How To Check a Mattress for Bed Bugs (And What To Do if You Find Them)
Do you think that you may have bed bugs in your home? Are you trying to learn how to check a mattress for bed bugs?
If you think that you may have bed bugs on your mattress, you need to find out for sure and deal with them as soon as you find them. Unfortunately, spotting and removing bed bugs can be more difficult than you may expect.
Fortunately, we’re here to guide you. Here’s how to check for bed bugs on a mattress and remove them once you find them.
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How to Check a Mattress For Bed Bugs
There are a few clear signs that you should be looking for to determine whether there are bed bugs on a mattress or not. Here are a few of the main ones that you should check for.
1. Look For Them
It should come as no surprise that the clearest way to know whether your mattress has bed bugs is to look for the bed bugs themselves.
Bed bugs are very small and have flat, oval-shaped bodies. They have a reddish-brown appearance and can be spotted on your mattress, on pillows, on the bed frame, or in nearby areas.
Keep in mind that if you see a single bed bug, there are likely more where that came from. There are probably others on your mattress as well.
2. Check For Rust-Colored Stains
Another sign that you have bed bugs on your mattress is if you see rust-colored stains on your mattress, pillowcases, or bed sheets. These stains could be the result of squishing bed bugs on accident.
If you see these rust-colored stains, it may mean that you have a bed bug infestation that you’ll need to deal with.
3. Take Note of Bed Bug Droppings
If you have bed bugs in your home, you may also see bed bug droppings.
These droppings will be ink-like, tiny, and dark and may appear in clusters. These feces may be located on the sides of the mattress or in other areas around your bed.
4. Check For Eggs
You may also notice bed bug eggs if you have bed bugs. These eggs will be tiny at about 1 mm in size. The eggs will be somewhat transparent in appearance.
In addition to this, you may also see pale yellow exoskeletons that have been discarded by bed bugs as well.
5. Watch Out For Bites
There are many different types of insects that may bite you. However, if you have bed bug bites in addition to the other signs, you should take notice.
Bed bug bites will be very itchy and will look like swollen red dots on your skin.
6. Check For Blood Stains
In addition to bed bug bites, you may simply notice blood smears on bed sheets, on pajamas, or elsewhere.
Even if you haven’t noticed the bites themselves, this blood can be an indicator of a bed bug problem.
How to Get Bed Bugs Out of a Mattress
If you have determined that you have bed bugs in your mattress, you need to take steps to get rid of them. Aside from buying a new mattress entirely, here are a few things you can do to get rid of bed bugs.
Wash Your Linens
The first step to getting rid of a bed bug problem is to wash all of your linens as thoroughly as possible. You’ll want to use rubber gloves to place all sheets, pillowcases, and other linens into a trash bag and take it directly to the washing machine to be washed.
Be sure to use hot water when washing your linens to give it the best chance of killing bed bugs.
Vacuum Your Bedroom
Another thing that you can do to get rid of bed bugs is to vacuum your bedroom. Make sure that you vacuum in all of the hard-to-reach spots around your bed and mattress and anywhere else they may be hiding.
Remember that you shouldn’t use your vacuum’s brush attachment since bed bugs may be able to hide in the brush.
Check Your Bed Frame
To make sure you get rid of any bed bugs that are in your bedroom, it’s also a good idea to take apart your bed frame and clean it thoroughly.
Be sure to vacuum and clean in hard-to-reach spots. Make sure that there aren’t any bed bugs hiding away within cracks and crevices.
Use Mattress Insecticides
If you want to get rid of bed bugs around your bed and mattress, it’s a good idea to use a mattress-safe aerosol insecticide spray. Spraying an insecticide that is safe for mattresses can help you kill any bed bugs that are around.
Be sure to follow all directions to make sure you use it safely. Ventilate your room afterward as instructed.
Use a Mattress and Box Spring Cover
One possible method for getting rid of bed bugs is simply to get a special bed bug mattress cover. Once you put the cover on, it will prevent existing bed bugs from escaping and prevent new ones from getting into your mattress.
Leaving this cover on for a long span of time such as a year can help you ensure the bed bugs are dead once you remove it.
Try Heating Treatment
Another way that you can get rid of bed bugs is to get a heating treatment.
This treatment will be used to raise the temperature of the mattress to around 150 degrees. The heat will effectively kill both the bed bugs and any eggs that are in the mattress as well.
Heat is one of the most successful methods of dealing with bed bugs, so this is one option that you’ll definitely want to consider. You might want to check out visionpestca.com if you think that this could be a good option for you.
Final Thoughts
If you want to keep your home pest-free, be sure to learn how to check a mattress for bed bugs. Always take action immediately to ensure that the problem doesn’t get any worse.
Need more pest control tips? Take a closer look at our blog now to find more useful articles.