Tips to Avoid Bed Bugs while Traveling!

Follow the tips below to make sure you don’t bring home any unwanted guests!

When traveling, talk to hotel management before checking in, to find out their policies and procedures for handling bed bugs. Having a proactive prevention and maintenance plan in place is key to successful elimination.   

Be aware and observant of your surroundings. Investigate all areas you plan on lying down, sitting or standing still in, for any extended period of time. This is important; since bed bugs are attracted to the heat and carbon dioxide your body produces.

Inspect rooms you are visiting:

• Use a flashlight to look for bugs or blood spots in corners, cracks and crevices
• Around/Behind the headboard
• Along the seams, crevices and piping around the mattress
• Under the mattress pad and under the sheets
• Along the edges and underneath the box spring
• Around joints in bedside tables (including drawers) and pictures above the bed

Steps you can take:

• Never set luggage on the bed or chairs
• When entering a foreign room, place luggage in the bathtub and do an inspection, then store away from the wall or hang items up
• Put any suspect items in sealed plastic bags until you can heat treat them or have them professionally treated with Sulfuryl Flouride.
• Put everything you can into the dryer at 120 degrees for 40 minutes
• Freeze what can’t take the heat for 2 weeks

Check out this video by Jeff White of Bed Bug Central, for a detailed demonstration on how to check your hotel for bed bugs and how to protect your belongings.

You can also visit www.bedbugregistry.com to find out if the place you’re planning on staying at for your next vacation has been reported for bed bug infestations.