Bed bugs after a trip: the first 48 hours
What to do with the suitcase, the laundry and the bed if you think you brought bed bugs home, and what not to do.
Questions about your own house? Call (843) 555-0147 and a technician answers.
Bed bugs travel in luggage, not on people. If you found one in a hotel, or woke up with bites in a line after a trip, the first two days decide whether this stays a one-room problem.
The suitcase
Leave it in the garage or on a hard floor, away from beds and couches. Everything washable goes straight into the dryer on high heat for 30 minutes; heat kills every stage, washing alone does not.
The bed
Look along the mattress seams, the box spring corners and the headboard with a flashlight. You are looking for small dark spots, pale shed skins and the bugs themselves, about the size of an apple seed. Take photos and send them to us.
What not to do
Do not move to another bedroom, which spreads them, and do not use foggers, which push them into the walls. Book an inspection: it is $95 and credited to any treatment.
Seeing something like this? A technician answers, Mon-Sat 8 to 5.
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