How to Stop Bed Bugs From Spreading

Once nearly eradicated in the U.S., bedbugs are on the rise and becoming a major concern for travelers and homeowners alike. Unlike many pests that can be prevented through thorough cleaning and removal of their food sources, bedbugs thrive in pristine conditions, and their food source is blood.

Things You'll Need

• Flashlight
• Plastic bags

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Instructions

Home Solutions To Prevent Spreading Bedbugs

• 1

  Forget about spraying insecticide if you have bedbugs; it will not solve your problem and it will cause them to spread to other areas of your home. Exposed bugs can easily be killed with many products but it cannot reach many of their preferred hiding areas. In addition, there are no products for the homeowner or professional that will penetrate their eggs; the only way to kill the eggs is prolonged exposure to extreme heat or cold.

• 2

  Inspect new furniture, especially second-hand or used items, using a bright flashlight. Pay close attention to cracks and crevices and seams. Look for the living bugs, which are 3/8 to 1/4 inches in length and reddish-brown, flat, and resemble ticks. Look also for areas of dried blood smears.

• 3

  Launder used clothing brought into the home immediately using hot water to wash and/or high heat to dry them.

• 4

  Leave curbside items alone. They may be there because they have bedbugs in them.

Prevent Bringing Them Home During Travel

• 5

  Inspect mattresses upon arrival to your room. Pull back the sheets and fitted sheets and look for live bugs and smears along the seams of the mattress at both the head and foot of the mattresses.

• 6

  Elevate luggage on stands, tabletops, or other hard surfaces such a shelf or dresser and keep clothing off the floor.

• 7

  Bites incurred during your trip may or may not be due to bedbugs, but to remain on the safe side, seal clothing in plastic bags upon return and launder immediately. Discard baggage that may have bugs in them or seal them in plastic bags and subject them to temperatures above 120 degrees for a day. This can be accomplished by leaving the sealed bags in a hot car but the temperature must be monitored.