Bed bug infestations are random and unpredictable. You can get bed bugs from many places, such as a hotel, other homes, public places, and any buildings, The property can be very clean, but it may still have bed bugs.
Bed bugs are traveling bugs that attach to a suitcase, bag, or purse and hitch a ride to the next destination. Preventing these pests always begins with knowledge.
If you understand how to look for the signs of bed bugs at the places you are traveling, this will minimize the risk of you getting bed bugs. Inspecting hotel rooms, checking a mattress for bed bug poop, and looking for signs of bed bugs in furniture can help safeguard your family from bed bugs.
What’s the Best Way to Prevent Bed Bugs?
There is no real reason why some people get bed bugs. A bed bug is not picky and will go where the food source is located.
Once they have invaded your home as long as they have a source of blood they will thrive. You have to eradicate them all to take back your home.
Keep in mind that bed bugs are not attracted to clutter or mess like other pests. Instead, they are drawn to CO2, blood, and warmth.
Here are some of the tips you can do to prevent bed bugs:
- Regularly clean and inspect your home
- Watch for bites on you or your family members
- Be aware of used furniture
- Be careful when you are traveling
- Always protect your mattress
- Know the signs of bed bugs
The Top Places You Can Get Bed Bugs
There are some common places where you can pick up bed bugs and bring them back home. If you are aware of the places where you can get bed bugs it is easier to catch them if they try to hitch a ride.
1. Hotels
After a long journey, you check into your hotel room and eagerly prepare for some well-deserved rest. However, when you sink onto the mattress bed bugs are ready to come out to play – filling their bellies with blood and giving you itchy bites!
Bed bugs are brought into a hotel by guests—it’s not a hotel sanitation problem. It’s a hitchhiking bug so it goes where the host goes.
- Before you book a hotel, read customer reviews to know if any other travelers have reported bed bugs in the area.
- Be careful where you put your suitcase. You should put the suitcase in the bathroom because bed bugs are less likely to be in a bathroom in a hotel room.
- Check under the bed sheets and the mattress cover to look for bed bugs. Another great place to look is the mattress seams. Even luxurious hotels can have bed bugs.
2. Travel
Everybody looks forward to summer vacation, but unwary travelers might get more than they bargain. Here are some tips to help avoid getting bed bugs during your precious travel.
- Consider putting your luggage into a clear plastic bag while at a hotel since bed bugs do not care for thick plastic bags.
- After your travel, take a few steps to make sure anything you have brought is thrown away or destroyed before it infests your home.
- Consider using a steamer on your luggage. This should get rid of any bed bugs that might have hitchhiked a ride home.
3. Other Homes
Bed bugs do not jump or fly, but they can walk and climb into your stuff. If you live in a townhouse, apartment, or condo where you share a wall with the neighbor, bed bugs can travel across pipes, through vents, and between walls and electrical outlets.
- Always get your home inspected for any bed bugs immediately if you have bite marks or see other signs.
- Prevent visiting until you know they have had a professional bed bug treatment.
- Seal cracks around ducts, pipes, and outlets, then make sure to close the vents.
4. Kid’s School
Did you know that bed bugs can travel from one child to another? Close quarters during nap time shared lockers, and rough housing at recess all pose opportunities for bed bugs to move from one individual to another.
As a parent, you can help stop the spread of bed bugs in your home by doing this below if you hear of an outbreak at school.
- Inspect your car for signs of bed bugs such as blood stains and shed exoskeletons.
- Check your kid’s backpack, clothing, and jackets after they return home, and keep those items in a separate area of your house.
- Limit the number of items your child brings home from school.
5. Used Furniture
Bed bugs love to live on mattresses, chairs, tables, couches, and beds. You could easily buy furniture second-hand and that furniture has bed bugs. You need to make sure the used furniture you pick up is free of bed bugs to keep your home from getting bed bugs.
- Always ask the seller if they have ever had bed bugs in their home or in the furniture.
- Bring the proper tools when checking used furniture for bed bugs, and a flashlight.
- If you are unsure put the used furniture in a barn or shed until you know for sure it is bug-free.
6. Public Spaces such as Libraries and Laundromats
A public library, office space, or laundromat can serve as transfer places for bed bugs to get a ride into your home. Here are some tips to help you:
- Don’t set your things on floors. I would set them on a wooden table or wooden chair.
- If you carry your things in a cloth bag, make sure you put that bag in the wash too. If the public place is known to have a bed bug issue.
7. Apartments
Bed bugs often come out at night from their hiding places to eat on sleeping, unsuspecting people. These pests feed on human blood and can go months without eating.
Here are some tips to prevent bed bug infestation in your apartment:
- Vacuum your apartment on a regular basis.
- Install door sweeps or weather stripping on doors to limit or get rid of the bed bugs from moving to other areas.
- Seal any crevices, cracks, or similar openings around light sockets, baseboards, and other features to lessen movement through walls.
8. Buying New Home or Moving into an Apartment
Nearly everybody that had bed bags has considered moving to get away from the infestation. However, moving out because of bed bugs is not so easy.
That’s because they are good at hiding and could be in any of the stuff that you are moving. This means you will just be taking the bed bugs with you to a new place.
If you do move into a new home or apartment and it has bed bugs
- Wash and bag all your clothes before trying to kill the bed bugs inside
- Throw away your mattress, or you can use an encasement
- Spray the new home or apartment and keep most things in plastic bags until all the bed bugs are killed.
If you’re buying a new home, doing your due diligence to ensure there are no major concerns before committing is important. A bed bug infestation may not stop your purchase, removal must take place before signing on the dotted line.
- Ask the seller for any infestation problems.
- Hire an experienced pest control professional to get rid of bed bugs.
- Always conduct a bed bug inspection first before buying. You can have a pest control dog come in to see if the place has bed bugs.
Final Thoughts
To prevent bed bugs, it is important if you find signs like bite marks on the body to start regularly inspecting your home and furniture for signs of infestation.
Avoiding second-hand furniture, as well as reducing clutter in your home, can also help prevent infestations.
When traveling, inspect hotel rooms for signs of bed bugs before bringing your luggage into the room. Upon returning home, unpack your luggage outside and wash all clothing on high heat to kill any potential bed bugs.
If you suspect a bed bug infestation, it is recommended to contact a professional exterminator or you can do it yourself and save money.
