around you while you are in your bedroom. It can be because you feel tired or you need your stuff as close as possible to you.
Then, here comes the problem. Basically, bed bugs cannot fly, so they have to crawl whenever they want to bite people from their nests. So, if it is possible, you do need to make your electronic gadgets stay away from you while you are sleeping. Learn more on how to get rid of bed bugs in electronics
Thus, do you want to set a trap or even eliminate bed bugs in the laptop or computer? Well, let us dive in.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs In Laptop
Having bed bugs in a laptop can be so annoying. Imagine that you are still typing and suddenly some bed bugs get out of the keyboard. Here, bed bugs can fit into a small space on your laptop. So, they can come inside your laptop from the keyboard or air hole.
Then, if you have read the explanation about the behavior of bed bugs, you will realize that there are some tricks to trap or even eliminate that bed bugs in laptop. Some part of the following tricks are developed by research in 2018. Let us check it out.
Removing Bed Bugs in Laptop by Inspection
Inspection is the most basic yet challenging thing to do when you want to get the bed bugs out of the laptop. This trick can be done by those who are expertise in reassembling the laptop. Here, you need to be careful to keep all the parts work well after you disassemble and clean them up. Let us check the steps to get rid of bed bugs in laptop by inspection.
Step 1. Preparation
To inspect bed bugs in laptop you need particular things such as:
- A set of screwdrivers. This tool is needed to disassemble your laptop into the parts.
- Some Ziploc bags. This bag is needed to keep the bed bugs in laptop parts to not escape.
- A Flashlight. This tool is needed to light the laptop parts.
- A magnifying glass. This tool is needed to inspect bed bugs in larva stages.
- A soft brush. This tool is needed to remove bed bugs.
- A pill bottle. Use this to keep the bed bugs.
Step 2. Identification
In this step, use your screwdriver to disassemble the laptop into the parts. Separate all the parts like motherboard/mainboard, fan, hard disk, memory, battery, processors, and etc. Make sure you are careful with LCD cables because it is quite susceptible.
Then, put the parts in different Ziploc bags; the bags for the parts that have been inspected, and the bags for the parts that have not inspected. In this case, some new brand laptops have a simple hardware design, so almost all of the hardware is on board planted.
Step 3. Inspection
Here, you need to use a flashlight and a magnifying glass to inspect the parts. In this case, you do need to have knowledge about the bed bugs’ appearance based on the age stages. Bed bugs in larva stages can be so small. It is about 1 mm, so it looks like dust.
Use your brush to remove bed bugs when you find it. Collect the bed bugs in the pill bottle. Please be careful while you use the brush. Some laptop parts such as processors and memory are quite susceptible. Please do not do this if you do not have a good knowledge of cleaning laptop parts.
Therefore, you can use other advanced tricks like vacuum and isolation to treat all the bed bugs inside the parts. Those tricks are likely safe for your laptop parts.
Step 4. Elimination
Here, after you finish all of the steps and collect the bed bugs, you have to eliminate the bed bugs. Here, you do need heat to kill the bed bugs. So, you can set a fire and burn all of the bed bugs. It is your choice to reuse the pill bottle for the next inspection or burn it all. The important thing here is that you have to make sure that all the bed bugs are burnt.
Step 5. Extra Tips
However, you can ask a professional to do this job. Of course, there is some extra cost to do that. Make sure you check the warranty first because there may some after-sales service that makes you get the free maintenance services.
But, if the pest infestation is not included, you do need either spend more money on it or do other tricks to treat bed bugs in a laptop. So, that is why inspection can be the hardest thing to do for treating bed bugs in laptop.
Treating Bed Bugs in Laptop by Isolation
Isolation technique can either protect your laptop from bed bugs or kill bed bugs inside your laptop. Here, there two reasons why isolation is needed; to make bed bugs suffer in desiccation and also starvation. The combination of those two conditions will make bed bugs cannot live longer.
Isolation is the easiest and most inexpensive to do. You only need to prepare some plastic bags. Here, the sealable or zippered bag works better. What you only need is just to put the laptop parts into plastic bags and seal them, waiting for the bed bugs desiccated and starved. It takes about 5 months or more.
So, if it is fine for you to wait that long, here are some useful tips for you.
Isolation Tips in Treating Bed Bugs in Laptop
First, you need some clear or transparent plastic bags. The plastic should be transparent so you can see the bed bugs easily. Here, the plastic should be completely isolated and airtight. In this case, if it is not airtight, you can use duct tape. Then, as a result, you can see clearly that bed bugs are in the corners of the isolated plastic bags, trying to escape.
Second, plastic bags should be strong without any small holes or gaps. Please remember that bed bugs in the early stages are so small. It is about 1 mm. So, if there is any gap with 1 mm size, they can escape easily. See? It is necessary to select the bags carefully.
Third, researches show that hot temperature can speed up starvation and desiccation process for bed bugs. Here, the average time to kill bed bugs in the sealed plastic bags is about five months or more. But, by store the sealed plastics bags at a higher temperature, it can speed up the time. However, you do need to find out first the temperature limitation for every single laptop parts you keep. So, the heat will not harm them.
To be concluded, you need a very good sealed plastic bag for at least 5 months or more. Also, doing isolation techniques needs a quite long time to treat bed bugs in a laptop unless you can speed it up. Choose this technique if you can live without your laptop for a while.
However, the isolation technique is also worth preventing any of your stuff while you are traveling. So, you can stay safe wherever you go. Or, if you find that your office is being infested by bed bugs, you can also do this technique to prevent the spread of bed bugs by carrying bed bugs inside your stuff.
Treating Bed Bugs in Laptop by Vacuum
Vacuuming technique is useful when people need to treat the bed bugs quickly. In this technique, surely, people need to inspect the laptop first which means disassemble it into parts. Here, vacuuming works better when the laptop is disassembled into the parts.
Vacuuming the laptop parts can be more effective. It is because you can make sure that every single space in the inside can be cleaned. However, you do need to use a certain particular vacuum to treat bed bugs in laptop. Let us check it out.
Step 1. Preparation
Here, your vacuum is needed to catch any bed bugs eggs and their shed skins. It is because, in fact, bed bugs nymphs can hide in shed skins. So, it is hoped that your laptop parts can be completely clean after the treatment.
Thus, here is what you need to vacuum bed bugs in laptop:
- A vacuum.
- Vacuum attachments: crack, a crevice tool, and brush.
- Knee-high stockings to protect vacuum from bed bugs and keep the bed bugs in one place.
- Rubber band.
- Sealed plastic bags to isolate vacuum attachments after use.
Step 2. Reassembling
In this step, you do need to reassemble the vacuum and other attachments. Here are the following steps you need to do.
- Use the stocking in the hose end. It is useful to collect all the vacuumed waste including bed bugs. So, you can remove it when the vacuuming is done. Place it inside the vacuum.
- Then, roll the cuff down. Make sure it is tight and secure. Use the rubber band to secure it.
- At the last, insert the crack and crevice tool.
Here, the stocking is very useful to store all the waste, including bed bugs. Therefore, it is necessary to treat the stocking well after the use. Make sure the bed bugs cannot escape and spread from it.
Step 3. Targeting
In this step, you can vacuum all of the laptop parts or just a few parts of the laptop. The point is that the parts that do not go to the vacuuming process, must be completely clean and free from bed bugs.
Here, some laptop parts need more attention. The parts like hard disk, motherboard, fan, and any other spaces inside are likely the best place for them to hide. Also, do not forget to vacuum the entire keyboard.
Step 4. Vacuuming
In this step, vacuum the laptop parts carefully. Do not let any single spot left. If it is necessary, repeat it a few times until the parts are clean. Also, make sure you separate the clean laptop parts into the plastic bags. So, the one that has been cleaned will not be infested anymore.
Use any vacuum attachments to make your work easier and cleaner. But, do not forget to clean them after use. For example, bed bugs’ eggs can be so sticky to your brush. So, keep it clean.
After finishing the vacuuming process, you can burn the stockings. Or, if you still need it, please clean it. Washing it in hot water can help you to kill bed bugs. However, single-use can give you a better guarantee.
Treating Bed Bugs in Laptop by Heat
Using heat to treat bed bugs is a very effective method. If you set the right temperature, the heat will kill both bed bugs and their eggs in less than 1 minute. Is it pretty impressive right? Well, let us check the temperature vs the time needed to kill bed bugs based on recent research.
- The heat at 113°F can kill adult beg bugs in 90 minutes and their eggs in 8 hours.
- The heat at 118°F can kill adult beg bugs in 2 minutes and their eggs in 90 minutes.
- The heat at 122°F can kill adult beg bugs in 0 minutes and their eggs in 0 minutes.
Then, treating bed bugs by heat actually can be done in various ways, depending on the material that is needed to be cleaned. In this case, the thing that is needed to be cleaned from bed bugs is laptop. So, the treatment is kind of more specific. Let us check it out.
Use a hairdryer to treat bed bugs in laptop
As the electronic parts, a laptop has a very limited condition to face heat. Here, electronic parts cannot be treated with very high heat. So, we do need a safe tool to treat bed bugs in laptop. In this case, if you are not happy to use the heater chamber, surely we need a hairdryer.
The use of a hairdryer to treat bed bugs in laptop may make people laugh. But, it is better than just let the bugs infest all the electronic things you have. Also, a hairdryer can heat more than 140°F. So, a hairdryer is a perfect choice.
However, some laptop parts do need to be checked first. Not all electronic parts can stand in the high heat. So, it is necessary to find out the temperature that each of the laptop parts cans stands with. Please check it carefully because the recommended heat from the hairdryer is more than 140°F to kill bed bugs in laptop.
Therefore, if you find that your laptop parts are susceptible to heat, you can either choose other techniques or ask professionals to treat bed bugs in laptop. Here, you have to make sure that the heat technique you use is safe for your laptop parts.
Cheap Trick to Trap Bed Bugs in Laptop
First, if you have a lot of money, you can ask a service center to separate your laptop into pieces, clean the parts carefully, and reassemble them into a whole laptop. The problem is done. But, if you do not have much money, you can start it by putting your laptop inside a Ziploc bag.
Second, this vacuum bag can make either bed bugs in laptop go outside or stay there. Make sure you put your Ziploc bag far away from you for a few days. The bed bugs here will look for foods that can make them crawl outside. Here, if they do not go outside, you can use CO2 gas to push them to go outside.
Third, prepare the adhesive paper to make a fortress around the Ziploc bag. Here, you can make a small hole from the bag and let them go outside instinctively. Make sure the hole is near the adhesive tape.
Fourth, bed bugs cannot fly, so they will crawl. In this trap, bed bugs will crawl and cross the adhesive tape. This kind of tape is sticky enough to trap them. You can make some layers of the adhesive tape to make sure the bed bugs are trapped. Also, you can use other things to lure the bed bugs out of the Ziploc bag.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs in Computer
There are some ways for bed bugs to get into your house. Then, in this case, exterminating bed bugs in computer seems easier because you can separate the parts inside the CPU and reassemble them by yourself.
Here, you can fully clean the case of the computer because every single part of the CPU can be separated and reassembled again. Make sure you clean the socket in the motherboard carefully. Also, you can check the power supply, DVD player, and harddisk socket to make sure the bed bugs are not there.
However, if you are not sure about what has been suggested, let us make it clear. Here is the guide about how to get rid of bed bugs in computer. The steps are quite similar to the previous guides in removing bed bugs in laptop, yet there are some things that need to pay more attention. So, here are some additional tips.
Removing Bed Bugs in Computer by Inspection
If a laptop is a compact size device, then a set of computers is a quite big device. It is including CPU, monitor/display, mouse, keyboard, and even a printer that is attached to it. Therefore, you need extra effort. Let us check the steps to get rid of bed bugs in computer by inspection.
Additional tools
To inspect bed bugs in computer, the tools you need to prepare are quite similar to the previous guide. However, some more particular things are required to inspect bed bugs in computer such as:
General tools
- A set of screwdrivers.
- Some Ziploc bags.
- A Flashlight.
- A magnifying glass.
- A soft brush.
- A pill bottle.
Particular tools
- A set of plastic boxes. The parts like processor, RAM (memory), Hard Disk Drive, Jumper, BIOS battery, sound card, ethernet card sometimes are separated parts for a high specification PC. So, you need to keep them in a safe place, especially a water-resistant one.
- A blower. In my personal experience, cleaning the parts inside a CPU must be done periodically to keep away dust and any small creatures. So, it will help you to remove the bed bugs in the computer.
Well, the rest of the steps are the same to remove bed bugs in the computer by inspection.
Removing Bed Bugs in Computer by Isolation
Isolating a computer is quite easier than isolating a laptop when the computer is disassembled. Besides, laptop parts are quite fragile and it is not that easy to reassemble a laptop. So, it will be easier for you to isolate bed bugs in computer.
Here are the tips.
All the parts of the CPU can be isolated easily. But, you need to pay attention more to such parts like HDD, DVD player, power supply, and etc. Those parts are not the things that you can reassemble easily.
Then, the rest tips are just as same as treating bed bugs in laptop by isolation.
Removing Bed Bugs in Computer by Vacuum
When you treating bed bugs in computer, actually you do not really need vacuuming. Some parts can be done easily by inspection and isolation. But, isolation takes months. So, you need vacuuming if you want to eliminate bed bugs in computer for a faster time.
For the tips, the steps you need and the things you prepare are similar to the way how you treat bed bugs in laptop.
Removing Bed Bugs in Computer by Heat
You actually do not really need heat to eliminate bed bugs in computer. It is because all the parts can be easily disassembled (or some people think so). However, if you cannot disassemble the computer, you still can use heat.
But, be careful with the parts because they are fragile. You need to check the manual or instruction to know how resistant the part is. Then, the tips are similar with the way how you treat bed bugs in laptop by heat.
Cheap Trick to Trap Bed Bugs in Computer
Then, you can also use adhesive tape as a trap while bed bugs want to enter your computer again. Just make it like a fence and you will see the bed bugs in the computer cannot go anywhere. They will stick in the trap.
However, you need regularly to check and change the adhesive tape. By doing this, your trap will always be effective and stick. Also, the most important thing is that you need to put the important electronics stuff or gadget far from the bedroom.
So, can you add some suggestions about how to set the trap to catch bed bugs in the computer? Please feel free to comment your opinion below.
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