How to Protect Your Home from Bed Bugs

Dealing with bed bugs is something every homeowner wants to avoid. They’ve been around as long as civilization existed, and while they don’t transfer any diseases, some people are allergic. And even if you aren’t allergic, dealing with bed bugs is highly annoying, so prevention is still the best call. Fortunately, preventing bed bugs from getting into your home is pretty simple as long as you’re somewhat careful. So, realistically speaking, as long as you pay attention to your habits, you won’t ever have to deal with them. To this end, we’ve put together a guide on how to protect your home from bed bugs.

How does a bed bug infestation start?

The first step you should take when you want to protect your home from bed bugs is learning how infestations start in the first place. A bed bug infestation can only begin if you bring them in from somewhere else. For example, they can get into your luggage if you go traveling. Realistically, anything can bring them in, as they can even get onto your clothes. As long as you come into contact with upholstered surfaces which might be infested, there’s a risk.

Additionally, bed bugs in apartment buildings can travel from different apartments into yours. So, what you need to do is learn how to stop them. And when moving to a new place, looking for bed bugs should be one of the first things you do. Spotting these problems is like looking for a reliable moving company. You need to recognize the sings of a fraudulent moving company when organizing a move as well. The same way, you need to recognize the signs there is an infestation in your new home.

Luggage is the most common way to bring bed bugs into your home

Be careful about what you bring into your home

It would be best to focus on prevention when trying to protect your home from bed bugs. The simplest way to do this is to check every potentially risky new item you bring into your home. When we say potentially risky, we don’t mean things such as groceries or similar supplies. Those are generally safe, so you don’t have to worry much. However, you should be thorough when inspecting items such as new furniture and pretty much anything used before. Store-bought furniture likely won’t be infested, but check anyway. And when it comes to anything you buy from thrift stores or garage sales, always check before bringing them into your home. Additionally, if you rent a storage unit, you should be just as careful with the items you bring into it. In order to keep it pest-free, treat it, and clean it as you would your home.

Remove their hiding places

Bed bugs can hide in many places, and you must deal with them if you want to protect your home from them. For example, if you have wooden furniture, bed bugs can easily hide in cracks. Additionally, if cracks appear in doorframes, wooden furniture, and even walls and ceilings (which hints at many problems), bed bugs can also hide there. They can also get behind loose electrical faceplates; if your wallpaper is peeling, they might also get behind that. Moreover, check any connection points with adjacent apartments if you’re in an apartment. Finally, keeping your apartment clean through vacuuming and decluttering can also help. Decluttering is also beneficial for your wellbeing, as it’s one of the easy ways to improve your mental health.

Cracks in wooden furniture can easily hide bed bugs.

Be careful when traveling

We briefly mentioned that, when traveling, you could bring bed bugs in on your luggage or even your clothes. Well, there are a few ways to ensure this doesn’t happen. When you arrive at your hotel, or wherever you’re staying, instead of placing your bags on the floor, put them on suitcase stands. Other things can also work as long as you ensure you keep them away from furniture and walls while at the hotel. And when you’re back from your trip, clean everything you brought with you thoroughly. This includes your bags and the clothes you brought on the trip. Experts from getmovedtoday.com note that you should be suspicious of everything you bring in from the trip since controlling bed bugs in hotels is pretty tricky, and your belongings can get infested easily. So, remember to be thorough when searching for bed bugs.

Inspect your home for bed bugs regularly

Spotting an infestation early on makes dealing with it much more manageable. As such, whenever you feel like you might’ve brought bed bugs into your home, inspect it. If you live in an apartment, make this inspection a monthly routine. So, remember to check your bed and any upholstered furniture thoroughly. Keep an eye out for brown and black spots; they might be dried bed bug feces or dried blood. Keep an eye out for live or dead bed bugs too. Finally, the most challenging sign to spot are small white spots; these are bed bug eggs. If you spot any of these signs, you will likely have a bed bug infestation.

This check should be the first thing you do when moving into a new place. It’s one of the things you need to put on your moving preparation list, along with finding a reputable moving crew. Be careful of shady moving companies when planning, and learn how to report a moving scam when you see one.

Always be thorough when looking for bed bugs, and check whenever you think they got in.