Tips to avoid bed bugs when traveling

by Tommy Underhill, GreenTech Heat
September 21, 2019

It’s just past Labor Day and late summer might be winding down. There will be many opportunities for travel in the upcoming months, and an ounce of prevention is worth a heat treatment of cure. Here are a few tips to help you not bring back bed bugs from your time away.

• When first entering your hotel room, don’t nonchalantly drop your luggage on the bed or sofa. Don’t leave it on the carpet. Place your luggage on a hard surface, like a tiled floor, in the shower or bathtub, or on a table, until you have inspected your room and know it is clean. Bed bugs are less frequently found in showers and tubs than anywhere else in a hotel room.
• At hotels, pull back the sheets and inspect the mattress seams, particularly at the corners, for telltale stains or spots. If you see anything suspect, promptly remove any belongings from the room and notify management immediately. Change rooms or establishments as you see fit.
• Thoroughly inspect the entire room before unpacking, including behind the headboard and in sofas/chairs. If any pests are spotted, change rooms/establishments immediately.
• If you do need to change rooms, be sure that you do not move to a room adjacent and/or directly above/below the suspected infestation. Bed bugs can easily hitchhike via housekeeping carts, luggage, and even through wall sockets. If an infestation is spreading, it typically does so in the rooms closest to the origin.
• Consider placing your suitcase in a plastic trash bag or protective cover during the duration of your trip to ensure that bed bugs cannot take up residence there prior to departure.
• Remember: bed bugs travel by hitching rides. After your trip, inspect your suitcases before bringing them into the house. Vacuum your suitcase thoroughly before storing away. Consider using a garment hand steamer to steam your luggage, which will kill any bed bugs or eggs that may have hitched a ride home.
• Wash all of your clothes— even those that have not been worn— in hot water to ensure that any bed bugs that may have made it that far are not placed into your drawers/closet.

While Total Shield Bed Bug Treatments is more than happy to kill bed bugs for you in the Baltimore and Harrisburg area and surrounding communities, your life will be less stressful and your trip more enjoyable if you never bring bed bugs home with you. If you do find bed bugs, call us at 717-478-HEAT and we will be happy to come by for a bed bug heat treatment. When we’re done, we know all your bed bugs— and other insects— will be dead.

Don’t take our word for it

Very nice customer service. I haven’t had any recurrence. They were very polite. Even offered to remove the logo from their truck so I wouldn’t be embarrassed!

Melissa Ferguson
5 Stars: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
August 21, 2019