Basic Facts About Bed Bugs
Infestation of bed bugs has nothing to do with hygiene. Luxury cruise lines, high-end hotels, and prominent retailers have come under attack in recent months.
* Bed Bugs are flat, brown, wingless and about 1/4 of an inch
* They have 6 legs, shiny reddish-brown but after a good serving of your blood, they appear dark brown and swollen as in the picture below.
* They can be seen with the human eye, but do a great job at hiding
* Bed bugs are not known to carry diseases as of yet
* They feed on human blood preferring to do it in the dark when you’re sleeping
* Simply using chemical treatments will not remove the infestation
* These bugs love to hide in the seams of your mattress including:
Sofa seams
Cracks in the bad frame and or head board
Under chairs, couched, beds and dust covers
Under rugs, edges of carpets, drawers, baseboards and window casings
Behind light switches, electrical outlet plates, cracks in plaster
Televisions, radio clocks and phones
Backpacks, Sleeping bags, Cloths
Behind wallpaper, picture frames and other dark areas
The best way to deal with bed bugs is by sealing your mattress and pillows with a plastic or hypoallergenic zipped cover. This traps the bugs that are inside your pillow and prevents them from feeding and kills them over time – remember, a nymph can live for two months without feeding, an adult can survive more than 10 months!
Do not apply any pesticide to mattresses or surfaces that would come in contact with the skin unless the pesticide specifically states that the product can be used in this manner.
Wash all your linens and place them in a hot dryer for 20 minutes.
You can vacuum to capture bed bugs and their eggs, but because the eggs are embedded to the fabric, you may have to scrape the surface. Once you have vacuumed everything, immediately place the vacuum bag into a plastic bad, seal it tight and dispose (outside).
Seal items mentioned above to prevent the bugs from hiding. You can place glue boards or sticky tape around your bed and in the room to catch the bed bugs as the move around; this gives you a way to monitor the effectiveness of your efforts.
A few ways to prevent bed bugs from getting into your home include:
* Hang clothing in the closet farthest from the bed
* Place luggage on the folding rack found in most hotels
* Place luggage in the dry cleaning bad found in the hotel.
* Most important, don’t bring home a used mattress.
