When traveling abroad, you want to have a great time and forget about your responsibilities at home. However, you cannot ignore the potential risk of returning with bedbugs in your luggage and on your clothes. Instead, you’ll want to remember the SLEEP acronym so you can avoid allowing bedbugs to invade your home after a vacation.
S For Survey
Once you’ve arrived at your lodging facility, you’ll grab the key card and head to your room. Since you’ve been flying for a few hours, you may want to spread out on the bed and go to sleep. Before doing so, you should carefully survey the motel room to guarantee it is free of bedbugs. Glance around the room to make sure it is clean and free of pets.
Also, sniff the room carefully. Bedbugs create a musty odor so pay close attention to that smell. If you sleep in a motel room with bedbugs, you’ll get bit and your home might get invaded when you return.
L For Lift & Look
Once you’ve finished looking around the motel room, it is time to go in for a closer look. Bedbugs are small creatures that can hide in the smallest cracks and corners. They’re difficult to identify, but you can do it and you must. Lift the mattress from the bed and look under the sheets. Check the box springs and the rest of the furniture in the room. Lift the pillows and curtains before looking under them for bedbugs.
E For Elevate
Once you’ve finished lifting and looking, you need to start elevating. If you place your luggage on the ground, bedbugs will enter the luggage and take shelter in your clothes. You can likely prevent this from happening by elevating your luggage. The room likely has a luggage rack, so it would be a good idea to use it. Make sure it is located away from the wall to prevent bedbugs from climbing up the wall and entering your luggage.
E For Examine
When the vacation has ended, you’ll need to repack your belongings and return home. When doing so, you should take the opportunity to carefully check your luggage once again. If bedbugs are hiding in your luggage when you leave, they’ll enter your home when you get there. Make sure that the luggage is free of bugs before leaving. When you make it home, unpack the luggage in your garage
P For Place
Finally, you need to take time to place your luggage in the dryer. Ultimately, this could be the most important thing of all. If you don’t properly dry your clothes, they may contain live bedbugs and you’ll let them enter your home. If you dry the clothes using the highest temperature setting, you will eradicate the bedbugs and stop them from entering your home.
Unfortunately, bedbug infestations are hard to tackle effectively. As a result, we feel it is best to prevent one in the first place. If you’re going to be traveling abroad or around the country, take steps to prevent bedbugs from hiding in your clothes and luggage. Use the tips provided above to reduce the risks.
Once bedbugs have invaded your home, your options are limited. Do it yourself and risk wasting your time and money or call us. We’ll take care of the issue right away.
