ADVANCED SPRAY INSTRUCTIONS AND TIPS
What you do BEFORE fogging is just as important as what you do during the procedure. If your house is packed tight with clutter, it’s an excellent idea to scale down unnecessary possessions and throw away old or damaged items that you don’t need. Air circulation is a crucial factor in the fogging process. If your home is packed too tightly with junk, fog will just settle on top of the clutter. If your closets are packed tight with clothing, scale down the items so that the fog can circulate between garments.
It’s important to perform direct spray treatment protocols before fogging, especially when it comes to chronic mite or bedbug infestations. Insects have a habit of migrating from room to room when offensive odors are released. Insects hiding behind protected areas may not get a sufficient shot of the product. To prevent re-infestation, direct spray treatment of the following areas should be considered mandatory:
Spray an even mist of Dr. Ben’s Evictor over the carpet underneath your bed. Refresh the treatment once a month to recharge repellent properties.
Spray BOTH sides of the mattress. Don’t forget to remove the thin fabric that covers the underside of most box spring units. Spray or fog into this area liberally to treat bed bugs or mites hiding within the bed cavity.
Spray bed legs, bed frames and headboards. Remember that bird mites and bedbugs can’t jump or fly. They are most likely to reach you by crawling up furniture. Spray bed legs with cedar oil or cover them with double sided tape. Refresh the tape when it appears dusty or no longer feels sticky. For long term protection that’s more effective than tape, insert bed legs into plastic bowls filled with vegetable oil. Crawling insects can’t swim across the oil to reach you. Consider exchanging your wooden headboard for a sleek metal design without cracks and crevices where tiny insects can hide.
Use zippered mattress and box spring covers to prevent re-infestation. Choose durable waterproof mattress encasements that are certified for bedbug and dust mite protection. The seams and zippers on typical mattress encasements are not constructed to keep out mites. Excess space between zipper teeth could easily allow mites or bedbug nymphs to re-infest the interior of the mattress. (Certified bedbug encasements can be found at Bed, Bath and Beyond.)
Spray couches and easy chairs, paying special attention to crevices and cushion wells. Remove the flimsy fabric covering the bottom of your couch to gain access to the spring area. Spray or fog into the sofa cavity.
Spray baseboards, molding, and seams where walls meet with ceilings and floors. This will prevent parasites from crawling up the wall and across the ceiling where they can drop down onto the mattress. (Yes, people complain about this happening.)
If you don’t have a fog machine to help our product settle on walls, you may “mop” walls with a Swiffer pad saturated with Dr. Ben’s Evictor. Note that bedbugs are more apt to remain hidden, while mites will actually cling to walls and infest surfaces that are readily seen. Wall mopping isn’t necessary for bedbug infestations, but it’s an excellent idea for chronic mite infestations. Be sure to check behind pictures hanging on walls, as this is a common place for both bedbugs and mites to hang out.
Purchase smaller blankets that won’t hang over the sides of your bed. Bedbugs are known to latch onto blanket corners that touch the floor. Mites can do the same.
Move your bed six inches away from the wall or nightstand. Any part of your bed that touches a piece of furniture becomes an open pathway for crawling parasites.
Spray inside drawers, especially those nearest your bed. Pay special attention to cracks, seams and beveled edges.
Vacuum your home thoroughly before fogging. In addition to capturing many mites, Vacuuming may also help bring deeply embedded mites to the surface, so be sure to spray the carpet immediately after vacuuming. Discard the vacuum bag immediately after cleaning. No vacuum bag is completely air tight. Mites or tiny bedbug nymphs can easily escape the bag and re-infest your home.
Do not put your vacuum bag in the freezer. This is poor pest control advice distributed on many do-it-yourself blogs. Many micro tiny parasites can live through the winter. For example, bird mites are famous for shutting down their metabolisms to survive frigid temperatures. Springtails can also survive the cold quite well. We've seen video footage of springtails thawing out and coming to life after flowing through a half frozen riverbank. (Tip: Toss a couple moth balls into the vacuum bag.)
After wide area carpet treatment, wait a few days to vacuum. Our product is not just a bug spray that can be used to destroy common household insects you see; it has repels new insects from crawling into sprayed territory.
Last but not least, be conscious of any environmental factors that could have caused or contributed to your infestation. For example, you may want to roll back the carpeting and check for mold when dealing with a springtail infestations. For bird mite infestations, remove nests from gutters or be certain that tree branches are trimmed away from the roof. For rodent mite infestations, it is necessary to get the rodent problem under control.
If you believe your problems began outdoors, it may be necessary to soak your yard with our outdoor formula. In addition to controlling insects, our outdoor formula repels rodents and venomous snakes. If your mite problem began with a rodent infestation or new landscaping project, outdoor treatment is an excellent idea. If excessive numbers of birds visit your property to eat from bird feeders, remove their food sources and soak the yard with our outdoor concentrate. Follow with a generous application of granules to extend residual effects to two months.
If there are cracks and crevices around the foundation of your home, re-infestation may occur if these entry points are not sealed properly. Always consider where your infestation could’ve originated.
It’s important to perform direct spray treatment protocols before fogging, especially when it comes to chronic mite or bedbug infestations. Insects have a habit of migrating from room to room when offensive odors are released. Insects hiding behind protected areas may not get a sufficient shot of the product. To prevent re-infestation, direct spray treatment of the following areas should be considered mandatory:
Spray an even mist of Dr. Ben’s Evictor over the carpet underneath your bed. Refresh the treatment once a month to recharge repellent properties.
Spray BOTH sides of the mattress. Don’t forget to remove the thin fabric that covers the underside of most box spring units. Spray or fog into this area liberally to treat bed bugs or mites hiding within the bed cavity.
Spray bed legs, bed frames and headboards. Remember that bird mites and bedbugs can’t jump or fly. They are most likely to reach you by crawling up furniture. Spray bed legs with cedar oil or cover them with double sided tape. Refresh the tape when it appears dusty or no longer feels sticky. For long term protection that’s more effective than tape, insert bed legs into plastic bowls filled with vegetable oil. Crawling insects can’t swim across the oil to reach you. Consider exchanging your wooden headboard for a sleek metal design without cracks and crevices where tiny insects can hide.
Use zippered mattress and box spring covers to prevent re-infestation. Choose durable waterproof mattress encasements that are certified for bedbug and dust mite protection. The seams and zippers on typical mattress encasements are not constructed to keep out mites. Excess space between zipper teeth could easily allow mites or bedbug nymphs to re-infest the interior of the mattress. (Certified bedbug encasements can be found at Bed, Bath and Beyond.)
Spray couches and easy chairs, paying special attention to crevices and cushion wells. Remove the flimsy fabric covering the bottom of your couch to gain access to the spring area. Spray or fog into the sofa cavity.
Spray baseboards, molding, and seams where walls meet with ceilings and floors. This will prevent parasites from crawling up the wall and across the ceiling where they can drop down onto the mattress. (Yes, people complain about this happening.)
If you don’t have a fog machine to help our product settle on walls, you may “mop” walls with a Swiffer pad saturated with Dr. Ben’s Evictor. Note that bedbugs are more apt to remain hidden, while mites will actually cling to walls and infest surfaces that are readily seen. Wall mopping isn’t necessary for bedbug infestations, but it’s an excellent idea for chronic mite infestations. Be sure to check behind pictures hanging on walls, as this is a common place for both bedbugs and mites to hang out.
Purchase smaller blankets that won’t hang over the sides of your bed. Bedbugs are known to latch onto blanket corners that touch the floor. Mites can do the same.
Move your bed six inches away from the wall or nightstand. Any part of your bed that touches a piece of furniture becomes an open pathway for crawling parasites.
Spray inside drawers, especially those nearest your bed. Pay special attention to cracks, seams and beveled edges.
Vacuum your home thoroughly before fogging. In addition to capturing many mites, Vacuuming may also help bring deeply embedded mites to the surface, so be sure to spray the carpet immediately after vacuuming. Discard the vacuum bag immediately after cleaning. No vacuum bag is completely air tight. Mites or tiny bedbug nymphs can easily escape the bag and re-infest your home.
Do not put your vacuum bag in the freezer. This is poor pest control advice distributed on many do-it-yourself blogs. Many micro tiny parasites can live through the winter. For example, bird mites are famous for shutting down their metabolisms to survive frigid temperatures. Springtails can also survive the cold quite well. We've seen video footage of springtails thawing out and coming to life after flowing through a half frozen riverbank. (Tip: Toss a couple moth balls into the vacuum bag.)
After wide area carpet treatment, wait a few days to vacuum. Our product is not just a bug spray that can be used to destroy common household insects you see; it has repels new insects from crawling into sprayed territory.
Last but not least, be conscious of any environmental factors that could have caused or contributed to your infestation. For example, you may want to roll back the carpeting and check for mold when dealing with a springtail infestations. For bird mite infestations, remove nests from gutters or be certain that tree branches are trimmed away from the roof. For rodent mite infestations, it is necessary to get the rodent problem under control.
If you believe your problems began outdoors, it may be necessary to soak your yard with our outdoor formula. In addition to controlling insects, our outdoor formula repels rodents and venomous snakes. If your mite problem began with a rodent infestation or new landscaping project, outdoor treatment is an excellent idea. If excessive numbers of birds visit your property to eat from bird feeders, remove their food sources and soak the yard with our outdoor concentrate. Follow with a generous application of granules to extend residual effects to two months.
If there are cracks and crevices around the foundation of your home, re-infestation may occur if these entry points are not sealed properly. Always consider where your infestation could’ve originated.