Bed bugs absolutely hate sustained high heat above 120 degrees Fahrenheit, extreme cold below 0 degrees for several days, and being unable to find a host, but they are not strongly repelled by smells alone despite many claims, and understanding what they truly hate helps with effective control. The thing bed bugs hate most and that kills 100 percent of all life stages including eggs is heat, because they die within 90 minutes at 118 degrees and instantly at 122 degrees, so professional whole-home heat treatment raising room temperatures to 135 to 145 degrees for several hours with fans circulating hot air into mattress seams, box springs, and cracks is the most effective method they cannot survive. They also hate prolonged freezing at 0 degrees Fahrenheit for at least four days, which can kill all stages in small items placed in freezers. They hate diatomaceous earth, a natural powder that dehydrates them over several days when lightly dusted in cracks, and they hate being trapped by bed bug-proof encasements on mattresses and box springs that starve them over a year. While many sources say bed bugs hate smells like lavender, peppermint, tea tree, and eucalyptus, scientific studies show these provide only short-term deterrence and do not stop feeding because bed bugs are attracted by carbon dioxide and body heat, not smell. They also hate thorough vacuuming which removes them physically. So heat, cold, desiccation, and isolation are what they truly cannot tolerate, not just strong odors.
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