How to Protect Home From Bed Bugs After Traveling
How to Protect Your Home From Bed Bugs After Traveling
There is always some excitement when returning from a trip. The same could be said of travelling-related scenarios, such as bringing back unwanted guests. Among the creepy crawlers that could tag along with you, bed bugs are definitely at the top of the list, and also the worst. Once they get into your suitcase or suitcase, they can sneak into your home with you, grow into a large infestation and make your life a nightmare.
What can make your trip even more memorable is exposing bed bugs, small insects that feed on the human host’s blood, to your living environment before getting on the plane. This article aims to teach you how to prevent bed bugs from invading your home after travelling, and when you return from a trip, you are fully prepared and free to enjoying your time.
Understanding Bed Bugs
What Are Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs are small, brownish, flattened and oval insects of the order Hemiptera (midges), whose young and adults feed on the blood of warm-blooded animals or humans. These insects are long-lived parasites that transmit several viral and other diseases to their hosts. Adult bed bugs are brown and the size of an apple seed or slightly larger. They are flat when unfed but swell considerably and turn a reddish colour after feeding.
How Do Bed Bugs Spread?
With their ability to latch onto anything, bed bugs can hitch a ride on luggage, clothing and bags, which makes travel the perfect breeding ground for them. They are often found in hostels, hotels and public transport.
Signs of Bed Bug Infestation
Look for these signs to identify a potential bed bug problem:
Bite Marks: Small, red, itchy welts on your skin.
Blood Stains: Small reddish or rust-colored stains on bed sheets or mattresses.
Look for small dark spots caused by bed bug excrement, cluster marks from bites, or mouldings and skin sheddings from bugs – they will often be found along edges or between walls and sofas.
3. Feign Death: Bed bug nymphs have a way of playing dead by staying put or they release a body-wiggling display of movement – a tell-tale sign that they are trying to steer clear.
4. Shielded Attack: When encountering a dog, bed bugs hurriedly try to hide under seats or other nooks. However, unlike traditional bugs, they conserves this method of escape when facing great threat – like an approaching swatter.
5. Resort to Dead: Should a dog discover a bed bug, the bug will violently shred itself in order to avoid being grasped
Preventive Measures Before Traveling
Research Your Accommodation
To help guide your travels, spend some time looking at which hotels and accommodations have had bed-bug reports. One good way to do this is to visit maps on websites such as Bed Bug Registry, which make it very simple to see reports of bed bugs from the past.
Inspect Your Room
When you arrive, look all around the room. Check the mattress and the headboard, as well as the seams in furniture. Also, put your luggage on a rack, not on the bed or next to the walls.
Use Protective Covers
Bed-bug-proof luggage liners and mattress covers are other protective measures to consider.
During Your Trip
Keep Luggage Elevated
If at all possible, put your luggage on a luggage rack or in the bathroom, the last places where bed bugs would hide. Never put your bags on the bed or upholstered furniture.
Store Clothes in Sealed Bags
Leave your clothes in sealed plastic bags while you’re there – this will cut down on the possibility of bed bugs getting into your clothes.
Inspect Belongings Regularly
Check for signs of bed bugs regularly: small, dark spots or live bugs on your belongings.
Post-Travel Precautions
Inspect Luggage Before Entering Your Home
Don’t take your luggage all the way into your home first. Do a quick inspection outside, turning it over and checking seams, zippers and pockets.
Unpack in a Safe Area
Unpack clothes and other luggage in a garage or laundry room to avoid bringing them into bedroom areas where they could infiltrate your home.
Launder Clothes Immediately
Machine-dry or wash any clothes that were worn during the trip at the hottest setting possible, even if they haven’t yet been worn after the trip. Tumble dried again on the hottest setting to help boil out any bugs or eggs.
Vacuum Luggage
Vacuum your bags and luggage entirely, paying special attention to creases and crevices. Dispose of the vacuum bag, or the contents of the canister, outside, as soon as you’re done cleaning.
Use Bed Bug Interceptors
Place bed bug interceptors under the legs of your bed and other items of furniture: the bugs cannot climb on to the furniture but will become trapped, caught in the slippery plastic, allowing very early detection and control.
Dealing With an Infestation
Identify the Infestation Early
Early detection is essential in fostering control over a bed bug infestation. Inspect your sleeping quarters periodically for evidence of bed bugs.
Isolate Infested Items
If you do spot bed bugs, you can isolate the infested items in plastic bags, to minimise the chances of pests reaching other parts of your home.
Seek Professional Help
However, for really heavy infestations, a call to your local exterminator, pest management professional or terminator is probably your best course of action. With these tools at your disposal, you should be equipped to take care of whatever bugs may come your way.
1) Who’s responsible if I get bedbugs from my neighbours? Before you point fingers at anyone, there are some things you should know. First, the law presumes that you don’t have any bugs in your apartment to start with. So if you can trace the bugs to a neighbour, it’s possible to make a case that your neighbour’s conduct caused your own infestation. This might give you a legal leg to stand on, but it is no guarantee of success in court.
2) My neighbour is misusing pesticides. What should I do? Yes, it happens. Sometimes, we react harshly to the mere thought of bugs. A neighbour in Queens kept his bedroom windows shut tight at all times and sprayed his entire apartment with insecticide once every two months. When he complained to the landlord that his infestation remained, the landlord started drilling holes into the ceiling, where the units above were supposedly housing cockroaches.
On another occasion, a hoarder stored boxes of her belongings, with cockroaches, in a neighboring apartment and routinely sprayed the hallway with a fogger. By choosing to bring chemicals into your living space, the possibility of harms caused to tenants, including children, may be unleashed. Although this is a novel violation, it is one we will likely hear more of in the future, as we become more informed about the harm that pesticides can cause – everything from asthma and miscarriages to cancer.
Follow Up Inspections
Be sure to follow up and conduct your own bed bug checks at home indefinitely after treatment in order to determine whether the infestation has been eradicated or if you need further treatment.
FAQs
Q: Can bed bugs survive in cold temperatures?
A: If in cold conditions, bed bugs can survive for weeks to months, but eventually they will die. Freezing infested articles could help to kill bed bugs at a faster pace.
Q: How long do bed bugs live?
A: A bed bug has an average lifespan of adults of about four to six months, but they can live longer under good conditions.
Q: Can bed bugs transmit diseases?
A: Bed bugs are not known to spread disease, but some people may experience discomfort, itching or even allergic reactions with regard to the bites.
Conclusion
After your time on the road, there are steps that can be taken to help protect your home from bed bug infestation. Take note of these steps to further increase your chances of keeping your home bed bug free with vigilance and strategic procedures. You can be proactive enough guard against these tiny troublemakers. Careful monitoring is essential before you travel, when you return from your travels and months down the road.
Pay strict attention to where someone may have been sitting or laying down in your home, transport vehicles, or other places not thoroughly examined for the pests. Do not delay in taking action immediately if you see signs of an infestation or contact a professional service for help and peace of mind, as you need it. Share this article with other travelling companions.