How to Deal With Bed Bugs While Traveling
Being attacked by bed bugs is one of the most horrible things a traveler can experience. Bed bugs are not only irritating and itchy but troublesome creatures that destroy your adventure. If you are a frequent traveler, you have probably wondered how bed bugs infiltrated our belongings and how it moves in without us noticing.
They are just moving around as fast as they could and crawling over your luggage while on the trip. This tiny wingless insect is known to be the world's terrifying traveler, and it is almost impossible to detect them with our naked eye. So, if you end up with bed bugs, do proper research to ensure you properly eradicate them. Then, find out how to deal with bed bugs when you are traveling.
Six Facts About Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are hard to get rid of, and these terrifying creatures feast on your blood before you even notice what is happening. Once they find you, they do everything they can to your body. Before knowing how to deal with bed bugs, let us find out some facts about bed bugs.
-
Bed Bugs are tiny wingless insects that feed on the blood of humans and warm-blooded animals.
-
Bed bugs are active at night, and they feed on their hosts while their victims are asleep.
-
They are hitchhiking along in belongings, and the peak time for feeding is between midnight and 5 a.m.
-
Bedbugs bites are visible, and it takes 14 days to become visible.
-
Bed bugs need to feed constantly to reproduce, lay eggs and survive.
-
Bed Bugs leave an itchy bite, but they don’t carry any diseases that negatively impact human bodies.
How to Spot Bed Bugs
Here are the two main things on how to spot bed bugs in your room.
-
Stains: Bed bugs leave behind tiny black or brown stains. You could see a slightly bigger and rust-colored stain in your bedsheets and the mattresses.
-
Shells: Bed bugs typically lay their eggs in the mattress so you could find tiny eggs and eggshells, about 1mm small. They have shed pale yellow skins as they grow larger and stick around on the mattresses or bed sheets.
Bed bugs have a distinctive aroma that attracts other bed bugs. It is a bit like the smell of a stink bug. They also have six different sizes, from the super tiny to the fairly large size.
Strategies to Get Rid the Bed Bugs
There are different strategies on how to get rid of bed bugs. Bed bugs like to bite in rows, and you can see rows of 3 to 5 bites on your body.
Once you know that you have bitten by bed bugs try one of the following to get rid of the nasty little bed bugs:
-
Wash with Hot Water: Take all your belongings out of the room and wash them in hot water. To kill the eggs, the water needs to be at a high-temperature level and should not be less than 50 degrees.
-
Dry on Hot after washing: After washing with hot water, you will need to dry it as soon as possible.
-
Black Garbage Bag: If you can’t wash your clothes, keep them inside the black garbage bag, and tie the bag up so that it is completely sealed. Then, put the bag on the roof with a direct hit of sunlight for the day, or you can even do it overnight. The next day, the eggs and bugs will be eradicated, and shake out your clothes. But to make sure that your clothes are safe to wear, wash them after this process to keep them clean.
-
Iron All Your Clothes: If you want to get rid of the bed bugs use a hot dryer or a hot iron to eradicate them properly. It takes more time and energy to do it, but it is a safer way to get rid of the bed bugs in your belongings.
Travel Tips to Help Prevent the Spread of Bed Bugs
Take a look at some important travel tips that could help you reduce and prevent the spread of bed bugs. Let us explore and learn a few tips to help you be a more bed bug-savvy traveler.
-
Don’t set your luggage on the floor until you have inspected the room. It’s a good idea to place it in the bathroom because it is harder for bed bugs to hide, and you can easily spot them.
-
Pull off the bed sheets and look for signs of bed bugs such as exoskeletons and rust-colored blood spots.
-
Inspect the bedding by slowly pulling the bed sheets and mattress pad back.
-
Check all four corners and seams for indications of bed bugs.
-
Check the luggage rack, closets, furniture, curtains, chest of drawers, and any other hard surfaces where the bed bugs can hide. These include the seams of furniture, the area behind the headboard, and crevices in the headboard.
-
Store luggage on either the luggage rack or on a hard surface after you have inspected or confirmed there are no bed bugs.
-
If you find bed bugs, call for help and request a new room or hotel.
Conclusion
Bed bugs are known to be the world's terrifying traveler. They are hard to get rid of, and these terrifying creatures feast on your blood before you even notice what is happening so be careful while traveling. The more you move around from place to place, the more you encounter bed bugs. They are literally itchy, annoying, and can ruin your entire week of vacation. To avoid this uncomfortable moment, make sure to have clean and free of creepy crawlies items.