Do-It-Yourself Home Exterminating

Search on or around furniture. Look in the cracks and crevices where bugs and their eggs hide. Use a vacuum to suck out any that you find and empty the canister or place the bag in a garbage bag, seal tightly and place outside far away from the house.

Set traps for roaches where you find them, including in and around drawers, in the kitchen and in damp spaces. Eliminate leaks and any other sources of moisture. Roaches thrive primarily on water. They hide out in dark spaces and typically come out at night.

Wash all bedding in water as hot as possible. Turn the hot water tank up and dry everything on high heat for a minimum of 20 minutes to ensure the bugs are dead. If you're unsure of whether the bugs are gone or not, bag the items to ensure they remain bug-free and suffocate the bugs, if they didn't die initially.

Wrap your mattresses in a latex cover to suffocate any remaining bugs. Use a steam cleaner on furniture, since the bugs cannot withstand heat of any sort.

Clean up any standing food or water. Roaches feed on crumbs, books and even dog food.

Purchase bug sprays specific to the type of infestation you have. Read all labels carefully and adhere to warnings about where to spray and how frequently you should use it. You will need to be vigilant in your efforts to kill the bugs. It will take time and dedication, because skipping over one area can create another infestation.