Bed bug prevention
Prevention is the key to avoiding bed bug infestations in your home. Whether you are moving to a new home, traveling, staying in a hotel, taking a taxi – bed bugs can hitch a ride and become the roommate you never wanted. We can help prevent bed bugs.
To reduce the chances of an infestation, we suggest you follow these steps:
Reduce places bed bugs can hide
- Get rid of clutter.
- Vacuum often, including under and behind beds.
- Repair or remove peeling wallpaper and tighten loose electrical faceplates.
- Seal all cracks and crevices on wooden bed frames, between baseboards and in walls, ceilings, windows, door frames and furniture.
- Check any entry points on walls that you share with neighbors and openings that allow access to the inside of the wall (like areas where pipes, wires and other utility services enter).
Be careful about what you bring into your house or buy
- Check every item you bring into your home for the first time, including used books, new furniture and garage sale or antique store furniture.
- Be very cautious with second-hand or refurbished items.
- New mattresses are often delivered in the same truck that carries away old mattresses, so be careful to check your new mattress before it enters your home. Insist that your new mattress be sealed before it is delivered.
- Never take a mattress, sofa or used furniture from a curb.
- Check items before you put them in your vehicle and check your vehicle after helping a friend move.
Check your home regularly for bed bugs
Regular inspection is important to prevent infestations. To thoroughly inspect your home, you will need a few simple tools:
- Flashlight
- Something to scrape along mattress seams and other crevices (like an old credit card cut into a long triangle: use it in a sweeping motion in narrow spaces to chase bed bugs out of hiding).
- Screwdrivers for removing electrical face plates and taking furniture apart (always be sure the power is turned off before opening an electrical outlet).
- Alcohol, glass-cleaner or baby wipes for checking if stains are bed bug droppings (if spots dissolve into a reddish brown colour when rubbed, the spots could be bed bug droppings).
- Cotton swabs for checking stains in crevices.
Check on, under and beside beds, couches and upholstered furniture. Look for black/brown spots (dried blood or feces), white spots (eggs – very hard to see), or live or dead bed bugs.
If you find signs of bed bugs, you should carefully widen the area of your inspection. If you have a pet, check areas where your pet sleeps as well.
If you have or if you think you might have a bed bug infestation in your home or in your commercial space, we invite you to contact us today. Thermapro solutions is the authority on bed bug extermination in Montreal and the surrounding areas. It will be our pleasure to answer your questions about our proven protocol, K9 detection and bed bug heat treatments.
