It’s typical for a hotel room to offer complimentary soaps, razors, toothbrushes, and on special occasions that yummy chocolate mint on the pillow. What you don’t want coming home with you after a vacation or business trip is the former hotel guest that stayed before you – the bed bug.
- Bring a flashlight with you to get a closer look at the baseboards and other nooks and crannies of your room.
- Place your luggage, bags, purses on the floor or in the bathroom. Not on the bed until you’ve finished your inspection.
- Start with the mattress. Lift up the sheet and mattress pad and direct your flashlight to the four corners of the bed.
- Check out the luggage rack and follow up with other carpeted materials surrounding the bed, including the space between the headboard and the wall.
- Bring or request a plastic bag to keep dirty clothes in and keep them separated from your clean clothes. Immediately launder clothes as bed bugs are attracted to dirt, sweat, and sloughed skin cells.
- When you return home, wipe down shoes with a wet cloth dampened with hot water.
- Vacuum out your suitcase when you are done using it and place in a dry storage area.
