Careful Planning Can Help You to Prevent a Bed Bug Infestation

While we wouldn’t consider bed bugs to be a seasonal pest many folks believe that bed bug activity peaks in the summertime. According to Pest World’s Bugs Without Borders Survey, 25% of Pest Management Professionals say that summer is the time of year when they receive more bed bug calls.  Perhaps this is due to summer being a heightened travel season or maybe bed bugs just prefer warmer temperatures.  Regardless of why don't ruin a great summer by bringing back bed bugs from your trip.

In a recent blog, we explored why we believe this could be the worst season yet for bed bugs and gave you some tips on how to avoid bringing bed bugs back home with you. Let’s now look at how careful planning could protect you and your family from the expense, mental anguish, and inconvenience of a bed bug infestation by doing some careful research and planning before you ever go on your trip:

• Search the web!  Bed bug reports are tracked on several websites. One of the best sites for searching particular hotels, motels, inns, etc. is Bedbugresgistry.com. The site is a free, public database of bed bug reports from across the U.S. and Canada.  You can search by hotel name or simply by typing in your city and state.  You can even enter an address and receive an alert if a bed bug report has come in within a mile radius of you.  This might be valuable if you live in an apartment setting and risk becoming infected by a neighbor. 
• Another website to check before traveling is tripadvisor.com. Lookup a particular hotel and read through the reviews and learn if any reports of bed bugs have happened at the hotel you are booked at or considering booking yourself at.  Don’t forget that bed bugs do not discriminate!  Bed bugs can happen in the cheapest of motels or the finest, five-star rated hotel. 
• Another planning tip is to protect your mattress and box spring with bedding products that help protect against bed bug infestations.  Mattress and box spring encasements and liners are available that will protect you and your mattress from bed bugs.  These products have been tested to keep bed bugs out of your bedding products by creating a seal in which they cannot penetrate or by killing them on contact.  Mattresses and box springs can be quite expensive these days so taking the extra step to protect them and you makes sense economically. 
• Protect your luggage before you leave!  Bed bugs are excellent hitchhikers!  One of the most common ways in which you can bring bed bugs home is when they infest your luggage while you are in a hotel.  A luggage spray is available that will help repel bed bugs from your belongings if it comes into contact with them.   You simply spray the luggage before your trip to reduce your chance of picking up bed bugs during your travels. 

Cowleys offers more tips on how to avoid bed bugs during your travels with our free, downloadable eBook:  How to Avoid Picking Up the Dreaded Bed Bug. If you think you have come into contact with bed bugs or have concerns that you may be infested contact us today for a free estimate.