Discovering bed bugs in your hotel room is bad enough. Yet, if you are not careful, you might find that they too decide to take a vacation – to your house.
If you stay in a place with a bed bug problem, it stands to reason that the critters might get into your belongings and travel back with you.
Here are some tips to decrease the chance of you getting unwanted guests:
Don’t open your suitcase on your bed
Most hotels of a certain standard provide luggage racks to place your bags on. They serve two purposes. First, they stop you from dirtying the bed sheets with the dirt and dust that your luggage picks up on the journey. Second, it reduces the chance that bed bugs get inside your luggage.
As the name suggests, you are most likely to find bed bugs in your bed. Emptying the contents of your case onto your bed makes it easy for the bugs to hop onto your clothes and hitch a ride home.
Keep luggage close to the door if there is no rack
If you need to keep your suitcase on the floor, the draft that comes in when you open the door makes it less attractive to bed bugs. So try to park your cases there rather than in a more sheltered spot.
Throw everything straight into the washing machine when you arrive home
Emptying the contents of your case into the machine and running it through a hot wash should kill any bed bugs that did arrive home with you. Check the instructions on your clothes to make sure they can cope with a hot wash first.
If bed bugs make it into your home, you may be entitled to claim compensation. Seek legal help to understand more.