Bed bugs are not just some made up story that your parents used to tell you before tucking you in. Bed bugs, also known as Cimex Lectularius L., are brownish, flat bugs about the size of an apple seed, and they are spreading rapidly.  Bed bugs are not just limited to people’s houses, but they’re being found in even the swankiest of hotels. Bed bugs were found at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Central Park, the Renaissance Hotel in Dallas, and the Gansevoort South in Miami Beach.  Research shows bed bugs spread a great deal through tourism. The reason why you don’t want bed bugs? Well, their diet is blood and the more bed bugs you have, the more insanely itchy welts you’ll acquire. Female bed bugs can lay 1 to 5 eggs a day. If bed bugs have shelter and an adequate food supply, they can live over a year. Bed bugs will also defecate on your mattress, usually around the bed seams.

Many people think that bed bugs only hideout in your mattress, this is completely false. Although the bed bugs mainly do their feeding when hiding out on your mattress, they are attracted to wood and plastic materials. They can also be found around the wall baseboards, wooden furniture (especially old antique furniture), box springs, rugs, and carpet.

In order to keep bed bugs from taking over your house, it will require meticulous effort. You will first want to reduce the amount of clutter in your house; this will eliminate some of the bed bug hiding places. Remove drawers from dressers or desks, and turn furniture over. It’s key to thoroughly vacuum over your wooden floors, and carpets. Vacuum your mattress, along the bed seams, and the headboard/foot board. Make sure you discard the used vacuum bag in a sealed plastic bag. Wash your clothes, and bedding in extremely hot water. If your house has a lot of cracks in the walls or wood, purchase some caulk, and cover up as many crevices you possibly can.

If your house is infested with many bed bugs, it’s best to bring in professional help. Bed bugs can hide in the carpet and be lodged at the very base of the carpet. When this is the case, it’s good to call in a professional Dallas carpet cleaning company. There are several Dallas carpet cleaning companies that are knowledgeable about bed bug dilemmas. The best carpet cleaning method to use is hot water extraction, because very high water temperatures are most likely to exterminate all the bed bugs. Also, there are a few carpet cleaning companies in Plano that deal with the bed bug epidemic. With the hot water extraction process, high pressured hot water will be injected into your carpet. Next, it will be agitated and vacuumed back up through the nozzle. Another benefit of having your carpets professionally cleaned is it also reduces the amount of dirt and allergens in your homes. If you need to eliminate pesky bed bugs, or you feel the need to brighten up your house, locate a Dallas carpet cleaning company and schedule an appointment.