Preparing For Your Bed Bug Treatment
Preparation is essential in getting the best results from home bed bug treatment. Annihilator has instructions on what needs to be done in this handy document for you to refer to.
Preparation for bed bug treatment includes giving us the right access to the property, cleaning, and after-care. We understand it’s difficult to prepare in a short period of time, but they are essential in getting the most out of treatment.
Packing and Preparing Furniture
Furnitture shoudl all be pulled away from the walls and baseboards. Move it out at least 2 feet, if possible.
We need tto move anything that could cause hiding places for bed bugs. Book cases and desks are examples. They need to be emptied and remain empty for the treatment. Stored and sealed containers may be left unopened.
- Stand matresses and box springs up against the wall.
- Empty the closets of unlaundered items and stored itetms. Place them in plastic bags. Move all that to the center of the living room.
- Remove thee contents from dressers and night stands. Interiors need to be treated. Place the items in plastic bags and move them into the center of the living room as well.
- Remove books from the shelves and place them in boxes in the center of the living room.
- Remove all pictures, mirrors, and hanging items from the walls so they can be inspected for treatment.
- Open up sleeper sofa(s), futons, and fold out beds so that they can be treated.
**Note: Homes and aparttment units that are noted to have excess clutter can be refused treatment. Thorough and successfull treatment isnt possible with excess cluter. Treatment can be rendered once this guide has been applied.
Doing Laundry
If you can do laundry, do as much as possible. Everything that can be laundered should be. Once done, put them in plastic bags to avoid infection by bed bugs. They can also be placs into sealed containers.
The list of items included in laundry lists things like drapes, stuffed animals, bed skirts, comforters, clothing, and more.
- Launder all items according to any manufacturer label or instruction. When possible, use highest eat settings on washer and drier. Temperaturs of 140 degrees are proven to bed bug development.
- Bags used to transport the dirty laundry should be disposed of. Once clean, place items in new, clean bags.
- Non-washable that can be dried at a high temperature should be for 30 minutes. Discard everything caught in the lint trap afterwards.
- Itsms that cannot be laundered at all should be dry cleaned.
Vacuuming
Mechanical removal of bed bugs with a vacuum is important for treatment-prep. The use of a crevice attachment is recommended to get into the tight corners and small areas where bed bugs are.
Get into hard to reach areas like mattress seams, furniture interiors, baseboards, and other small, tight areas.
- Vacuum the floors, carpets, and rugs.
- Vacuum mattresses. Uncluding crevices, handles, or buttons.
- Vacuum the baseboards, bed frame, sofa, futon, recliner, and other upholstered furniture.
- Discard vacuum bags immediately when finished.
Disposal of Furniture
It is recommended to dispose of mattresses, box springs, futons, sofas, and other furniture if they have been infected. It is not always cost effective.
It depends on the condition of the furniture and the degree that it was infected.
We recommend that you install high quality, bed bug matress encasements or bed covers. Any need to discard the mattress and box spring is usually averted when it’s been treated and covered by a bed bug mattress protector.
Our reps can help you install these encasements during their visit and usually do this during the first visit.
If you Decide to Throw Out Your Furniture
You should deface or destory items so that others will not use them. Slash matttresses or damage them to mak ethem unusable. Wrap them in plastic before removing theem from the bedroom. If you don’t do this, you risk re-infecting yourself or others.
Post Treatment
After initial treatment, we recommend you stay out of the home for at least four hours. This will allow for materials to dry completely.
From this point forward, carry on with your normal household activities; however, in order to prevent the need to oorepeat many of the steps necessary to prepare for your follow up treatmentt, we recommend you don’t move your furniture and items back into place, if possible.
In most cases a follow-up treatment has already been scheduled for you and generally will fall within 2-3 weeks from the initial treatment. We do understand that thorough preparation may
present a considerable hardship for some, but we cannot stress the importance that it has on the overall effectiveness of treatment. If you should have any questions regarding the content included in this preparation guideline or in the checklist that follows, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Post Treatment
After initial treatment, we recommend you stay out of the home for at least four hours. This will allow for materials to dry completely.
From this point forward, carry on with your normal household activities; however, in order to prevent the need to oorepeat many of the steps necessary to prepare for your follow up treatmentt, we recommend you don’t move your furniture and items back into place, if possible.
In most cases a follow-up treatment has already been scheduled for you and generally will fall within 2-3 weeks from the initial treatment. We do understand that thorough preparation may
present a considerable hardship for some, but we cannot stress the importance that it has on the overall effectiveness of treatment. If you should have any questions regarding the content included in this preparation guideline or in the checklist that follows, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Bed Bug FAQ
Get all of the information you need about bed bugs and treatment processes from Annihilator Extermination
What are bed bugs?
Bed Bugs are parasitic insects that feed on the blood of humans and other mammals to live.
What do bed bugs look like?
Adult bed bugs look similar to the size and appearance of an apple seed. They are abou ta quarter inch in length, oval shaped, and brown in color.
Juvenile bed bugs, known as nymphs, are different from the adults because they’re much smaller and appear clear in color.
Can I see bed bugs?
While bed bugs are visible to the naked eye, they are nocturnal and don’t come out much during the day.
Why am I being bitten and my significant other is not?
The anasttetic that a bed bug uses to numb the skin makes it so that you do not feel the bite. This might cause an allergic reaction and it might not.
The allergic reaction is what shows up as red bumps or blemishes on thee skin. Looking irritated and accompanied by an itching sensation.
While some people find that they observe mild to severe discomfort and itchiness, others may observe no discomfort or bit marks at all.
Where do bed bugs hide?
Because of their small flat shape, they can squeeze into tiny cracks and crevices in the mattress and the box spring.
They can also be found behind headboards and inside furniture and clothing.
Bed bugs prefer living in groups and are found in clusters.
How did I get bed bugs?
Bed bugs are adept hitchhikers. They travel in luggage, on clothing, and inside furniture. They are found in hotels, movie theaters, train cars, airplanes and many other public places where people are at rest for a period of time.
What do bed bug bites look like?
Bed bug bites are difficult to distinguish from flea or mosquito bites because not all skin reactions are the same. Bed bugs bite exposed skin of humans while they’re sleeping or at rest.
The most common places for bites include the neck, face, arms, and hands.