Bed Bugs and Spring Cleaning
Who doesn’t love the sounds and smells of a newborn spring season?
Along with spring, comes the arduous chore of “spring cleaning“.
It doesn’t come without hard work.
And it’s hardly finished in a single weekend.
Some people are not capable of deep spring cleaning and need help.
If you know someone that is challenged physically, reach out to see what you can do to help them.
Let’s take a look at bed bugs and spring cleaning.
Bed Bugs – Who Me?
Some people say they’d know for sure if they had bed bugs but that isn’t always the case.
There are people who are not affected by their bites.
For those people, months can go by before they see signs of bed bugs.
And in some cases, some people are constantly being bitten but think it’s from something else.
Problems in Senior Homes
Bed bug problems in seniors’ homes are at an all-time rise.
Both individual’s homes and senior care facilities.
Since bed bugs can be picked up anywhere, they can easily invade the least suspecting household.
Sometimes, caregivers that visit several homes in one day can carry bed bugs from one person’s home to another.
And when bed bugs are introduced to these homes or facilities the following problems can cause infestations to build:
- Those with deteriorating eye sight may not notice their presence.
- As we age, the lack of collagen and/or use of certain medications can cause skin break-outs and thin skin that easily tears.
- Often, bites from bed bugs are dismissed because of what people think is “normal” older skin.
- Lack of physical activity. As we age, our physical abilities can slow down. Cleaning just isn’t an activity that is top on the list of things to do.
Early Introductions
We’re all about educating people so that they look for bed bug signs on a regular basis and not just spring cleaning time.
Doing this, will catch early introductions of bed bugs so they don’t build up into costly and time-consuming infestations.
This alone will save people lots of money and time than if you should ignore their presence.
Here’s your chance to dive into those small hidden areas of your home to check for signs of bed bugs.
Bedroom Spring Cleaning
In today’s world of clearing and cleaning your sleeping space, people go to great lengths to clean out all the extra clutter.
Don’t wait until you get bed bugs to clean up your sleeping space!
This alone will make life so much easier for you should you get bed bugs.
A serious clutter storage area is often under the bed.
Cleaning Tips:
Here are some great cleaning and organization tips to help you find signs of hidden bed bugs or prepare your room incase you should get them in the future:
- Take everything out from under the bed and examine it carefully for any signs of bed bugs. Eliminate what you no longer need or want. You might want to place anything you keep in “under the bed plastic storage bins” before putting them back under the bed.
- While everything is out from under the bed, roll comforters and decorator pillows into the middle of the bed and place into a large plastic bag for a trip to the laundry or dry cleaners.
- Remove top and bottom fitted sheets and pillow cases by rolling them into the middle of the bed and placing into plastic bags to go to the laundry.
- Using a bright LED light and magnifying glass, examine all piping and edges of your mattress. Flip the mattress and examine the other side. If all is good, slide mattress off and set aside and examine box-springs the same way.
- Take some time to vacuum both sides of your mattress and box-spring. You might want to purchase encasements to protect against dust mites [and bed bugs if you should get them in the future].
- Once that is done and you find nothing, examine the frame. Fill a bucket with hot soapy water and wash frame. Maybe use a soft brush for all the nooks and crannies.
- Pull frame away from the area and vacuum thoroughly.
- Wash all baseboards
- Examine nightstands, remove contents, wash or dust them on all sides. [even the bottom]
- Examine dressers, remove contents, wash or dust on all sides. Re-organize and replace contents after getting rid of the things you no longer need or want.
Results
Doing that alone should expose any bed bug signs and clean up your sleeping space so you can have a restful sleep.
There are so many more cleaning processes that go on in the bedroom.
Including, cleaning out the closet, washing fixtures, replacing light bulbs, removing window treatments for cleaning, washing windows, washing carpets or floors, etc.
I truly hope this helps you understand how through of a job is necessary for peace of mind when it comes to bed bugs.
If ever you suspect bed bugs and can’t find them, reach out to us.
We’ll bring our detections dogs in for an inspection via their amazing trained noses.
