Sometimes Being Thrifty Doesn’t Pay

According to sites like www.dumposaurus.com, all of a sudden school is back in session and people are moving around, filling up dumpsters and sidewalks with furniture that won’t fit in their co-ops, dorm rooms, apartments or simply clashes with their new interior decor. For dumpster divers, freegans, ‘urban foragers’, or frugal residents eyeing the sofas and comfy upholstered furniture outside of the dumpster, don’t forget about bed bugs!

In all of the excitement of finding something new for your living room or bedroom, the last thing you want to do is bring home some very unwelcomed guests. On other hand, if you have any furniture you want to get rid of because of those bed bugs, I found a cheap dumpster rental near me in Sacramento.

Free Furniture May Hold a Hidden PestBed bugs are excellent hitchhikers, and while the most common method for them getting into your home is by hitching a ride in your luggage when you travel, bed bugs can live for quite a long time in old furniture and bedding. For those that live in a dorm or apartment complex, once you have bed bugs, it doesn’t take a great deal for time before all of your neighbors have them too.

In addition to being fairly mobile, bed bugs have a VERY high reproductive rate, and in a matter of days or weeks you could be faced with an infestation. This parasite (and they are parasitic with the whole ‘feeding on your blood while you sleep’ thing) is about the size of an apple seed, and can be either flat and brown, or reddish after feeding. They greatly enjoy bedding, particularly mattresses, but any furniture or dark place where they can hide during the day but not be too far from their dinner (you) at night.

Here are a few clues that can let you know if you are housing bed bugs.

  • Though bed bug bites can be found anywhere on the body, you will typically find bites on your arms, face, legs and hands.
  • Bites appear to be red and swollen with a dark red center.
  • Often grouped together, bites can appear as bites in a line.
  • However, since there is about 30% of the population does not react to bed bug bites, check your mattress and box spring for tiny black dots, which are their droppings, or look for tiny, red smears (blood) which come from biting you.

Bed bugs are difficult to spot. Though you can see them with the unaided eye, they are nocturnal, which makes spotting one during the day something of a rarity. So what do they do all day? Sleep? Hibernate? Play Yahtzee? It doesn’t really matter WHAT they do all day but it is a good idea to find WHERE they are all day. Some of the most common hiding spots for bed bugs are… nearly everything in your bedroom. This can include the bed frame and headboard, mattress, box spring, pillows, in the crevices or seams of furniture, under furniture, under the carpet at baseboards, curtain, and even behind electrical receptacles.

Why is it important to know where they hide? To get rid of them. Once you get bed bugs you need to call a professional pest control company to take care of the matter. Trying to take care of the problem your self can lead to a larger infestation and is often simply ineffective.

There are some methods for getting rid of bed bugs on your own. If you had encased your mattress and pillows, provided you’re using a good quality bedding cover, you can prevent bed bugs from getting into certain articles of bedding. If not, a common technique is to wash bedding in hot water and dry on high heat. This is fine for pillows and linens but mattresses and furniture are another matter. Steam cleaning can help with some of these. Hot vapor steam generated from a high quality steam cleaner can not only deep clean but kills bed bug. On the professional side of things, pesticides are the most common treatment. Some pest control professionals will use high heat in a room to drive the temperature high enough to kill bed bugs. However, even with professionals, most people often end up getting rid of a lot of bedding and even their furniture.

The next time you see that cozy looking secondhand couch hanging around the dumpster, leave it! It could end up being much more trouble than it’s worth. Even when you go to a thrift store, make sure you aren’t purchasing upholstered furniture that was in a bed bug infested home. It never hurts to ask.

Author: R. Power

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