How do you know if you’ve got bed bugs?
Once they’re in your home, bed bugs are notoriously difficult to get rid of yourself. They hide in tiny cracks and crevices around your home so even washing your bedding on a hot wash and giving everywhere a thorough clean isn’t always enough to get rid of bed bugs.
People often first notice they have a bed bug infestation when they start getting bitten, bed bugs often bite on the torso, and you may also start to notice blood spots on your sheets. The next most obvious sign of bed bugs is seeing them – they are small, brown, crawling, round, flat bodied insects and they’ll hide during the day in crevices in your bed or mattress or anywhere they can find, such as in your headboard.
Where do bed bugs come from?
If you think you’ve got bed bugs, it’s worth asking yourself where they’ve come from. If you’ve been anywhere that’s already got bed bugs, such as overnight accommodation, there’s a chance they will have hitched a ride home in your luggage. So, if you’ve been away and then start finding bed bugs then there’s a good chance this is the source. Sometimes bed bugs can travel on second hand goods such as furniture or upholstery. Occasionally just sitting next to someone on public transport who’s unknowingly carrying bed bugs may be the route.
Getting Rid of Bed Bugs
If you find bed bugs in your bedroom, then by far the easiest way to remove them is to contact a reputable pest control company with a bed bug removal or bed bug pest control service. In the long run it’s likely to be the most effective and least stressful method.
A bed bug pest control company will ask you questions over the phone initially to establish if you do have bed bugs and may then request that you complete some steps before they treat the bed bug infestation. This will likely include washing all bedding at 60 degrees and any clothes that may be infested. Clothes or other items that can’t be hot washed can be bagged and frozen for 48 hours and left sealed until after the bed bug treatment. Everywhere should be thoroughly vacuumed and then the hoover bag changed, and it’s best not to move items around the house unless bagged and sealed as this may just spread the bed bugs from room to room.
Normally you won’t be able to stay in the house during the bed bug infestation removal, which can involve a mixture of hot, cold and insecticide treatments, and you may not be able to return to the house for up to 6 hours afterwards. Once the bed bug infestation has been treated, it’s likely you may not be able to hoover for up to 3 weeks to allow the treatment to fully work. This may sound like a lot of effort but it’s worth doing as thorough job as possible to give the bed bug treatment the most chance of success.
