Category Archives: Bed Bugs Vancouver

Experts recommend washing and drying clothes on hot or dry cleaning them, and keeping them sealed in bags for the duration of treatment. The dry cleaning idea brings up a problem: you must tell the dry cleaners about the bed bugs before giving them your sealed-in-a-bag clothes.

A reader asked,

Did you have problems finding dry cleaners to accept your clothes?

I personally did not, but I did not have much stuff that needed to be dry cleaned. If your things can be washed and dried on hot (until seriously, seriously dry and hot), thats probably better, cheaper, and safer.

If it cant be washed and dried but can be put in the dryer when it is already dry on hot for a shorter period of time, then this is probably also a good option. Bed bug researcher Dr. Michael Potter says dry for hot for 5 minutes, if the item is already dry, and he seems to know his stuff! But if that skeeves you out, 20 is probably even safer for many clothing items that may be thicker than a sock. If drying only does not seem clean enough to you, you can always dry in this way, then bag the item until a full dry cleaning were possible, say in a few months when the bed bugs seem to be long gone (hopefully).

Id be interested in hearing from others about their dry cleaner experiences.

I dont doubt that many people simply take the stuff in to be cleaned, and say nothing, but I think thats very dangerous. Better to take them in in a sealed bag and explain that they had been exposed to bed bugs and should be kept separate from other items until dry cleaned.

I could fully understand some dry cleaners not wanting to deal with that, but there will be others who will want your business regardless. Id expect some careless others to say sure, but if they dont much about bed bugs, they might not pay much attention to what happens. If youre lucky, they will agree and theyll care.

While were at it, wash and fold services are very popular, especially in cities like New York. I seriously dont recommend using them. The risk of transmitting the bed bugs to the business and to othersboth workers and other people via their laundryis too great.

If it seems like a good time to weed out which clothing items you can give to charity, wash, dry and bag them firstat least they wont be sitting around your house in bags for weeks.

You may also want to just throw things away, but think about it carefully; here in NYC, seeing people pick through other peoples garbage is a daily occurrence. Even if you dont see it, it happens at night, everywhere.Okay, Im off my soapbox. Anybody got dry cleaning stories to share?

Update 12/07: a word of warning. In our forums, Doug Summers wrote:

I think we need to be careful when we discuss dry cleaning. Traditional dry cleaning uses perchloroethylene or Perc instead of water. Dry cleaning used to mean a wet cleaning method that does not use water.

Some newer environmentally friendly dry cleaning methods utilize water in the process to eliminate the health issues that are associated with exposure to Perc. These methods are essentially a mechanical method using a cold water delicate wash approach. I dont know if the No Perc methods will actually kill bed bugs.

So you might want to make sure your dry cleaner uses PERC.

I think this is another reason to try and use wash/dry (drying wet items on hot until really dry and really hot) or drying dry items on hot (see above).

I also would not rely on dry cleaning or even wash/dry or dry/dry methods with thick items like pillows, comforters, and sleeping bags. It cant hurt, but I would not be very confident.

Visit link:
FAQ: dry cleaners and bed bugs - Bedbugger.com

Ants and mice are moving inside and wildlife may be looking for potential harbourage areas. Spiders are constructing egg sacs and mosquito activity is increasing. House fly activity can be expected. Commercial accounts will need to be aware of increased small fly activity. Nuisance wildlife, such as squirrels and chipmunks, will be much more noticeable.

Home Bed Bugs Identifying Bed Bugs

Since bed bugs are nocturnal and so small, detecting them can be very difficult. Signs & symptoms of a bed bug infestation can be found in bedding and on mattresses. People will sometimes roll onto bedbugs while sleeping, resulting in blood stains on the sheets. Live bed bugs will leave dark brown or black spots of dried excrement on infested surfaces after feeding and also exude a very subtle sweet, musty odour.

Bedbugs are small, flat and have oval-shaped bodies. They have six legs and two antennae. Bed bugs cannot fly and have short, golden coloured body hair that can make their bodies appear to be striped.

Adult bed bugs are reddish-brown in colour and approximately 5-6mm in length. After feeding, bed bugs can swell to upwards of 10mm and get fatter and darker in colour.

Bed bug nymphs are approximately 1-4mm in length (the size of the head of a pin) and are white or a golden colour until they feed. This light coloration acts as a camouflage and helps them hide in mattresses and carpets.

Learn more about bed bug life stages.

Our well-equipped laboratory helps Orkin Canada Technicians and our clients identify the exact species of pest in an infestation.

The Orkin Canada QA lab is well equipped with the latest in diagnostic and identification technology.

Equipment used for analytical entomology in the QA lab includes a compound microscope with digital camera. It is capable of magnifying objects up to 1000x times and capturing images at a high resolution to assist our technicians with high defined analysis (examination) of extremely small specimens.

Here are some of the thousands of photos we have in our reference library:

Top-down view of an adult bed bug

Close up photo of a bed bugs head

A single bed bug egg

A bed bug nymph

Bottom-side view of a bed bug on its back.

A bed bug after it has had a blood meal.

Images on this page have been taken with a compound microscope/digital camera in the Orkin Canada Quality Assurance laboratory. Images are property of Orkin Canada.

Schedule a Bed Bug Inspection

Want to learn more about bed bugs? Click one of the links below:

See the original post:
Identifying Bed Bugs - Orkin Canada

CTV Vancouver Published Tuesday, August 1, 2017 10:28AM PDT Last Updated Tuesday, August 1, 2017 11:05AM PDT

Waking up to itchy, red bites on your body is an experience many people are familiar with, but some cities are worse than others when it comes to the scourge of bed bugs.

Toronto tops the rest of the country when it comes to bed bug problems, according to a ranking released Tuesday by pest control company Orkin Canada, followed by Winnipeg and Vancouver.

The list was calculated based on commercial and residential bed bug treatments ordered between July 2016 and June 2017 at Orkin, which warns this could be a bumper year for the parasitic insects.

Surrey and Burnaby fared significantly better, coming in at the 20th and 21st spots on the list of the 25 worst bed bug cities.

Apart from being notoriously hard to kill, bed bugs can live for up to a year without food in the proper conditions. They are also capable of laying 10 eggs in a day.

The pests impact locals and tourists alike, and are known to hop into travellers' luggage and come home with them after a relaxing summer vacation. That's why experts recommend always performing a quick check of hotel rooms before settling in.

"Bed bugs are extremely efficient hitch hikers. They can move easily across a room and climb onto luggage or anything left on a bed in just one night," Orkin warned in a news release.

Hotel guests are advised to keep luggage elevated and check sheets for any sign of the creepy crawlies, including blood stains, dead bugs, eggs and bug exoskeletons.

After coming home, Orkin recommends putting luggage in the garage and throwing clothes in the dryer on high for 10 minutes.

The 10 worst cities in Canada for bed bugs, according to Orkin Canada, are:

Continue reading here:
Vancouver named among worst cities in Canada for bed bugs - CTV News

Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver are Canada's top cities for bedbug infestations, according to a list released by pest control company Orkin.

The data was assembled by adding up the number of commercial and residential treatments for bedbugs in those communities over the last 12 months, according to Global News.

Click on the map below for a larger image:

Bedbugs are a growing problem in many Canadian cities and contrary to their name, they don't just live in mattresses and bedding. The tiny insects can also be been spotted in library books and on public transit.

Orkin warns that the little pests are "extremely efficient hitchhikers" and may crawl into your luggage or clothing.

While they don't spread disease, bedbug bites can result in itchiness and other skin reactions. Getting rid of the pests can be a bit more complicated, involving thoroughly cleaning sleeping areas, clothing and other furniture.

All The Places You Might Find Bed Bugs

See the article here:
Canada's Top Bedbug Cities Are Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver - Huffington Post Canada

If it bugs you to be third place, then keep reading.

Vancouver is the third most populous city for bed bugs, according to a new nationwide ranking released this week. Even more overrun are Toronto and Winnipeg, which are first and second place respectively.Peterborough, Ont. was last on the list.

Other B.C. cities on the creepy-crawly list are Surrey at 20 and Burnaby at 21.

The ranking of 25 Canadian cities was released by pest-control provider Orkin Canada, based on the number of residential and commercial bed bug treatments the company performed between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017.

Bed bugs thrive in cool, dark places and, while rare, can be found on planes, trains and automobiles.

The critters could be present if you see any of these signs: dead bugs, spots of blood stains, or eggs in the crevice of folds of a mattress or sheets, any sort of soft furnishings and even framed photos.A clean room does not prevent bed bugs as two bugs can lay up to 10 eggs in a single day.

Those who are travelling are advised to keep their luggage elevated and away from linens and fabrics. If you suspect your luggage may have been carrying bed bugs following a trip, put all the clothing in the dryer at the highest appropriate temperature as heat is the only way to kill the bugs.

Read the rest here:
Vancouver places third for bed bugs in nationwide ranking - The Province