Bedbug Checklist: FInd and Prevent Bed Bugs Home and Hotel

Here are some quick tips to make sure your room (hotel rooms, bedrooms, living areas, etc) isnt infested with bedbugs! Most people who end up having their home infested with bedbugs could have prevented it by looking for the signs below. If you know you have bedbugs, then check out our Bed Bug Treatment page for ways in which you can do it yourself.

Staying at a hotel? If so, the first thing you should do is check your hotel for bed bug complaints this is a completely free service we provide and could possibly help you prevent infesting your own home!

Keep in mind that a report about one hotel does not mean the issue wasnt isolated to one room, or that hotel management hasnt taken the necessary steps to exterminate the bugs, but it is a great way to get management to promise youll sleep bedbug free!

When staying at a hotel, hang clothing in the closet that is farthest from your bed, place luggage on the folding rack usually found at hotels and always place your luggage in a plastic bag (hotel provided dry cleaning bags work great).

When you inspect a room for bedbugs, make sure you wear disposable medical gloves! Bedbugs gorge on the blood of humans, so much so that they can easily pop with very little pressure. When a bedbug pops, it will splatter blood and you may be exposed!

Picture of Bed Bugs, their eggs, shells and feces! This is a high resolution photo of what a bed bug infested mattress looks like including their shells, eggs and feces. You can zoom in on the picture if you need to.

Use this bedbug checklist to make sure your hotel room is bedbug free BEFORE you unpack it should be the first thing you do!

HOTEL ROOM This is not an exhaustive list by any means, but it covers the basics and should help you sleep bedbug free.

MAURA DUMONT::

Can anyone let me know where to buy bedding to help to prevent bed bugs coming back as I have been to hell with the little buggers since August! Im getting a new bed and I would like to buy some mattress covers to help me as I have very bad condition when they bite.

I have now found out there are coming from the flat above me and its now getting sorted as I have had pest control companies out and they still come back; I pray that this time will be the last!

I have not slept in a bed since august only a couple nights last month when I went away for a break but its has turned my life up side down as I a clothes junkie and all my clothes had to go into deep freeze and the rest I just burned them which has cost a fortune. I also lost my business this year the bed bug saga has put me in hospital 3 times this year as it looked like I was in a fire with huge blisters and they treated me like I was in a fire and gave me burn pads and lots of pills.

I feel like a expert in these little bugs and London at the moment is alive with them I hear.

Jim::

Hello Maura,

Im sorry to hear about your bed bug infestation! Know that you are not alone! There are a ton of people going through the exact same thing (check out my Bed Bug Bite section).

You can buy the mattress covers from Walmart, check out this mattress cover for bed bugs.

Also, you can use Diatomaceous Earth to kill your bed bugs its non toxic, natural and available at just about any pet supply store (used to kill fleas). I have a good explanation about this dust here: http://www.badbedbugs.com/bed-bug-bites/ (see the last comment by Joyce)

Did the pest control company ever suggest using Diatomaceous Earth? You may have been able to save the expense of buying new furniture by dusting rather than tossing.

Keep us informed there are a lot of people that would like to know how this works out for you Maura.

Best regards,

Jim.

MAURA DUMONT::

Hi Jim, thank you for being there on this great bed bug web site. Im new to all this new tech and just getting use to using to a computer. Im in London UK and we have no Walmart here to buy a mattress cover for beg bugs but I will try a pet food store for diatomaceous earth. I have never heard of this stuff before so I do hope they sell it here in the UK.

Many thanks for all your help and it is nice to know Im not alone with the bed bug saga! I will get onto the housing again regarding the flat above me as the old lady has been taken into a home and the flat is alive with them. I just hope when the pest control go in they dont start running down to me again as all my new furniture is coming next week. I will keep in touch and thanks again for this wonderful web site!

M.Dumont

Lisa Temple::

My ex husband and I have noticed small bites on my 5 yr old in the last month. We thought they were fire ants or spider bites, but reading about bed bugs, I think I have found the answer. They started small, but a few of them have gotten infected because my son will scratch them so much until they bleed.

I am so glad to have so much information available thru this site that now I know what to do next. Is there any particular season for bed bugs or is it generally year round? Is there a certain climate they like because I live in south central Oklahoma?

Ann::

When a bedbug pops, it will splatter blood and you may be exposed!

When you say exposed what does that mean exactly? What can happen to you if you are exposed?

Thanks great website, I really enjoy reading the articles very informative!

Jim::

Hi Ann,

Im not sure exactly what will happen, if anything, but I do know its a BIG concern. If you search Google for exposed to human blood., youll find a ton of information. For example, one page at MSU suggests washing and going straight to the hospital. Im not a doctor, so I cant explain all the risks associated with being exposed to human blood from a bed bug, but I know its something you want to avoid!

Best regards,

Jim.

Angie::

Ive been suffering with bed bugs for almost 2 years .. Now .. I hope that bed bug powder will help .. Or else im going to have to burn down my house

Lisa::

Is there anything I can spray on my clothes that will insure that they are not on my clothes anymore? Will simply washing my clothes in the washing machine and drying them in a regular dryer eliminate them from my clothes. I feel like throwing them all out. What can I do?

Helen white::

Hello, anyone ever stay at the Tavistock Hotel, Tavistock Sq, Bloomsbury London? Ive booked in but Im worried about staying anywhere since friends picked up bed bugs in a London hotel

Jim::

Hello Helen,

If you are talking about the Tavistock Hotel London at Tavistock Sq, London, WC1H, 9EU, United Kingdom at +44 20 76368383, then it appears they are clean. I have checked the internet for any reference to bed bugs at Tavistock and didnt find a thing.

Let us know how the stay goes!

Regards,

Jim.

Jim::

Hello Lisa,

I dont know of anything that works as a repellent to prevent bedbugs from getting into your clothing. Youre best bet to make sure your cloths are free from bugs is to dry them on high heat (assuming that the fabric can handle high heat).

Regards,

Jim.

Helen white::

Hi Jim,

Many thanks for that reassurance. I didnt stay there last night as my trip was cancelled but it means Ill stay there when I go in three weeks, and Ill let you know how I got on.

Regards,

Helen

rachel::

I have just been to Honduras and picked up bed bugs in a hotel. At least I think its bed bugs because I woke up covered in loads of really itchy bites. Ive now back in London 5 days and I still feel that Im waking up with fresh bites every morning.

My boyfriend believes Im just discovering old bites that were there all along, but I fear I may have bought one home with me. The weird thing is is that my boyfriend never gets bitten even though we share a bed. Could it be something else I have? Or is there a reason why they wouldnt bite us both? Please help this is all so new to me.

Jim::

Hi Rachel,

If you check out this site, youll see a number of cases where one partner is bitten at night and not the other. In some cases, one partner simply does not react as strongly to the bed bug bite as the other.

Best regards,

Jim.

Christine::

I just moved into an apartment 3 days ago, and just now a small bug that looks very similar to a bedbug climbed up next to my mouse. It is not as round as all the pictures on the net, and it has two little bumps on its end, as well its antennae dont look segregated like the pictures, but other than that it looks like a 4th stage nymph. Are there different varieties of bedbugs? Thanks.

mike::

I recently found some small shells approximately 1/16 on my bed sheets, no bites or spots or blood stains.

Can this be an early sign of bed bugs?

carmela::

I work in a school. There is a child in my class that has a very bad case of bedbugs We have collected 13 bed bugs already. We put everything in bags and it drives us crazy.

His coat has a very bad infestation of bed bugs. The parents need this bedbug checklist and the school needs to make a rule that parents must take measures when a child has been reported as bringing in bugs!

lin::

All your information on bedbugs is about hotels, what about just plain houses. They are hard to deal with and how can I get rid of them? Where do they come from in the first place? I have never had anything like this before. If spray and the people downstairs dont spray will come back upstairs.

Please answer my question soon.

Answer:

Lin,

You have not looked around and I dont just cover hotels as is clear in my responses and content.

I know youre excited about what is happening to you now, but take the time to read the information on my site and youll find all the answers to your questions. I cover it all, from how you end up getting them to how to do pest control yourself. For example, this bedbug checklist can be used anywhere (home, hotel, shelter, etc), the treatment page covers bedbug DIY solutions, etc.

Its all here, all free, just look around. And yes, if the neighbors below you dont treat their infestation, you can get them as well (on the treatment page I cover what the powder that you should spread around).

Best regards,

Jim.

Mary::

My mattress is tufted. At the tufts there is what appears to be dust balls- could this be bed bug residue?

jan::

I had a problem with bed bugs so I had a professional come in and spray. I was so terrified i threw out my bed my sofa. Im moving and turned over one of my small tables and there were sooo many balls of dust is that bed bugs????

Thank you

Hi Jan,

No, Im guessing it may be egg sacks not from bed bugs, but from spiders. Check out BadSpiderBites.com for more information on that.

It could also be dust, but doesnt sound like anything to do with bed bugs.

Best regards,

Jim.

Ricki::

I have stayed at a hotel this weekend. My husband woke up with a horrible rash and little boils all over his body. It itches very badly. I can only imagine its bedbugs. He did not eat anything different so I do not think its a food reaction.

I am washing and drying all the clothes that we had with us, as well as the ones we are wearing. Is there anything else I need to do to make sure I am not bringing any home with us?

Joan::