How to Prevent Bed Bugs

If you were a child who grew up in America, chances are your mother tucked you into bed at night and whispered these words into your ears: “Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”  Most Americans have never seen these hard to get rid of, little, reddish-brown, oval creatures that feast on human blood.  The bed bug population has skyrocketed in recent years in the United States with bed bug calls increasing 81% since 2000.  With summer and traveling season around the corner, bed bug infestations will peak since they can be picked up at hotels, airplanes, retail stores, and even hospitals.  The following steps offer guidelines in how to prevent these unwanted creatures from taking over your home:

A bed bug full of the author’s blood found at his old dorm room.

1.  Use a bed bug mattress protector.  

Mattresses are a bed bug’s favorite hangout. It is the best location for them to feed on a sleeping human unnoticed at night.  An Allergy Luxe® Bed Bug Box Spring Cover (sold at Bed Bath & Beyond) acts a preventive barrier against the bugs from getting into your mattress and pillows.  

2. Maintain a clean living atmosphere. 

In addition to mattresses, bed bugs love to hide in cluttered spaces and small cracks.  “Cluttered conditions can offer the bugs a lot of excellent harborages very near their human blood-meal hosts,” said bed bug expert Dr. Harold Harlan. Keep your sleeping area clean and seal any small cracks in your home. Furthermore, don’t pick up any old used furniture without inspecting it first.  One of the most frequent ways people get bedbugs is by bringing in old discarded furniture from off the street.  

3. Defend your bedposts.

Bed bugs cannot fly, therefore they can only get to you by crawling.  Bed bugs use bedposts and walls as access points to your mattress.  To counter this, put Vaseline or sticky tape around your bedposts.  This will successfully prevent the bugs from getting to your mattress by trapping them.  Furthermore, keep your bed away from the walls.

4. Check the online bed bug registry.

If you are going to stay at a hotel or live at any other temporary location, check the online Bed Bug Registry at www.bedbugregistry.com for a list of all locations that have had reported bed bug problems.  “[The registry] is key to keeping yourself from being a victim to bed bugs,” said the Chicago Detective Bed Bug exterminator David Bohannan.

5. Always inspect your luggage when returning home from a trip.

Most bed bugs find your luggage as a great way to hitchhike to find new humans. According to Dr. Harlan, the best thing to do when you get home from a trip is “Laundering most cloth items with typical hot water and detergent followed by drying on low heat for at least 20 minutes.”

6. Get a routine visit from an exterminator.   

Your local pest control service has the best experts in preventing bed bug infestations.  They use a variety of methods to prevent bed bug infestation ranging from insecticides, portable heat machines, and even bed bug sniffing dogs.  Chicago’s exterminators constantly get calls for bed bugs since it is the fifth worst bed bug populated city. 

7. Use organic bed bug repellent.

While insecticides are not the best way to prevent bed bugs, organic sprays do efficiently do the job.  Rest Easy™ Bed Bug Repellent Spray (also sold at Bed Bath and Beyond) has proven to repel bed bugs by means of spraying its organic minty smelling contents around your living area.

By following these easy steps, you will prevent having a nightmare and can continue living up to your mother’s words of “sleeping tight.” The following video will demonstrate some of these examples: