Bed Bugs in my Furniture
Bed Bugs in my Furniture
Purchasing second hand furniture or furniture and other items from an antique
shop is a trendy thing to do nowadays. Some of this stuff is of good quality and
may even be worth a bit of money. We may want to add a little something
different to our home to make a particular room stand out. We are all about
being “green” now so buying something that is refurbished is actually helping
the planet out. Some of us, however, are trying to save a few bucks and may
browse through an antique shop but prefer to find a bargain at a flea market or
garage sale. We may even look for clothes at a consignment shop. What you may
not be aware of is that while you are buying an antique nightstand or dresser,
you may also be purchasing a little more than you realize, like bed bugs. They
can be hiding in anything, and can stay hidden for some time because they can go
for long periods of time without feeding on your blood. So, they next time you
go bargain hunting, be cognizant of bed bugs. They could be hibernating among
your finds, waiting for unsuspecting victims.
There are a lot of ways for bed bugs to gain entrance into your home. Your child
may have brought them back from college. Colleges all across our country are
dealing with bed bug infestations. Students come from all areas of the world and
bring with them these disgusting little creatures. It doesn’t take long for
entire dormitories to become infested with bed bugs. Other places that can be
infested with bed bugs are hotels. Bed bugs can come home with you on your
luggage, baby bags, and clothing. The next time you plan on staying at a hotel,
you should go online and check to see if any bed bugs were reported in that
hotel. A popular site is bedbugregistry.com. Also, as soon as you check into a
hotel, check out the mattresses. It is also advised that you use the metal
shelves commonly found in hotels to keep your luggage off the floor.
Bed bugs hide during the day and seek out humans or animals, like our pets, at
night for nourishment. Their nourishment is blood. How do they get our blood?
From their mouthparts, they plunge two tubes into our flesh. One contains an
anesthetic and an anticoagulant and the other is used to suck up our blood. They
typically feed for about ten minutes and can do so undetected because of the
anesthetic and anticoagulant found in their saliva, injected into you by one of
their tubes. Knowing what a bed bug looks like is essential. Bed bugs are flat,
about the size of an apple seed, and basically the same color. They don’t have
wings and their coloring may have a red tinge to it if they have recently dined.
The majority of the bed bugs in your home will be found on mattresses; close to
their blood source. They will also hide in cushy furniture, wooden furniture,
duffel bags, sleeping bags, carpeting, draperies, and in dressers. They will
seek refuge in cracks and in little holes of flooring and walls. They can be
behind wallpaper and pictures and in between pages of paperback books and
magazines. You may even be able to smell a distinct sweet odor in the air around
their hiding places. The odor is musty and undesirable.
If you do bring bed bugs into your home there are products available that will
destroy them. Diatomaceous earth is a “green” substance which effectively kills
these little vampires. Product lines containing this powerful ingredient can be
found online.
By: Bradley Skierkowski