Have you suddenly started noticing a bad smell in your home? Maybe you’ve even tried cleaning and spraying the room to no avail? If that’s the case, you probably have some uninvited guests in your room—and there’s a chance you’re dealing with bed bugs.
Bed bugs can be incredibly tiny, so tiny that it can be difficult to find them. Although they typically hide in old furniture, bed bugs can infest and hide inside new furniture as well.
As seasoned Bed Bug Lawyers, we have a lot of experience in this area, so let’s go over some of the early signs of bed bug infestation and what to do about it.
Early Signs of Bed Bug Infestation
When you have a bed bug problem, you need to solve it early on.
There are a couple of significant early signs concerning bed bug infestation including bad smell, bloodstains, fecal spots, shed skins, bug bites, bug eggs, or live bed bugs.
For example, if you’ve started noticing a weird, abnormal smell in your room, it might come from bed bugs. Bed bugs produce “alarm” pheromones that can be a response to a threat—and their smell can also be a mixture of bloodstains, feces, shed skins, or bug eggs.
If you have bug bites on different parts of your body, that’s a clear sign that you need to act immediately. To protect your skin from infection, wash your hands with soap thoroughly. And if you feel itchy, be sure to apply a corticosteroid cream.
Where to Look for Bed Bugs
Bed bugs typically inhabit places where you spend most of your time. To look for bed bugs, get a lamp and a flat object such as a credit card or some thin cardboard. We recommend you wear protective gloves for this process.
Look for more convenient objects like your beds, sheets, tables, chairs, couches, or drawers. They can be so small that they can live within small cracks or holes, so turn up your lamp and use a flat object to check whether there are cracks, stains, or live bugs.
Check in less convenient parts of your room as well, as they hide in dark places most often. Look for them on mattresses, window edges, ceilings, doors, or wall edges. You should also look inside drawers and other wooden objects and turn them over to see if there are any cracks or stains where bed bugs could be hiding. Additionally, it is important to check cables and outlets as well because bed bugs can damage electrical wiring.
How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs
When you find bed bugs in your home, it is important to act quickly. Wash everything that is washable at high temperatures and wrap everything else in plastic bed-bug proof covers to suffocate the bed bugs. Exposing them directly to the sun or high heat is extremely effective, because bed bugs die when they reach a temperature of 45°C.
To prevent further bed bug infestations, be careful when returning home from travels. Separate your travel items from your home until you are confident they are safe. You should also vacuum your home often. Don’t skip the edges of your room, and make sure you clean your furniture, sheets, and blankets thoroughly.
When you notice bed bugs, you need to act as soon as possible. They can hide anywhere in your room, from the wall edges to the darkest places of the furniture. And in many cases, the easiest and most effective solution for bed bug infestations is to call a professional.
Looking for Help with Your Bed Bug Infestation? You May Be Entitled to Compensation!
Have you had an experience with bed bugs? If so, we can help! Our bed bug attorneys represent clients throughout the United States, depending on the circumstances. Contact us today and explain your bed bug situation and we will let you know if you have a case we can assist with!
