Proactive Prevention: Keeping Bedbugs At Bay
Posted on: 23 August 2015
Once bedbugs manage to get into your home, they can quickly multiply and move all throughout the house. While the only solution for a bedbug infestation is often professional removal from a pest control expert, there are a couple of things that you can do to prevent the nasty little bugs from ever taking hold in your home. Keep reading to learn two proactive ways to prevent bedbugs in your home.
Don't Bring Bedbugs Home After Traveling
One of the most common ways that bedbugs are spread is through travel. When you're traveling, you sleep in unfamiliar beds and your suitcase is exposed to everything where you're staying. Bedbugs can easily hitch a ride into your home by hiding in clothing or elsewhere in your suitcase.
The best way to make sure you don't bring bedbugs home is to keep your suitcase (and anything else you traveled with) in your garage or outdoors until you can clean everything. Wash every article of clothing with hot water, and put all items through a full dryer cycle. Send dry-clean-only items directly to the dry cleaner immediately.
Drop a couple of anti-pest strips (you can buy these at drugstores, hardware stores, or online) into your empty suitcase. Seal that suitcase in a large bag, and leave it there for at least several days so the anti-pest strips have time to kill any bedbugs that may be lingering inside.
Protect Your Bed
Bedbugs, true to their name, love to burrow into beds because there are so many places to hide. They often find their way into box springs and mattresses. You can prevent the bedbugs from gaining access to your bed with a simple encasement. Encasements are made for both box springs and mattresses.
The main purpose of these encasements is to make the bed impossible for the bedbugs to penetrate. While the encasement does add a couple layers of material to the mattress and box spring, an encasement is designed to be thin enough to fit under sheets. When encasements are placed on both the box spring and the mattress, bedbugs simply can't take hold of the bed, even if they may be present in the home.
The two tips above are the most proactive ways to fight bedbugs, but there is another super-simple tip that can be helpful: Keep a clean home. This is overlooked sometimes due to the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Be sure to vacuum carpets, mop floors, and keep the house as clean as possible overall to make your home inhospitable for bedbugs. If you suspect an infestation, call for help immediately. If you just survived an infestation, be sure to put the tips above into action right away. This will prevent a repeat of your unwelcome bedbug visitors!
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