Bedbugs

Bedbug Prevention

Bedbugs (Bed Bugs) (most commonly Cimex lectularius) are almost impossible to exterminate (they are resistant to pesticides). So prevention is key. Here are some tips:

1. Assume bedbugs are everywhere you go when you leave home. This includes many places where you shop (they've been found in items at clothing stores), many places where you spend the night (they've been found at many hotels & college dorms), many places where you sit (they've been found in theater seats) & many things you touch (they've been found in blood pressure bands at doctors offices).

2. Use Your Clothes Dryer Frequently: Given that bedbugs can be anywhere, and that they love to hitch-hike, zap them when you return home. Typical clothes dryers hit temperatures of about 175 degrees Celcius or 347 degrees Fahrenheit. This heat for 10 to 20 minutes will kill all bedbug life stages, from egg to adult. See University of Kentucky ENTFACT-636 (by Prof. Michael F. Potter). So if you've purchased new clothes, throw them immediately into the dryer. When you return from the theater, throw your clothes in the dryer. Especially when you return from a hotel, throw all of your travel clothes into the dryer. If you can, put your travel bag into the dryer as well. If something cannot be dried (e.g., a suitcase), store it outside until your next trip.

3. Encapsulate: Encapsulating mattresses and pillows cannot prevent bedbugs, but it can make them much easier to spot. It is very easy for bedbugs to hide in mattress seams and other bumps and folds. But a well-designed encapsulation product will cover all of those seams, leaving a clean, white, satiny smooth surface on which bedbugs, or their feces (human blood) will be easier to spot. Try AllerZip Waterproof Bed Bug Proof Zippered Bedding Encasements or Allergy Luxe Bed Bug Mattress & Pillow Protectors.

4. Wash Bedding Frequently: The more often you wash bedding, the more likely you are to catch a bedbug infestation at the outset. Also, with washing comes drying, and as stated above, high heat will kill bedbugs.

5. Detect with Climbups: Bedbugs are attracted to the carbon dioxide exhaled by a sleeping person. So, one way to know if they are trying to reach you is to place Climbups under each foot of your bed. If, attracted by your carbon dioxide, bedbugs are trying to reach you from, say, an item of luggage on your floor, they will climb over the exterior ridge of the Climbups, but the talc within will keep them from climbing the interior ridge and onto the foot of your bed. Likewise, when you awake in the morning and leave the bed (hence no more carbon dioxide), some of the bedbugs on the bed will want to explore. As they climb down the bed leg into the Climbups and over the interior ridge, they will then become trapped by the talc between interior and exterior ridges. Inspect the Climbups and you can see if you have a problem.

6. Caulk Room Perimeter: Bedbugs can travel from room to room, and from apartment to apartment. You can help to impede their progress by caulking & sealing the perimeter of your rooms (particularly your bedroom, as the bedbugs will be seeking out your carbon dioxide). This includes not only the baseboard, but also outlet covers. (By the way, large infestations have been found within electrical outlet boxes.) Another additional, but messy, approach is to sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth around the room perimeter. The earth desiccates and kills bedbugs as they would try to walk through it.

7. Use Your Cold Weather (if applicable): While your clothes dryer is your friend (10 to 20 minutes of high heat will kill bedbugs), the cold can be as well, though it takes much longer. For those in Maine and other northern climates, storing luggage and other items outside can be particularly helpful. Though estimates vary, it takes about 30 consecutive days of below freezing temperatures to kill bedbugs.

8. Used Furniture: Never bring used furniture from the curbside, particularly cloth-covered items like sofas (and certainly not mattresses), into your home. Query whether such items sold in Thrift Shops are any safer, so the best practice would be to avoid these items entirely.

Special Hotel Precautions

1. Check Reported Bedbug Incidents: Before you book a hotel, vacation rental or apartment, check whether there are any reported bedbug incidents. Find bedbug reports at Bedbug Registry. It is best to search both by hotel name and, then again, just by street address. Another source of bedbug reports is Trip Advisor (bedbugs maine) and Trip Advisor (bed bugs maine). Also on Trip Advisor, search by name of hotel along with the word(s) "bedbug" or "bed bugs." This will help you to unearth a good many reports of bed bug incidents and how they were handled. Many incidents go unreported, but at least you can find those that were.

2. Bring a Flashlight and Inspect All Beds: Pull off the bedding and inspect the mattress seams. If you see dark spots, then you could be seeing bed bug feces (human blood). Inspect both mattress and box spring, if any. Pick up the mattress and inspect underneath. Remember that the maid changes sheets daily, so bedbugs will gravitate to areas where they are less likely to be disturbed: headboards (particularly behind them). Some people go so far as to remove the headboards to look for little white bedbug eggs, but this can be very hard to do. Inspect the second bed that's in the room, too. You'll want to know if bedbugs are anywhere in the room.

3. Don't Throw Items on Beds: If bedbugs are in your hotel room, the beds are a primary location. So don't throw anything on the bed (or on the bed you aren't using if, as is common, there are two beds in the room). Don't put luggage on a bed. Don't put clothes on a bed. Don't put your handbag on a bed. If you do, you run a high risk of picking up bedbug hitchhikers. Likewise, when you return home, don't throw any of your luggage or clothes on your home bed, for that will just help to transport any bedbug hitchhikers from one bed to another.

4. Place Items on Metal or Ceramic Surfaces: Bedbugs don't particularly like metal, so place your luggage on a metal rack, if available. Hang whatever you can on metal hangers. Other spots to place luggage are the sink area or on even in the tub. Do not place anything on beds or floors.

5. Check for White Dust: Open the dresser and other drawers in the room. If you see a whiteish dust or stain inside the edges of the drawers, then it's a good chance that an exterminator has treated the room for bedbugs. This doesn't mean that they are gone (bedbugs are very resistant to pesticides). But it could mean that the hotel has a bedbug problem.

6. Don't Be Shy. Request a New Room if Necessary: If you see anything out of the ordinary, request a new room. On a recent trip, we observed what appeared to be blood spots on a white comforter. The hotel offered to replace the comforter, but that cannot resolve a problem within the room. Change rooms.

7. Check for Bites: In the morning, check your body for bedbug bites. A tell-tale sign is a series of 3 spots. (If you disturb a bedbug while it is feeding on you, it will move slightly, creating spot #2, and then move again, creating spot #3, until it is full). If you find any bites, report the problem, and know that you will have to encapsulate and treat everything you brought with you upon your return home.

8. Use Your Dryer Frequently (Again): When you return from a hotel, throw all travel clothes into the dryer (high heat for 10 to 20 minutes will kill all bed bugs). If you can, put your travel bag into the dryer too. Store larger luggage outside, don't bring it into the home.