Why Bed Bugs Hide in Mattresses:
If bed bugs are invading your home, chances are that they are concentrated around your bed and mattress most heavily. Bed bugs feed off of the blood of sleeping victims, then scurry away to digest their food. Unlike fleas or ticks, they will not remain on their host after feeding.They will latch on to their victims with their elongated beaks, and drink your blood. The feeding process lasts between three and ten minutes, after which the bed bugs will retreat to the comfort of their hiding spot to digest their food.
They will not be visible for you anymore when you wake up. Bed bugs remain mostly dormant in the daytime hours, unless they are very desperate for a blood meal. They do, however, like to remain in reachable distance of their hosts (human), and for this reason they are concentrated on and around the underside of beds and mattresses.
How to Inspect Your Mattress for Bed Bugs
Bed bugs can be found hidden under box spring mattresses, especially in seams, tufts, and crevices. When searching for bed bugs in your mattress, take special care to look in the folds in your mattress, especially near the bed frame.It is suggested that beds be disassembled completely, and the mattress be flipped and examined in its entirety. Bed bugs also love hiding within the box frame itself, so looking inside the mattress is also important. If there is any gauze or covering that has been stapled over the bottom of the mattress covering the frame, remove this so that the interior can be properly examined. Also, scan over the areas where fabric is stabled to the wood frame of the mattress, as bed bugs take shelter in this area, as well.
Take Immediate Action
Once you have detected bed bugs on or inside your mattress or box spring, it is time to take the necessary actions. Many homeowners hate bed bugs because they end up having to throw out expensive furniture and their hard earned dollars down the drain.What many do not realize is that this can often be prevented. Another thing to mention is that if furniture is not disposed of carefully, it can spread bed bugs to others.
Things You Can Do to Clean Your Mattress from Bed Bugs
- Vacuum and Steam Clean
Vacuuming will suck up live bed bugs and a majority of their eggs. Use the small vacuuming wand extension found on most household vacuums and scrape it along seams and folds of the mattress to help dislodge bed bugs and their eggs.
Steam cleaning kills the bugs with high heat levels, and can be applied to mattresses and bed frames to remove most of the bugs and bed bug eggs
- Mattress Covers
Infested mattresses can be permanently covered by special mattress bags that kill enclosed bed bugs and prevent future infestations. After vacuuming or steam cleaning, seal the mattress bag completely and bed bugs trapped within will eventually die. This can take up to 1 year, since bed bugs can survive for a long time without blood.
- Pesticides
Bed bugs are not killed easily, and more than one method of extermination will most likely need to be applied. In most cases, contacting a licensed pest controller is required. After steps have been taken to kill bed bugs, work with an exterminator and look at your insecticide options. Never attempt to apply pesticide yourself, and don’t resort to throwing out your mattress until a professional tells you that it is completely necessary.
Be Careful Throwing Away Bed Bug Furniture
Unfortunately, for severe infestations or furniture that a pest controller deems unsalvageable, some mattresses must be thrown away. Before you discard of your mattress, take these steps to prevent the spread of bed bugs to others:- Label Your Furniture
Take the time to label affected furniture with a warning message, stating that the items are infested with bed bugs.
- Limit Access to Others
Seal your mattress with a plastic cover and tape it. Immediately lock the mattress in a dumpster after disposal to keep out of reach of others, or take it to your nearest landfill. Bed bug mattresses should not be re-used by others, because it will only spread the problem.
The information about bed bugs that I have researched, collected is to help the growing numbers of bed bug sufferers.