How to prevent bed bugs from infecting your luggage?
How to Submit a Bed Bug Report?
Just follow these simple steps:
- Find the hotel you stayed at by using the search box at the top of every page.
- If you can find it, search for the city where the hotel is located.
- Click on 'Write Report' button on the hotel or city page and complete the form.
What does a bedbug look like?
Bed bugs are little mites that are hard to see with a naked eye. They tend to be dark brown in color, and oval in shape. Sometimes, however, they can appear red after they have fed on a meal of a host's blood. They have very small wings, but they are vestigial and the bedbugs are actually unable to fly. Instead, bed bugs move about by scurrying very quickly. Due to their very small size, what you see may not actually resemble a bug. A large bedbug measures 5 mm in size (about the size of an apple seed), though younger ones are only 1 to 2 mm in size.
If you are ever unfortunate to stay in a hotel room that is infested with bed bugs, then you will know how uncomfortable they can make you feel. If you are not careful they can get into your luggage and before you know it you have given them a free ride to your house.
Prevention is obviously better than cure, but if you suspect that you might be at risk of picking up some passengers then there are some precautions that you can take to try and minimize the risks of having some new bed bug pets at your home. Try not to put your clothes or luggage directly onto your bed, and if possible store your luggage on a metal luggage rack or in the bathtub when possible as bed bugs can’t climb metal or porcelain. Also, try to pack everything in plastic bags and pack a plastic bag large enough to hold your luggage.
If you suspect that you might have picked up some passengers, make sure you wash everything thoroughly in hot water and then dry it for a minimum of thirty minutes at the highest dryer setting. For more delicate items, soak in warm water with lots of laundry soap for several hours before rinsing. Other items can be put into a dryer for thirty minutes to eliminate bed bugs.
Your luggage itself should be vacuumed as thoroughly as possible before scrubbing with a stiff brush to dislodge any eggs that you missed. The vacuum bag should be sealed and emptied immediately. You can store the luggage in your garage to prevent any that survive from getting into your house.