Three Mistakes That Will Make Your Bed Bug Infestation Worse

Usually, bed bug infestations start in a single room of the home, typically the bedroom, and slowly spread to other parts of the home. In the early stages of an infestation, you may be able to nip the problem in the bud, but if you're not careful, you could spread the infestation to other rooms of your home. Here are three mistakes that will make your bed bug infestation worse.

Sleeping on the couch

If you're waking up with new bites on your skin every morning, continuing to sleep in your infested bed is probably the last thing you want to do. However, staying in your bedroom is incredibly important if you don't want to spread the infestation. If you start sleeping on your couch, the bed bugs will simply migrate to the couch and continue to feed on you while you're sleeping. Continuing to sleep in different areas around the home will further spread the infestation.

To make sleeping in your bed more comfortable, put a bed bug-proof mattress encasement on your mattress. These encasements completely cover the mattress form a protective barrier between you and your infested mattress.

Not being careful on laundry day

If your bedroom is infested with bed bugs, you need to be very careful with your infested bedding. As you carry your infested sheets, pillowcases and comforter from your bedroom to your laundry room, you could spread bed bugs and their eggs throughout your home.

To avoid spreading the infestation, strip all of your bedding off of the bed and put it in a garbage bag. Tie the bag tightly, and carry this bag to the washing machine. Open the bag right into the washer so that bed bugs can't fall onto your laundry room floor. Any bed bugs that made the journey to the washing machine will be killed in the hot water. Make sure to dispose of the now-contaminated garbage bag in an outdoor garbage can.

Using a bed bug fogger

Foggers disperse insecticides into the air and are an easy way to kill flying pests like mosquitoes. Unfortunately, they don't work as well when bed bugs are involved since the insecticides aren't highly concentrated enough to kill them. When you release a fogger in your bedroom, the bed bugs aren't harmed; they just scatter to get away from the poison. They may scurry into your children's bedrooms, your living room, or other rooms of your home.

To avoid spreading the bugs, pest professionals apply insecticides that are highly concentrated enough to kill the bugs on contact. These insecticides are directed into the cracks and crevices where bed bugs hide, so there's nowhere for them to run.

To avoid making your bed bug infestation worse, avoid making these three mistakes.