Here are some quick tips to make sure your room (hotel rooms,etc) isn’t infested with bedbugs! Most people who end up having their home infested with bedbugs could have prevented it by looking for the signs below.

When staying at a hotel, hang clothing in the closet that is farthest from your bed, place luggage on the folding rack usually found at hotels and always place your luggage in a plastic bag,Travel with a large heavy duty plastic bag.

• After you arrive at your hotel, the first thing you should do is to check the bed. Pull back the blanket and bed sheets and check the mattress, running your fingers along the  seams and try spreading them to see in the seams. Make sure to check the mattress tag and plastic clips around the edges as bed bugs often hide there.
• Check for tiny black spots on the mattress, behind the headboard or side tables for, translucent skins or actual bedbugs. Bed bug spots (fecal matter) are dark brown to black in color and stick to the surface. If it falls off, then it’s not a bed bug spot..
• Check the bedside table or any other furniture or fixtures near the bed. Bedbugs don’t like the light, so they’ll be hiding in areas that are usually dark or have very low light.
• Castings - as the bed bug develops, it sheds the skin which looks like the bug. Also look for tiny white eggs (like rice) along the edge of the mattress.
• During the early stages of infestation (if you or someone just brought one home), the bug bug(s) will usually hide out in the mattress.  If this is your home and you’re concerned you might have a few it would be wise to buy a bed bug proof mattress cover; this will seal in the bed bugs in and over time, they will die. See BugStop mattress covers .
• Utilize the luggage stand in the hotel room to keep your bags off of the floor where bedbugs can easily get into your things and end up hitching a ride home with you.
• If you see powder in the drawers or on the headboard, it is likely that the room has already been treated for bugs by an exterminator.
• If you do see a bedbug or signs of one, inform a manager immediately. Request another room immediatly but remember the bedbugs could easily be in other parts of the hotel as well.Do bed bug check in the new room.
• Other signs of bedbugs may include a foul smell. The odor has been described a number of ways, most say it resembles spoiled coconut, musty odor or a sweet odor such as fresh red raspberries.
• Just because the room or hotel is new or high end does not mean it’s free from bedbugs; bedbugs find rooms by riding on the cloths or luggage of others and may have been hitching a ride on the last occupant.
• When you’re ready to leave double check your luggage as well as individual items within your suitcase. This may seem cumbersome, but preventing a bedbug infestation is a lot easier than dealing with one!
• If you spot a bedbug within your luggage, wash the item in hot water and blow dry on high heat for 20-30 minutes or use a dry steam machine. Then place the item in a zip lock bag, which should keep any bedbugs out.

Areas bugs ike to hide

Bedbugs love gaps in just about everything, so check:

• behind baseboards
• around door and window casings
• around window sills and frames
• behind electrical and telephone switch plates
• between flooring and wall components
• where materials meet to form a gap
• around pipes (water, drain, electrical conduits
• seams, creases, tufts, and folds of the mattress and box spring
• bed frames and head board
• under night stands and drawers
• storage units
• items such as furniture that may have hollow legs
• between upholstered furniture
• between the folds of drapery or curtains
• in your alarm clock or TV

Hotel Room

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it covers the basics and should help you sleep bedbug free.

THE ALLERGY GUY