How are Bed Bugs a Pest?
Bed bugs live in and around where people sleep. If you have a bed bug infestation, you may wake up with just a bite, or more commonly a series of bites that form a line where the bed bug was crawling.
Bed bugs are not known to spread disease, but they do leave behind itchy bites that if scratched can lead to skin infections.
How Did I Get Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs don’t travel on their own, they hitch a ride on people, or in clothing when in a location that has a bed bug infestation. If you stay in a hotel that has bed bugs, you may bring them home. If you live in an apartment complex, bed bugs may migrate from the apartment next to yours, but they don’t go very far on their own.
How Do I Avoid Bed Bugs?
The best way to avoid bed bugs is to examine the edges of the mattress anywhere you sleep. They’re most commonly found at the head of the bed near the headboard, on the bands around the top and bottom of the mattress or between the pillow top and the main section of the mattress. Bedbugs are about the size of an apple seed, and they can be seen at every stage of their development. You should look for shed bedbug exoskeletons, live bed bugs, and bedbug feces. Bedbug feces will appear as brown dots and are very visible to the human eye.
How do I make sure I don’t bring Bed Bugs home?
You may be exposed to bed bugs, but don’t let that stop you from traveling. Bed bugs have had a resurgence in the past two decades, but that just means you should be vigilant when coming home.
There are three things you can do to make sure bedbugs don’t follow you home:
Inspect Your Room
Make sure you inspect your room wherever you are staying, looking for the things described above.
Dry Your Clothes on High
When you get home from your trip, put all your clothes in your dryer and run it on high for 30 minutes. The heat of any residential dryer will kill all bedbugs. Make sure you put the clothes you were wearing when you were traveling home, and all of your shoes in the dryer too!
Inspect Your Luggage
Use a lint roller on all of the surfaces of your luggage to inspect for signs of bed bugs. If you find signs of bed bugs, put the luggage in a garbage bag and seal it with tape. You can get rid of the bed bugs by vacuuming your luggage, and emptying the dust bin into a sealed container that can be disposed of, like a zip-lock bag.
How to Deal With Bed Bugs in Your Home
If you have a bed bug infestation in your home, you’ll need professional help to get rid of it. There are many strategies that homeowners can take on their own, but most of the time you’ll need an experienced professional to help you get rid of bed bugs.
