How to Check for Bed Bugs While Traveling

Traveling? Awesome! Getting ready and preparing a list for your travel is one of the fun things to do, but an essential list should also be made – the checklist for preventing bedbugs. You surely need to follow this list before and after unpacking for a trip.

As you may have known, bed bugs are tiny creatures that could torment you for a long time, and they are tough to get rid of, as these bloodsuckers are excellent hitchhikers that can hide in small cracks, and travelers could obtain them at various lodging facilities, including 5-star hotels.

When You Check Into Your Hotel Room

Store Your Luggage

It’s often advised to use a light-colored suitcase instead of a dark suitcase so you can easily spot these tiny insects. Upon checking into a hotel, place your luggage in the middle of the room or on the bathroom floor.

Mattress Check

Begin your inspection process by removing the bedspread and checking the mattress for any sign of rust-colored spots or pepper-like stains and bed bug skins.

Check Furniture

Although these bugs are named bedbugs, they don’t hide in just the bed; tiny cracks on the furniture could also hide them while they await their next victims. Use a pocket-sized flashlight for hunting these creatures down and if anyone is found, change your hotel room immediately.

Changing hotel room

After spotting any bug, report to the manager immediately before changing. When changing a room, make sure not to switch to a room opposite, directly above or below that room, as these bugs can travel through wall sockets or even carts for housekeeping.

Cover your suitcase

Protect your suitcase by covering it with a plastic trash bag while at the hotel to repel these bugs and stop them from residing in your suitcase while residing at the hotel.

Placement of Luggage

Do not place your luggage in luggage racks with cracks or hollow legs where the bugs could hide to prevent pest infestation. The safest place to place your luggage is in the middle of a tiled floor.

When You’ve Returned Home

Thoroughly inspect your suitcase outside for any signs of bedbugs before bringing it inside.
Use a vacuum cleaner to vacuum your suitcase to kill any bedbug that hitchhiked in it as they can’t survive over 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wash all your clothes in the washing machine using hot water and dry them to kill any bedbug.

If you still have issues with these tiny blood-sucking hitchhikers after trying these methods mentioned above, do well to contact us in time to exterminate these creatures with adequate control and treatment methods before they spread. Feel free to call or, or fill our contact form to begin.

Choosing the best service for getting rid of bed bugs

Are you afraid you might have a bed bug issue in your home or business? Are you completely sure? Well, here are some of the things you can do on your own to get rid of bed bugs.

Before we start, we just want to make it clear - having bed bugs is not something you should feel embarrassed about. Anyone in the world is at risk of getting bed bugs. They can come into the home in a multitude of ways and once they are there, they can be a nightmare to get rid of.

Choosing the right pest control company to work with

Most of the time, bed bug extermination needs to be handled by a professional. A well trained, certified, and experienced pest control specialist is always preferred.

If you are a tenant and your landlord is not taking care of the problem in a timely manner, you can call 311. A complaint can be filed with the dept. of Housing Preservation and Development. You can also hire your own bed bug removal service and bill your landlord for what was needed.

There are thousands of pest control professionals in New York City. They are not all one in the same. Not all are trained the same when it comes to bed bugs, as it is a specialized problem and not as common as you might think.

Things you should look for...

There are a few ways you can vet out the best of the best pest control companies for bed bugs.

Check out company websites in your area and take a look at referrals that they have, reviews you can find online, and professional associations they are part of. Most associations will do some of the vetting for you when it comes to licensing and so forth, as they don't accept members who are not licensed properly. You can also find out if someone is licensed at www.dec.ny.gov
Interview more than one company before you choose. Ask them about how they train themselves and their staff and their approach to handling bed bugs specifically.
Get your pricing and services agreed upon ahead of time just like you would with any other contractor. You should expect to be paying for them to visit you 2-3 times in order to get rid of bed bugs fully. That is normal. Severely infested areas and apartments could take more visits before being fully fixed due to obvious reasons and the presence of neighbors.

Good companies will generally...

Come by the property for a bed bug inspection. This is almost always done before you can get a solid price from a pest control company that is more than just a simple estimate.

Give you a written report based on the inspection and a plan of action to how they are going to attack the problem. They should also be including a plan on how to prevent further infestation.
Base their quotes on findings from your specific case. Flat fees are a red flag. The cheapest services you find are usually cheap for a reason.
Visit often throughout the course of the project until completion and then sometimes after for a follow-up inspection.
Employ only qualified, experienced technicians or handle the job themselves (the owner).
Educate you on how you can prevent bed bug problems in the future.
Work with you until the bed bug problem is completely gone.

And that's all there is to it! If you follow these quick steps and consider all of these factors, you will have no problem choosing the best bed bug exterminator. Staten Island and other parts of NYC can be challenging areas for pest control, but with a little effort, you can find the right person for the job.