How to Kill Bedbugs in a Hotel

Bedbugs are vicious insects that attack at night and feed on human blood. They are also extremely stealthy; according to bed-bug.org, the insects hide in cracks, electrical outlets and between bed sheets. Because of their small size (adults are only about one-fifth of an inch long) and extensive breeding habits (female bed bugs can lay more than 200 eggs in the course of a lifetime), managing an infestation is diffcult.

Things You'll Need

• High-temperature washers
• Steam cleaning materials
• Sticky traps
• Chemical insecticides
• Sealant for cracks and surfaces where bedbugs can hide

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Instructions

• 1

  The University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources Department suggests that hotel managers effectively train their employees to recognize signs of bedbug activity. Recognizing signs early is important to achieving an end goal of total annihilation. Bedbug signs include reports of bedbug bites, blood spots or excrement on the bed sheets, dead skins of bedbugs (they shed their skin), foul odor and seeing the bedbugs themselves.

• 2

  Remove all sheets and fabric from the room. Subject these materials to high-heat washers. According to the U.S. Armed Forces Manual on the Prevention of Bedbugs, bedbugs cannot survive temperatures higher than 125 degrees Fahrenheit.

• 3

  Thoroughly vacuum every nook and cranny in the room, including between the mattresses and furniture cushions and in and around noticeable cracks. In addition, the room should be steam cleaned.

• 4

  Use chemical insecticides and powders. Commercial insecticides are sold that are designed to kill bedbugs. These include foggers (which fill the room with an insecticide fog), conventional sprays (which should be sprayed into places where bedbugs are likely to hide) and dusts (which attract the bedbugs and kill them upon consumption).

• 5

  Use a sealant on cracks in the room and other places where the bedbugs can hide. Because bedbugs like to hide in cracks and other hard-to-reach areas, it is imperative that these areas be sealed. Failure to do so could result in a second infestation because the bedbugs can hide and reproduce in the walls.

• 6

  Bring in a professional exterminator. According to scarafaggio.com, a pest control website, do-it-yourself bedbug extermination is not recommended because of the difficulty of locating and eliminating every bug and the bugs' ability to rapidly reproduce. If you have a particularly bad infestation, you should hire a professional exterminator. The exterminator will use many of the methods described above, but because of his experience and expertise, he will be able to locate and destroy these pesky creatures.