Hotel Bed Bugs: How To Not Take Them Home

Hotel's, motel's, b & b's, cabin's, resort's and similar places are prone to harboring bed bugs. The reason for this is because of the turnover of people coming and going all the time. These establishments are the perfect places for bed bugs to hide, since new people each time means they are less likely to be discovered quickly. Really, any place where rotating individuals or families are spending the night on a regular basis will be a spot that bed bugs could hide in, plus get a regular meal. There are certain measures everyone should take when staying the night somewhere other than your own residence. Bed bugs are hitchhiker pests and are depending on you for transportation for their next place of residence. Do not let that be your home! Here are some tips to help prevent any transfer of bed bugs to your own home.

Don't Bring Luggage In Right Away…

We recommend to leave luggage and other belongings at the door or inside of your vehicle until you are able to inspect the surroundings first, before settling in. If leaving belongings and luggage at the door or in your vehicle is not an option, immediately put them into the shower or bathtub once entering the room. This is actually the best place to store belongings in rented rooms for an entire stay. Bed bugs are less likely to be in a bathtub or shower. Shower curtains of present should be drawn back and kept away from your belongings. Shower curtains at the very top next to where the shower rings hook through the curtain are prone to have bed bug activity on them in heavier infestations. Another reason bed bugs may be on a shower curtain or just in a bathroom even in less heavy infestations are when repellents have been used repeatedly, it can cause bed bugs to spread throughout a structure to places like a shower curtain much quicker than they would naturally. Even with these possibilities the shower or bath tub is still the safest place for luggage & belongings to remain for the duration of your stay. Just remove items temporarily for you to shower or wash, then put the items back once your finished bathing.

Look For Bed Bugs…

It is important to thoroughly inspect all seams, stitching, tags, and other tight crevices on pillows, sheets, bed skirts, mattresses, box springs and bed frames, including behind the head board, on an entire bed. It is also beneficial if you are able to inspect around the footboard. You are looking for bed bug, molts/shed skins, eggs, blood spotting, and fecal matter. More info on what to look for is below.

How To Inspect A Bed For Bed Bugs…

Since up to 90% of bed bug infestations are found in and around the mattress and box springs, this is the first and most important place to look in a bedroom. Remove comforters and pillows off the bed but do not remove them from the bedroom, unless the bedding is put into a trash bag and sealed off air tight. Relieve sheets from corners of the mattress to start the examination. Leave the mattress on the bed and check around the mattress sides examining every place a stitch is made. These areas and folds are where bed bugs will congregate on mattresses and box springs. If no bed bugs are found on the mattress remove it then check the underside of the mattress. Also carefully check the underside side of any bed shirts , then remove it if no bed bugs are found on the skirt. Check top corners of box springs lifting up any folds. Move the box springs to sit on its side on top of the bed rails, sideways if needed. Check the underside of the cheese cloth stapled to the box springs. This does not mean to rip your box springs cheese cloth off. It just refers to lifting the cheese cloth up all the way to the staple to make sure no bed bugs are hiding underneath. Bed bugs will not normally go any farther under the cheese cloth than the staples. Unless the cloth is torn or loose then it's a different story. If this is the case, bed bugs can be anywhere inside of the box springs underside. Although, in most cases they will stay near edges, in able to get to you as quickly as possible, when an opportunity for a meal presents itself. If no bed bugs are found on the box springs you'll need to check the head board and bed frame itself. Be sure to check the back side of head boards because in most cases if bed bugs are present but not located on mattresses or box springs they will be on the back side of the head board or underside of support boards plus any cracks or crevices must be checked as well. If a bed frame or head board is attached to a wall or floor you can only inspect the best you can. The good thing is that most bed bugs are lazy and will leave traces of themselves near the places that they hide. Some things to look for would be; bed bug excrement or poop that is black in color, shed skins, their eggs and the bed bugs themselves. The one of these things that Dead Bug Walkin LLC uses the most to locate bed bugs ourselves, would be bed bug excrement or poop. It is always the most bountiful of all the signs of bed bugs. If no bed bugs are found on the bed in hotel or motel rooms, then the room most likely does not presently have bed bugs. The picture below can be used as an example for what type of bed bug activity you will be looking for during the inspection. There are a couple of other places to check though before assuming your safe if the bed is not infested.

How To Inspect A Couch or Chair For Bed Bugs…

Most couches and chairs can pretty much be inspected for bed bug activity the same way. 1st pull the couch or chair out from the wall so you can get around the entire piece of furniture. Check the underside of the arm rests, then move to the back of the couch or chair looking over all seams and folds. If there is a void between the back of the chair or couch and the bottom then be sure to lift up the cushioning material to be able to see as far into it as possible. Most recliner backs can be removed from the bottom. If this is the case you may want to remove the back temporarily to check all areas entirely. When there is a void where the back and bottom meet together, this is normally one of the most infested areas on these pieces of furniture. Don't forget to flip the couch or chair on its side to check the underside of the piece of the furniture. The underside of couches and chairs will normally have cheese cloth stapled to the bottom just like box springs will normally be. You'll do the exact same routine for the bottom of the couch or chair as you did for the box springs. Be sure to lift up and check the underside of the cheese cloth all the way to the staples. Most bed bugs that hide under couches and chairs will either be on top of or near the staples. As well as under the cheese cloth, but normally no farther in than the staples. If the cheese cloth is torn, the bed bugs can be anywhere on the underside of the furniture, but will normally still stay close to the edges. If no bed bugs are found in these areas, then most likely the room is bed bug free.

Don't Bring Luggage Back Into Your Home…

Don't bring your luggage inside your home! Instead, put all clothing and fabrics into a trash bag and empty the items from the trash bag into your dryer and run on high heat for no less than 1 hour. It is important to treat your belongings with heat before fully unpacking! Any items that cannot go through a dryer should be looked over thoroughly by hand. Store luggage in your garage, shed or storage permanently. Storing your luggage outside of your homes living spaces is an extremely smart thing to do. Just be sure to keep all luggage away from other items inside the place you're storing the items. If this is not a possibility place the luggage inside of a 55 gallon or larger trash bag and seal it off with a hot shot no pest strip inside of the trash bag. There's a picture of Hot Shot No Pest Strips below. Be sure to leave all zippers undone on the luggage. Also be sure to remove all fabrics from belongings, then put them through the high heat setting in your dryer 1st. Never wash 1st with bed bugs. Always dry on high heat first, for no less than 1 hour. Bed bugs can possibly survive a washer but not a correctly functioning dryer.

Summary: How To Not Take Bed Bugs Home…

If these basic rules are followed during your stay at a rented residence, you will never take bed bugs back home with you. Just be sure to remember not to bring in luggage right away until after you've inspected 1st. Even if bed bugs are not found in a hotel, motel, b & b, etc. you will still want to not bring your luggage directly back into your home with you once you arrive. Putting your fabrics through a dryer immediately upon arriving home is very important. The most important thing to remember is to make sure that you do not bring the luggage itself back into the home for storage once you've finished with it. Keep luggage in garages, sheds or storage outside of the living spaces of the home. The easiest way for a family to never have to deal with bringing bed bugs back home is to have a preventative bed bug treatment service done on your home. This type of pest control services for bed bugs is the very best way to prevent them from ever getting established in your home in the first place. With a bed bug preventative pest control program regularly in place any bed bugs brought back into your home would die upon entering within short period of time. We use a non repellent chemical residual (spray) applied to furniture and the structure of the residence to accomplish this protection. The protection will last up to 3 months. If you'd like to learn more about our preventative bed bug treatment services you can contact us at the phone number below or go to the link below to read more about preventative measures for bed bugs or our other educational articles.

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