Preventing bed bugs

[ltlmrs]

We're staying in a hotel room in Charlotte, NC that's got bed bugs. It seems that this is a real problem in the area hotels, so we can't really do anything about it now.

However, I am worried about bringing them with us back home. I've lived in places infested with bed bugs before and I do not want to repeat the experience.

Here's what I'm planning on doing so far:
1) Don't bring anything inside except the clothes we are wearing until everything (i.e. clothes, the pillows we brought and a couple extra blankets) can be washed.
2) Dust everything inside the car with DE before and after the trip and let it settle for a couple of days before taking out the non-textile items (although there will be some things we'll have to unload immediately: mostly food and kitchen items.

My biggest worry is the clothes we are wearing. Any chance we might bring them in that way? Any other ideas? Should I just give up and hope that they don't follow us home?

[ellemenope]

I would go out and buy huge heavy duty black garbage bags and put everything that was in the hotel room in them. You can fit whole suitcase in them. Seal them with duck tape. (Then seal them again. and again. I would make sure they were sealed.)

I would then possibly look into seeing if you could then, when you got home, lay these bags out in the sun and see if they would get hot enough to kill anything inside. i have heard of people doing this with success. I know we have been having some killer hot days.

Then, I would still treat everything very suspiciously. Always keep luggage in the garage or basement. Just keep them away from bedrooms. Always. Clothes should go strait into the washing machine. Dried on hottest setting.

You should be fine with just throwing the clothes you are wearing into the washing machine when you get home.

I would not worry about the car. The chances ofa bug hitching on your clothes are slim.

DE does work, but it is harmful if inhaled, and it wont kill all life cycles. So you would have to continuosly be putting the stuff out there to kill the hatched eggs. Plus, the bugs can go dormant for 18 months without a host. So, they might not even come across the DE. The are attracted to CO2 and heat during the night. That would not happen too often in a car.

[just_lily]

Ugh! That is awful! Is the hotel willing to give you any kind of compensation?

I don't have any experience with bed bugs, but my first inclination would be to find a laundromat and wash everything in industrial high heat before even bringing it home.

[yeahwhat]

High heat (and extreme cold) kills bedbugs and their eggs, so if it's sunny out, I'd be tempted to leave everything you brought with you in the car for a couple of days. For the clothes you wear home, I'd go into the house (or garage if possible) only to change into new clothes, putting the old ones in a garbage bag to wash and dry on hot or to leave in the car for a couple of days.

[rhianna813]

Hey, I live in Oregon and just last night the news reported that bed bugs are completely on the rise. Especially in hotels and it didn't matter how cheap or expensive.

They recommended washing your clothes in hot water and also puting things in black bags in the sun. I know for lice you can also put things in the freezer. This works for items you can not wash and if it's not a sunny time of year.

Also bed bugs like dark warm places so it's better to keep the covers pulled back from the bed during the day. Making the bed nice and tight just encourages them. Although when staying at a hotel who has the choice of how the make the bed!

Good luck!

Rhianna

[UrbanSimplicity]

they can be on/in the shoes you are wearing, or even your cellphones! remember, you have to make sure not to even carry an egg into your home. be VERY VERY careful! i just read on a bathroom wall here in brooklyn - hipster graffiti i suppose - "bedbugs can ruin our life"

[noobmom]

Ugh! I would be so annoyed. If I knew for sure I stayed in a place with bedbugs, I'd probably buy this and use it on everything before I brought it into the house:

http://paktight.com/

I'm staying in a hotel next week and I'm so paranoid about bringing bed bugs home!

[proudmamanow]

I've had bedbugs and it is a nightmare, as you know.

DE does not really work consistently as one PP said. I would check out www.bedbugger.com it has FANTASTIC information.

What I would do in your situation? BAG everything. If you can get those giant Ziplocs that would be great. You will want to run EVERYTHING you had with you through a HOT dryer. I would not rely on the heat of the sun to kill them.

I would also recommend that when you get home, walk in the door & strip everyone naked and put the clothes in the washer right away & then in a hot dryer--seriously.

For things like shoes, you can put them in a pillowcase & run them through the dryer.
For things like suitcases, you can spray them with rubbing alcohol, all over, every nook & cranny.

But yeah, if you can afford the paktight, it is really the way to go.

GOOD LUCK!!!

[Ruthiegirl]

I am freaking out about bedbugs. We will be living in Sweden for much of 2011 and now read that Sweden has an extremely high rate of infestation!!! Ack.

Off to google more. And cry just a little bit.

[HappyMommy2]

You guys are freaking me out, big time. I can't even imagine going to this hotel, neither one of us would get any sleep anyways! We would be too skeeved!

Seriously - there are no hotels without bedbugs? I guess I have to cross Charlotte off of my list. i just can't fathom actually dealing with this on purpose!

good luck mama!

[Ruthiegirl]

OMG!!!! They live in your shoes, your luggage, your books, magazines, kids toys, hats, everything! The site above recommends baking your shoes to kill anything that might be in between the seams. They also recommend throwing away you luggage since the bugs can survive 18 (!!!!!) months without feeding.

Oh, I really am going to cry now. How in the heck am I going to travel for 8 months with three kids and not get them?