08-20-2011, 09:55 AM
Hello,
I have flown about 500 times in the last 5 years and have stayed at too many hotels to count, and I've never been bitten by a bedbug. I'm sure that luck has something to do with it, but so does common sense. First off, pull the mattress away from the box spring and look for bedbug "dirt" (feces, looks like dried blood). Also look for bedbugs themselves. At their largest, they are the size of an apple seed. If you see any of the above, stay at another hotel.
More and more hotels are outfitting their mattresses or box springs with a thin fabric cover that is impregnated with pyrethrin. Pyrethrin has been used successfully for decades on mosquito netting. Pyrethrin is a natural insecticide extracted from Chrysanthemum flowers and is "considered" harmless to humans. If you see a thin material cover on either the mattress or the box spring it could mean that either there has been a bedbug infestation in the hotel OR they are very proactive. The covers last for a few years so it's cheap insurance.
One person in my office travels only with a fabric duffel bag as luggage. When she gets home from a trip she leaves her stuff outside until it can go directly into the washer and then the dryer, which will kill anything. The duffel bag is then washed/dried/sanitized before being used again.
Do all of the above, and you still risk getting bed bugs anytime you use public transit, go to a movie theater, or exist anywhere that other humans congregate.
I practice common sense while traveling, but I know I'm not going to be immune forever. I am allergic to practically every type of insect bite or sting, so I travel with a tube of hydrocortisone so I can medicate bites if I get them.
Some of the more paranoid actually travel with a pyrethrin-impregnated mattress cover and apply it to every bed they sleep on.
I have flown about 500 times in the last 5 years and have stayed at too many hotels to count, and I've never been bitten by a bedbug. I'm sure that luck has something to do with it, but so does common sense. First off, pull the mattress away from the box spring and look for bedbug "dirt" (feces, looks like dried blood). Also look for bedbugs themselves. At their largest, they are the size of an apple seed. If you see any of the above, stay at another hotel.
More and more hotels are outfitting their mattresses or box springs with a thin fabric cover that is impregnated with pyrethrin. Pyrethrin has been used successfully for decades on mosquito netting. Pyrethrin is a natural insecticide extracted from Chrysanthemum flowers and is "considered" harmless to humans. If you see a thin material cover on either the mattress or the box spring it could mean that either there has been a bedbug infestation in the hotel OR they are very proactive. The covers last for a few years so it's cheap insurance.
One person in my office travels only with a fabric duffel bag as luggage. When she gets home from a trip she leaves her stuff outside until it can go directly into the washer and then the dryer, which will kill anything. The duffel bag is then washed/dried/sanitized before being used again.
Do all of the above, and you still risk getting bed bugs anytime you use public transit, go to a movie theater, or exist anywhere that other humans congregate.
I practice common sense while traveling, but I know I'm not going to be immune forever. I am allergic to practically every type of insect bite or sting, so I travel with a tube of hydrocortisone so I can medicate bites if I get them.
Some of the more paranoid actually travel with a pyrethrin-impregnated mattress cover and apply it to every bed they sleep on.