Does Baking Soda Kill Bed Bugs?

I’ve seen it countless times — that moment of panic when someone discovers a bed bug in their home. The frantic search through kitchen cabinets for a quick solution often leads to baking soda. But after years in this field, I can tell you with confidence: Baking soda is not your best bet for tackling bed bugs.

While I haven’t come across any scientific studies on baking soda’s effectiveness against bed bugs, my extensive experience has shown me far more reliable methods. Extreme temperatures — both freezing and heat — are your allies in the right against these resilient pests. They’re quicker and more dependable than any household powder.

In this article, I’ll explore whether baking soda can play any role in bed bug pest control (spoiler: it’s unlikely), and more importantly, I’ll share proven techniques for homeowners that I’ve used successfully throughout my career to combat these persistent invaders.

Why Doesn’t Baking Soda Kill Bed Bugs?

If you are trying to kill a single bed bug, baking soda may work, but I still don’t recommend it. Here’s why.

Baking soda is a gentle desiccant — meaning it slowly absorbs water. So, if you put the bed bug in a sealed container filled with several tablespoons of baking soda, the bed bug is sure to dry up in a couple of days. This also works with salt, baking powder, sugar, flour, and other “baking ingredients” simply based on their ability to absorb water.

One of the reasons baking soda may not be effective in bed bug treatment or prevention is that a single bed bug sighting is rarely just that. Female bed bugs are prolific breeders, capable of laying up to 90 eggs in a month. Even if you manage to get rid of a few beg bugs using baking soda, it’s unlikely you’ll get them all.

This is why baking soda isn’t an effective method of clearing bed bugs out of your bedroom. Bed bugs can easily avoid an area dusted with a small amount of baking soda. To create the powerful desiccant conditions you’ll have in a small, sealed container, you would need to literally coat your entire home in an inch of baking soda, which is unrealistic. In other words, there are much easier and cheaper ways to rid your home of bed bugs. 

Does Baking Soda Repel Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs do use scent to find their hosts, specifically the carbon dioxide given off by your body and exhaled as you breathe. Baking soda, when mixed with an acid like vinegar, gives off carbon dioxide. So, this could theoretically attract some bed bugs into falling into some sort of trap. But bed bugs also use heat and a variety of other signals to find a human to bite. 

Baking soda is definitely not going to repel bed bugs in any meaningful way. At best, baking soda could attract some bugs into a trap. At worst, the extra carbon dioxide could help attract bed bugs to the areas that you treated. That is why I don’t advise use baking soda as a repellent or large-scale treatment. 

Can Bed Bugs Walk Through Baking Soda?

I can confidently say that yes, bed bugs can indeed walk through baking soda. Baking soda doesn’t create an impassable barrier for these resilient pests.

Bed bugs have small, flat bodies that allow them to squeeze through tiny cracks and crevices. A light dusting of baking soda on a surface presents no significant obstacle to their movement. Their legs are designed to navigate various textures, from smooth sheets to rough wood, so a powdery substance like baking soda doesn’t impede their progress.

Some people mistakenly believe that baking soda will dehydrate bed bugs on contact, similar to how diatomaceous earth works.

However, baking soda is a much gentler desiccant compared to diatomaceous earth. While prolonged exposure to large amounts of baking soda might eventually dehydrate a bed bug, a typical application won’t have an immediate effect.

In my experience, bed bugs are more likely to simply walk around or over areas treated with baking soda, continuing their quest for a blood meal. This is why relying on baking soda as a barrier or treatment method is an ineffective method of bed bug control.

Reasons to Not Use Baking Soda for Bed Bugs

Though baking soda is relatively innocuous, there are plenty of reasons not to use baking soda to kill bed bugs:

• It would take massive amounts of baking soda to treat an entire home
• There is no scientific evidence that baking soda kills or repels entire infestations of bed bugs
• Baking soda won’t kill bed bugs fast enough to provide population control
• Using baking soda as insect dust could lead to skin irritation or even respiratory issues if large amounts are used.

Alternatives to Baking Soda for Killing Bed Bugs

The good news is that there are many alternatives to killing bed bugs — either single bugs or entire infestations. 

Start with Items You Already Have

First, let’s check out some low-tech home remedies for irradicating bed bugs. You likely have these DIY tools in your house already.

• Plastic Bags: You can place bed bugs in a plastic bag, seal the bag, and throw it away. If you really want to make sure the bugs are dead, place them in a freezer (<1°F) for at least two hours before you toss the bag in the garbage.
• Boil them: Much like you can kill a lobster by boiling it, bed bugs also have a very low tolerance for high heat. Place the bed bugs directly into boiling water, or place the bugs in a plastic bag and place the bag in boiling water for a few minutes. Water boils at 212° F, much higher than a bed bug’s heat tolerance of around 118° F. A handheld steamer can also kill bed bugs.
• Vacuum: Most households in the U.S. have a vacuum with an agitator brush. Bed bugs are relatively light and will be easily sucked up. The real trick comes with disposal. Make sure that you place the vacuum bag inside a larger plastic bag when you are finished. This will seal the bed bugs inside, making sure they don’t escape and reinfest your home.
• Wash Your Fabrics: Bed bugs love to hide and lay eggs on loose fabric, including your clothes, bedsheets, and other linens. Wash everything you can, even if it was just in the closet or in storage. Wash these items at a high temperature (if appropriate for the fabric) with plenty of soap. The combination of soap and hot water boils and drowns bed bugs effectively.

Insecticide Options

There are many options on the market for killing bed bugs.

Insecticide Dust Options

An insecticide dust can work in one of a few different ways. All-natural insecticide dusts, like Diatomaceous Earth (DE), work by destroying the insect exoskeleton, causing all insects to perish from dehydration a few days after being exposed. Other insect dust products combine the effects of DE with powdered synthetic insecticides to attack the nervous system of insects.

Pesticide Sprays

Another way of eliminating bed bugs is to spray your entire home with a synthetic insecticide. To see it work, you can put a bed bug in a small container and spray a tiny amount of insecticide into the container. The bug should perish within an hour. While this is definitely not the most natural solution, most insect sprays are incredibly powerful, and bed bugs are no match for it. The one exception seems to be pyrethroid-based insecticides. Pyrethroids have been used to treat bed bugs for so long that many populations have become resistant to this specific type of chemical. So, look for a spray that contains a non-pyrethroid insecticide to avoid this problem. If one type of chemical doesn’t work, try another. Bed bug populations are rarely resistant to multiple types of insecticide. 

Don’t Use These Methods As Bed Bug Solutions

While the above methods will hopefully kill your bed bug infestation if implemented properly, there are many myths out there about how to kill bed bugs that won’t solve your problem. Here are a few of the most common myths and why they won’t work.

Flushing Bed Bugs 

Whether you choose the sink or the toilet does not really matter. Bed bugs float well. If you try to flush bugs without killing them first, you risk the insect crawling out of the drain or toilet and reinfecting your home.

Placing Bugs Outdoors 

While many insects can be happily returned to the outdoors, bed bugs are not one of them. Bed bugs have evolved specifically to feed on humans within our homes. So, if you put them outside, they’ll just look for a way back in. Chances are they’ll find a crack to slip through and will be biting you again in no time.

Vacuuming

If you use your vacuum to battle bed bugs, you have to go the extra mile and seal the vacuumed contents into a plastic, sealable bag. Otherwise, the bed bugs will simply crawl out of the bag, out of your trashcan, and find their way back to your bed, couch, or other areas where they can bite you.

If All Else Fails, Hire an Exterminator

In my years of pest control experience, I’ve found that baking soda isn’t an effective solution for bed bugs. Instead of relying on household remedies, focus on proven methods like heat treatments, appropriate insecticides, and thorough cleaning. For serious infestations, consider professional pest control services. Professional exterminators can remove them safely and efficiently, ensuring they won’t come back.