Springtails are a nuisance pest that can infest your home and spread in thousands. They can come into any damp room. Let us look at how to get rid of springtails in your bed and bedroom.
Springtails can infest your bedroom’s window sill, houseplants, or even your bed. Thankfully, you can easily remove these little wingless creatures from your bed using basic household products. You will also need to put in a strict cleaning routine for your bedding and covers.
Bug infestations on your bed can be a nuisance at best and unhygienic or dangerous at worst. There are many steps that you need to take to get rid of springtails and other bugs. Read on to know how to remove them from your bed once and forever.
Reasons Why You Have Springtails in Your Bed?
Springtails quickly lose moisture from their skin and cannot survive in an open environment for a long time.
When they find shelter in your bed, springtails can protect themselves from the dry air outside and retain their moisture.
Before we learn about how to kill springtails, let’s understand why you have them in your bed in the first place.
Damp bedding
A moist environment is a leading reason why these tiny creatures want to hide in your bedsheet. If your bedding isn’t dried correctly after the wash or your bedroom remains cold most of the time, your bed is the perfect home for these bugs.
Also, if you don’t spread your bed in the morning or pile dirty clothes on the sheets, you are providing springtails with a perfect home on your bed.
Sweating
Springtails might also breed if you leave excess moisture or sweating behind when sleeping or lying down. Sweat makes the sheets, covers, and blankets humid.
It makes the sheets, covers, and mattress damp and leaves behind a lot of moisture for springtails to relish.
Bedroom plants
There is nothing that hosts springtails better than bedroom houseplants. Springtails love to feed on organic materials, so they absolutely love living in and around potted plants.
Moreover, most people water their plants every day, so there are a lot of moist soils for them to absorb water from. Sometimes, there could also be stagnant water.
If you have bedroom plants, you need to be extra careful not to invite springtails living in them. And since springtails can jump far, it is not a big leap for them (both literally and figuratively) to infest your bed as well.
If you come to know that the plants are what are bringing these pests in, consider moving them outside the house somehow (maybe keep them on the terrace?).
Attached Washrooms
If your attached washroom next to your bedroom remains damp all the time or has leakages, it can be an invite to springtails.
Springtails love to thrive in damp places, so your bedroom’s washroom would make the perfect picnic spot for them.
Humid Rooms
If your room has poor ventilation, no access to direct sunlight or the walls have leaky pipes in them; your room will be humid. Such humid rooms are places where springtails can easily grow and multiply.
Bed sheet molds
Springtails eat molds. If your bedsheets or mattress have molds in them, springtails would love to come to your bed.
Ways To Get Rid of Springtails From Your Bed
Where there is a will, there is a way! By now, we now know that removing dampness is what removes springtails as well. Here are some solutions on how you can achieve this.
Wash all your bedding regularly
Whether it’s a bed sheet, blanket, or duvet, remove them and wash them thoroughly with soapy water. The more foam, the better!
Once you have washed your bedding, add 100 ml of white vinegar while rinsing to ensure that even the eggs and larvae leave the sheet. Remember to give a thorough wash, and if you still find springtails, a second round will not do any harm.
Increase air circulation in the room
The next option is to aerate your room. Open the windows during the day and turn the air conditioner on during the night to reduce moisture in your room. If you can get direct access to sunlight, there is nothing like it.
Keep the area under the bed clean
It is essential to clean under the bed to get rid of springtails and other bed bugs. Dirt and dead bugs, which you will often find under the bed, are also springtail food sources.
If you leave the area under your bed dirty, springtails will find a way to reach your bed. So, get your hands on a mop and use soapy water to clean the area under your bed.
Wash and vacuum the area rugs and mats
Washing only the bedding might now work. Molds can find room in area rugs, carpets, and mats.
Make sure to wash, vacuum, and aerate room mats and carpets at least once every two weeks to ensure that springtails do not find their food in your mats or carpets.
Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is used to control several species of insects, so it is a natural question to ask. The answer is yes. Diatomaceous earth does work on springtails as well.
Diatomaceous earth is made from the residue of fossilized algae and can be purchased from the hardware store.
To spread diatomaceous earth, wear a mask and gloves so that you don’t accidentally inhale it. Next, sprinkle the powder around the perimeter of the room. Keep children and pets away until the springtail infestation is finished.
Neem oil and Other Essential Oils
Essential oils such as neem oil are natural pest controllers that can effectively remove springtails from your bed.
Not just neem oil, but others like clove oil, lavender oil, cedar oil, or peppermint oil, would do the job equally well if you sprinkle or spray a few drops on the bed, preferably twice a day.
How To Get Rid of Springtails Instantly?
You can use both natural and commercial products to get rid of springtails. If the infestation is big, the methods described above might not work.
From the above solutions, vinegar and borax are probably the only ones that work instantly. If you need a quick fix to the problem, your best bet might be to hire exterminators instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do springtails infest beds?
Yes, springtails can infest beds. The main reason is that the beddings are often full of moisture, which attracts molds, springtails, and other insects. Springtails are attracted to excessive moisture, but mold is a plus because springtails can feed on molds.
Are springtails more active at night?
Springtails can be more active at night, but there is no specific study that proves this. However, most people will experience them at night when they are sleeping in their beds.
Do springtails crawl on humans?
Springtails aren’t parasitic. They don’t infest human skin or tissue actively. They are harmless to human beings. They can crawl on you, but they won’t do you any harm.
Where do springtails lay eggs?
Springtails lay eggs in groups or singularly, in moist areas, like damp soil, woods, or leaves. They choose a place or area where much organic matter can be found.
Wrap Up
There are many natural and commercial ways to get rid of springtails in the sink, window sill, houseplants, and, most importantly, your bed. We have outlined many of them in this article and hope it will help you get rid of these pesky bugs.
Letter 1 – Springtail
Very Little Bugs
Hi,
I’m wondering if you could tell me what kind of bug this is. There are quite a few of these little bugs on the concrete in my basement. I have noticed quite a few spiders where I see these bugs. So I have started leaving the spiders. These bugs are very small. The specs around the bug in the picture are the specs in the concrete. Any help on what they are, why I have them, and/or how to control or get rid of them would be great! Oh yea, I live in Dayton Ohio. Thanks,
Brad
Hi Brad,
This is a Springtail. Springtails are minute flightless, primitive insects in the order Collembola. Various species adapt to many types of environments and they are often found in moist areas in large numbers.
Letter 2 – Springtail
good pic of springtail (I think)
After reviewing your excellent site, I’m sure we found springtails. My wife has noticed them in several rooms of house and we wondered what these tiny, tiny bugs were. See attached photo taken on a slightly textured plaster wall. [The image was taken with a ProScope USB digital microscope, 50x lens, LED-illuminated, attached to my Mac Book Pro. My guess is that you have one of these scopes, but if not, I highly recommend it! Great for kids to explore bugs and other things. http://www.theproscope.com/about.html] Man, these springtails can move FAST, though! Apparently they are harmless enough, but I hope their presence is not indicative that some portion of the house structure is wet. Brad Price
Souderton, PA
Hi Brad,
Thanks for the tip on the ProScope as well as the photo of the Springtail.
Letter 3 – Springtail
Unknown bug everywhere
I hope you can help me figure out what is the name of this bug. I’m worried because they’ve suddenly appeared in different parts of my house. I started out seeing them on the first floor, by the stairs coming up from the finished basement. Now I’m also seeing them upstairs on the second floor, on the ceiling of the loft and on pieces of paper on my computer desk. They’ve also been seen on the floor along the wall in the kitchen. They’re not very big, ranging from extremely tiny to small. I had to use the macro lens on my camera to get a decent picture. One picture is of one that I found on a sheet of paper on my desk that I killed. The other two were of another one walking along the loft ceiling. The two bugs look a little different but the antenna look the same. The dead one has the long things coming out of the tail end, which reminded me of a silverfish, but the live one did not. They also kind of smear like a silverfish if you kill them. Please help! I’m worried that they might be damaging the house or something. They’ve just started appearing in the last month or so.
Dave B, in Virginia
Hi Dave,
This is one of the over 2000 species of Springtail in the order Collembola. Most species, though a nuisance when they get plentiful, are benign, feeding on mold, decaying vegetation and algae. Algae feeders are often found in pools. Though they aren’t harmful, they might be symptomatic of a mold problem.
Letter 4 – Springtail
Can you tell us what this is?
Hello,
Can you please tell us what this bug is? My Aunt is freaking out. I thought it was a flea. She thinks that it is a springtail. Any help to resolve this?
THank YOu,
Suzanne
Hi Suzanne,
We think you owe your Aunt dinner since she won the bet. According to Eric Eaton, this is a highly magnified Springtail.
Letter 5 – Springtail
small bugs on my kitchen counter
May 2, 2010
Dear Bugman, I have noticed very small bugs on my kitchen counter in the last few weeks. They range in color from a greyish shade to orange to brown. I mostly see them in the evening. I caught one under a glass and it seemed to jump from one side of the glass to the other. The exterminator doesn’t believe they are cockroaches.
Thank you for helping me.Pam Lahr
Southern California
Springtail
Hi Pam,
This is a Springtail and we just finished posting a very comprehensive response, also from Southern California, on Springtails. They are benign creatures that can become a nuisance if they are too plentiful. We suspect the unseasonal rains this past winter in Southern California may have contributed to a population explosion of what is already considered the most numerous hexapod on the planet.
Springtail
Letter 6 – Springtail from Brazil
Subject: Bugs on my bed
Location: Brazil
March 13, 2014 1:07 am
Hi there
one day i saw some tiny bugs on my bed, it was like 20 or 30 of them that i could see… at first glance i tought it was Fleas, becouse they were very tiny and fast. But in a closer look, it does not look like one.
So i took this picture.
I washed the bed’s sheets, but one or another of the insects still can be seen over the bed
In the internet, some people said that they were cockrouches nymphs, but i doubt it.
The picture was shot today.
Signature: VFx
Elongate Bodied Springtail
Dear VFx,
This is a Elongate Bodied Springtail in the family Entomobryidae, but we cannot be certain of the species. See this image on BugGuide for comparison. Springtails are benign creatures that can be very numerous if conditions are right, making them a nuisance, but they are no threat to you or your home.
The post How To Get Rid Of Springtails In Bed? Helpful Tips appeared first on What's That Bug?.
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