Bed Bug Quick Relief Guide for Tenants and Homeowners

What are bed bugs?
Bed bugs are insects that feed on blood. Adult bed bugs are oval, flat,
reddish brown bugs about the size of an apple seed or smaller. They hide
during the day and look for people to bite at night. Bed bug bites are itchy
red welts that look similar to mosquito bites. People carry bed bugs into their
homes in infested luggage, clothing, used furniture, or bedding.
What you should do if you suspect that you have bed bugs:
Itchy bites that appear at night are only one sign that your home is infested with bed bugs, but
about 30 percent of people who are bitten by bed bugs do not develop the itchy welts.
Inspect your bedroom for evidence of bed bugs:
Carefully remove your blankets, sheets, comforters, pillows cases and mattress pad.
Fold them in towards the middle of the bed and place everything into a sealable
garbage bag. (If the bugs are in the bed, tearing the bed clothes off of the bed and
throwing them on the floor will scatter the bugs.) Tie the bag closed, and don’t reuse the
bed linens until they have been washed in hot water and dried in a drier on the highest
heat setting for 30 minutes.
Inspect the mattress and springs with a flashlight. Look for live bugs, and brownish or
black spots, which is bed bug manure. Look especially closely around seams, in the
quilting on the mattress, inside the frame of the box springs, on the bed frame and
behind the headboard. If you see any evidence of bed bugs on the bed, check the
baseboards, behind electrical outlet plates, cracks in the walls, loose wallpaper, and the
edge of the carpeting. Also, look on the underside of furniture, on the bottom of dresser
drawers, and even the pictures on the walls!
Prepare the infected room once bed bugs are confirmed:
1) Bag/clean items
Place all of your clothing from the infected room in plastic bags that can be sealed,
or in plastic containers with tight lids. The clothing may contain bed bugs and eggs,
and it must be washed in hot water and dried at the highest dryer setting for at least
30 minutes to kill bedbugs. Once the clothing is clean, store it in sealed bags or
plastic containers until the bed bug problem is eliminated.
All bedding should be handled in the same manner as your clothing and should be
changed two or three times a week, since bed bugs may lay their eggs on them.
Wool items, plush toys, shoes and other non washable items can be place in a hot
dryer for 30 minutes.
UPDATE 6/21/2012: When suspecting items have bed bugs and eggs, it is now recommended items be washed in hot
water and dried at the highest dryer setting for AN ADDITIONAL 30 minutes AFTER THE ITEM IS DRY to kill bed bugs.
2) Vacuum the floor, mattress and baseboards
Use a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment to clean your mattress, box spring, and
bed frame, paying special attention to mattress seams. Then use the crevice tool on
your vacuum cleaner on the bed frame, and baseboards. Next, sprinkle talcum powder
or cornstarch onto the floor prior to vacuuming, and finally thoroughly sweep the floor.
When you are finished, IMMEDIATELY dump the contents of the dust cup into a plastic
bag, or remove the disposable filter bag and take it outside to an outdoor trash can.
3) Cover Your Mattress
Now that you have taken steps to clean the bed, you must immediately cover the
mattress with a zippered mattress cover. Since the cover needs to stay on the mattress
for a minimum of a year, it is recommended that you use a woven polyester cover
labeled as “allergen rated.” These covers are more durable than plastic cover, which
often tear allowing bed bugs to escape. The zipper flap on the mattress cover should be
covered with a piece of duct tape to close the seam. Bed bugs will live for a year without
feeding, so it is important to leave the mattress covers on for at least that long.
Keep bed bugs out - Make Your Bed an Island
Buy “Climb up Interceptors”. These are special cups available through exterminators
and on the internet that act as bed bug traps
Get your mattress and springs off of the floor! A mattress that is lying on the floor is the
perfect hiding place for bed bugs! Put it on a frame that is at least a foot above the floor.
Pull your bed away from the wall so that your bed or bedding (blanket, sheets, etc) does
not touch the wall.
Remove bed skirts and make sure bedding does not touch the floor.
Do not place anything (luggage, blankets, pillows, stuffed toys) onto any bed which may
have bed bugs. Be particularly careful when returning from a trip.
Clean Up Clutter - It is impossible to get rid of bed bugs without getting rid of clutter.
Clutter is anything that makes it hard to clean or is a hiding place for bed bugs.
Pick up, wash and bag up all clothes and other items on your floor.
Anything that you don’t need any more should be thrown away. However, be sure to
completely destroy anything that you throw away!
Get Professional Help
You CANNOT get rid of bed bugs on your own
You or your landlord will need to hire a licensed exterminator (pest control operator).
Your landlord is required to take care of pest control if you live in a building with two or
more apartments. All apartments directly above, below and next to yours must also be
treated.
If you live in a single family home, you are responsible for pest control.
The pest control operator will ask you to remove all clutter from your home before they
arrive.
You will also need to remove, wash, and bag up all clothes including clothes
stored in dressers.
They may also ask you to bag other items such as books, toys, or other clutter.
Anything that is bagged without cleaning should be tightly sealed in a heavy duty
garbage bag, or other bag that can be tightly sealed and will not rip.
Keep from getting bit at night:
Clean your mattress and bed frame
Cover mattress and box springs in a special cover
Wash your bed clothes frequently
Make your bed an Island
For more information from Armor Pest Control, visit www.stopzpests.com or call (513) 503-1483.
Bed bugs are insects that feed on blood. Adult bed bugs are oval, flat,
reddish brown bugs about the size of an apple seed or smaller. They hide
during the day and look for people to bite at night. Bed bug bites are itchy
red welts that look similar to mosquito bites. People carry bed bugs into their
homes in infested luggage, clothing, used furniture, or bedding.
What you should do if you suspect that you have bed bugs:
Itchy bites that appear at night are only one sign that your home is infested with bed bugs, but
about 30 percent of people who are bitten by bed bugs do not develop the itchy welts.
Inspect your bedroom for evidence of bed bugs:
Carefully remove your blankets, sheets, comforters, pillows cases and mattress pad.
Fold them in towards the middle of the bed and place everything into a sealable
garbage bag. (If the bugs are in the bed, tearing the bed clothes off of the bed and
throwing them on the floor will scatter the bugs.) Tie the bag closed, and don’t reuse the
bed linens until they have been washed in hot water and dried in a drier on the highest
heat setting for 30 minutes.
Inspect the mattress and springs with a flashlight. Look for live bugs, and brownish or
black spots, which is bed bug manure. Look especially closely around seams, in the
quilting on the mattress, inside the frame of the box springs, on the bed frame and
behind the headboard. If you see any evidence of bed bugs on the bed, check the
baseboards, behind electrical outlet plates, cracks in the walls, loose wallpaper, and the
edge of the carpeting. Also, look on the underside of furniture, on the bottom of dresser
drawers, and even the pictures on the walls!
Prepare the infected room once bed bugs are confirmed:
1) Bag/clean items
Place all of your clothing from the infected room in plastic bags that can be sealed,
or in plastic containers with tight lids. The clothing may contain bed bugs and eggs,
and it must be washed in hot water and dried at the highest dryer setting for at least
30 minutes to kill bedbugs. Once the clothing is clean, store it in sealed bags or
plastic containers until the bed bug problem is eliminated.
All bedding should be handled in the same manner as your clothing and should be
changed two or three times a week, since bed bugs may lay their eggs on them.
Wool items, plush toys, shoes and other non washable items can be place in a hot
dryer for 30 minutes.
UPDATE 6/21/2012: When suspecting items have bed bugs and eggs, it is now recommended items be washed in hot
water and dried at the highest dryer setting for AN ADDITIONAL 30 minutes AFTER THE ITEM IS DRY to kill bed bugs.
2) Vacuum the floor, mattress and baseboards
Use a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment to clean your mattress, box spring, and
bed frame, paying special attention to mattress seams. Then use the crevice tool on
your vacuum cleaner on the bed frame, and baseboards. Next, sprinkle talcum powder
or cornstarch onto the floor prior to vacuuming, and finally thoroughly sweep the floor.
When you are finished, IMMEDIATELY dump the contents of the dust cup into a plastic
bag, or remove the disposable filter bag and take it outside to an outdoor trash can.
3) Cover Your Mattress
Now that you have taken steps to clean the bed, you must immediately cover the
mattress with a zippered mattress cover. Since the cover needs to stay on the mattress
for a minimum of a year, it is recommended that you use a woven polyester cover
labeled as “allergen rated.” These covers are more durable than plastic cover, which
often tear allowing bed bugs to escape. The zipper flap on the mattress cover should be
covered with a piece of duct tape to close the seam. Bed bugs will live for a year without
feeding, so it is important to leave the mattress covers on for at least that long.
Keep bed bugs out - Make Your Bed an Island
Buy “Climb up Interceptors”. These are special cups available through exterminators
and on the internet that act as bed bug traps
Get your mattress and springs off of the floor! A mattress that is lying on the floor is the
perfect hiding place for bed bugs! Put it on a frame that is at least a foot above the floor.
Pull your bed away from the wall so that your bed or bedding (blanket, sheets, etc) does
not touch the wall.
Remove bed skirts and make sure bedding does not touch the floor.
Do not place anything (luggage, blankets, pillows, stuffed toys) onto any bed which may
have bed bugs. Be particularly careful when returning from a trip.
Clean Up Clutter - It is impossible to get rid of bed bugs without getting rid of clutter.
Clutter is anything that makes it hard to clean or is a hiding place for bed bugs.
Pick up, wash and bag up all clothes and other items on your floor.
Anything that you don’t need any more should be thrown away. However, be sure to
completely destroy anything that you throw away!
Get Professional Help
You CANNOT get rid of bed bugs on your own
You or your landlord will need to hire a licensed exterminator (pest control operator).
Your landlord is required to take care of pest control if you live in a building with two or
more apartments. All apartments directly above, below and next to yours must also be
treated.
If you live in a single family home, you are responsible for pest control.
The pest control operator will ask you to remove all clutter from your home before they
arrive.
You will also need to remove, wash, and bag up all clothes including clothes
stored in dressers.
They may also ask you to bag other items such as books, toys, or other clutter.
Anything that is bagged without cleaning should be tightly sealed in a heavy duty
garbage bag, or other bag that can be tightly sealed and will not rip.
Keep from getting bit at night:
Clean your mattress and bed frame
Cover mattress and box springs in a special cover
Wash your bed clothes frequently
Make your bed an Island
For more information from Armor Pest Control, visit www.stopzpests.com or call (513) 503-1483.
Serving the communities of Cincinnati, Fairfax, Mariemont, Hyde Park, Centerville, Lebanon, Middletown Ohio, Northern Kentucky, Monroe, Blue Ash, West Chester, Mason, Xenia, Beavercreek, West Carrollton, Newport KY, Liberty Township, Hamilton, Maineville, Morrow, Loveland, Anderson, Pierce Township, Butler County, Fairfield, Springboro, Franklin, Oxford, Milford, Batavia, Fairborn, Huber Heights, Lawrenceburg IN, Indian Hill, Dayton, Oxford, Amelia and Williamsburg.