Aug 17, 2023 | Bed Bug
Traveling can be stressful. The last thing anyone wants to deal with on top of the routine stress of traveling is bed bugs. These pests are notorious hitchhikers and often catch rides with travelers on their luggage to move from place to place. How can you eliminate the potential for bed bugs while traveling?
While traveling, here are some things you can do to help prevent bed bugs:
- Inspect your hotel room carefully before unpacking. Look for signs of bed bugs, such as small, dark spots, bloodstains, or eggshells.
- Don’t put your luggage on the bed or on the floor. Instead, put it on a luggage rack or in a closet.
- Wash your clothes and bedding as soon as you come home. The heat from the dryer will help eliminate any hitchhiking bed bugs.
- Inspect your home for signs of bed bugs after you have returned.
Where can bed bugs be found? Here are some common places you should keep an eye out for:
- Airbnb and Hotels: More common in hotels, bed bugs can be found in any accommodation, including Airbnbs.
- Public transportation: Bed bugs can hitch a ride on your clothing or luggage if you sit in an infested seat. This can include buses, airplanes, or ride-share.
- Public places: Bed bugs can be found in public spaces including libraries, movie theaters, and gyms.
- Friends or family homes: if you visit a friend or family member’s home who has bed bugs, you could bring them back to your own home.
If you think you may have brought bed bugs home with you from your travels, here are some things you can do:
- Inspect your home carefully for signs of bed bugs. Look for the signs mentioned above.
- Wash your clothes and bedding in hot water. This will help to eliminate any bed bugs that may be present.
- Call your local pest control company. They will be able to inspect your home and treat it for bed bugs!
Apr 11, 2023 | Bed Bug
Bed bugs are tiny insects that are notorious for infesting bedding, mattresses, and furniture. They are often found in hotels and other accommodation facilities, making travel a common way to pick them up. Bed bug infestations are not only annoying but can also lead to health problems. Therefore, it’s important to take steps to prevent bed bugs while traveling. Let’s discuss some tips on how to prevent bed bugs while traveling.
Research Your Accommodation
Before booking your accommodation, it’s important to research it thoroughly. Check online reviews and ratings to see if any guests have reported bed bug problems. If you find several negative reviews, it’s best to look for alternative accommodation.
Check Your Room Thoroughly
Once you arrive at your accommodation, inspect your room for bed bugs. Start by checking the mattress, bed frame, headboard, and box spring. Look for black spots or bloodstains, which are signs of bed bug activity. You may also spot actual bugs or their shed skins. Additionally, check the furniture, curtains, and carpet for any signs of bed bugs.
Keep Your Luggage Off the Floor
These pests can easily climb onto your luggage if it’s placed on the floor, so it’s best to keep it off the ground. Use a luggage rack or place your luggage on a hard surface such as a table. Avoid placing your luggage on upholstered furniture or the bed.
Use Protective Covers
Using protective covers for your mattress and box spring can help prevent these household pests from infesting them. These covers create a barrier that prevents them from entering or escaping from the mattress and box spring.
Wash Your Clothes in Hot Water
If you suspect that your clothes may have come into contact with bed bugs, wash them in hot water as soon as possible. These pests cannot survive in temperatures above 120°F, so washing your clothes in hot water and drying them on high heat can kill any bed bugs that may be present.
Be Cautious When Using Shared Spaces
When using shared spaces such as the hotel gym or laundromat, be cautious. Bed bugs can easily hitch a ride on your clothes or bag, so it’s best to keep your belongings in a sealed bag and avoid placing them on the floor. After using shared spaces, inspect your belongings carefully and wash them in hot water.
Bed bugs are a common problem when traveling, but by taking the necessary precautions, you can prevent them from infesting your luggage and coming home with you. If you suspect you have a bed bug infestation, reach out to your local pest control company to create the best plan of action.
Mar 14, 2023 | Bed Bug
Augusta Bed Bug Control: Prevention Tips
Bed bugs are one of the few pests that you hope you never find in your home. These fearsome insects bring itchy bites, crawling hordes, and ruined furniture. Bed bugs are one of the most difficult pests to get rid of. Identifying them and acting quickly is the first step in your plan of action. Here’s what to do if you find yourself in a bed bug situation.
Identify the Problem
After proper identification, determining where the bed bugs came from is the next step. If you live in an apartment building, be sure to notify your landlord immediately, as they might hold the responsibility of providing bed bug control treatments. If you live in a single-family home, then begin by inspecting all areas of your home to understand the full extent of the bed bug infestation.
Keep the Infestation from Spreading
Once you discover the extent of the infestation, now is the time to keep it from spreading. Here are some helpful bed bug prevention tips:
- Purchase protective plastic covers for your mattress and box spring. This will trap the bugs inside and they will eventually die.
- Discard infested furniture responsibly. If infested with bed bugs, be sure to destroy the furniture so no one else will grab it.
- Seal any other furniture items in plastic to ensure bed bugs are trapped.
Call Your Local Pest Control Company
Tackling bed bugs is a difficult task, especially alone. If you’ve done the above, but are still experiencing an infestation, then reach out to your local pest control company. They will have licensed professionals who can determine the best plan of action to rid your home of bed bugs.
Mar 6, 2023 | Bed Bug
Tennessee Bed Bug Control: Identification & Prevention
Once infested, it can be extremely difficult to get rid of bed bugs. These “hitchhiking” bugs find refuge in our beds, furniture, and clothes, often feeding on humans or pets for a blood meal to survive. The first step in avoiding these insects is understanding how they can enter our Murfreesboro homes, so you can place appropriate precautions. Check out how these bed bugs get inside our homes and what you can do to prevent them below.
Where do Bed Bugs Come From?
Bed bugs are often called the “hitchhiking” pest, referring to their ability to latch onto items and travel long distances. These pests can be found where humans tend to congregate and spend extended time, including public transportation, libraries, and hotel rooms. This often can make travel season the perfect time for these bed bugs to latch onto your travel items and follow you home. Additionally, bed bugs are known to latch onto items transferred from one house to another, such as secondhand furniture, mattresses, box springs, and couches.
How Can I Avoid Bed Bugs?
If you’re traveling, be cautious of the hotel room you’re staying in. Once you arrive at the hotel room, inspect places where bed bugs can hide, looking for live insects, blood stains, and eggs throughout your room. If a larger bed bug infestation is present, you’ll smell a sweet, musty odor.
Likewise, once you’ve returned home from your trip, unpack your luggage outside instead of bringing it inside. Since bed bugs cannot withstand high temperatures, take all your clothes and wash them immediately, running them through a high-heat dryer cycle to help eliminate them. Consider storing your luggage in outside places such as garages or storage closets. Before you purchase secondhand furniture, inspect all used couches, mattresses, or box springs for bed bugs and other pests.
I Have Bed Bugs, What Next?
If you’ve spotted signs of bed bugs or seen live bugs in your home, you need to act fast to get rid of them. While there are several do-it-yourself methods to eliminate bed bugs, it’s best to call a professional for help. Your nearest pest control company is trained in the latest treatment methods to eliminate and prevent bed bugs. These professionals will give your home an in-depth inspection and then implement the best treatment and bed bug control plan customized to your home.
Feb 23, 2023 | Bed Bug
Bed bugs are small, apple seed-sized insects. They are flat and oval with horizontal ridges across their bodies. They don’t have wings but can move extremely fast. They can leave mosquito-like bites all over your body and can be an itchy problem.
Coming home from a vacation or even a day out shouldn’t result in a bed bug infestation. If you discover you brought home these common pests, it’s crunch time to keep them from spreading to other areas of your home.
The first thing you should do is identify the pest and verify it is a bed bug. If you believe it is a bed bug, then giving your local bed bug control company a call is the best option. Here are some other things you can do in the meantime:
- Purchase protective covers for your mattress and box springs.
- Discard furniture responsibly, by destroying or marking with a sign noting it has bed bugs.
- Seal all other furniture in plastic bags to ensure bed bugs stay out.
Give your local pest control company a call today. Their highly trained pest professionals will be able to rid your home of bed bugs and give you back your peace of mind.
Feb 22, 2023 | Bed Bug
Macon Bed Bug Control: Identification & Prevention
Many of us have heard the old saying, “Don’t let the bed bugs bite,” often instilling some fear before going to bed! Unfortunately, this saying can hold some truths as these insects can bring itchy bites, crawling hordes, and ruined furniture! They can be difficult to remove and eliminate, making it essential for Macon homeowners to understand how to identify them and what steps to take if they spot one in their home. Check out everything you need to know about these household pests below.
How Do I Find Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs are tiny, appleseed-sized insects with flat, oval-shaped bodies and horizontal ridges across their bodies. Since these pests are so small, they can fit in the smallest crack, crevice, or any small hiding spot. The best way to spot bed bug signs is to look for physical signs, such as rusty stains on the bed sheets or mattresses, dark spots on fabric, eggs or eggshells, and live bed bugs. You will often find these pests or signs of bed bugs around the bed, near piping, seams, tags of mattresses, box springs, and in cracks on the bed frame and headboard.
How Can I Prevent Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs are notorious for hitchhiking, allowing them to travel long distances at a time. They will often latch onto suitcases, linens, clothes, old furniture, groceries, and more. The best way to prevent these pests from entering your home in the first place is to inspect items before entering the home. After traveling, avoid bringing in your suitcase; instead, remove your clothes and wash them immediately through a high-heat dryer cycle. Likewise, before you bring in any second-hand furniture, groceries, or deliveries, make sure to inspect them for bugs.
What Should I Do If I Have a Bed Bug Infestation?
If you’ve noticed bed bug signs or identified live bugs, you will want to act fast to eliminate them. Since bed bugs are elusive, surviving under extreme conditions, they often cannot be eliminated through do-it-yourself methods. Once you have identified a bed bug infestation, the best plan of action is to call a pest control company for help. These professionals will provide you with a proper inspection to identify the areas where they have invaded. After an inspection is completed, your pest professional will provide you with a bed bug control plan, including either a chemical or heat treatment, all depending on your pest situation.
If you suspect a bed bug infestation in your home, contact your local pest control company to assess the situation. A trained professional will help you decide the best plan of action, treatment, and prevention for your home.
Feb 21, 2023 | Bed Bug
Alabama Bed Bug Control: Identification & Prevention
Having a bed bug infestation can be devasting and removing them can be a long and tedious process. To avoid these pests altogether, it’s important for every homeowner to identify early signs of bed bugs in their Alabama home. Check out these common bed bug signs and how you can avoid them.
Bed Bug Bites
One of the easier signs to identify an infestation is seeing bed bug bites on your skin. Bed bugs need a blood meal to survive and will often look to us and our pets for it. If bitten, bed bugs will leave a red, itchy welt on your skin. However, it can be easy to confuse bed bug bites with other insect bites. A common indicator that you have been bitten is the series of three or four welts in a row, where you can usually find them on any skin that was exposed during sleep.
Stains on Your Sheets
After a bed bug has its blood meal, its flat body quickly changes into a round, bloated form. If these bed bugs found themselves in your mattress, you could easily crush or squeeze them when you’re sleeping. While this might not eliminate them, it can cause the blood they just fed on to leak and create a red or rust-colored stain on your sheets. Check your sheets, clothes, and pillows for these spots.
Strange Odors in Your Home
If you start smelling an unusual, musty odor in your bedroom, this could be an indication that bed bugs have infested. When they are threatened or bothered, bed bugs will emit an ‘alarm’ pheromone as a response. This pheromone can produce an odor that smells sweet or musty, like cilantro, almonds, or coriander. While this smell can be faint if a single bed bug emits the odor, it can be very noticeable if many bed bugs are present.
Finding Bed Bugs & Their Casings
One of the most solid confirmations that a bed bug infestation has occurred is seeing a live adult bed bug or its casing in your home. Abandoned shell casings are a reliable, early sign of a growing infestation. These shell casings are translucent, hollow outlines of the young bed bug. You can often find these casings in mattress seams, upholstered furniture, holes, cracks, and crevices. Live bed bugs are small and brown and typically look like the shape of an apple seed. If you see a live one, it is the best confirmation you need to call your Alabama bed bug control company for help.
Preventing Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are notorious for hitchhiking their way inside homes, making it difficult to prevent them from entering; although by placing and taking a few precautions, you can avoid them. Consider these tips on preventing bed bugs from entering your home:
- Before bringing any used furniture inside your home, make sure you thoroughly inspect it.
- When traveling, inspect the bed and furniture. Keep the suitcase off the floor and bed, inspecting them before leaving.
- If you suspect that you’ve been around bed bugs, wash and dry your clothes on a hot setting as soon as possible.
- Seal cracks and crevices with caulk around your home to help prevent bed bugs and other pests from entering.
- If you suspect that bed bugs have entered your home, reach out to your local pest control company for a thorough inspection, treatment, and future prevention plan.
Jan 18, 2023 | Bed Bug
The new year is here and it’s time to get your vacations planned for the upcoming months. Don’t let those vacation plans get ruined by bed bugs! These pests are highly efficient hitchhikers and can move quickly and climb easily into luggage or anything left on a bed in just one night. Hotels and Airbnb’s are the perfect home for bed bugs and are typically where they can be picked up. Here are some tips to prevent bed bugs while traveling!
Detailed Inspection
Once arriving at your home away from home during your vacation, be sure to inspect anything and everything where a bed bug could be hiding. Look for live insects, blood stains, and eggs throughout the room. Typically, with larger infestations, you will notice a sweet, musty odor.
The best place to inspect is the mattress you will be sleeping on. Be sure to take the fitted sheet off the corner of the bed, lift the mattress, and check all the crevices with a flashlight. Other hiding places include baseboards, behind picture frames, and even cracked or ripped wallpaper.
Elevation is Key
Before using the luggage rack, which you should always use, inspect it for bed bugs. Once cleared, you should then use the rack to keep your luggage elevated off the ground. Keep the rack away from the wall so bed bugs can’t easily climb into your bag.
Checking Out
When beginning to pack for check out, examine your luggage and clothing to make sure you haven’t picked up any extra baggage. A good tip to know is once home, unpack in your garage or outside of your living areas, and put clothes directly in the dryer, as heat is a deterrent for bed bugs.
If you suspect you have returned home from vacation with hitchhikers, reach out to your local, licensed pest control company and receive a FREE bed bug inspection today!
Nov 16, 2022 | Bed Bug
Typically, when temperatures begin to drop, that means many bugs go into a sort of hibernation mode. This isn’t necessarily the case for bed bugs. Being predominantly indoor pests, they tend to survive the colder months. It’s also a big time for them to spread because of all the holiday travels, so always be aware of any pests that could ruin your holiday fun.
There are many ways that bed bugs can spread from one location to another. They will climb into our belongings and can lay their eggs in them. We will then carry these items from a location of infestation to a new location. Even if your bags or items are left outside, it will take a while for them to be harmed by the cold, as they are more resilient to the cold than they are to the heat. And since they will be hiding in our items, they will be protected from the wind and cold air.
Here are some tips to follow while travelling, so you can prevent bed bugs from home with you.
- Don’t put your clothing or luggage directly on the bed. This will allow any present bed bugs to climb into your bag.
- Use metal luggage racks at all times, since bed bugs find it more difficult to climb metal surfaces.
- Use small plastic bags to pack clothing.
- They can also be found on airplane and train seats, so be aware of your surroundings while travelling.
If you believe you have picked up bed bugs while on your travels, be sure to call your local pest control company and they will be able to assist you with a customized plan of action.
