Bed bugs don't just infest the squalid hotel rooms in the city's slums. In fact, they can be found anywhere, from the homes of the rich and famous to 5-star hotels. Bed bugs spread easily and you can take them home with you in your luggage, souvenirs, or even children's toys. Follow this tutorial if you want to know how to check for these annoying pests when you stay in hotels, when you are worried that they may have infested your home or if you decide to buy used furniture.
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Preliminary Operations
Step 1. Keep your clothing sheltered
If you want to check for bed bugs in a hotel room, be sure to place your luggage and other personal belongings in a clean bathtub or on a wheeled trunk so they are off the ground and away from furniture and walls.
Step 2. Put on sterile gloves
Bedbugs may have sucked the blood of other humans, and if they bite you, they could transmit some disease to you. Also, without gloves, your fingers may come into contact with some messy corners of the room.
Step 3. Get all the tools you need
Get the tools you need: a flashlight that emits a strong beam of light and an old credit card.
Part 2 of 4: Check the Bed
Step 1. Start by analyzing the bedding
Remove all the sheets up to the mattress cover.
Step 2. Take the flashlight
Project the light onto the last layer of fabric and check for traces of excrement or blood stains. If the linen has just been changed, you probably won't find anything.
Step 3. Continue the search by checking the mattress
Remove the last sheet and start examining the mattress. Again, use the flashlight to look for excrement and blood on the top side. Check for traces of bedbug skin (when they moult) and their eggs.
Step 4. Use a card like a credit card
Run it along the seams of the mattress, keeping the edges open to illuminate them with the flashlight and check inside. You may see live bedbugs hiding there, their skin or droppings.
Step 5. Check all buttons, zippers, straps and labels
Slide the credit card along all the buttons to chase away any bugs that may be hiding. Examine each zipper and look under the mattress labels.
Step 6. If you can, turn the mattress over and inspect the other side as well
Check for bed bugs to escape during this operation. When the mattress is raised, also check the slats of the underlying base.
Step 7. Move the bed away from the wall
Quickly aim the flashlight at the wall behind the bed to check for bugs on the run. Also check the walls to see if there are any traces of excrement or small blood stains.
Step 8. Carefully examine the underside of the bed frame
Insects can also hide in the joints between pieces of wood or in screw holes.
Part 3 of 4: Check out the other furniture
Step 1. Check the furniture pieces
Thoroughly inspect all upholstered furniture as you did for the mattress, always using the flashlight and tile. Turn them over and over to check the underside.
Step 2. Check other areas where people sleep, such as sofa beds
Don't forget the cots and beds.
Step 3. Check the pillows
Check all the seams of the decorative pillows.
Step 4. Also make sure there are no bugs in the bedside tables or cabinets on either side of the bed
Turn them over, move them away from the wall, pull out the drawers and flip them over. Slide the credit card into the slots. Inspect the furniture legs if they are hollow.
Step 5. Check the dresser drawers
Remove all clothes from the drawers and shake the drawers over a clean white sheet for bugs, skin, or droppings.
Step 6. Be meticulous
Check the edges and undersides of the drawers with the flashlight and a credit card.
Step 7. Inspect the clothes as well
Remove the clothes from the closet and shake them on a white sheet. Examine the seams of heavy clothing such as coats and also those under the collars.
Step 8. Aim the torch light at the closet walls
Move all the objects in the lockers and carefully inspect the walls with the flashlight.
Step 9. Don't forget the items in the room
Look in, under and around all objects in the room: lamps, radios, clocks, televisions, computers, and so on.
Step 10. Check all the toys present, especially those that are placed in or next to the bed and that are stuffed with fabric
Step 11. Check the pet bed
This is also a place where bedbugs love to hide!
Part 4 of 4: Check the Whole House
Step 1. Start the inspection from the bedroom where you suspect the major infestation is
Start with the bed, then check the rest of the room (working from the bed to the outside) and then check all the other rooms in the house.
Step 2. Look under the loose wallpaper
Likewise, you should also check behind the bezels and mirrors.
Step 3. Check the folds of the curtains and behind them
Generally you are more likely to find bedbugs in lower areas, close to the ground, but that doesn't mean you should neglect higher areas.
Step 4. Check the rugs and carpets
Look under and around the edges of the rugs. Also in this case the flashlight and the old credit card prove useful.
Step 5. Move any furniture away from the wall and check the back side
If you can turn it upside down, analyze the bottom as well.
Step 6. Also check behind the light switches and electrical plugs, baseboards and moldings
For this type of control you need other tools. Remove the electrical outlets and check the plates by pointing the light of the flashlight at them.
Step 7. Check the moldings and baseboards
Just slide a credit card-like card behind it if you don't want to remove these items.
Step 8. Also check the appliances
Move them away from the walls and aim the flashlight at both the wall and the back of the equipment.
Step 9. Don't neglect the spaces below
Sweep large appliances such as refrigerators carefully underneath, then bend over to check the area with the help of the flashlight.
Step 10. Check the laundry room
Pay special attention to this room. Inspect all dirty clothes, look carefully in the laundry basket and in the various containers, especially the wicker ones.
Advice
- Set up a bed bug trap if the inspection does not get the desired results and you think you still have the infestation. Do a search on the internet for some suggestions on this. Often the trap doesn't kill the bugs, but it attracts them when they are nearby, so you can kill them yourself.
- If you or one of your family members have unexplained bites on the body in the morning when you wake up, it is advisable to do a thorough home check for these annoying parasites.
- When traveling, it is always advisable to do a thorough check of the hotel room upon check-in. When you enter the room, first inspect the whole environment. You should avoid staying in that hotel if you notice any signs of bed bugs. It is not enough just to move to another room, because bedbugs move easily from one room to another.
- Second-hand furniture can be a solution to stay within your budget, but if they bring bed bugs into your home, you will have to incur additional costs to disinfect the premises and in the end they will no longer be a big deal. Be sure to thoroughly inspect any used furniture you purchase.
- Bed bugs also feed on the blood of pets, but they cannot infest them, and in any case they prefer humans. However, your furry friend's bed or toy can carry or contain bedbugs.
- Bed bugs don't even attach themselves to people. If you see an insect on your skin, it is probably a tick.
- Be careful.
