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Chicago Bed Bug Laundry & Prep
BED BUGS 101IDENTIFICATION AND EASIER EXTERMINATION
Chicago Bed Bug
Laundry & Prep
Chicago Bed Bug Laundry & Prep
Please notify us in the SlideShare comments below if you identify errors or believe additional information in an area would be valuable.
Chicago Bed Bug Laundry & Prep
IDENTIFY BED BUGS
• Unexplained bites especially after sleeping or sitting on cloth furniture.
• Usually feed at night especially just before dawn.• Bed bugs leave stains from rust-colored to black. • Often the stained areas will smell musty, like a dirty
wet towel.• Bed bugs have various stages from egg to adult and
look different when well fed. See the next slide for more on the bed bug life cycle.
Chicago Bed Bug Laundry & Prep
BED BUG LIFE CYCLE
Egg Nymph AdultColor White Clear whitish color Brown or mahogany
Things to Look For Oval-shaped eggs
Flat wingless body. Distinct head with round to elliptical thorax
Flat wingless body. Distinct head with round to elliptical thorax
Length 1 mm 1-3 mm 3-4 mm (see pic)
Reproductive Cycle
Hatch about every 10 days, can be 4-21 days.
Molt 5 times eating a blood meal each time.
Lay up to 500 eggs in its life, 1-5 per day.
Food n/a Blood Blood
Behavior Stationary Crawl, cannot fly, jump, or burrow
Crawl, cannot fly, jump, or burrow
Where to Look
Cracks, crevices, mattress, bed frame, any textile
Not just in beds! Sofas, carpets, walls, any crack.
Same as nymphs.
Chicago Bed Bug Laundry & Prep
WHERE DO BED BUGS COME FROM?• Especially in multi-unit dwellings, can spread from your
neighbor’s through the wall.• Used furniture, especially curb-side pickups.• Hitchhike home with you from a friend’s house, movie
theatre, hotel room, or other infested location on your clothes, shoes, or luggage.
• They do NOT come from filth, they are simply opportunistic, rapidly breeding, tiny pests.
• It only takes one pregnant bed bug to make an infestation!
Chicago Bed Bug Laundry & Prep
HOW CAN I AVOID BED BUGS?• Check the Bed Bug Registry for places you frequent and if
you plan to visit hotels.• Avoid placing clothing, jackets, purses, backpacks, or luggage
on beds or other cloth furniture…even in a friend‘s house.• When travelling use bed bug-friendly encasements to protect
your luggage and belongings.• If you suspect you may have picked up hitchhiking bed bugs,
DO NOT BRING THE INFECTED ITEMS INTO YOUR HOME! Contact a bed bug laundry service to pick up your items and treat them before you bring them home.
Chicago Bed Bug Laundry & Prep
CAN BED BUGS HURT ME?
• Bed bugs are blood-suckers but do not spread disease.
• But they do:• Cause secondary skin infections after people scratch
the bites.• Cause financial burden.• Cause stress, loss of sleep, and feelings of fear and
disgust in your home. • Cause embarrassment, even though bed bugs are not a
sign of filth.
Chicago Bed Bug Laundry & Prep
WHAT DO I DO ABOUT BED BUGS?• First, inspect to find bed bugs. Bites alone are not evidence
they are in your home. You may have been bitten elsewhere.
• Take precautions to not spread the pests.• Seek professional help. Overcoming bed bugs is rarely
successful with DIY attempts. • Follow the advice of your bed bug professional. It is time-
consuming and stressful, but completely complying with cleaning, de-cluttering, and quarantining items makes a successful treatment more likely.
Chicago Bed Bug Laundry & Prep
TIPS ON BED BUG INFESTATION• Document dates and observations as well as conversations, especially
if you are a tenant or live in a multi-family dwelling. Your landlord has financial responsibilities.
• Do not spray or attempt to treat the bed bugs yourself as this could be dangerous to your family and it causes the pests to scatter.
• Do not procrastinate, seek professional bed bug extermination help immediately.
• You don’t have to throw out mattresses. Bed bug encasements for mattresses trap live bugs inside.
• Furniture and other textiles can be economically heat treated to avoid throwing them away.
• Do not return cleaned items to a home that has not been professionally deemed bed-bug free. This only increases the risk of re-contamination and costly retreatment.
Chicago Bed Bug Laundry & Prep
WILL I BE EXPOSED TO CHEMICALS?• There are many non-chemical treatment options such
as heat treatment, steam, freezing, encasement, disposal, barriers, traps, and vacuuming to remove.
• In many cases, non-chemical treatment is not enough to be effective and chemical treatment is required such as insecticidal dust and pyrethroids applied 2-3 times in 2 week intervals.
• Following your pest control operator’s instructions for cleaning, de-cluttering, and treating laundry will minimize the amount of chemicals used to eradicate your bed bug infestation.
Chicago Bed Bug Laundry & Prep
RESOURCES
• Look for a bed bug laundry in your area to effectively treat all your textiles.
• Do not underestimate preparing for bed bug extermination. Look for bed bug preparation services in your are to relieve the stress of all the cleaning, de-cluttering and other prep work for treatment.
• Thanks to nchh.org for images.
Chicago Bed Bug Laundry & Prep
COMPLIMENTS OF
Bed Bug Laundry & Prep3425 W Hirsch StreetChicago, IL 60651Phone: (312) 546-3056Email: [email protected]