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Hopefully you don’t already have bed bugs. If so, look around on this site for advice on how to get kill off bed bugs. Perhaps you have had bed bugs, and you know want to prevent getting these bugs again? The best way is of course preventing getting bed bugs entirely, because they are very hard to get rid of, once they have entered your home.
What You Should Do To Prevent Bed Bugs
- Do not bring them home yourself. Used mattresses and furniture is one of the most common ways for bed bugs to enter a home. Buy a NEW mattress, luggage or furniture – NOT used.
- If you have been traveling, you should closely inspect all your items that have been in hotel rooms. Remember that luggage is a favorite hiding place for bed bugs. Vacuum the luggage lining carefully, and using bed bug spray in and around your suitcase is a very good idea.
- Use a good suit case, and keep it zipped up carefully at all times.
- Store luggage off the floor. It should be placed on hotel racks or on top of furniture. .
- When buying something in a foreign place, keep your items off the floor. Place them on top of furniture or on racks, etc.
- Keep your place tidy. Don’t leave a lot of stuff out, where bed bugs can hide. They like to live inside magazines, equipment, shoes, cracks in the wall, around baseboards, etc. Minimize the number of places that the bed bugs can stay out of site.
- Vacuum often, especially around baseboards and cracks in the wall or around windows. Look for small hiding places, and vacuum often.
- Keep your bed away from walls. Particularly if you are in an apartment or college dormitory, the bugs will spread from one room to the next.
- Wash your clothes in very hot water, if you suspect they might be in your clothing. You will need about 100 degrees or more, in order to kill bed bugs.
- Prevent bed bugs from getting in to your mattress by buying a mattress encasement.
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You must realize that bed bugs can be anywhere in your home, not just in mattresses. They can live in clothes, furniture, upholstered chairs, in dressers, around windows, etc. All they need is a hiding place, and human blood. That’s why you must make it difficult for them to stay in your home, by following the advice above.
There are several ways bed bugs may enter your home. Since bed bugs are often found in hotels, motels, cruise ships, hostels, buses, etc, they are easily brought home by mistake. Once they enter a home and set up, they are very hard to remove.
If you have been traveling, make sure to clean out your luggage and clothing outside, ideally. Vacuum, inspect, clean and make sure you don’t bring them in!
Sometimes, bed bugs enter your home via cracks and holes – they do not fly in, because they are unable to fly. That’s why it is important to seal off such spaces with caulking or some similarly approved substance.