Keeping Bed Bugs Out of Your Home

SERVING ALL OF SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA & MISSISSIPPI

Bed bugs are a serious problem that can infest your home quickly without preventative action. The most frightening aspect of these pests is that they spread via exposed luggage, discarded furniture, and transported clothing. Every home is vulnerable, despite your own efforts to maintain a clean home. Follow these 10 easy steps to prevent an infestation in your home.

1. Vacuum Your Floor
   Bed bugs can live in anything that protects them, such as crevices, cracks in the floor, and carpeting. For this reason, it is helpful to vacuum regularly to prevent an infestation if you do unintentionally bring bed bugs home with you. Pay special attention to where the floor and the wall meet, which provides a good hiding spot for the tiny bugs.
2. Cover Power Outlets
   Though it doesn’t seem like an obvious spot, power outlets are actually preferred hiding spots for bed bugs. Because they have small inlets and have very little traffic, it’s common to find bed bugs hiding away in them until nighttime. Cover the outlets with a simple outlet plug to help deter them.
3. Store Clothes in Vacuum-Sealed Bags
   Vacuum-sealed bags help provide a barrier between your clothing and wandering bed bugs. These handy bags also remove air from the bag, making the space less appealing to living things.
4. Cover Your Mattress
   An excellent preventative measure is to cover your mattress in a sturdy encasing. Be sure that the material is durable and can withstand tears or holes. Also be sure that the cover doesn’t have any folds and has enclosed seams. Bed bugs are commonly found in these places on a mattress cover.
5. Clean Your Pet’s Bed
   Bed bugs will seek seams and crevices in any place in your home, including the beds where your pets sleep. Check their beds just like you’d check your own, and take the same preventative steps there as well.
6. Clean Up Clutter
   By having clutter in your home, you are essentially providing more hiding space for bed bugs. Keep your home tidy, and be aware of possible living spaces for the bugs as you organize your things.
7.  Second Guess Used Items
   Buying used household items can offer a lot of benefits, but they can also transport bed bugs. Inspect your items before taking them home with you to be sure that they are free of bed bugs.
8.  Don’t Bring Them Home from Vacations
   Travelers unknowingly spread bed bugs as they make contact with infested hotel rooms, contaminating their luggage and clothing. Keep your luggage and clothing off the floor and beds, and if you want to be extra safe, keep your belongings in a large plastic bag. Run your belongings through a high heat dryer when you return home.
9. Look Out for Bed Bug Signs
   Bed bugs leave behind dark fecal spots on mattresses and upholstery, along with shell casings and their white, sticky eggs. Bed bug bites on exposed skin are usually red, itchy, and appear in rows or zig-zags.
10. Inspect Your Hotel Room
    Before settling into your hotel room, inspect the mattress and upholstery for the listed signs above. If you notice evidence of bed bugs, then tell the hotel staff immediately and request a room in a different area of the hotel. Bed bugs can often spread to nearby rooms.

Don’t Fight Bed Bugs Alone

If you discover bed bugs in your home, your first instinct may be to fight them on your own right away. Though there are ways to help rid your home of bed bugs yourself, it can also make matters worse. Often times the home remedies only push the bed bugs away from the treatment and further into your home. At Presto-X, formerly Fischer Environmental, our team of bed bug technicians offer a “Get Them Out” treatment program for bed bug infestations.

Bed bugs can be scary and certainly do take a calculated effort to treat. If you suspect that bed bugs are present, contact us for a full inspection to determine the next steps that are best for your home. With Presto-X, formerly Fischer Environmental, your bed bug problem will be one of the past.

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