How to get Rid of Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are everywhere these days and we are all at risk. While there’s no guarantee, there are some steps you can take to protect your home from a bed bug infestation. This is most important when you are traveling. And most of us are likely to encounter this dreaded insect.
Most often, bed bugs travel when you do. They find their way into your luggage, purses, or clothing when you’re away from home. But what matters the most is how long you spend in a given place. Bed bugs are natural fugitives that live most of their lives in hiding.
They venture out to feed only when their victims are still for a long while, or even worse, sleeping! But it doesn’t mean you can’t do anything about it. Here we reveal important tips on how to get rid of bed bugs to ensure you enjoy your holiday to the most!
But Here’s What You Can Do to Make Sure You’re Free from Any Threats:
- Inspect Hotel Room
Hotels are prime places to pick up bed bugs. Simply being able to identify them is the single best thing you can do to protect yourself. Hatched from silvery white eggs, they grow darker and larger as they mature. Here we provide you with some tips on how to detect bed bugs. Inspect any hotel room before you commit to staying in it. In hotels and motels, the most common areas are the headboards that are anchored onto the wall. And it should be removed for a better inspection.
You’ll be looking not just for bugs, but also their droppings. Black spots or flax, and the translucent skins they shed as they grow. It’s very easy to overlook an early bed bug infestation. Headboards are rarely disturbed in hotel rooms, making them great places for bed bugs to hide. You would find blood spots at the back of headboards, signifying the presence of bed bugs.
You should also pull back the sheets, check on the edges of mattresses, and even lift the box spring. But, bed bugs do not only live in beds. You’ll also want to look around the room. Forage inside drawers, under furniture, or deep into crevices in the upholstery. Sometimes, curtains can also sustain an infestation. If you do find something, immediately tell the hotel and ask for a different room, then check that one too.
Of course, you can’t always get the headboard off the wall or rip apart the room the way an exterminator would. So it pays to add another layer of protection.
- Isolate Your Luggage
Keep your clothes and shoes in your suitcase. Do not put anything in the drawers or a closet. Also, don’t put anything on the floor or bed. But what you can otherwise do, is to bring along big plastic bags to keep everything sealed inside them during your stay. This includes your laptop, shoes, and camera! You can also purchase disposable luggage protectors. Zip your bags when you get to the hotel room and then leave the bags behind when you’re out. Here’s how you can get rid of bed bugs in your bags.
When you return from a trip, you can take your suitcase and place it in a large clear bag. Put your clothing directly into another clothing bag for your trip to your laundry. Things like jewelry and shoes can be wiped down with alcohol. And your suitcase can be vacuumed thoroughly with an upholstery brush and a crevice tool to get deep.
Once the suitcase has been vacuumed, you don’t need to keep it sealed in the bag anymore. But in some situations, people may want to spray their suitcase with alcohol to make sure it is completely clean. And this is best done in the garage or out in the lawn. Be sure to seal up and throw away the vacuum cleaner bag.
- Call a Professional
While all these tips are great to make sure you’re pest free, you never know what’s cooking up back at home. You might have a bed bug infestation right in your home that you never knew about. And while there’s so much you can do to prevent them from spreading, a professional always does it better. Even the suitcases you brought back home may have had a few bugs crawl out before you could terminate them. And they can multiply super fast if you’re not cautious.
If you think you have brought home a few bugs from your recent holiday, call a Assured Pest Control professional pest-management service for a comprehensive bed bug inspection.