Checking your Home & Person

For Bed Bugs

How to check your home:

  • Use a flashlight to inspect the following areas for signs of bed bugs:
  • Check all upholstered furniture. (Pull back and/or remove cushions, turn furniture over and check legs and/or inside dust covers, check pocket if furniture has magazine pockets, check magazine racks.
  • Check bed frame, mattress and boxspring. (Pay close attention to bed frame welds, small joint holes, mattress seams/folds, inside boxspring dust cover, etc.)
  • Check baseboards
  • Pull carpet from tack strip and look under carpet backing and along tack strips if you’ve found bed bugs in any soft target areas of your home.
  • Remove and check electric covers. (Make sure electric is turned off from breaker-box to avoid electric shock)
  • Special note: Bed bugs live close to a blood host, so they will first be found where humans spend most of there leisure time i.e. living room and bedroom. Bed bugs also are most active in the evening, when you are asleep, resting or sitting/laying down in your living room.
  • Home treatment can be accomplished with 91% alcohol or Steri-Fab (Steri-Fab can be purchased online) as a quick way to control and kill these pests. If your home has an ongoing problem. Contact a professional exterminator for a more comprehensive treatment.
  • Use a portable vacuum or a vacuum with attachments to vacuum on all soft target furnishing i.e. mattress, box springs, sofa, chairs, etc. (Note: throw away the vacuum bag immediately after you’ve finished vacuuming these areas)
  • Treat all areas listed above if you find bed bugs. Spray infected area until lightly damp and allow to air dry.
  • Encasing your mattress and boxspring in a durable plastic mattress cover/with zipper closure. This will prevent bed bugs from getting inside these items in the future, but will not keep bed bugs from getting on them should you get re-exposed.
  • If you live in an apartment building contact your leasing agent and have all adjacent units checked and treated to prevent further infestation.

How to check your person for Bed Bugs:

  • Remove your clothes one piece at a time and inspect all seams and cuffs. Make sure you turn your clothes inside out during your inspection.
  • If you see any bed bugs. You can treat them with the two products listed above. (Note: never spray Steri-Fab on your person. If you spray 91% alcohol on your person it will sting and may cause rash, but it will kill the bugs. See a doctor should this occur)
  • Place your clothes in a sealed plastic bag and immediately wash them in warm to hot water. Next, immediately place them in a dryer. (Dryer heat will kill bed bugs)

Special Note: Steri-Fab is a contact killing agent and should only be sprayed during bed bugs sighting. Using this product as a residual to prevent and or kill bed bugs is not an effective way to eliminate bed bugs.