Best Bed Bug Prevention Tips Of 2017

Best Bed Bug Prevention Tips Of 2017

Bed bugs are constantly in the news lately due to the growing population of bed bugs in both homes and public areas. Plus, everywhere you look there is someone saying they know the best way to prevent an infestation. Are you someone that has fallen for some of these time consuming and costly tips? Or maybe you’ve tried some of the over the counter products that say they can prevent bed bugs, but in the end, they fall short of their promised assistance in your fight against an infestation?

Well, bed bugs may not be so easy to deal with, but here are some tips that may actually help you avoid bed bugs this year. Avoid used furniture or mattresses, which could be hiding bed bugs inside, and without the proper treatment could cause an infestation. If you buy used clothing items, be sure to wash them in hot water right away to kill any bed bugs in them. When traveling, be sure to inspect your hotel room when you get there for bed bugs, carcasses, shed skins, and tiny maroon dots on bedding. Do not place your purse, briefcase or other items on the floor of public places, as this could be a place bed bugs will transfer from someone else’s things to yours. When you return home from a trip wash all of your clothing in hot water, and clean/vacuum out your suitcases and other luggage you brought with you.

Even if you follow these tips or any other DIY’s that you have seen or heard about in the news or on the internet, bed bugs can still sneak into your home, and once they’re in, you’re not going to want to fight them alone. Your best bet is to call on the professionals at Russell’s Pest Control in Knoxville and Eastern Tennessee. We have been getting rid of bed bugs for many years and have the expertise and technology to get rid of them completely. When you call Russell’s:

  • Our professionals will do a bed bug inspection to confirm their presence, as well as to pinpoint the areas where they are congregating.

  • They will review their findings and discuss a bed bug treatment plan with you.

  • On the day of treatment, our experts will use professional heat remediation equipment to eliminate all of the bed bugs.

Heat treatment is very efficient, effective, and non-toxic. It eliminates bed bugs of all stages of development, reaches hidden bed bugs, can be done in a day, and leaves behind no residue. These are some of the many reasons that we use this type of treatment to assure you of complete eradication, which will give you peace of mind that your home is free of bed bugs once we are finished. Give us a call today to find out more about bed bug treatment and control in Knoxville and Eastern Tennessee.

Avoiding Bed Bugs On Spring Vacations

Avoiding Bed Bugs On Spring Vacations

Whether you are heading out to enjoy spring break or just taking advantage of spring to take a much-needed vacation, it is important to set aside a few moments to learn about bed bug prevention. Reading this article is a great first step. Here are 4 easy things you can do to reduce your chances of having bed bugs ruin your vacation or return home with you.

  1. Would you go into a neighborhood in a city without finding out whether or not that neighborhood is safe? It is also unwise to stay somewhere you haven’t checked out first. Bedbugregistry.com is a great resource to find out if bed bugs have been reported at the place you’ll be staying. You can also check other review sites and use the term “bed bug” in your search query.

  2. Would you walk into a forest at night without a flashlight? Of course you wouldn’t. And you shouldn’t go on vacation without a flashlight. Most smartphones have a flashlight app that uses the camera light on the phone as a light source. Use that light source to examine some key areas inside your room to make sure there are no bed bugs or bed bug signs present. Pull the bedding and sheets down to examine the mattress and box spring for black residue, black streaks, black droppings, shed insect skins, brown blood stains, or these tiny six-legged, oval, rust-colored bugs. They are about the size of an apple seed and look a little bit like one too.

  3. Would you operate dangerous equipment without following a few safety protocols? It is a good idea to follow a few safety protocols while on vacation. Never leave clothes on the floor or draped over a chair. Put clothing on a hard surface, or in a plastic bag, when you’re not wearing them. When you bring your luggage out, consider using the luggage stand. Most rooms have one.

  4. Would you rub your nose if you just shook hands with someone who has the flu? Maybe. But it is unwise. When you return home, put all of your clothing into the wash. Use the hottest temperatures to kill bed bugs in every stage of development. This little cleaning could keep a batch of eggs from turning into an infestation.

These tips should help you stay safer on your vacation and help to prevent an infestation from returning home with you but, as you probably already know, bed bugs can be picked up in a lot of places. If you ever do find bed bugs in your home, call a professional. These bugs are extremely hard to eradicate and improper bed bug treatments can cause prolonged infestations, more bites, or lead to devastating consequences, such as the loss of property or a loss of life.

If you’re in our Tennessee service area, let the bed bug control team here at Russell’s Pest Control deal with those blood-eating pests. Immediate help is just a call away.

Avoid Unwanted Holiday Visitors

Avoid Unwanted Holiday Visitors

Christmas is a very hectic time of year. Typically, you are either hosting a gathering or going to a gathering or two over the next couple of weeks. It is important to understand that you and your visitors have the potential to unknowingly pick up unwanted pests during travel. The last thing you want to do is to become a distributor of unwanted pests!

Bed bugs top the list, but other bugs that can tuck into luggage and use it as their own personal moving van include several species of lice, fleas (in warmer climates or in homes that have pets), cockroaches, spiders, several species of beetles, and more.  Whether you are visiting or being visited, you need to be on the lookout for pests that are trying to sneak into your life.

Vigilance is the key. As you travel or after you have entertained guests, be sure to be aware that pests may have snuck into your space. There are signs, however, that you can become aware of and train yourself to spot. Let’s take a look.

Vigilance during travel:

Understand that pests can be found anywhere – planes, taxis, hotels, grocery stores, malls, hospitals, libraries, and even Grandma’s house – anywhere people frequent is a target for pests. Make sure that as you travel you check soft surfaces like seats, chairs, and beds for signs of pests. Also, be sure to inspect clothing as you shop for signs of pests, paying particular attention to scarves and hats. Inspect food packaging before you purchase any dry goods for signs that pests have tampered with it. Also, glance around checking for droppings from mice or roaches in hotels, restaurants, and other areas known to be plagued by these pests. What, exactly, should you look for? Well, things like:

  • Shed casings

  • Droppings

  • Actual bugs

  • Blood stains

  • Tiny brown spots

  • Black streaks coming from outlets

  • Small tears or punctures in product packaging

  • Unusual odors

  • Discarded wings

Vigilance after visitors leave:

The best way to avoid becoming a home for wayward pests is to clean, clean, clean. Once your company has gone home be sure to wash all bedding on the warmest setting possible and dry thoroughly in your dryer on the hottest settings safe for that fabric. Vacuum and wash floors with hot, soapy water; and be sure to pull out the sofa, stove, and refrigerator and clean there too. Bathrooms should be scoured and bath mats washed in hot water as well. Keeping your eye out for the signs that pests leave behind is a sure way to ensure that you do not spread pests to others, and they have not accidentally introduced them to you.
If after all the tinsel has been pulled from the tree, all the pie has been eaten, and the holidays are nothing more than a memory, you find yourself face-to-face with nuisance, harmful, or dangerous pests, give us a call. The highly trained experts here at Russell’s Pest Control know exactly how to safely and effectively eliminate any pest from your home. With more than 45 years of experience in local pest pressures, Russell’s Pest Control is the name people trust for pest control solutions that work.
Have a safe, happy, and pest-free Christmas.

How To Avoid Getting Holiday Bed Bugs

How To Avoid Getting Holiday Bed Bugs

If you could go back in time to stop something really bad from happening, would you do it? Of course you would. It is a lot easier to prevent something from happening than it is to fix things “after” they have happened. This is the secret to avoiding holiday bed bugs. No. We’re not saying you need to build a time machine. That would be complicated, if not slightly impossible. What we’re saying is that bed bugs are a problem that is best dealt with “before” it happens. Here’s what you need to know.

If you knew that a certain person would be hit by a certain car on a certain day, what would you do? Would you warn them? What if you knew how and where your friend or family could pick up bed bugs, would you tell them?

When you tell your friends and family about bed bugs, you will not only be protecting yourself from an accidental infestation, you’ll be protecting them as well. Public awareness is the most powerful weapon in the war against bed bugs.

3 Places Bed Bugs Get Picked Up During The Holidays

  • Sleep accommodations. It doesn’t matter how nice or how clean, bed bugs can be found in places where people sleep. If your friends and family will be staying somewhere on their way to your home, it is important that they do a quick inspection of any room they stay in. Use a flashlight to inspect bedding, sheets, pillowcases, mattress seams, and the stitching on upholstered furniture for black streaks, fecal pellets, brown blood staining, and shed insect casings.

  • Public transportation. Bed bugs have been found infesting trains, planes, buses, taxis, and other public transportation. Your family members should know what a bed bug looks like when they see one, and they should take a moment to examine their chair for black streaks, blown stains, and shed insect casings. In enclosed spaces, there may be a locker room smell if a large enough infestation is present.

  • Homes. If your friends and family will be staying the night with other friends and family, or at the home of a host family, they should take the same precautions as staying in a hotel or motel.

It is a whole lot easier to stop a bed bug infestation before it begins. Let your family and friends know what to look for when they travel.
If you ever find bed bugs in your home–and you don’t have a time machine–call a professional. These pests are nearly impossible to remove without an entomological understanding of these insects and what modern pest measures are most effective for eradicating them.

If you are in our Knoxville, Gatlinburg or elsewhere in our Tennessee service area, let Russell’s Pest Control assist you. Our team is BedbugFREE Approved by Bedbug Central, the most authoritative information resource on bed bugs in the country. When holiday bed bugs find a way in, get them out with bed bug control services from Russell’s Pest Control.

Get Educated About Bed Bugs And School

Get Educated About Bed Bugs And School

We are seeing the signs everywhere. Much to the children’s dismay, it’s just about time to head back to school. The teachers and staff are looking at the calendar in disbelief that the summer has flown by too fast, and the kids are begging for a few more days to sleep in. Whether you have a kindergartener getting on that big yellow school bus for the first time or a college age young adult packing up their room to head to the dorms, you have a school supply list and a to-do list that is quite extensive. From pencils to crayons and dorm furniture to cell phone plans there’s a lot to keep track of. Check your list and make sure that bed bugs are on there too. No, you don’t want bed bugs, but you do need to address the issue of bed bugs for all school aged environments.

For your children that are in primary school, grammar school, middle school, junior high school, or high school bed bugs can be a factor. Bed bugs can be anywhere that people frequent; they don’t necessarily need beds to live. They have been discovered in such places as:

  • Libraries

  • Hospitals

  • Nursing Homes

  • Public transportation

  • Schools

  • Restaurants

  • Dormitories

  • Lounge/waiting areas

Bed bugs are hitchhiking pests. If someone has bed bugs at their home there is a potential that these bugs could come to school within that person’s belongings; like their backpack, book bag, or briefcase. As a parent, you can teach your children to be aware of the signs of bed bugs and you can also check with your school district for their bed bug policy. Here’s a notice from the University of Tennessee extension for school staff to help them to recognize bed bugs and to know the proper steps to take in the event of a discovery of bed bugs in their school or classroom.

For college students heading back to dorms or off campus housing, bed bugs are a definite concern. Students and parents should take the following steps to avoid bed bugs:

Be informed about the college or landlord’s bed bug policy before you agree to reside there. Be sure to inspect all of the living space for signs of bed bugs upon arrival, before you bring your belongings inside.

  • Keep your living space clean and tidy to limit the dark places that bed bugs can hide away in.

  • Keep other people’s belongings out of your living space because their stuff could have bed bugs in it.

  • Limit overnight guests because they can also bring bed bugs into your living space.

  • Regularly check your beds, bedding, and furniture for signs of bed bugs.

  • Alert college administration or your landlord ASAP if a suspected bed bug situation is discovered.

Be sure that bed bugs are on your radar this back to school season by educating yourself and your family about them. Avoid bed bugs at your home by avoiding them at school, and if the unthinkable happens and you think bed bugs may have somehow gotten into your home, give the experts here at Russell’s Pest Control a call. We have been keeping Eastern Tennessee protected from pests for almost 50 years and we would be happy to do the same for you.