Bed Bug Spring Travel Tips

It is possible to have an allergic reaction to bed bugs but it’s uncommon. In general, bedbugs are not an issue to your health, but they can be to your appearance.

Bed bugs tend to live near your bed, or even in the cracks of your bed. At night they’ll crawl onto your skin and take a bite. In the morning they may have vanished but you’ll have the telltale red spots which are very itchy.

You’ll also have blood spots in your bed and perhaps even the remains of any bugs you’ve rolled onto. The itching will be annoying and should be enough to make you call the exterminators.

It is worth noting that recent research suggests bed bugs can transmit Trypanosoma cruzi, a parasite that is known to cause Chagas disease.

You may want to find out more about your local pest control experts.

Bed bugs are often brought into your home when you travel, as they will attach themselves to virtually anything. That’s why you need to consider them when traveling:

Check First

Before you do anything else in your hotel room, pull back the bed sheets and look for any signs of bed bugs. The key place is the corners of your sheets where there will almost certainly be small spots and stains. If you find these it’s time to change the room or hotel.

Don’t forget that bed bugs don’t just live on the bed, check all the soft furnishings.

Top Tip: If you need to change rooms don’t go to the one next door, or even the one above/ below it. Bed bugs can spread easily and any of these rooms could be infected.

Hand Steamer

If you have one of these it’s a great way of cleaning your garments before you put them back in your suitcase, effectively killing and bedbugs on your clothes.

Plastic

Bed bugs can’t get through plastic. If you wrap your suitcase in plastic and keep it wrapped while you stay, you’ll find the bed bugs can’t make the journey home with you. It can also help to keep your suitcase elevated; this will reduce the opportunity for bed bugs to hitch a lift.

You should also bag up any clothes you’ve been wearing and put them straight into the washing machine when you get home, that will prevent the bed bugs from getting into your bedroom.

Once washed place them in the dryer at the highest heat allowed, this will kill the bugs.

Keep Things Outside

If you have any suspicion of bed bugs it is best to put your travel belongings in the garage on your return.  After they have been thoroughly cleaned and inspected, you can put them back in their normal location.

Don’t be tempted to put things away because they haven’t been worn, bed bugs can still be carried on them, introducing them to your bedroom and other clothes will instantly make the problem worse.

In the case of bed bugs, it is much easier and safer to be safe rather than sorry!

Samantha

Samantha hails from Virginia and is a proud wife to a retired Deputy Sheriff and mother to two amazing little boys named Jack & William. A veteran product reviewer; Samantha has been reviewing products for 8 years and offers high quality product reviews with original photography.