Growing up, I lived in a sprawling farmhouse in the country. This beautiful home was constantly filled with the sounds of laughter and the smells of delectable food being prepared in the kitchen. Unfortunately, our home was often invaded by some unwanted guests, ants. Pesky ants would welcome themselves into our living room, kitchen, dining room, bedrooms, and bathrooms. One night, I crawled into my bed only to discover I wasn’t alone. Ants had somehow climbed onto my bed! These destructive ants even ate holes in some of the clothing hanging in my closet. Is your home filled with unwanted, biting ants? On this blog, you will discover the latest methods pest control specialists use to rid homes of pesky ants.
Logan Watson
Bed bugs are a major pest in America and they are becoming more of a problem with each passing year. They can be found anywhere that people are found, including college dorms. Fortunately, there are many things that students can do to avoid introducing bed bugs to their dorm rooms. Here are three ways to keep your dorm room bed bug-free.
Inspect second-hand items
Second-hand furniture is an inexpensive way to spruce up your dorm room, but if you're not careful, your frugal finds could introduce bed bugs to your room. Before you bring furniture home, you need to inspect it very carefully. This may seem like common sense, but a survey conducted by the National Pest Management Association found that only 16% of people inspect second-hand furniture before bringing it home.
Inspection is important because bed bugs are small and flat and can squeeze into tiny spaces like cracks or seams in furniture. A cursory glance isn't enough; you need to thoroughly check every surface of the furniture and use a flashlight to look inside cracks, seams, and the heads of screws.
Some items are harder to inspect than others. For example, it can be impossible to detect signs of bed bugs inside upholstered furniture. If the seller cleaned or vacuumed the outside of the furniture, you won't be able to see signs of bed bug activity, like feces stains, on the fabric.
To be safe, stick to hard items with few cracks and crevices. Wood or plastic bookshelves, tables, or dressers are a safer choice than upholstered chairs as they are much easier to inspect.
Avoid sharing vacuums
If your dorm provides communal vacuum cleaners, avoid using them. If another student in your building has bed bugs in their room, the bugs can be spread to your room through shared use of the vacuum cleaner. This is possible because vacuuming up bed bugs and their eggs doesn't kill them. The bed bugs and their eggs remain inside the canister, and when you empty the canister, they could escape into your room.
To keep yourself safe, buy your own vacuum cleaner and don't share it with anyone else. If buying your own vacuum isn't an option, take precautions when using the dorm's vacuum. If the vacuum has a bag, replace the bag before you take the vacuum into your room. If the vacuum is bag less, empty the canister before entering your room.
Be careful in the laundry room
Communal laundry rooms are high-traffic areas, and it's possible that the student that used the washer or dryer before you brought bed bugs with them. If you're not careful, you could take them back to your own room. Fortunately, there are a lot of precautions you can take to reduce your risk.
Bed bugs are a major pest and are hard to get rid of, so preventing infestations is important. To avoid bringing bed bugs into your dorm room, remember to inspect second-hand furniture closely before bringing it home, avoid sharing vacuums, and take precautions in the laundry room. If you encounter bed bugs, tell your university right away so that a pest control company can be hired to treat the building.