In the past couple of posts on our website, we have discussed how bed bugs can be a destructive pest in your home, and we have covered a variety of tips and tricks homeowners can use to identify bed bugs. But the fact is that preventing bed bugs from entering your home in the first place is a critical part of maintaining a pest-free home. So, we wanted to answer some of the more common questions about the process by which bed bugs travel between locations and what brings them into your home. So, without further ado, here are our top tips for staying bed bug-free!
Always check the new spaces you stay in for bed bugs.
This mostly applies to travel. The most common way people pick up bed bugs is during travel. Oftentimes, this occurs when staying in a hotel room, dormitory, or other residential space that has an active bed bug infestation. Bed bugs will often sneak into luggage and hide amongst your clothes or in other dark, secluded spaces, thus making travelers the unwitting transporter of a future infestation. Due to this risk, it is always a good idea to check over any new room you stay in before unpacking. Most often, you will see signs of bed bug activity in common infestation areas such as around mattress seams, behind headboards, around linens, or on carpets and furniture. You should be looking for the signs of bed bug habitation, the most common sign being small black or brown dots and stains. If you notice these signs in your hotel room, you should notify the staff as soon as possible to prevent the infestation from spreading further.
Be cautious with used furniture.
While buying used furniture and decor can be a great part of a sustainable and fiscal lifestyle, homeowners should remember to check these items BEFORE bringing them into your home. Bed bugs can and will infest almost any furniture, and they will often hide quite carefully in small cracks and gaps. Due to this, you should check any used furniture that you purchase to ensure that it is bed bug-free so as to avoid bringing a hidden infestation into your home.
On the same note, double-check your luggage when returning from travel.
As we stated earlier, human traffic is the primary way that bed bugs gain access to homes. Due to this, you should carefully check your luggage after travel to ensure that you have not picked up any bed bugs or other pests along the way. Bed bugs are a very tenacious pest with a rapid reproductive rate, and this means that even one or two bed bugs can potentially establish a large infestation in your home over time, so it is important to be cautious.
Finally, if you are at all concerned about potential bed bug activity in your home, schedule an inspection ASAP.
The fact is, bed bug treatment can be a long, frustrating process, and every day that the infestation is allowed to grow unchecked further compounds the problem. So if you are at all concerned that you could have bed bugs in your home, it is a good idea to have a licensed pest control company inspect your home and ensure that all is well. Not only can this allow you to detect and deal with a bed bug infestation early, it might also reveal the existence of conducive conditions that are allowing pests to thrive in your home.
We here at Arrow Pest Service are proud to be an industry leader in bed bugs and other pest solutions for the greater Panama City area! We provide a wide range of safe, targeted treatment options that can deal with pests in your home quickly, efficiently, and completely!
So make today the last day pests have domain in your home, call us at 850-204-0318! We will be happy to help in any way that we can!
Here’s to YOU living PEST FREE!
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