Unwanted bugs and pests in your home can make your living situation extremely uncomfortable until resolved. Chiggers are bugs that you may not often have heard of, but if you spend time outdoors, chiggers could be living indoors in places where you spend time, like beds and couches. Luckily, chiggers are not pests that have a high reproductive rate.
Things You'll Need
Vacuum
Soap
Water
Lysol
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How to Remove Chiggers From a Couch
Chiggers are typically in your couch because they require skin tissue to survive, and they get this from humans. The chiggers will eat for three to four days until they have eaten enough. They may even be there because they have dropped from their host to develop into their adult form. Regardless of their life stage, they are still bugs that you wouldn't want to keep in your home, so getting rid of them is necessary.
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Step 1: Vacuum the Couch
Grab the vacuum and give the couch a good, deep cleaning. Make sure to separate or remove the cushions if necessary so you can get into the cracks and crevices of your couch. The power of the vacuum should remove the chiggers, and if you want to make sure they don't come back, pour boiling water into the vacuum canister or wash your filter in hot water that is 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not empty the canister in the house, as the chiggers can escape, and you will be forced to start over.
Step 2: Scrub and Wash
Chiggers do not survive in hot water, so you may want to wash and scrub removable parts of your sofa with hot, soapy water to help remove any chiggers you may not see. If your cushions or pillows are machine washable, then toss them in the wash on a high-heat setting (just make sure this is safe for the fabric).
Step 3: Use a Peppermint Oil Spray
The final step you can take to make sure the chiggers are truly gone is to spray a peppermint oil spray on and around your sofa. You can also rub or spray your couch with Lysol, as Lysol is known to kill chiggers. Keep in mind that the chemicals in Lysol may damage the material of your couch, so proceed with caution.
Indoor Chigger Prevention
To prevent chiggers from residing in your home, vacuum regularly, including rugs and carpets since these tend to be darker areas where chiggers may congregate. Give any household pets regular warm baths to remove the possibility of them being carriers. Chiggers can also turn up in bed sheets, so changing and washing your bedding on a regular basis will help keep chiggers out of your home.
Outdoor Chigger Prevention Tips
Chiggers don't just appear indoors; they need to be carried in from the yard by a person or animal to whom they have attached themselves. The best way to prevent chiggers from entering your home in the first place is by doing regular yard work. Chiggers like wet, dark places, such as long grass or overgrown vegetation. If you have an overgrown lawn, begin the prevention process by keeping your grass short, including grass at the edges of your flower beds or the edges of your landscaping. Remove any piles of leaves or brush in your yard, as these usually trap moisture.
If you have found chiggers in your home, then they are coming from your yard, so keeping your yard neat and trimmed is good prevention, but you will also need to treat your yard by using a pesticide spray or by scattering diatomaceous earth in the yard.