Most of us use Pine Sol as a household cleaning product without knowing whether we can use it for other purposes. Wouldn’t it be great if Pine Sol could help us repel or kill pests? Some people claim that Pine Sol can kill bed bugs, but could the claim be true?
Pine Sol will kill bed bugs when it contacts them directly. It works when it touches beg bugs both in the diluted and undiluted form. This applies to the bed bug eggs as well. But dried Pine Sol does not kill bed bugs.
Pine Sol, as a household cleaner and disinfectant, has the ability to kill different kinds of pests, including bed bugs. One has to use it correctly for it to be effective against bed bugs. Kindly read on to see the correct way of using Pine Sol as a bed bug killer and also to understand how it kills bed bugs.
Does Pine Sol Kill Bed Bugs
Pine Sol can kill beg bug, but it has to touch the bed begs directly. You need a lot of time and patience to get a positive result if you have a lot of bed bugs in your home. If you want to get a positive result, you have to move round to all the areas where bed bugs hide in your home and spray each of those areas.
Both undiluted and diluted Pine Sol kill bed bugs. However, if the Pine Sol gets diluted excessively, it will no longer be effective against bed bugs. If you use Pine Sol to kill bed bugs on a surface, such a surface will be free from bed bugs for several days because the smell of the residue Pine Sol can still deter bed bugs.
Pine Sol works fine for the bed bug eggs too, because they do have a (more) sensitive skin that will dry out and dissolve their outer shell when applied directly.
However, you shouldn’t expect bed bugs to die if they come in contact with dried Pine Sol. If you want to use Pine Sol to kill all the beg bugs in your home, you must be ready to spray Pine Sol on individual beg bugs that you see. We recommend a daily spray of Pine Sol in areas where you notice that bed bugs hide if you want to get a positive result.
How Does Pine Sol Kill Bed Bugs
Pine Sol kills beg bugs by drying out their skin. Pine Sol has this ability due to the alcohol it contains. Pine oil, a major ingredient in Pine Sol contains terrapin alcohol. Isopropyl alcohol is also one of the ingredients in Pine Sol.
Both terrapin alcohol and isopropyl alcohol are volatile, which is why Pine Sol dries out bed bugs.
Whenever Pine Sol comes in contact with bed bugs, it will dissolve their outer cells and thereafter evaporate quickly. Since Pine Sol has to dissolve outer cells in order to kill bed bugs, dried Pine Sol won’t kill beg bugs.
How to Use Pine Sol as a Beg Bug Repellent
Bed bugs detest the strong smell of Pine Sol. Consequently, bed bugs will flee if you spray Pine Sol on surfaces where they occupy. Kindly follow the instructions here to use Pine Sol as a bed bug repellent. Make sure you wear hand gloves before you carry out the instructions below.
The items you need include
- empty spray bottle
- measuring cup
- bowl
- spatula
- bottle of Pine Sol, and
- small quantity of water.
Once you have gotten all these items, you should add 1/4 cup of Pine Sol and 2 cups of water into a bowl. Use a spatula to stir the mixture thoroughly.
You should pour the mixture into an empty spray bottle after you have stirred it thoroughly.
Thereafter, you should spread your mattress, bed sheet, pillow covers, and blanket outside. Spray the mixture of Pine Sol and water onto them thoroughly. Don’t hesitate to use plenty of mixture on both sides of the mattress.
Once you have sprayed the mattress, bed sheet, pillow covers, and blanket, you should allow them to dry outside before you take them inside. All bed bugs that are hiding within these materials will flee while these materials are drying, so if you return them to the room too quickly, the bed bugs will flee from these materials and hide in other parts of your room.
We recommend that you spray the mixture of Pine Sol and water also on the items of furniture in your room. It would be best if you move those items of furniture outside before you spray them.
However, if you can’t move them outside, you can spray them inside, but you should watch out for bed bugs as they flee. Spray the mixture onto all bed bugs you see fleeing to prevent them from moving to other areas of your room.
Don’t exempt cracks from spraying because bed bugs like to hide there also. Once you have sprayed all the necessary areas in your room, you should wash the bed sheet, pillow covers, and blanket before returning them to the room.
Pine Sol for Bed Bug Bites
Some people believe that Pine Sol can relieve bed bug bites, but no research has confirmed such belief to be true. Although Pine Sol has the ability to disinfect bed bug bites, it is too harsh for human skin even when it is properly diluted.
Pine Sol doesn’t help with bed bug bites.
The pine oil in Pine Sol can cause skin irritation when it touches the skin. This single reason is enough to stop people from applying Pine Sol to bed bug bites.
If you apply Pine Sol directly to your skin while aiming to disinfect the bites, you may end up causing more harm to your skin. To avoid skin irritation, you should use mild soap and warm water for bed bug bites instead of Pine Sol.
While we don’t recommend Pine Sol as a treatment for bed bug bites, we recommend it as a repellent for preventing bed bug bites. Once in a while, you should follow the instructions we mentioned earlier to use Pine Sol as a bed bug repellent.
Feel free to apply Pine Sol to areas close to your bed to prevent bed bug bites. Just ensure you wash your bed sheet and pillow covers if you apply Pine Sol on them.
