Forget about the monster under the bed, and think about the monster IN your bed.
Are you getting bitten and you’re unsure why? Bed bugs are the invisible monsters that sometimes invade our most personal spaces – our beds. Considering we spend a third (if not more) of our lives in bed, it is very important that we have a great comfortable space for us to rest and recuperate from the day.
Bed bugs have chosen beds as their favoured domain purely because they can get close to us sleeping humans. They are drawn to our body temperature, blood and CO2 (from our exhaled breaths). Once they locate us, they then tend to stay around and continue to bite us night after night.
Fortunately, bedbug bites can not pass on pathogens or harmful diseases, but they can cause itching. But unfortunately for us, the UK is suffering from the worse case of bedbugs in the last 20 years. In the developed world in the 1940s, they were almost eradicated permanently, but they built up a resistance to pesticides and increased as travel across countries increased.
How to identify a bedbug infestation:
- Although tiny in size, you may sometimes be able to spot one. They are around 4-5mm in length with an oval body and are browny-red in colour. Bear in mind that bed bugs are brilliant at hiding, so make sure you check not only in the bed, but around the bed, as they will hide in places such as the headboard, frame, slates AND other surfaces such as the skirting board.
- Black spots on the mattress or other nearby furniture.
- Blood on the bed or your body – look out for bites that appear in a row on your body – particularly your upper body.
- Skin irritation and rashes.
How to prevent a bedbug infestation:
- Wash your bedding at 60+ degrees Celsius.
- Use extreme tumble dryer heat.
- Use extreme cold temperatures to kill off all life stages – such as placing the bedding in the freezer.
- Hoovering and cleaning.
- Protect your mattress by encasing it it in a mattress protector.
If you have a bed bug problem that won’t go away, then please ring us for a free quote and we will carry out an intensive treatment programme to remove the critters and allow you to sleep in peace.