Brooklyn Bed Bug Registry Infestation Maps, Residential and Hotel

Click Free Pest Control Quote
to fill in a form to obtain a free pest control quote today.

Hey Suitcase,

I think the best advice I can give you is, let's take this one step at a time. Try not to worry about the long-term future just yet - try to focus on the present.

Glad to hear you're in a rental car. Will you be driving home in your car from the airport? If so, I think you should do the big "throwing out" at the airport, BEFORE getting in your car, if that is possible for you.

If you must bring things into your home, make sure they are protected. But really, I'd bring home as little stuff as possible. While the chances are that you only have a few bugs (not like, hundreds or anything) you need to imagine that they could be in anything.

But wallets, purse, shoes - don't worry about these things' long-term futures. We will deal with those once you've made the transition home. Just worry about getting home, with your stuff isolated.

I'm gonna describe what I think is your ideal scenario:

You get to the airport. You open your suitcases and take everything out. You put everything into XL ziplocs. You wrap the suitcases in garbage bags, and put them in a dumpster or garbage (I know that may be hard to find, and I wouldn't want you to just leave them where others might steal them, but perhaps there is a big garbage somewhere?) Or, worst-case, they are wrapped in garbage bags and you drive them to a dumpster.

Then, you and your family carry the bags of stuff to the car. You get home. You take your own clothes off, maybe in the garage or something, and put them right into bags too. You jump in the shower.

You empty ziplocs straight into the washer, and you seal and throw them out after use. You take drycleanables to the cleaners, in the ziplocs, and instruct them to keep the bags sealed because they may have bedbugs. (My first cleaners acted like I was a total freak, so I found a new cleaners, and they are much nicer about it).

All the other stuff, you keep sealed, at least at first. You monitor your body, you make sure you've got no new bites. Then you can start dealing with your other stuff.

No, I don't think you'll need to leave things in storage for 18 months, though it is one way to be totally sure any bugs inside are gone. But there are faster ways. You might want to inspect each item, one at a time, in the bathtub or over a white sheet. You can spray everything individually with Kleen Free - it's an enzyme cleaner that kills bedbugs on contact and shouldn't damage any of your stuff (I've sprayed leather shoes, wool coats, my own skin, etc). You can steam-clean items that are hard to see inside, like a purse (my purse has an inner liner, so it's hard to see inside there). You can stick things in the dryer, like any sneakers or canvas shoes.

But don't worry about these things right now. Just worry about keeping everything isolated, and getting yourself and your stuff home without infesting your car or your house. Then we'll deal with the stuff.

You're doing so great!! Hopefully this'll be over soon!

Read more:
How do I avoid bringing bedbugs home after being exposed ...

Click Free Exterminator Quote
to fill in a form to obtain a free exterminator quote today.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 27th, 2018 at 2:40 am and is filed under Brooklyn Bed Bugs.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.