No sprays. No dusty powders. No chemicals, natural or otherwise. This innovative electric item works to kill bed bugs that infest your stuff, like bedding, pillows, stuffed animals, luggage, rugs, small pieces of furniture (it can hold a dining-room chair!), and more.

How does it work? Open up the soft-sided, collapsible unit, plug it in (it requires two outlets on two separate circuits; there’s a 25-foot extension cord included), and fill the 22-cubic-feet interior with the items you want to treat. The internal temperature ranges from 120˚F to 155˚F, hot enough to kill 100 percent of the bed bugs (adults and larvae) and eggs that are on the items inside.

The unit comes with a timer that automatically shuts off the unit after the cycle (recommended cycles are 4 to 8 hours depending on load, although bugs start dying within an hour of being at 120˚F), and a wireless digital thermometer so you can check that the temperature has gotten above the needed 120˚F to be effective.

It’s the ideal solution to treat suitcases when you return from a trip where you might’ve stayed in a bedbug-infested hotel, or to safely treat kids’ toys and stuffed animals that would be unsafe to treat with chemicals. The one thing this unit can’t treat, obviously, is larger items like mattresses and sofas, or household surfaces like floors and walls.

But for spot-treating items that are infested, it is a 100 percent effective solution, albeit an expensive one. By the way, the company also makes smaller units, as well as a giant unit big enough to put around a sofa or a mattress.

For a particularly bad infestation, sometimes only a powerful chemical cocktail will do to get your home bug-free. This option from Bedlam is one of the most highly rated sprays on the market, and it’s a product that many pest control professionals use in their own arsenal.

So it should come as no surprise that many happy (and itch-free!) customers report that this aerosol spray worked when other treatments failed. The company’s formula is a combination of chemicals that act to disrupt insects’ nervous systems, targeting both living bugs, their eggs, and continuing to work for weeks to come as insects encounter the residue from the initial application.

When sprayed, the substance foams up, which gives you better control and coverage. It can be used on mattresses, carpeting, and hard surfaces throughout the house. Because the chemicals can be harmful to humans and animals, the company recommends that everyone leaves the house while it’s being treated and that the spray dries completely before the house is occupied again.

The dry residue will continue to kill bed bugs for as long as 16 weeks after the initial treatment. While many people are concerned about using powerful chemicals in their homes, this spray is an effective way to eradicate bed bugs when you’ve run out of all other options.

Just make sure to ventilate your home well during treatment, and the fumes should dissipate quickly, leaving behind only the confidence that you’ll be able to sleep in peace.

MDXconcepts has developed a product aimed to offer a non-toxic alternative to bed bug sprays containing pyrethroids, toxic chemicals that can affect our respiratory system and our breathing system, and which can persist in our indoor environment for weeks to come.

The company’s Bed Bug Spray is as natural as it gets: the formula is made of vinegar, peppermint oil, and spearmint oil, ingredients that smell great but are fatal to bed bugs. To use, shake the bottle well, and spray areas where you’ve seen bed bug activity or where they’re likely to hide, such as around the edges of your mattress, in carpets, and in crevices or along baseboards and electrical outlets.

The spray has a double benefit: the vinegar is a natural repellant, while the oils in the spearmint and peppermint will kill eggs, nymphs, and adult bugs on contact. The company even recommends you pour a little Bed Bug Spray into a small bottle that you can take with you on the go, ideal for spraying down movie theatre seats or treating an unfamiliar hotel room before tucking in for the night. The 16-ounce bottle will last for quite some time, even with a generous dousing of the affected areas throughout your house.

Unlike chemical sprays, this is one spray that has a pleasant smell, it doesn’t spray, and users report that they’ve had success within a day of the initial application. If you’re a believer in the power of essential oils and natural ingredients, this one’s for you.

Field-tested in public housing environments by entomologists, this bed bug spray was put through its paces before going out on the market. It also has another feather in its cap: The Journal of Economic Entomology has declared this spray is the only natural product to kill 100 percent of bed bugs, and it's also effective in killing their eggs. This was in a test of two professional pesticides and 10 natural products, and its performance was similar to the top professional pesticides but was safer to use in sensitive environments, such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and public housing complexes.

What’s the secret? A blend of botanical ingredients targets neuron receptors that are only present in invertebrates like bed bugs. This means the spray will have absolutely no detrimental effect on humans, pets, or other vertebrates.

For the best results, the company recommends a three-step process: strip the bed of all linens and run them in the dryer at the highest possible heat for at least half an hour. In the meantime, generously spray EcoRaider Bed Bug Spray around the bed frame, mattress seams, box spring, and all nooks and crannies in your mattress and bed frame. Then spray other areas, such as other furniture in the bedroom, baseboards, moldings, and cracks in the floors and walls.

Within an hour, as many as 90 percent of the bed bugs in the area will be dead, and the dry residue of the spray will continue to perform for as long as two weeks, after which another treatment might be necessary. But we’re betting that with the research and testing that went into this product, a second treatment will likely be unnecessary.

If you are wary of chemical sprays, powders, and baits because you have kids or pets, or maybe just don’t want those potentially toxic materials in your home, the Ultrasonic Pest Repeller might be a good option for you. Plug this little device into the wall and it sends out electromagnetic and ultrasonic waves, driving the bugs away for good, since it disturbs their central nervous system.

Measuring about 2.5 by 4 inches, the device simply lives in your outlet, and emits a light that changes color when it detects movement near it (yes, even the movements of the people and pets who live in the house).

This plug-in technology doesn’t just work on bed bugs: The company claims it’s also effective for vanquishing fleas, mosquitos, roaches, and even rodents. Although the coverage range is up to 1600 square feet, the company recommends having one device for every room, and that it might take a few weeks before you start seeing a decrease in insect activity.

And it’s important to note that the Ultrasonic Pest Repeller, true to its name, doesn’t actually kill the bugs, but it repels them and hopefully will keep them from ever returning.  But who cares, if it does the trick? In the meantime, though, you can breathe easy knowing there aren’t any toxic chemicals in the air.

When President Calvin Coolidge discovered water bugs and roaches in his White House, he called on Harris, then only 2 years in business, to eradicate them. With this illustrious start, Harris is the older EPA-registered company. And it’s still going strong today.

The company’s Toughest Bed Bug Spray is a chemical-derived spray that’s been developed to be resistant even to the strains of bed bugs that have evolved to be resistant to pyrethroid pesticide chemicals. This one-gallon package comes with a spray nozzle on a long hose, so it’s easy to spray into corners, crevices, and under furniture. The company recommends stripping bedding and drying it on high heat for 30 minutes, and vacuuming the entire house, then spraying mattresses and bed frames until they’re damp, and spraying other areas.

Allow them to dry completely before making up the bed. While the company doesn’t make any claims to how quickly the spray works, it does say that the dried spray residue will continue to decrease bug populations for up to 4 months.

The one drawback? Customers complain that the spray bottle, an extendable hose with a spray nozzle, is badly designed. If you don’t remember to turn the nozzle to the closed position, the liquid can siphon off and leak. And other users complained that while in use, the sprayer didn’t always work, or it leaked badly.

Hopefully, the company will address these issues with a redesigned bottle, because the chemicals used to produce it have left many customers satisfied and bed bug-free.

If you have trouble sleeping because of the ever-present fear of bugs crawling up onto your bed and biting you, the Bug Snarer Bed Bug Traps will let you rest easier. The plastic devices fit under each leg of your bed frame and will prevent bugs from crawling up them.

The exterior has ridges, almost like tiny stairs, so bugs can easily make their way up to the top, where they then fall into the moat around the legs, where an ultra-polished, super-slick surface makes it impossible for them to climb back out.

This solution is an ideal chemical-free option if you’ve got small kids (the traps can even fit under cribs or toddler beds), and they take moments to install. Most satisfying of all, you can periodically check the trap to see how many bugs you’ve caught (then vacuum them out or dump them into a bag, seal them, and throw away). Some customers even report that the traps have caught fleas.

However, as effective as it may be in catching bugs that are trying to get onto your bed and furniture, it’s important to understand it is not a whole-house treatment like sprays and powders are. And, if there are bugs already in your mattress, box spring, or bed frame, you’ll need to first treat these items with another method, such as a dust or spray.

Don’t forget to also wash and dry your bedding at high heat, and make sure that the bedding doesn’t come in contact with the floor to offer another way for the critters to climb up onto your bed.

This little bottle of insecticidal dust may be small, but it’s mighty. The engineered silica dust works much like diatomaceous earth, acting as a desiccant to dry out the insects’ exoskeleton. While it only works on living bugs and their nymphs (the larval stage of a bed bug), if the eggs have been dusted with Cimexa, the hatching nymphs will also meet their end.

The dust is packaged in a bottle with a pointed nozzle which is designed to be used as a puffer to blow the dust into cracks and crevices, such as into the cracks between floorboards and baseboards, in the gap behind electrical outlet plates, and other tiny areas where the bugs might lurk. Best of all, the dust will continue to work for years to come if it’s not disturbed or exposed to water.

It’s designed to be resistant to humidity except in the most extreme situations. And it can also be an effective way to manage other insects since it will work on any invertebrate: fleas, ticks, lice, roaches, silverfish, and even termites will be affected.

For those concerned about the environment, this mineral-based substance is low in toxicity and is even a recommended product for green pest control services. The only downside: the bottle only comes with 4 ounces of powder (it’s packaged in a larger-sized bottle so it can be used as a duster). The company recommends 2 ounces of dust for every 100 square feet, so you’ll probably need to invest in several bottles.

Diatomaceous earth has long been known as a wonder substance to kill just about anything with an exoskeleton, whether it’s fleas, ants, roaches, or, yes, bed bugs. This generous, 4-pound package from Harris is a good option if you’ve got a serious infestation and need something that truly works.

The non-toxic material is actually derived from fossilized sea creatures, whose bodies were made of silicon dioxide. Crushed into a fine powder, it acts as a desiccant to the bugs’ shell, drying it up and dehydrating them until they die. Because it’s a physical bug killer, rather than a chemical one, bugs are not resistant to it as they’ve come to be to so many of the chemical products on the market.

Diatomaceous earth has no odor, and is non-toxic to pets and people, although the application is tricky because if you breathe the dust, it is not good for your respiratory system. It’s recommended you wear goggles and a dust mask and clear the area of any kids or pets until the dust has settled.

The bag from Harris even comes with a little duster tool, perfect for puffing the powder under beds, into crevices, and other hard-to-reach areas. While it takes a few days to see results, this is a highly effective product and as long as the dust does not get wet, it’ll continue to affect bugs. Furthermore, you can spread it as a barrier around your house; the bugs cannot cross it without becoming affected.