What Bed Bugs Don’t Like
WouterKnowing what bed bugs don’t like can make your home less appealing to these pests. For starters, bed bugs hate bright colors and prefer darker ones. Unlike other insects, they’ll avoid red and yellow, which are the most attractive colors to them. Adding scent to your home can also discourage them.
Some essential oils are also effective in repelling bed bugs. Peppermint, lavender, and tea tree oil are all known to keep these pests at bay. However, there is much misinformation about which scents work and which don’t. So, it’s important to choose a fragrance that your bed bugs don’t like.
Fortunately, research has shown that bedbugs are drawn to dark colors. Bright colors are unappealing for these bugs because they expose them to sunlight. In addition, they must feed again to survive. In experiments, researchers placed bedbugs in Petri dishes and placed different colored tents around them. They noticed that bedbugs tended to crawl toward red and black tents, and that the bugs avoided the other colors.
To prevent bedbug infestations, it’s important to thoroughly clean and disinfect your belongings. Avoid leaving personal items in your home, as these could be hiding places for bedbugs. Rub alcohol is an effective repellent, and can even kill eggs.
