Are you going to be traveling with your loved ones in the coming months? If so, you need to be cautious because you might run into issues along the way. You don’t want your family vacation to turn into a nightmare when you return home. When spending time at a motel, you need to pay close attention to the SLEEP acronym. Doing so reduces the likelihood that your home will become infested with bedbugs due to your trip.
S – Survey
When you’ve first entered your motel room, you need to spend time surveying the room. It is pertinent to confirm that the room does not have bedbugs. If there are bedbugs in the room, they’re going to climb into your luggage and clothes. Then, you’ll take them home with you. Take time to survey the room, bed, mattress, and other furniture. Be sure to look for blood stains, feces stains, and small bugs. If you discover the common signs of bedbugs in your room, ask for a different room or a refund.
L – Lift & Look
Next, you’ll need to dig deeper to confirm that the room is free of bedbugs. Get closer to the bed and lift the mattress. Then, lift the sheets from the mattress. Once you’ve done that, you should be able to see bedbugs. Don’t forget to look under the furniture. You might find bedbugs crawling on the mattress. If so, you don’t want to stay in the motel room. In all likelihood, the entire motel is infested and you’ll need to go elsewhere.
E – Elevate
Remember that bedbugs can climb up surfaces. They can climb up the legs of bed frames and walls. If you throw your luggage on the ground, bedbugs are going to climb inside. You can’t let this happen. You need to use the room’s luggage rack to protect your luggage. Place the luggage rack in the middle of the room and use it to protect your luggage.
E – Examine
It is finally time to return home. Although you’ll be eager to return, you shouldn’t rush. You need to make sure that bedbugs did not climb in your luggage during the night. Examine your luggage before you leave the motel. Once you get home, check the luggage in the garage. Go through your clothes carefully to make sure you didn’t bring bedbugs home with you.
P – Place
Finally, you’ll want to place your clothing in your dryer. Throwing the items in the dryer will make a huge difference. Your dryer can produce significantly hot temperatures which can kill bedbugs. Be sure to let the clothes dry for at least 15 minutes. That will be plenty of time to kill the bedbugs in your clothes.
Eliminating a bedbug infestation will not be easy, but you can do it. You may not be able to stop all bedbugs from entering your home. Instead, you need to be prepared for a potential infestation at some point. As a result, you’ll want to write down our number so you can call us when you experience a problem.
