Each year, 1 out of every 5 households in the United States is affected by bed bugs. A survey also found that 97% of pest control services reported treating bed bugs in the past. Why are bed bugs so intrusive and essential to remove from your home?

A bed bug’s primary source of food is human blood. Although you can find bed bugs just about anywhere in the home, the bed is the most common hiding place for them. During the night when you sleep, they’ll come out to feed.

Knowing how to prevent bed bugs is crucial for protecting your home from these pesky invaders. Continue reading below to learn more about bed bugs and how to keep them out of your home.

Where Do Bed Bugs Come From?

Before we dive into different ways of preventing bed bugs, it’s beneficial to know where bed bugs come from. Bed bugs can enter your home in a few different ways. One common way to get bed bugs is through traveling.

Anyone, including yourself, that travels and then enters your home is putting your home at risk of a bed bug infestation. Bed bugs are commonly found in hotel rooms and airports. They hitchhike on clothing, luggage, and boxes.

Bed bugs can also enter your home by hitchhiking on used furniture pieces brought into your home from somewhere else where bed bugs were present.

How to Prevent Bed Bugs

There are a few ways to prevent bed bugs from entering your home. It’s essential you know how to prevent them as riding your home from an infestation can get expensive and stressful. Here are several precautions you can take.

Check Used Furniture and Clothes

There’s nothing more rewarding than finding a used piece of furniture to bring home and restore. The same is true for finding gently used clothing at a discounted price. Don’t let bed bugs stop you from enjoying all the great feelings associated with finding a great deal.

Instead, be cautious when selecting used items to bring home. Always check furniture pieces with a flashlight for early signs of bed bugs and possible other pests. Look in corners of the furniture pieces and other hiding places.

When bringing used clothing home, always wash it on a hot setting first before setting the clothing pieces down anywhere in the home.

Protect Your Mattress and Box Spring

Because bed bugs’ number one hiding place is on your mattress and bed frame, it’s important to protect all the above. To do this, you can place a protective cover on the mattress and box spring. Choose a light-colored mattress color so you can easily see a bed bug.

You can also place a natural bed bug deterrent on your mattress before placing the cover and fitted sheet over it.

Wash Sheets Once a Week

Even with a good cover over your mattress and box spring, you still want to wash the sheets once a week. Be sure to wash everything on the bed, including the mattress cover and pillowcases. Wash these items in the hot setting to ensure they’re kept clean and free of bed bugs.

If you use a shared laundry facility, then remember to stay cautious and prevent your sheets from coming into contact with anyone else’s laundry.

Vacuum on a Regular Basis

You should also vacuum at least once a week or more. Vacuuming will help remove any bed bugs that might not have reached the bed yet. It’s also beneficial to remove clutter from your home.

Although these pests are most commonly found on the bed, they can also find their way onto couches and other hiding places around the home. The less clutter in your home, the fewer hiding places for bed bugs.

Avoid Placing Luggage on Beds

Traveling is a great way to free and refresh your mind and is often needed. Don’t allow bed bugs to stop you from enjoying your travels. Instead, know how to travel safely.

Never place your luggage on the bed whether you’re in a hotel room or at home. Luggage should always remain on a hard surface. You should also keep all of your clothing items in your own bag or hanging up in a closet.

Avoid using dresser drawers for these items.

Inspect Beds When Traveling

It’s also a good idea to bring a small flashlight along with you when traveling. Use this flashlight to inspect the sheets on your bed. Then, pull back the sheets to inspect the bare mattress as well.

Look for signs not only of live bed bugs but small blood stains and fecal matter as well.

How to Remove Bed Bugs

Unfortunately, bed bugs are sneaky pests that can enter your home by a number of methods, which are sometimes not prevented. If you believe your home is infested with bed bugs, then you’ll want to know how to remove them with proper bed bug extermination.

Here’s what you need to know.

Replace Your Mattress

If bed bugs are isolated to one mattress only, then an easy fix is to remove the mattress from your home and purchase a new one. However, bed bugs also live in box springs and bed frames as well. For this reason, you’ll need to replace your entire bed set.

Do keep in mind, though, that bed bugs might also be living in the carpet, on curtains, on couches, and on other pieces of furniture, so replacing your bed set isn’t always the answer.

Contact Professional Pest Services

Contacting professional pest services that offer bed bug treatment is the best course of action to take. Professional pest services will inspect your home for bed bugs and then use the proper treatment to remove all bed bugs from the entire house.

High heat treatments using professional equipment will eliminate all bed bugs from your home. The professionals will also ensure this by offering a 100% guarantee.

Schedule a Free Inspection Today

Are you dealing with a bed bug infestation? Are you not sure how to prevent bed bugs or if there are bed bugs in your home?

At Amco Ranger, we offer a variety of pest control services, including bed bug treatment. Schedule a free inspection and get your free quote today to get the process started!