Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jul 25, 2017 7:07:36 GMT -5
I have never had any issues with bed bugs in a hotel. It sounds like you're staying in places where they don't clean the rooms often enough, which is where bed bugs can become an issue. Sounds like you stayed in some cheap places where they cut corners to keep expenses down. This. I never stay below a 3 star hotel for this very reason. Luckily, I can afford it. But even the best chains can have them. When I travel for work, I stay in a Hilton hotel if one is available, which is like 90% of the time..
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Jul 25, 2017 8:59:40 GMT -5
Before I book a hotel or motel, I read the reviews from former guests. If there is any mention of bugs, I will book in another place. However, I always check the sheets and mattress to look for telltale signs of bed bugs before I unpack. This. I also don't stay at Super 8 kind of hotels. I would freak the F out if there were bugs in a hotel I was staying in.
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Jul 25, 2017 9:00:22 GMT -5
I have never had any issues with bed bugs in a hotel. It sounds like you're staying in places where they don't clean the rooms often enough, which is where bed bugs can become an issue. Sounds like you stayed in some cheap places where they cut corners to keep expenses down. This. I never stay below a 3 star hotel for this very reason. Luckily, I can afford it. But even the best chains can have them. When I travel for work, I stay in a Hilton hotel if one is available, which is like 90% of the time.. This also.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jul 25, 2017 9:06:36 GMT -5
It happens. My brother worked for a motel down the mountain from another place that wasn't very clean. That place had bed bugs.
One night a couple came to his motel and wanted a room. They told my brother they had just been up at that particular hotel and the bed bugs were so bad they had to leave.
He refused to give them a room. They got REALLY pissed off abotu it but his manager backed him up because they didn't want bed bugs being brought into the motel.
If they hadn't told my brother where they were coming from he would have given them a room without a thought. Then all the bugs that hitched a free ride in their luggage would have a brand new home.
Once they are in it is almost impossible to get rid of them. If I found out a place I stayed had bed bugs everything I owned including the suitcase would be put in plastic bags and tossed in the trash. I'd rather buy new clothes than have to burn my house down.
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Phoenix84
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Post by Phoenix84 on Jul 25, 2017 9:40:46 GMT -5
I encountered bed bugs on travel, I'd do what DRAMAQ said. I'd throw everything away in my suitecase, except for maybe a few non cloth items I knew were clean like my cell phone charger. I'd go and buy all new clothes and change even before I walked into my home, and shower the first thing. It's that serious.
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milee
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Post by milee on Jul 25, 2017 9:59:17 GMT -5
It's not always obvious that you've been exposed to or that your luggage is carrying bed bugs. Even if you're staying in a nice place, even if you check the mattress, etc, if the bugs just arrived from the prior client, they haven't had much of a chance to create any of the telltale signs. And it's easy and common for them to crawl into luggage.
But heat kills them. Not water - they can survive being washed in the washing machine. But they don't survive the dryer.
So here's what to do if you've been traveling to multiple questionable places or if you're just worried:
- Don't bring your luggage inside your house when you get home. On the front porch/step, unpack. - Put all the clothes -clean or dirty- directly into the washing machine (don't put them into the hamper or put them down anywhere inside the house- go directly to the washing machine, do not pass Go.) The wash isn't what kills the bugs, though, this is just to get the clothes clean so you're not setting in stains or smells when you put the clothes into the Bug Killer AKA the dryer. Even if these are clothes you don't normally put in the dryer, dry them all. This is what kills the bugs. - For the remaining things that can't go in the washer/dryer, as you unload them from your luggage, wipe them completely and carefully with something wet and toxic like a Clorox wipe or cloth soaked in alcohol. As you wipe them fully, put them into a "clean" carrier to bring inside. - Put all shoes into black garbage bags. Put one pair per bag. Seal. - Put the now empty luggage (unzipped and open as possible) into a black garbage bag. Seal. - Leave the black sealed garbage bags in the sun (heats up best on concrete) for 5-6 hours. You're essentially cooking the bedbugs. The whole thing needs to get up to 140 or so for a couple of hours. If you don't live somewhere that's warm enough to heat luggage up in the sun, you can use a dryer rack and put the luggage and shoes in the dryer.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jul 25, 2017 10:07:15 GMT -5
Rukh O'Rorke - I remember her dealing with bed bugs, maybe she can offer some insight.
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Green Eyed Lady
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Post by Green Eyed Lady on Jul 25, 2017 10:18:43 GMT -5
I been totally heebee jeebeeing it for 3 days since I found a tick on my dog - 1st one ever. I can't even imagine finding bugs in my bed.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2017 10:22:37 GMT -5
My dogs used to get ticks all the time.
Cold does a good job on bed bugs up here if you're lucky enough to get them in the winter. Coworker had an infestation and they turned off the water and heat, opened the windows to the house and stayed somewhere else for a few days. All gone!
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resolution
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Post by resolution on Jul 25, 2017 10:29:29 GMT -5
We found a tick on my father-in-law's toe after we got home from our trip. But apparently it had been on his foot all the way from West Virginia and he hadn't realized it was a tick, so I can't blame the Motel 6. My mother-in-law asked me to fish it out of the trash and put it in a baggie in the freezer, so now I have a tick in the freezer that I am waiting for them to come pick up.
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Artemis Windsong
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Jul 25, 2017 10:41:44 GMT -5
One hotel chain uses super heat in their rooms.
DS was in motel in oil rig country. One time, last time. They threw everything away before they got home.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Jul 25, 2017 11:07:24 GMT -5
Rukh O'Rorke - I remember her dealing with bed bugs, maybe she can offer some insight. I got rid of them with salt and vinegar. I'm very anti-pesticide, so did a lot of research. Luckily, pesticides aren't that effective for them anyway so was better to go natural but they are so heinous I may have caved if I hadn't read about people doing 3 and 4 treatments and still having trouble. DDs room was the epicenter, some extra sleepover guests stayed. We threw out DDs matress and she actually abandon her room for 6 months or so. We got the expensive covers for all mattresses. I scrubbed out the bed frames with vinegar, spayed and soaked it good then wiped down. Made sure that no bedding touched the floor, I mounded salt by each bed leg, Like a huge mound. the floors were dusted with salt and I left it there for months. Maybe a year for the mounds - I think I read that they can live a year without blood, so that may have been it? After it seemed "safer" I took up the salt dusting and just left the mounds by the legs. If I woke up and any bedding was touching the floor, I stripped the bed, and scrubbed again. I checked the salt frequently to be sure it was still intact. In DDs room, after throwing out the mattress I covered the floor in salt more thickly cuz that is where they were mostly. We caught it before it spread too much thankfully. I saw one in my room once before I knew what it was, DS never got any. I only salted the 2nd floor. they never got downstairs. We have hardwood floors. so that may help too. I took apart all the dressers, etc. and sprayed down with vinegar, washed all the clothes in them, etc. A lot of laundry. This was about 10 years ago? I can't remember. But the salt works to dehydrate them, so with the salt on the floor they are getting dehydrate as they walk around.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jul 25, 2017 11:50:59 GMT -5
I still vote for burning all the luggage. There is no way I could deal with those things. I make DH take care of the girls when they have lice and lice aren't nearly as bad as bed bugs. Just the idea of them in my house makes me want to look for a box of matches.
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kittensaver
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Post by kittensaver on Jul 25, 2017 12:40:35 GMT -5
FWIW, you can make and carry your own bed bug spray. If you have chemical "issues" like me and need to avoid the toxins in the commercial sprays, I've found this one to work very well:
Fill a small glass or plastic spray bottle (4-6 oz.) with half alcohol (the rubbing kind or even cheap vodka) and half water - up to the point where the shoulders of the bottle meet the neck. Then add essential oils: 25 drops of eucalyptus, 10 drops of rosemary and 10 drops of clove. Some people also use cinnamon oil but it's too strong for me. Make sure to label your bottle so you don't wonder weeks or months from now what it is! Shake well before each use.
When we're staying at hotels/motels, I wrap two bottles of this mixture (I use glass) in bubble wrap and tuck them into my luggage. Call me crazy, but when staying in a strange place I immediately spray all the edges of the mattress (even if I don't see anything) and all the baseboards in the room.
Call me crazy but we've never in 34 years of traveling together had a bed bug problem.
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MJ2.0
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Joined: Jul 24, 2014 10:27:09 GMT -5
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Post by MJ2.0 on Jul 25, 2017 14:27:17 GMT -5
FWIW, you can make and carry your own bed bug spray. If you have chemical "issues" like me and need to avoid the toxins in the commercial sprays, I've found this one to work very well:
Fill a small glass or plastic spray bottle (4-6 oz.) with half alcohol (the rubbing kind or even cheap vodka) and half water - up to the point where the shoulders of the bottle meet the neck. Then add essential oils: 25 drops of eucalyptus, 10 drops of rosemary and 10 drops of clove. Some people also use cinnamon oil but it's too strong for me. Make sure to label your bottle so you don't wonder weeks or months from now what it is! Shake well before each use.
When we're staying at hotels/motels, I wrap two bottles of this mixture (I use glass) in bubble wrap and tuck them into my luggage. Call me crazy, but when staying in a strange place I immediately spray all the edges of the mattress (even if I don't see anything) and all the baseboards in the room.
Call me crazy but we've never in 34 years of traveling together had a bed bug problem. OMG, LORI (LA)!!!!
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