If you have to take some time to get your ducks in a row before you can hire a bed bug exterminator, there are some things you can do NOW to help yourself in the long run. Hiring a professional costs money, and the short cuts and store bought products can be tempting. READ THIS before you do anything while you are saving for bed bug treatment.
5 Tips to Keep Bed Bugs at Bay While You’re Saving for Bed Bug Treatment
- Pick up the house and de clutter. No piles of clothes, no junk stashes, etc. Clean up the house as much as possible. If you don’t need it, toss it! Keep all trash and clutter completely cleaned up in ALL rooms.
- Dry ALL bedding, curtains, blankets, etc. Do this weekly, for 30 mins on high heat. This is ESSENTIAL to keeping bed bug populations from growing before (and even during) your treatment process. Keep the things you need to dry weekly to a minimum, if you have extra blankets or throw pillows that do not get used regularly, dry them and bag them in a sealed bag until after your treatment process is completed.
- Vacuum! Vacuum cracks and crevices of ALL furniture several times a month. Keep dust and pet hair at a minimum under and around furniture, on and near baseboards, etc.
- Resist the urge to DIY. We have covered this extensively in other posts. DIY products are repellent based and can push bugs around your house, while only killing 10-20% of the bug population.
- Follow safe practices to prevent infesting your family, friends and work place. Do not have anyone over to visit, without having them take precautions. Before you leave the house to go anywhere, you should be drying your clothing on high heat and getting dressed immediately before you leave. Limit what you take with you as far as bags, purses, etc.
Choosing a Service Provider
When you start looking for a bed bug expert, get a fair price from a professional. A full service bed bug company may sound like it’s going to be expensive when we’re going through our spiel, but the costs of doing business with another company are often much higher. Call around and gets quotes, and ALWAYS check reviews on the BBB!
Schmorkin and Schmerminix charge for treating individual rooms and even individual items (like a couch). They often only treat once or twice and without treating the entire house, it’s not going to work. Period.
Heat only companies are pricey! Heating equipment and proper staffing is expensive. A heat treatment estimate from a heat only company can cost several thousand dollars for a house that would only cost a fraction of that for chemical from a full service bed bug company.
