Prep List: Chemical-Heat Bed Bug Treatment

PREPARING FOR BED BUG HEAT/CHEMICAL TREATMENT

This bed bug control solution circulates hot air at 140-150°F throughout infested areas for a set period of time to kill bed bugs and their eggs. In order to have an effective bed bug treatment, there are a few steps you must take before the professionals at Dead Bug Walkin LLC arrive at your home or business, for your bed bug heat and chemical treatment.

2 Types of prepped trash bags you'll be doing:

–Fabrics. All fabrics, in drawers, inside of a room being treated, with the exception of window/shower curtains, some hanging clothes in closets and rugs, will be put into a trash bag then sealed off until after your treatment is completed.

–Hard Items. Hard items are defined as anything in your home that is not facbric, furniture, decoration or permanent to their location.

***Note prepping is only for the rooms being treated with heat, chemical or both. If your desired treatment is only for one or two rooms and not the whole home, you do not have to prep other rooms without bed bugs present. You will be told if your home is to be treated wholly or partially during your initial inspection. Please follow instructions and do not stray from them. Everything has a reason. We promise the prep is not in vain and is crucial for success.

Supplies needed: 

(2 Items Total)

#1. Large Construction Trash Bags>55 gallon>no less than 1.5 millimeters thick:

Large black construction trash bags are important to use because they are thicker. Anything less than 55 gallon and not made of heavy construction material at least 2 millimeters thick, will get holes easily poked in them and that can infest your home or storage area again.

FYI: You only want to FILL BAGS HALFWAY to insure no tears, not being able to seal off correctly or lift the bags, to move them to your designated storage area outside of your home during the heat treatment. All prepped bags are to be REMOVED FROM YOUR HOME until after we've completed your service. The good thing is you only have to do prep once! Sealing the trash bags off is essential to success. (You can use plastic totes to store sharper prep items in, so they will not poke through a trash bag.) (Just make sure to leave the lid off, slide a trash bag over the box, then toss the strip into the bag and seal off completely by taping off the end of the trash bag completely with duct tape, zip ties or rubber bands. IT MUST BE AIRTIGHT! No exceptions.

BAGS SHOULD LOOK LIKE THIS! Correctly prepped trash bag with items from a clients home inside the bag shown above. Only fill the bag halfway up. Do not stuff trash bags completely full.

#2. No Pest Strips:

– These pest strips are items that you will purchase and put into only the trash bags containing items that cannot go through a dryer. Fabric item prepped bags do not need the pest strips inside of them because they will be going through a dryer before you bring the fabrics back into the home after the heat treatment is completed. They are made by Hot Shot brand.

-Hot Shot No Pest Strips:

Image above shows Hot Shot No Pest Strips. (They can be found in store at Lowe's or Home Depot or on the internet). Lowe's and Home Depot are the only stores that always carry the Hot Shot No Pest Strips, while other stores rarely always carry the strips. Ace Hardware will sometimes carry them.

No Pest Strip Directions:

Hot Shot No Pest Strips are to be taken out of the white plastic cage and cut into 4 equal pieces. Just throw away the white plastic cage it's not needed. Each yellow 1/4 cut piece of the strip will go into a trash bag with the things that cannot go through the dryer, "aka hard items". We call your items that cannot go through a dryer, (hard items). Cutting the No Pest Strips into 4 equal pieces saves you money. Each 4th of a piece is the exact amount needed for a 55 gallon trash bag to kill all bed bugs and their eggs on your non fabric prep items inside of the bag.

More Info About Strips:

•Can be bought at Home Depot, Lowes or online only. No other stores normally carry them. Update: Ace Hardware has been carrying them lately as well. 

•Hot Shot No Pest Strips should be cut into 4 equal pieces with one piece going into each hard item trash bag then sealed off for no less than two weeks. 

•Trash bags with fabrics do not get a pest strip put inside them, only hard items bags. 

•Fabrics get a separate process to kill bed bugs. Read more about fabrics by scrolling to laundry instructions.

To reiterate: 

(Extremely Important)

Pest strips are only needed for trash bags with items that cannot go through a dryer. Items that can go through a dryer will not need the 1/4 of a pest strip per bag. Only hard item trash bags get the 1/4 no pest strip put inside the bag. It is vitally important to completely seal off whatever container or trash bag is being used. Not being airtight will lead to failure.

Be sure to keep all fabrics in separate trash bags from your homes hard items when prepping. Do not mix hard items with fabrics inside of bags. Hard items can be defined as anything in your home that could melt/explode or paper work. Fabrics are defined as clothes, bedding (leave bed bug covers in place), blankets and towels.

DO NOT add shopping bags, other trash bags, fabric bags or any other types of bags to the inside of a prepped hard item trash bag. DO NOT slide a new trash bag over an old trash bag of hard items, especially if it has holes in it. Instead, use duct tape to cover holes if they come about or just replace the trash bag with a new one. Plastic bags inside of plastic bags will leave spaces that the strips active ingredient by floating through the air cannot reach .

All prepped items will be stored outside of the home during the treatment:

(Extremely Important): Examples of places to store your prepped items directly after sealing off a trash bag are:

-Garage, shed, under car ports or covered areas outside, your yard, really anywhere outside of the home that doesn't block access to doors or windows. We will be coming through doors and windows with our ducting for heat. 

-If you do not have any areas like above you will have to figure out where you can store your prepped trash bags until after the treatment had been completed. If you live in an apartment without storage, most people just sit there prepped bags on a balcony or directly outside of the door but still leaving room to get through the door way with our equipment. 

-Please do not cram your prepped trash bags into a vehicle, unless it's not going to be used for years. You can end up just infesting a vehicle and bringing bed bugs back inside your home or business.

DON'T DO THIS! Image above shows an attempt at prepped trash bags incorrectly stored inside of a vehicle. Notice the bags are not completely sealed off, are completely full & the bags are not the correct size. Do not do this! Halfway full and completely sealed off is crucial for success. 

Tip: When most people have to store their trash bags on the ground outside, they put down wooden crates, a trailer or something that keeps the bags up off of the ground from water. Then the bags are covered with a tarp that is weighted down by rocks or blocks on the corners or stakes. 

Image above shows correctly prepped fabric items inside of sealed off trash bag ready for bed bug treatment. 

ALL FABRICS ARE KEPT SEPARATE FROM HARD ITEMS! 

This is crucial for success! 

Sharp Items:

Sharp items can be sat in a plastic tote or a new cardboard box, then a 55 gallon trash bag must be slid over the box and then sealed off, preferably with tape. Don't forget to put your 1/4 pieces of a No Pest Strip into the box before sealing off the trash bag (remember only hard item trash bags get a pest strip 1/4 piece, not fabrics). Also it is extremely important that the lid or lid flaps to any box is left off or out of the trash bag being prepped. If the box has a lid on it inside of the trash bag it will not get the active ingredient from the No Pest Strip to all areas inside of the bag and box. Making sure that the active ingredient can get to the entire inside and outside of a box in the trash bag is extremely important.

Now To The Prep List:

• If your residence has indoor sprinklers or heat alarms, notify us immediately. (This does not refer to regular smoke detectors).

• Remove all bedding, clothing items/fabrics from drawers, and place them into trash bags then seal off trash bag completely air tight. All these fabrics will go thru a dryer 1st, not washer 1st, the dryer 1st, on high heat for no less than 1 hour. Then after the dryer 1st, if it needs to be washed you can do normal washing and drying applications. Once fabrics are thru the dryer, and your treatment has already been performed, then just put back into normal closet or drawer. The only exception of fabrics that must be left in your rooms for the treatment are window curtains, shower curtains, rugs, leather items, clothes hanging in closet or clothes that cannot go thru dryer. An example of clothes that may not go thru a dryer are: wedding dresses, dress or business suits, leather jackets/clothes or clothes with glued on trinkets. Every other fabric in your room must be prepped and stored outside the home until the treatment is finished. Once the treatment service is complete you can bring fabrics back into your home once run thru a dryer for no less than 1 hour on high heat.

• Note:(Fabrics do not have to be run through a dryer before the treatment, just before they are brought back into the home after the heat treatment is complete). It's actually much more beneficial to you to just bag up all fabrics, seal them off and store them outside of your home until after the treatment. Then go about doing the fabrics after the treatment is already completed.

• All pets need to be removed from the property completely. They may return when all chemicals are dry. The time to dry for chemicals can vary, so we set a "fits all" dry time of 2-3 hours for all bed bug treatments after the service is complete.

• Remove all valuables, including loose cash, jewelry, etc. You do not need to remove metal jewelry if your comfortable leaving behind.

• Remove cassette tapes, vinyl records.

• All electronics and wiring can stay in your home for the treatment.

• Remove all clothing from inside drawers and closets. Place them into a large trash bag and seal off air tight. Do the same thing for any towels, blankets or bedding. Hangers can stay hanging in closets. Do not leave hangers anywhere except hanging in closets please.

• Leave pictures and decorations hanging where normally hang, to go thru treatment.

• If you have any air mattresses please do not deflate if aired up. If already deflated before reading this just leave as is.

• Remove all aerosols and pressurized cans, compressed gases, flammable or combustible chemicals.

• Remove indoor plants, deodorants, bathing products, seeds, carbonated beverages or drinks

• All lighters need to be removed from the areas being treated.

• Candles and anything wax should be removed. Even with lids remove. Crayons especially need removed.

• Food items that may melt including chocolate, candy and solid oils should be stored in the refrigerator during the heat.

• Medication prescriptions should be taken with you or put into your refrigerator as the heat can possibly make them ineffective.

• Ammo needs to be removed and prepped with a no pest strip in a trash bag. Guns without ammo can go thru heat.

• Remove all trash and check under and around beds and dressers for clutter.

• Pull out drawers and check behind and under them. All drawers need to be empty.

• Clutter creates cold spots where bugs may hide. Our heat remediation needs to be able to reach every item, furniture and the homes structure. Remember clothes, bedding, papers can create these spots and all these things should be prepped. Books on a shelf that are placed upright and not on their side will stay in place for the heat. All trash should be thrown away outside of the home.

• All baskets, trunks and drawers need to be emptied, (prep emptied items as needed), and leave the baskets, trunks and drawers behind for the treatment.

• Leave the furniture such as nightstands, dressers, etc. to be treated but please remove and bag all items inside of all furniture. If items in trash bags are NOT fabric please add the Hot Shot No Pest Strip 1/4 piece to the bag and seal tightly before removing. All items that can go through the dryer will NOT need the No Pest Strips because the heat from the dryer will kill any stage of the bed bug as long as it's on high heat for no less than 1 hour.

• Put shoes into a trash bag with a no pest strip if there are expensive or a lot of shoes. They are hard items. However shoes can be left behind but at your own risk, if you choose to do so. Do not leave 20-30 pairs of shoes in a pile in the closet or home. Only leave behind shoes that you need regularly and prep others. Less shoes is best.

•When removing items from the rooms being treated always place them into bags that are immediately sealed off air tight and removed to a storage area outside of the immediate home or living areas. Not placing items in bags can infest the area the items are stored in during the treatment, then eventually back into your home months later. It's also even more  important to remove the cluttered items like clothes, shoes, boxes, etc. from your closets or drawers. Clutter creates cold spots, and that's where the bugs will want to go and hide instead of getting killed by the heat remediation out in the open. Closets are extremely important to prep correctly. Call us if you do not fully understand closets.

Laundry Instructions:

It is best to wait till after your treatment is completed to start laundering fabrics. Some clients do fabrics on the day of the treatment at a laundromat. Take the sealed trash bags to the laundry one by one as you dry each bag and place entire bag in the dryer before opening bag and removing items. Dry all items on high heat for at least 1 hour. DO NOT WASH FIRST! DRY 1ST, WASH SECOND (if needed) , THEN DRY AGAIN. After cloth items have been heated for the full hour you may wash and redry. Use both washer and dryer on high heat. Please throw away all used trash bags in outside trash, as they could be infested. Do not reuse trash bags or boxes used during a bed bug treatment.

Non-laundry Instructions:

For the bags of items that can't go in dryer you will need the 1/4 piece Hot Shot No-Pest Strip per each hard item trash bag. The strips will need to stay inside the bags for at least 15 days minimum, no exceptions. You'll can disturb the bag by agitating it's top once a day to make sure everything gets adequately fumed inside with the active ingredient that floats through the air from the 1/4 piece no pest strip. The active ingredient in the strips works through the air. Compare it to pheremone particles floating in the air or invisible fumigation. No pest strips do not catch bed bugs, they only kill them from the active ingredient floating in the air inside the bag.

Important- Prep Storage:

All prepped sealed off trash bags will be stored outside of the home immediately upon finishing prepping the bag & sealing out off. The bags will remain outside the home until after the treatment. A good storage place would be a garage, shed or even under a tarp in your yard. Do not let your finished prep trash bags sit in your home until we come to service your home. They can possibly get bed bugs in the outside of the bag, then get transported to other places, then back into your home later. Removing the bags immediately upon sealing them off, will keep you from accidentally transporting bed bugs to areas outside of your home.

What to expect:

We need to move large equipment through your structure. Please make sure the path is clear for us to get throughout your home or business. We also use large fans to push hot air around the room. Please make sure all loose papers as well as any items that may blow away are properly prepped and removed.

Your heat treatment will resemble the image above.

By following these preparation tips, you can help make sure that your property is ready for Dead Bug Walkin' LLC 's bed bug heat and chemical treatment.

Expect the heat treatment to take at least 8-9 hours or less in most situations but every place is different. It probably will not take 9 hours but we ask that you prepare for it. Rushing us to finish, will result in mistakes or your home still being infested. You must vacate the premises for the time the treatment is in process. Please do not bother us during the service, so we may put all our energy towards your infestation. No one likes someone over their shoulder watching every move they make either. If you have cameras in your home expect them to be unplugged eventually as we use almost every electric plug in in the home/room most times. You may only re-enter 1-3 hours after the service is complete once we give you the okay to return back to your residence. The home will need that time to dry and cool down. Make plans to do other things you need to do while the treatment is in process and the time will pass much quicker for you. Do not re-enter your home until we tell you that you can please! It is against the law for you to be present during our services. You can be injured, hospitalized or worse from our professional processes. So we ask that you please just follow the directions given to you.

Questions:

If you have any questions about our pre bed bug heat treatment requirements, please give us a call or text message! One of our thermal remediation specialists can answer any questions you may have regarding what needs to be removed from the premises prior to your service.

Rescheduling or canceling your treatment:

Please be aware that our heaters can NOT run in the rain. If it's raining or lightening the day of the appointment then we will have to reschedule. 

***Please give 48hr notice if canceling or rescheduling. Less than 48hr notice may result in a rescheduling or cancellation fee of a minimum of $100. Rescheduling costs us possibly hundreds or thousands of dollars in lost revenue so please let us know asap.

Refunds:

All sales are final once paid. If you have not received the service you prepaid for though we will always refund your money, non the less. Refunds by credit or debit card, checks or cash are left for Dead Bug Walkin LLC and its employees to decide the way you will be refunded. Third party check or credit card processors will have no part in the refund process. If a client wishes to be refunded monies for services not rendered yet, just ask us. We would literally be glad to refund your money without going through a third party. Going through a check or credit card processor for a refund will cost Dead Bug Walkin fees, and if this is the case, the client will be charged for all said fees DBW will be paying. All service procedures and warranties, (if applicable), are left for Dead Bug Walkin LLC to decide. By signing a payment agreement or payment plan agreement with Dead Bug Walkin LLC you will have entered into a written contract for services to be rendered which will be paid upon our arrival, unless otherwise approved by Dead Bug Walkin LLC in writing. Payment is always due before we start the service.

Good luck and God bless, Management. (918)710-7529 Dead Bug Walkin' LLC

If your getting a chemical only bed bug treatment use this prep list instead:

How to prepare for your bed bug inspection Prep List: Chemical Only Bed Bug Treatment

Our Contact Info:

For any questions or to speak with us give us a call or shoot us a text message at 918-710-7529. Have a blessed day!

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