Bed Bugs In Your Luggage!
With all the traveling people are doing nowadays then, chances are that you’ve stayed in a hotel, motel or other types of lodging that experienced a bedbug infestation during your stay, it’s possible your luggage is now infested. Most homes suffer infestation because travelers encounter them at hotels or on airplanes and carry them home. The first thing you can do is prevent it. Whenever you travel from your home with luggage, be sure to include Bed Bug Protection Luggage Liners as a standard part of your travel routine. It’s a necessary element of any effective bed bug prevention strategy.
When buying luggage, don’t buy cloth-sided luggage as it offers bed bugs a million hideaways. Hard-sided luggage doesn’t have folds or seams where bed bugs can hide, and it closes completely, with no gaps so the pests can’t penetrate your bag’s interior.
If you must use soft-sided luggage for your trip, lighter-colored bags are better. Bed bugs will be virtually impossible to spot on black or dark-colored bags.
Unlike clothing and other washables, you can’t throw your luggage into the dryer to get rid of them. Before you call an exterminator or give up and buy new luggage, save some money and get rid of the bedbugs yourself.
ITEMS YOU WILL NEED
Garbage Bags
Stiff Scrub Brush
Pesticide
Vacuum
Steam cleaner
STEP 1
First things first, empty your luggage and place the contents in plastic bags; seal them until you can wash them. All clothing should be washed in hot water and dried at high temperatures, at least 120 degrees, to ensure that all the bedbugs die.
STEP 2
Take the luggage outside and scrub every nook and cranny with a stiff scrub brush. This will dislodge any egg clusters and dead bed bugs. Vacuum the luggage thoroughly.
STEP 3
Purchase a pesticide specially formulated for bedbugs — pyrethroid chemicals, such as pyrethrin, permethrin, and phenothrin are the most common active ingredients found in pesticides for bedbugs. Spray the luggage thoroughly to kill off any remaining bedbugs. Alternatively, you can buy a steam cleaner and clean the luggage two or three times to kill the bedbugs if you are concerned about the pesticide smell lingering.
STEP 4
Vacuum the luggage again to suck up the dead bedbugs, then discard the vacuum bag immediately. Wrap the vacuum bag in garbage bags and tie tight knots to make sure the bedbugs can’t escape.
STEP 5
Leave the luggage to dry in the sun. Inspect it thoroughly for bedbugs. If any are still lingering, steam clean the luggage again. Repeat the process until you are certain that no bed bugs remain.
Just because you didn’t find any bed bugs, doesn’t mean they aren’t there. It’s quite possible your room could still have pests, so take a few extra precautions. Never place your luggage or your clothing on the floor or bed. Store your bags on the luggage rack or on top of a dresser, off the floor. Keep any items, not in use sealed in baggies.
Before you hit the road on your next vacation or business trip, do your homework. People are quick to share their travel experiences online, especially when it comes to bed bugs in hotel rooms. Websites like Tripadvisor, where customers post their own reviews of hotels and resorts, are invaluable resources to see if your hotel has a bed bug problem.
You can also check out bedbugregistry.com, an online database that tracks reported bed bug infestations in hotels and apartments. The thing is, if people are saying they’ve seen bed bugs at a certain hotel or resort, don’t stay there on your trip.
