As many of you know, bedbugs have made a creepy crawling comeback in New York City and surrounding areas. The bedbug epidemic is impacting homes, retail stores, schools, and more. If you have nearly microscopic blood spots on your sheet or mattresses, wake up with tiny red bumps, and/or notice dark clusters near your mattress seams, call a professional exterminator immediately.
Only a licensed technician can ensure that all traces of bedbugs, at all stages of their lifecycle, are effectively removed from your home. If you are lucky enough to not have encountered bedbugs, I am sure you are dying to know how to protect yourself, your family, and your home.
Bedbug prevention can be very difficult due to their almost undetectable size and tendency to hitchhike rides on your clothing, luggage, and furniture. The following precautions are the first step you can take in keeping your home bedbug free.
1)Be extremely cautious when picking up furniture that has been left on the sidewalk or curb.
Bedbugs are nomadic in nature and are known to dorm in various types of furniture, NOT just on or in mattresses! It is very common to find bedbugs tightly packed into dark screw holes and corners on chairs, tables, dressers, and on many other household furnishings. These nocturnal pests are drawn to dark sheltered areas and therefore they will commonly hide in your mattress or box spring; providing them with easy access to their food host…you!
Before picking up furniture that has been left on the curb be sure to examine it thoroughly for dark spots or blood/fecal stains. Also, check any small dark corners or seams where the bedbugs may be hiding.
2) When traveling and/or staying at hotels, know what to look for and how to keep your luggage and clothing safe.
Patrons come and go from hotels all day, everyday. Yea sure, housekeeping does their best to make sure the rooms are clean and the sheets are washed. But how sure can you be that not a single little bedbug dropped from that sheet and took shelter in the mattress?
Prior to going on vacation, be sure to check online reviews regarding your hotel! There are also many bedbug registries where you can check to find out if the hotel you are staying at has any reported bedbug incidences or infestations. Once you arrive be sure to check your bed before placing your luggage on it. You should check the mattress seams along with the box spring. Also, check the sheets for tiny pepper like spots (these are blood and fecal stains that are left behind by feeding bedbugs).
If you have found bedbugs in your hotel room, immediately report it to the front desk and request a room change that is on a different side or floor of the hotel. If one room has been infested it is likely that neighboring rooms may have had some stragglers wander over.
Now don’t forget, it is possible that you picked up a bedbug along the way and didn’t realize it. Therefore, when you come home from your travels it is necessary to take precautions as well. I would recommend that you thoroughly check your luggage and wash all clothing at high temperatures. Extremely high temperatures have proven to be the most effective way to eliminate bedbugs, at all stages of their life cycle.
3) If for any reason you fear that you were in a location where you may have been exposed to bedbugs, remove your clothing and have it dry cleaned or washed at very high temperatures.
Immediately seal your clothing in tightly fastened bags when transporting them from room to room. You can wash the clothes with hot water and dry them at a very high temperature in order to ensure that any possible hitchhikers are eliminated. Bedbugs cannot survive temperatures of 120 degrees Fahrenheit or above; even eggs will die at these temperatures.
4) Seal off mattresses and box springs with bedbug mattress covers. You will likely be able to purchase these covers through your licensed exterminator.
By taking the initiative to cover your mattresses, you can ensure that bedbugs will not be able to reside closely to their desired host. Without humans to feed on the bedbugs will search for an alternate host or hitchhike a ride elsewhere. However, it is important to note that bedbugs can live for extended periods of time without a host. Another benefit of having a mattress cover is that any live bugs or eggs currently residing in the mattress will eventually die, as they have no where to flee to.
These are just a few steps you can take in keeping your home bedbug free. For more information on bedbugs, bedbug removal/elimination, keeping your home safe, and environmental-friendly heat treatment visit our website or give us a call.
