Finding bed bugs in your home can be a frustrating experience, especially if you don't know how the pests got there in the first place. Bed bugs can hitchhike in your luggage, laundry, and other personal items when you travel or wash clothes in a public laundromat. The pests can also invade your home by hiding in the things you buy from a thrift store or garage sale. Once the pests enter your home, they hide in places you can't access, such as your wall sockets and windowsills. Here's one possible and unexpected way bed bugs invaded your home.
How Can You Get Bed Bugs From a Thrift Store or Garage Sale?
If you love to shop at thrift stores, garage sales, or other places that sell used goods, be sure to check your items for bed bugs before you bring them into your home. Bed bugs and their eggs can potentially hide in the fabrics, folds, and pockets of apparel, shoes, and other items.
Furnishings, such as dressers and sofas, may also harbor pests. The pests can leave the original source of infestation and travel to your electrical outlets, bed frames, windowsills, and other locations without detection. Once night arrives, the bugs leave their new hiding places to feed on the people and animals in your home.
You can take steps to keep bed bugs out of your house by shopping cautiously.
How Can You Keep Bed Bugs Out of Your Home?
Before you leave the thrift store or garage sale, inspect the items for signs of bed bugs, including eggs. Bed bug eggs look like small grains of rice. Young bugs generally appear clear or colorless, while adult bed bugs look similar to brown ticks. Pests that have managed to feed on someone else will appear red and bloated.
If you choose to bring your wares home without inspecting them, place the items in large plastic containers or bags until you have a chance to wash and dry them. Sources recommend using hot temperatures of 118 degrees or more to kill the bugs and their eggs. Be sure to leave the heat cycle on for at least 90 minutes.
If you still experience a bed bug problem, contact a professional contractor to assist you. Bed bugs can become huge problems once they infect a home. Sometimes, it takes chemical treatments and other methods to eliminate the pests properly. Companies like Arab Termite and Pest Control can help.
Share26 July 2017
Do you spend your spring and summer months battling the pests that enter your home? There are many ways to prevent the intrusion of ants, roaches, flies, mosquitoes, mice and other pests in your home. I own several rental properties that I have to be sure do not get infested with all sorts of pests and have learned a lot about preventing the intrusion to begin with. You can learn from my personal experiences and keep the pests from ever becoming a serious issue in your home. With a few minor changes to the home and working with a skilled pest control agent, your home can be pest-free forever!
