Bed bugs are becoming a more and more common phenomenon in the US, and while nobody is really sure why there has been such an increase in infestations in the last couple of decades, it makes sense for everybody to know a bit about the bugs and what to do if they are infested. There are a lot of common misconceptions about bedbugs, too. Here, we look at what you need to know about these domestic pests, how to try and avoid bringing them home, and what to do if you find them.
Myths About Bedbugs
Some people believe
bedbugs are invisible to the naked eye. This is actually a misconception caused
by being confused about the difference between bedbugs and dust mites. Dust
mites are very tiny, and very common, and usually don't cause any problems
unless you have an allergy. Bedbugs on the other hand are small, but clearly
visible bugs, and you can see both the bugs and the eggs if you look for them.
They bite, and leave itchy marks on the skin, meaning they are a pest you want
to avoid not only for the 'gross' factor of having bugs alongside you when you
sleep, but also to avoid irritating bites.
Another myth about bedbugs
is that they only live in dirty homes. Unlike cockroaches and other pests
associated with things like food remains being left in the house, bedbugs feed
off of mammals like humans and their pets, and so will want to live in your
home whether you are messy or keep your place immaculate.
How Do Bedbugs Get Into Your House?
Bedbugs are usually
brought in from somewhere else that has them. They can be transferred on your
clothes or luggage if you visit someone's house or a hotel that has bedbugs
already. Another common way to end up with them is by buying or collecting
secondhand goods. Things like upholstered furniture, cushions, linens, towels,
soft toys and clothing can carry bedbugs if they come from somewhere that has
an infestation.
Of course, this
doesn't mean you should avoid buying secondhand items or accepting
hand-me-downs just in case bedbugs come with them, however you should take care
to clean anything you get in this way thoroughly before bringing it in to your
home. With small items like teddy bears or cushions, a good way to make sure no
bugs get transferred into your home can be to seal them in vacuum bag for a
couple of days before washing them. This will suffocate any living bugs or
newly hatched eggs and make sure none of them manage to get out and move on to
other things in your home.
Checking for Infestation
If you wake up with
itchy spots on your body that weren't there before, then there is a good chance
you have bedbugs, especially if you have recently bought furniture or been away
somewhere with luggage. Of course, there are other things that may have bitten
you that are not a sign of an infestation problem, such as mosquitoes, so you
will need to check for signs of bedbugs before taking action.
Bedbugs don't have one
particular nest like ants do, but tend to set up groups in places where they
can hide easily, so if you find one collection of bugs then this is unlikely to
be the only one. They are most active at night, as you might expect, when they
come out to bite and feed on human blood. This means if you search for them
during the day you will need to look in hard to reach places, such as under
your mattress, in dark corners, and even in cracks in the plaster or patches of
peeling wallpaper. What you are looking for here is the bugs themselves, which are
flat, oval shaped, and brown in color, but you may also find other evidence
such as shed skin, egg shells, eggs (which look like small black dots), and
smudges of bug excrement on your sheets. You may also find tiny spots of blood
on your sheets where the bugs have bitten.
Another way to tell
that you have bedbugs is of course to catch them in the act of biting you. When
a bedbug attaches itself to feed, it uses a long thin beak to break the skin,
and then feeds on blood for up to ten minutes. As it is feeding, it becomes
full and swells up. If you can find a bug on you doing this in the night, it is
certain there are more where it came from. Bear in mind that bedbug bites are
painless when the bug actually bites you, so you probably won't be woken up by
this. It is only later that they become irritating, itchy welts.
If you do find bugs in
the most obvious places like your mattress, then you will need to check
elsewhere to see the extent of the problem. They may not be limited to just one
room, and while they don't fly, they can move quite quickly and make their way
into different crevices. If you are unsure of whether you have found evidence
of bedbugs or not, or don't know how bad the infestation is, then the best
thing to do is have an expert from a pest control company like Go Forth Pest Control of Charlotte come and take a look. They will also, of
course, be able to help you get rid of the infestation.
What Can I Do If I'm Infested?
The easiest and best
thing to do if you have an infestation of bedbugs is to get a pest control company
to deal with it. Bedbugs can be pretty persistent, and can survive for quite a
long time without blood to feed on, so even if you clean very thoroughly or
leave the house unoccupied for a while, the infestation can remain and the
population of bugs can build itself up again quite rapidly. One female bedbug
can also lay hundreds of eggs, so what starts off as a very minor infestation
of a few bugs brought in on an item can quickly become a big problem.
However, if you do
want to attempt to tackle the bug problem yourself, you will need to strip down
the infested rooms and clean everything, as well as checking and cleaning every
conceivable bedbug hiding place, including things you might not expect like
electrical outlets. You should wash all fabric items on the highest temperature
they can stand, and also put things that can't be washed with water in your
drier for a spin so the heat and motion can kill off bugs and eggs, or try the
suffocation technique of sealing them in a vacuum sealed plastic bag.
You'll also need to vacuum very thoroughly, including things like the hard to reach parts inside
your bed frame. A vacuum with a HEPA filter would be ideal. Remember when you do this that your hoover will be picking up
bedbugs. Seal your hoover in plastic (for instance in sealed garbage bags) and
leave it somewhere like your garage so the bugs can die without being moved
around the house. Make sure too that you immediately take out the garbage as
you do all of this cleaning, as bed bugs and their eggs will probably be in
there too.
You may also want to
consider replacing some things that may be harder to rid of bugs, or which may
have been the source of the bugs in the first place, for example if you have a
secondhand mattress.
Getting rid of your
own bedbugs is not an easy process, so be sure to keep checking for signs of
bugs for a couple of months after cleaning.
Warn People
Although it may feel a
little embarrassing, you should also really warn people that have visited your
home and close by neighbors that you have experienced an infestation. If you
live in an apartment then it is possible bugs have moved between homes just as
they move between rooms in one house, and so the people in neighboring condos
or apartments should check their own homes too. If you have had guests,
especially if they have been in rooms that were infested (for instance if your
couch was infested and they sat on it, or they stayed the night in a guest room
that was treated for bedbugs), they may have taken bedbugs home with them, so
it is best to warn them so they can check before a severe infestation develops.
Bedbugs are more of a
nuisance than anything and the bites don't spread diseases or cause risks of more serious complications.
However, it is of course not very pleasant to have these pests in your home
biting you, and a minor bedbug problem can escalate quite quickly. Be sure
then, to know the signs, and to know what to do if you do suspect bedbugs are
in your home.
