No one wants to live with bed bugs in their home, but these tiny hitchhikers are notorious for finding their way into your house after you have travelled. Prevention is the best way to keep bed bugs from overtaking your home. Here are a few tips to help you keep from bringing bed bugs home from a trip.

Inspect Your Lodging Quarters

Whether you’re staying with a friend or sleeping in a hotel, it’s a good idea to thoroughly inspect your sleeping quarters for any signs of bed bugs. If you see any of the following signs during your inspection, it’s best to make alternate sleeping arrangements:

• Live bed bugs in the sheets or on the mattress

• Bed bug carcasses on any type of upholstery

• Red stains that may indicate a bed bug has been squished

Keep All of Your Luggage Off the Floor

Bed bugs like to hitch rides to travel to new homes. If you leave your belongings on the floor of your sleeping quarters, it gives bed bugs easy access to your suitcase so they can hitch a ride home with you without you even knowing they are on your luggage. Try keeping all of your belongings elevated off the floor by placing them on a piece of furniture.

Check Your Belongings Before Leaving

Bed bugs are tiny and most active at night, so even if you inspect your sleeping quarters thoroughly, you may not see the pests at first. You should check your luggage before leaving to make sure there aren’t any tiny hitchhikers attached to your suitcase. You should also look over any clothes and shoes you’re wearing to make sure you don’t accidentally take bed bugs home.

Wash All Clothes When You Get Home

Washing all of the clothes you took on your trip is always a good idea as soon as you get home. Throw the clothes directly from your suitcase into your washer to kill any bed bugs that may have hitched a ride with you. Even if you are careful about inspecting your belongings before you leave your travel destination, you may have missed a few bed bugs because they are so small. Washing your clothes is an additional step to prevent a bedbug infestation from taking over your home.

Unpack in Your Garage

Bed bugs breed and multiply quickly, so bringing a couple of the pests home can turn into an infestation within weeks. Denying them access to your home is the best way to prevent an infestation, and one final step you can take after travelling to prevent bedbugs from entering your home is to unpack in your garage. Never bring any luggage into your home until you are positive it has no bed bugs.

Call Truly Nolen If You Accidentally Bring Home Bed Bugs

If your preventative efforts fail and you find yourself with a bed bug infestation, it’s important to call an expert immediately. DIY treatments are ineffective long-term because they don’t eliminate the entire colony of pests. If you fail to remove all of the bed bugs, you’ll be dealing with a new infestation in just a few weeks. The experts at Truly Nolen specialize in bed bug removal in Guelph and can ensure we eradicate the issue so you don’t have to worry about sharing your home with bed bugs.

We have the right tools to get rid of entire bed bug colonies. Our patent-pending system effectively removes the pests from mattresses, carpets and furniture. It even has a high-pressure setting that penetrates cracks and seams where bed bugs like to hide. 

We’re ready to help you get rid of bed bugs if you accidentally brought the pests home from a trip. Contact Truly Nolen today to schedule an appointment for bed bug removal.