Why Washing Your Bedding Won’t Treat Bed Bugs

When you wash your bedding regularly, you’re intending to prevent a host of issues, bed bugs being one of them. No matter how clean you keep your bed and home, however, if you travel, you risk bringing bed bugs back home with you from a hotel room. But don’t let this keep you from traveling though. Now you can protect yourself from hotel bed bugs using these tips:

Inspect your hotel room’s mattress before you unpack by looking for bed bug castaway shells and little dark stains. These could be the sign of an infestation.

Keep luggage and other belongings off the bed, since bed bugs can quickly hitchhike on these items and come home with you.

Check behind your bed’s headboard with a flashlight. Bed bugs often hide in this area.

If you find a bed bug in your hotel room, put it in a plastic bag or glass so you have proof to show the hotel management. Bed bugs are crawling pests, so if it can fly or jump, it’s not a bed bug.

Unpack your suitcase as soon as you are home. Wash and dry your clothes to help kill off any traveling bed bugs that came home with you.

Unfortunately, even if you follow these tips, there is still a chance you’ll bring bed bugs home with you. If you do end up with a bed bug infestation, merely washing your bedding won’t be enough to get rid of these pesky bugs. Washing your bedding will, in fact, kill the bugs that were in the bedding at the moment, but bed bugs are masters at hiding. If they’re in your bedding, it’s most likely they are also in your mattress. Even worse, there is a chance they’re also in your clothing,  curtains, bed frame and other bedroom furniture.

Another reason that just washing your bedding isn’t enough is that you’ll miss out on killing many of the bed bugs, as well as their unhatched eggs and nymphs. These are typically hidden and nearly invisible until they reach adulthood, which can take as little as a week. Once they mature, you could end up in a vicious cycle with yet another stage of infestation.

If you think that you may have a pest problem or just want to learn more about how to get rid of bed bugs, give us a call at 877-445-2847 and schedule a consultation today. We’ll share information about affordable, do-it-yourself methods with you that can solve the problem once and for all.