Bed Bug Treatment in Upper Marlboro, MD

How do I know whether I have bed bugs in an apartment?

Confirm the insect or its signs before assuming it is bed bugs. Shed skins, dark spots in the seams and live insects in the mattress are the strongest evidence. Bites alone are not enough, because many other things cause similar marks.

The mattress is the first place to look, particularly the seams along the edges and the tag area. A flashlight and a thin card can show dark spots and casings without lifting the whole bed, and the technician uses the same method during the inspection.

The bed frame, headboard and the cracks around the bed are the next places. Shed skins and fecal spots are often found along the join of a frame or in the gap behind a headboard, rather than on the open surface of the bed.

If you find signs, do not move items from one room to another. Carrying a bag or a piece of furniture can spread the insects, and the technician asks the occupant to leave things where they are until the visit.

What preparation makes bed bug treatment work?

Clearing the room, washing and drying bedding on a high setting, and moving items away from the walls are the preparation steps that let the treatment reach the hiding places. Without them, the treatment has to work around clutter, and the insects keep the places the technician cannot reach.

Bedding, curtains and clothing should be bagged, sealed and washed in hot water, then dried on a high setting. Items that cannot be washed should be stored in sealed bags until the technician has looked at them.

Furniture should be pulled away from the walls, and the clutter under the bed and on the floor removed. Open shelves and boxes give insects more places to hide, and they make the inspection slower and less complete.

Ask the technician for a written list before the visit. A list that names each step, and says what is needed for a single room and what is needed for the whole unit, saves a repeat visit.

• Bag and wash bedding and curtains in hot water, then dry on high
• Pull furniture away from walls and clear the floor
• Seal clothing and fabric items until the technician has looked
• Do not move items from one room to another

Why does a bed bug problem sometimes take more than one visit?

Bed bugs hide in many places and their eggs can take time to hatch. A visit treats what is found on the day, and a return visit checks for the insects and eggs that were missed or that appeared afterward, so one visit is rarely the whole job.

The hiding places are spread out. A mattress, a frame, a sofa and a nightstand can each hold a population, and a visit that finds signs in four places may miss a fifth. The inspection notes what could not be reached, so the next visit can look there.

Eggs and young insects are harder to see than adults. They can hatch after a treatment, which is why the plan includes a check on a set date rather than an assumption that the work is finished.

The return visit shows whether the signs are falling. If new signs appear in a room that was treated, the plan looks at whether an untreated item has come in, or whether the insects have moved from a neighboring unit.