Bed Bug Infestation Cleaning
Dry Cleaners Guide To A Bed Bug Infestation
It’s a horror story. A feeling when a bug sucks every particle of your entire body and brain in a flash of a second. Now, do you float on an event horizon and let it suck you up? Or, would someone rescue you and get you out of that dangerous spiral? That is how you feel when bed bugs hit you and your home. You keep your home clean. You teach your kids to keep everything organized. You never saw roaches or ants in your home. You feel proud of your family and yourself, but bed bugs will change all of those moments in a flash of a second. The scary thing about bed bugs is that they can stay in your home as long as human beings exist. They don’t mind a clean home. In fact, a clean home may even help them continue to sense carbon monoxide very well. You are not alone. Imagine how Macy’s and their staff felt when bed bugs hit them in New York City. What about the many hotels and theaters that were hit by bed bugs? Enough is enough! We are at war with bed bugs. Read the Dry Cleaners Guide To A Bed Bug Infestation!
Please read the following how-to guide on instructions for your home and your garments.
How to Clean Your Home After Bed Bug Infestation
You should first check your mattresses. If you see an infestation, then replace those mattresses and mattress pads with vinyl mattress covers which are sold at Target. Bed bugs cannot crawl on vinyl and this is the most important fact of all. Now, do not let your bed touch the wall. All legs on the bed need to be dipped in oil so that bed bugs cannot crawl up. Vacuum your bedrooms and the rooms in your home. Check your sofa for an infestation. If it’s summertime, then bring them to your patio or deck and bed bugs will go away in the direct heat of the sun. Now, spray your entire home with a commercial bed bug treatment spray that you can buy online for about $60.00. If you have children, then take them outside of the home for at least 3 hours. After a week, perform the spray treatment again.
You will need to clean all of your garments to avoid any risk of keeping bed bugs hanging inside the seams. Separate all garments into two categories.
Category 1: Washable Garments
Wash them in a super-wash cycle and use an extra rinse cycle. Use ammonia or vinegar in your wash as long as the clothes’ color fastness allows them. Do not damage clothes by washing them in hot temperatures. Rather, wash with the temperature that is allowed by manufacturers. Do not worry if you have to wash some garments in a cold wash. Dry at a low temperature for more than 1 hour. Remember that the majority of professionals will recommend you to dry at a very high temperature. However, doing so will damage your garments!
Category 2: Dry Cleanable Garments
Now, separate the suits, jackets, blouses, skirts, and pants that have a dry clean only label. These garments should be dry cleaned in a tetrachloroethylene-based solvent. Remember that tetrachloroethylene has a very bad reputation and is even said to be carcinogenic, but it is the most powerful solvent of all. It will not damage your garments and will kill all bed bugs, including any eggs or traces! Ask your local dry cleaners to hang your clothes after pressing them for at least 1 day before they put plastic on them. By hanging them, the majority of the solvent will evaporate.
Between 2015 and 2017, we cleaned bed bugs-infested garments for more than 5 customers successfully. We are also happy to recommend several home remedies that can help you prevent bed bugs from coming in the future.
Please call us at (703)-255-7100 or stop by Maple Cleaners at 348 Maple Ave W, Vienna, VA 22180 for more information.