Preventing Bed Bugs in Your Home
Preventing bed bugs is easy if you follow a few simple rules. Some of these bed bug prevention measures may be difficult to follow, however they will greatly reduce your risk for bringing bed bugs into your home. Our bed bug knowledge and experience has led to the creation of these rules. It is far more difficult to get rid of a bed bug infestation than it is to prevent it.
PREVENTING BED BUGS WHEN YOU TRAVEL
When staying in a hotel or anywhere away from home, be aware that you could take bed bugs home with you. Prevent a bed bug infestation by following these instructions and keep your vacation memories happy.
Inspect The Room for Signs of Bed Bugs:
Check for small black (peppered) stains on bedding, bed frames, and mattresses. Pay special attention to cracks and seams. Lift the mattress and box spring and look on underside seams to inspect for bed bugs.
Luggage:
Inspect the luggage rack (if provided) and use this to keep all luggage elevated off of the floor. Never put your suitcase on the bed or floor.
When you get home follow these steps:
- Initially put your luggage outside, including purses, diaper bags, and portable cribs.
- Empty the contents such as clothes into plastic bags.
- Wash and dry all clothes and linens on the highest heat possible.
- Place empty suitcase into large black plastic bag.
- Place the bagged suitcase in the sun to cook for several days
- Flip the bagged suitcase twice a day to ensure thorough heating.
- Keep suitcase sealed in bag until next use.
If you suspect that bed bugs were present at the hotel where you stayed then contact us to treat your luggage.
PREVENT BRINGING BED BUGS HOME FROM WORK
If your workplace has a bed bug infestation it is very important that you follow the procedure outlined below to prevent bringing bed bugs home.
The following are the bed bug decontamination procedures followed by our team members.
- Set up decontamination area on your property. (We Provide This Service)
- The decontamination area is ideally placed in the garage and/or the laundry room
- When you get home from work strip your work clothes and place them in a sealed plastic bag
- Wash contaminated clothes and dry on the hottest setting in the dryer
- Follow Linen Sanitation Instructions
Shower to remove any bed bugs that may be on your person paying attention to any bugs that may fall off during shower
Other Work Tips:
- Have a designated work bag that does not enter your property past the decontamination area
- Have designated work shoes that do not enter your property past the decontamination area
- Park your vehicle in the sun with the windows up to kill any bed bugs that may be within
- We can also pre-treat your vehicle to kill any bed bugs that may be introduced
TIPS: HOW TO SANITIZE LINENS TO PREVENT A BED BUG INFESTATION.
Sanitizing linens is the most important step to preventing bed bugs from entering your home.
Linen Sanitization Instructions
- Seal linens in trash bags prior to entering the home or washing facility, preventing bed bugs from escaping into the structure.
- Place the bag inside the washing machine and untie the top.
- Reach around the outside of the bag and grab near the bottom.
- Pull upward on the bag from the bottom and let the clothes slide out of the bag.
- When the bag is empty, immediately grab the open end and seal the empty bag.
- Bed bugs may be hiding in that empty bag.
- Immediately remove the empty sealed bag from the structure and dispose of it to prevent them from escaping.
For more information and bed bug prevention tips, check out this link to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
When we perform the bed bug heat treatment in all rooms we include up to an 18 month warranty for single family homes.
If for any reason live bed bugs are found during the warranty period, we will come out right away to get rid of them.
“Following these steps will aid you in preventing bed bugs so that you never have to deal with the little scoundrels again.”