What can I do to prevent bed bugs in my home?
Preventing bed bugs
10 Ways to Prevent Bed Bugs
Valpas is a modern solution to prevent bed bugs aimed at hotels. But there is always a risk that bed bugs also find their way to private households. After a big day of cleaning your whole house, you might get shocked to see small creepy bed bugs in your trash bag. It would be totally normal to freak out and start wondering how to stop a major bed bug infestation in your home. But no worries – we will in this article go through what you can do to prevent bed bugs in the first place and what you can do to prevent them from spreading.
What Are the Common Causes of Bed Bug Infestations?
Infested furniture, clutter, and travelling are some of the main factors contributing to bed bug infestations. Generally, old furniture and clothes may carry bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) in your home, which cause bites similar to but worse than mosquito bites. And if you don't take proper steps to get rid of them, it will eventually lead to a more significant infestation.
Travelling is one of the main reasons for bed bug infestations. You may carry these crawly bugs to your home with your clothes and items while coming from your trip. Especially if you don't wash and clean your things soon after returning, you are at risk of making your home a cosy place for the bed bugs.
Additionally, buying secondhand items and furniture is another major cause of this problem. If you don't inspect these old items before purchasing, there is a risk that you will carry bed bugs with them to your home.
If you do experience a bed bug infestation, it is essential to use sealed plastic bags to keep your trash. Even if you clean your entire house to get rid of bed bugs, not removing your trash bags immediately might cause bed bugs to spread in your whole house.
It is much easier to avoid a bed bug infestation in the first place than it is to get rid of them. So, here are a few tips to prevent bed bugs in your home for your convenience:
1. Change Your Mattresses & Box Springs After a Certain Time
You should replace your home's box springs and mattresses every two to three years. Although you might think it is too soon to have a new mattress, it is wise to address the issue at its root. Bed bugs might also appear in other areas of your home. But the bed is the most common place these insects love to stay. So, changing the mattresses on your bed will help you avoid having bed bugs in your home.
2. Use High Temperature to Wash Bedsheets & Other Bedding
Cleaning your bed sheets, blankets, and pillowcases in hot water is an easy and affordable approach to preventing bed bugs. Wash your bed sheets and other bedding at a high-temperature minimum once a week. This will help you kill both nymphs and mature bed bugs.
3. Cover the Mattresses & Bed Frames with Protective Covers
Encase your box springs and beddings in a plastic protective cover to prevent bed bugs. Plastic covers explicitly manufactured for this are more useful than normal covers. Although your mattress might already have a cover, putting one extra on the box springs would minimize hidden areas. And thus, it will lessen the risks of bed bug infestations. If you somehow bring bed bugs inside your home, the protective cover will help you spot them fast. So, you may easily clean them or dispose of the bodies immediately.
4. Vacuum Your Bedding, Carpets, and Rugs Regularly
Well, you should vacuum your bed frames and mattresses regularly for many hygiene reasons. It is also a quick and easy technique to limit the amount of apparent adult bed bugs in your bed. Check carefully the mattress seam, mattress encasement, folds, corners, etc., and make sure to vacuum them properly. Furthermore, it would be best to vacuum your carpets and rugs a minimum of once a week. If you think you have living bed bugs in your place, vacuum every day until you are sure your house is bug-free. Moreover, don't forget to discard the vacuum components from your house as soon as possible. You should gently dispose of them in a sealed trash bag. Remember that not emptying the vacuum cleaner might lead to the proliferation of bedbugs.
5. Consider Using Essential Oils
You can choose from various scents to keep bed bugs at bay. So, all you need to do is choose the one you like. Fill up a spray bottle using about 6-10 drops of essential oil and one-fourth cup of water. Spray the scented water around the home and on anything you carry out in public, like totes, handbags, luggage, and backpacks. Lemongrass, Cinnamon, clove, lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, thyme, and tea tree are among the essential oils that deter bed bugs. However, you can also blend the oil with one carrier oil like grapeseed oil or jojoba oil to make a skin repellant.
6. Remove Any Messes
Clutter provides a hiding area for bed bugs, making it possible for them to invade your house. It is critical to reducing the number of areas where these bugs can shelter to keep them out. If your house has tons of items and messes, it would be much harder for you to fight these annoying insects.
7. Don't Keep Stuff Under Your Bed
Under-bed storage seems like a fantastic idea. It is particularly true if you want to maximize your small bedroom space without ruining its aesthetics. Well, dirt and grime generally dislike things that bed bugs dislike. However, debris underneath the bed will create more hiding places for these pests. You might usually discover these bed bugs living in some objects stored beneath your bed. So, ensure you are not storing anything under your bed so they won't have access to calm regions that people frequently ignore throughout the cleaning procedure.
8. Clean Your Clothes & Other Items after a Trip
Indeed, bed bugs cannot survive in your clothing. Bed bugs frequently travel with you via your clothes and luggage on your journey. Thus, it is critical for regular travellers to wash their clothes and dry them completely. Use the maximum heat level your clothes may tolerate for the cleaning process. Also, make sure you are not allowing the bed bugs brought home with you from your vacation to build up inside the laundry room for days. This will just increase the chances of bed bugs spreading all across the home. So, we know washing your stuff after returning from your trip is not the first thing on one's mind, but it is an important preventive measure for a bed bug infestation. If you want to minimize the chance of bringing home bed bugs from your trips, make sure to stay at a Valpas hotel. They are the only hotels that can guarantee their guests they are free from bed bugs.
9. Utilize Bed Bug Monitors
Bed bug monitors or bed bug interceptors are designed to assist in stopping bed bugs from getting into the bed. You simply have to place these devices underneath each bedpost's foot.
10. Check Your Furniture Frequently
Look for symptoms of bed bug infestation on your furnishings. Start your search on antique or vintage furniture having cracks or older furniture in general. Besides, it is essential to remember to conduct an initial inspection before purchasing secondhand furniture.
Conclusion
If you remain a little cautious, you can prevent bed bugs from coming in the first place. No one wants to call professional pest control. We have at Valpas developed a full solution for bed bug safety with a bioengineered design that detects and collects bed bugs early enough before harm. Once again, we want to recommend staying at a Valpas member hotel to completely eliminate the risk of being exposed to bed bugs in your hotel bed because this is one of the more common reasons you also bring them to your home.