Have Bed Bugs? 5 Steps To Take
Posted on: 15 January 2021
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Bed bugs can turn your comfortable home into an uncomfortable environment. If you have bed bugs, it is essential that you know what you should and should not do to get rid of this annoying pest.
Step #1: Stay Calm
When you discover you have bed bugs, the first thing you need to do is stay calm. Don't start throwing away items because you have bed bugs. You can clean and treat almost anything in your home, including your bedding and mattress. Simply having bed bugs does not mean you have to purge your home of any item they could be hiding in.
Step #2: Call a Professional
Second, don't try to handle a bed bug problem in your home on your own. Call a pest professional and have them assess your bed bug situation. Then, work with them to come up with a plan to treat your home. Often, an integrated pest management technique will help get rid of bed bugs without having to fill your home with pesticides or reduce the number of pesticides needed to get your home bed bug free.
Step #3: Get Rid of Clutter
If your home is full of clutter, you will have a hard time getting rid of all the bed bugs as they will have lots of places to hide. You will want to clean up your home and reduce the clutter so that bed bugs have fewer places to hide.
Give everything in your home a designed place to be. Use plastic baskets for your dirty clothes instead of putting them on the ground. Get plastic bins to store extra blankets in. Protect and put away the items you use so that bed bugs can't get to them.
Step #4: Clean Regularly
Next, to keep the bed bugs away once your home has been treated, you need to clean the area where they hide out regularly. For example, you should wash and dry your bedding in hot water. You should also vacuum your mattress and use a hot steam cleaner on it as well. In addition, you should keep your clothes off your floor and do laundry regularly. Keeping things clean will help keep the bed bugs away.
In addition to this, you should also thoroughly vacuum your home. Vacuum not just the floor, but also under the furniture, on the furniture, and in all the cracks and crevices. After you vacuum, change out the bag so that if any wayward bedbugs were caught, they would not be able to get out.
If you have bed bugs in your home, don't panic. Work with a professional to treat your home. Then, work to reduce clutter and get on a regular cleaning schedule to ensure the bed bugs are gone and stay gone. Contact a bed bug control service for more information.