Steps for preventing and eliminating bed bug problems

You can minimize the risk of bed bug problems. But they can infest any family or home. Bed bugs are equal-opportunity insects. The first step is prevention.

Ways to Prevent Bed Bug Problems

The best way to prevent a bed bug problem is the most difficult for many: Reduce clutter. If you have piles of newspapers and magazines on the floor by your reading chair, toss them. Always keep dirty laundry off the floor.

If it’s important to save your great-grandfather’s high school yearbooks, by all means, save them. But stack them neatly in a plastic storage container with a lid. Eliminate all cardboard storage boxes from your home and carefully examine their contents. Take all clothing out of cardboard boxes, shake them and examine them for bed bugs then store souvenir clothing in a sealed plastic container.

Here are 6 steps to avoid bed bug problems:

1. Follow travel tips to avoid bedbugs:
   • Bag it. Use lots of ziplock or twist-tie bags for packing. On roadtrips, avoid hauling in luggage and pre-pack what you need for one night into bags.
   • Consider switching from soft-side luggage to hard suitcases.
   • Never place suitcases on the floor and keep clothing, socks, etc. off the floor.
   • Take a UV light into hotel rooms and do a scan of carpets and bedding.
2. If you buy upholstered, used furniture, carefully check before taking them home. Put a good-quality protective cover on used mattresses. Smell the furniture to detect an “insecticide” odor.
3. If you live in a multifamily building, install door sweeps on external doors. Seal cracks/crevices around baseboards, electrical outlets, light sockets, etc. to deter unwanted “visitors” from other apartments.
4. Vacuum frequently.
5. Studies reveal bed bugs prefer dark colors. Use light-colored (green, yellow, white) sheets.
6. When using a shared laundry facility, take your dirty clothes in plastic bags. Remove clothing directly from the dryer into plastic bags and fold at home.

Preparing to Eliminate Your Bed Bug Problems

You’ve found bedbugs. What’s the first thing you should do?

Call Budget Brothers Termite & Pest Elimination professionals. We understand how you feel, but please don’t be embarrassed. These critters can travel into your home on shoes, inside grocery bags, hitch a ride with the family pet, and join you as you travel. What’s important is getting rid of them, fast.

Let’s assume the bed bug infestation is in your bedroom. After we schedule your bed bug treatment:

1. All knickknacks and decorative items should be placed on the bedroom floor for inspection.
2. Clean all closets, including the shelves. Inspect all items for bed bugs and relocate to plast bags or bins and store in another room.
3. Clean off all dressers, nightstands, etc. and empty drawers.
4. If luggage should be treated, leave empty in the bedroom.
5. Plan to be out of the home during the treatment and for at least 4 hours afterward. Pets should also be removed. Fish and reptile tanks can be covered but turn all filtration systems off.
6. Pull all furniture about 2 feet away from walls.
7. Relocate items to another room. Dry clean clothing that cannot be laundered.
8. Remove all mattress covers. There’s a thin, fibrous material stapled to the bottom of your box springs that must be removed and discarded.
9. Shoes should be carefully inspected then bagged and relocated.
10. Vacuum floors, carpets, and area rugs.
11. Wash all linens, clothing, stuffed animals, pillow in the hottest water temperature possible. Dry on the hottest heat setting. Place laundered items in plastic bags or containers and seal tightly.

If you are physically unable to complete these tasks, please let us know. We’ll come up with a plan for preparing your room. We’ll also discuss whether replacing your mattress and box springs is better than treating them.

Don’t Delay; Contact Budget Brothers Termite & Pest Elimination

We appreciate DIY (do-it-yourselfers), but bed bugs aren’t something with which you want to waste time. DIY treatments seldom work, and after all that effort, you’re back at square one. Don’t wait to contact us. We have a bed bug elimination method that gets the job done the first time.