Saturday, May 1, 2010

How Helpful Are Bed Bug Covers At Guarding You From These Nasty Insects?

By Aidyn Huffman

Bed bugs are wingless insects that feed on blood. There are various ways they can introduce themselves into your home. If you recently moved and brought with you second hand furniture or if you moved into an apartment and the prior residents had a problem with them or adjacent apartments are currently having a problem with them. The best way to get rid of them is to call a professional; however, you can protect yourself from them by using bed bug covers until the pest company can come out to kill them.

They do not carry diseases that can make humans sick. Their bites are similar to those of a flea. Scientists state that more than forty pathogens live inside one of these insects. However, they have concluded that they do not carry disease from host to host. Research has shown that they are much less likely to cause a hazard to human health than a flea.

Bed bugs hide in sofa, beds and other soft furniture. Because it is hard to locate all their hiding places, it is best to call an exterminator to get rid of them. If you share a wall with another unit, it would be a good idea to have that unit inspected as well. They can come through openings in walls like the electrical fixtures.

When you find bed bugs, you should wash the bedding or items that may be infested. They must be washed in temperatures that are at least 120 degrees. That is the only way of killing them since they cannot be treated with the insecticides. Once they are washed, dry them at the hottest temperature for at least 20 minutes.

For items that cannot be laundered, place them in a plastic bag and put them in the sun for at least 24 hours. If it is not hot enough to put them outside, you can freeze them but they would need to stay in the freezer for at least two days to kill the bed bugs. Once all infected items have been removed from your furniture, vacuum the furniture thoroughly. Empty the contents of the vacuum cleaner into a plastic bag and seal it tightly before placing it in the garbage container.

Several places sell protective covers for your mattress and box spring, the pest control technician may even be able to sell you one. They only work if the bugs are already in the mattress, new ones can still come in and bite you. The old ones inside the mattress will die after a few days of not being able to eat. Make sure you get the covers with the zippers because you do not want them to find a way out.

Bed bug covers will assist in keeping any bugs already in the mattress from biting you. However, if they are not inside the mattress they can still jump on the bed to feed on you. The chances that you will get a disease from them are not very high.

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