How To Reduce Your Risk Of Carrying Home Bed Bugs

Bed bugs have a reputation for being hard to get rid of. It often requires working with a pest control expert to get an infestation under control, and even then it can be difficult if your home has a lot of the bugs. A pest control company can use pesticides, heat, or dry ice to kill the bugs and it can be time-consuming and costly. While it may not be possible to completely avoid bringing bed bugs home, you can take the following two steps to reduce your risk of an infestation and save yourself from the difficult task of removing them.

Be Careful When Shopping At Yard Sales

It's potentially risky to buy used clothing because bed bugs can hide in the seams, pockets, and collars to hitch a ride back to your house. If you like shopping at yard sales, examine clothing carefully for bugs and dark brown or rust-colored spots that indicate they've been on them. You may even want to take a container or garbage bag you can seal the items you buy in until you can get home and examine them thoroughly outdoors before you bring them in your home. Be leery about all used items you buy because bugs can hide in appliances, books, and toys. You may want to avoid buying a used mattress altogether unless you seal it immediately in a bug-proof mattress cover.

Check For Bed Bugs When You Travel

One of the more common ways to pick up bed bugs is when you travel or spend the night away from home in another home or hotel that has bed bugs. Carry a flashlight when you travel so you can check the seams in mattresses and gaps in the bed frame for signs of bed bugs. You might also look behind picture frames and around the bedside table. If you see bugs, you'll want to change rooms. However, it's possible for a room to have bugs that are not seen on an inspection.

Therefore, you'll want to check your luggage carefully for bugs before you empty its contents back in your home. Hotels are not the only place to pick up bed bugs when you travel. Any public place, no matter how clean, could possibly have bed bugs, even a department store or theater. If you have itchy welts, don't always assume they are mosquito bites. They could be the first sign you've been bitten by a bed bug. If the welts continue after you get back home, call for pest control services right away so you can kill off the bed bugs before they multiply. For more information, contact companies like Expert Bed Bug Exterminator LLC.

Share