How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs

by Andrea Hermitt | More from this Blogger

07 Sep 2009 02:24 PM

Bed bugs have come home. It used to be that you had to be concerned when you slept in a hotel. While that fear is very valid, you also have to worry about bed bugs at home.

They hitch rides into your home in suitcases from your hotel rooms. They come into your home in delivery boxes. They come into your home in used furniture. They come into your home or apartment through the walls from your next door neighbors house. They may even already be there when you move in. Just read about Maya Rudolf's issue with bed bugs in her ritzy New York apartment.

Getting rid of bed bugs is no small task. Calling an exterminator alone seldom knocks out the infestation in one round. Home treatments can be difficult and sometimes caustic. It process can be so exhausting and expensive that one might even consider burning the house and starting over. (Don't try this at home.)

So what is a person to do when they suspect or discover there are bedbugs in their home?

1. Determine the actual presence of bedbugs by inspecting sheets, pillows, and other furnishings for small red dots of blood and bug feces.

2. Examine cracks and crevices of the bed and furnishings to determine the main source of the bedbugs and to find where they are hiding.

3. Vacuum the infested areas thoroughly to remove as many pests as possible. Vacuum all surfaces and cracks and crevices anywhere near the furniture. Consider tossing out infested beds and upholstery. (Don't sell it or give it away).

4. Have the apartment fogged for bedbugs. Have your exterminator use a cold fogger to eliminate the bugs. (The good news is you will get rid of all other pests.)

5. Seal any cracks or crevices where future bedbugs can hide.

6. Apply Drione or other forms of dusts used for bedbugs. Reapply the dust monthly.

7. Use bedbug spray or refog your apartment again in two weeks and spray bi-weekly until you are comfortable that the bugs have been eliminated.

If you liked this you should also read my blogs at the homeschool blog, the parents blog, and the frugal blog. You can read my recent posts here.

Also read:

Travel Tips--Hotel's Unwanted Guests

TV Star's Battle With Bed Bugs

Really Clean Sheets

How Would You Rate Your Last Hotel Stay?

Learn more about Andrea Hermitt

Andrea Hermitt is a native New Yorker currently residing in GA. She has been married for over 16 years and has two teenage children.

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Memartha (306) 08 Sep 2009 02:40 PM

What does a bedbug look like?

Andrea Hermitt (5512) 16 Sep 2009 10:09 PM

Bed bugs are little red bugs about 1/4 inch in size... they are hard to find though. When I go in hotels, I look behind the bed and in the creases of the mattress edges. You are more likely to see red dots from blood than the actual bug.