Important Travel Tips to Prevent Bringing Bedbugs Home

You arrive at your destination. You don’t unpack yet because you must first inspect the bed and pull back the bedding, mattress cover, crevices, or seams and the box spring for bedbugs. Remove the pillowcases and check them as well. Inspect the headboard and any areas in the nightstand where bedbugs could camp. If you notice them (and you may need a small flashlight if it's night time), call the front desk immediately.

Unpack and Be Diligent

Now that you know you don’t have any of the creepy crawlers in your room, you will still have to make sure your clothing, purses or any other belongings aren't laying on surfaces or on the floor where bedbugs could harvest. Hang your clothes on a rack, and keep other items sealed in plastic.

Dry Clean your Clothes Before Returning Home

If you’re not sure if you have placed your clothes or belongings on surfaces that may have hitchhiked bedbugs, you can have your personal belongings dry cleaned before you come home. High temperatures (100-120 degrees) will kill bedbugs.

Just be sure you seal your clothing in a plastic bag and mention to the dry cleaning establishment you may have come into contact with bedbugs, and they will launder your clothing effectively. Once you get them back and before you leave, seal them again in clean plastic bags until you get home. Luggage can be hand washed and again use the hottest water possible. Scrub with a toothbrush along seams and crevices.

Luggage and Travel Bags

Hard-shell luggage is safest because bedbugs tend to like fabric and places they can crawl into and not be detected. When you return home, don't store your luggage under your bed just in case, and wash your travel bag thoroughly then place it in another sealed plastic bag away from your bedroom. You can seal your luggage in large plastic bags and also leave them in the hot sun for a day or two to kill the bedbugs. Follow up with regular inspections to make sure there were no eggs left unhatched or the cycle will begin all over again.

Even if you take all these precautions and you find you are hosting the little critters, call the professionals at Harlow Pest Control in Edmonton, Alberta at (780)-757-2999 or toll-free at 1.855.757.2999. We specialize in safe, efficient bedbug removal, so you’ll never have to think of them again.