Travel and Leisure

The number of bed bug infestations is increasing and it is getting a lot of moms worried. Even if you keep your house clean, bed bugs could still freely live in the house.

Bedbugs, although not known to transmit diseases between humans, are irritating as they can cause allergic reactions and ugly skin welts once they bite. Bed bug bites can cause severe skin itching which can get infected. Because they bite during night time, they can cause sleeplessness and frustration.

Bedbug are transmitted easily as they are present anywhere and can hitch a ride through clothing, luggage, and other items. This is why they are usually found in hotel rooms; they can conveniently transfer from room to room and go into places with the persons who stayed in a bedbug infested room. They easily reproduce thus controlling its number and eliminating them for good is extremely important.

If you are one of the numerous people who do not want to be infested with bedbug, here are bed bug control measures that are proven to work and will rid your homes of these pests.

1. Properly identify presence of bedbug infestation. Presence of skin bites is not an enough indicator that they are residing with you. Careful inspection will reveal live bugs, dark brown/ black spots on the sheets, reddish stains, tiny, white eggs that are about 1mm in size. All of these are sure signs that they are living with you and your family.

2. After locating the bedbugs, eliminating them should start by catching the bugs by trapping and killing them through crushing using paper towels. Find bedbugs in all cracks that they may have lodged into like the bedframes, headboards, furniture crevices, drawer joints, and any other space that could accommodate them. A putty knife can be used to force out the bed bugs in crevices. Aside from crushing them, using steam works well as well, or by blow-drying them for at least 30 seconds.

3. Use a vacuum cleaner with a crevice tool attached to draw any remaining bedbugs. You need to dispose the vacuum bag each time you use it.

4. Once you are certain that you got all the bugs out, you have to clean the surfaces with hot, soapy water especially those which are stained with blood and bug droppings. Bed sheets, pillowcases, pillows, and mattresses should be washed as well and be dyed using hot dryer for 20 minutes or more.

5. Next bed control step is to seal off cracks, crevices, and holes found upon earlier inspection. It is not necessary to throw away furniture as long as it has been treated, cleaned, and repaired.

What makes bed bug infestation more common nowadays is the fact that more people are able to travel frequently. But this does not necessarily mean that only people who travel far gets a high chance of being infested with bedbugs. Sometimes, you can get bed bugs from public transportation such as buses and trains. It is necessary therefore to take bed bug control procedures at all times to avoid being infested.