Moving house with bed bugs - what precautions can I take?

Question

Whilst I can't be 100% sure, I think my current place has bed bugs. I am about to move house, so I'm wondering what precautions I can take when moving my stuff to my new house. Now I don't own a bed, nor any furniture (which probably helps as I believe they tend to live in these sorts of things) so all I will be moving are things such as clothes, books, DVDs, papers etc.

I will make sure to wash and tumble dry (where possible) all the clothes that I send to my new place. Is there anything else I can do to prevent these nasty little critters joining me at my new habitat?

Answer 1

Pesticides are no guarantee.  Plus, there are more natural ways to kill them all yourself.  High and low temperatures will kill them.  My friends who had bedbugs simply washed all their clothes, towels, and bedding in the hottest temperature possible, then double-bagged all of it in contractor bags, which they then left in their van outside for a few weeks in freezing temperatures.  It worked, after they suffered through a horrible infestation of their loft.  The hot water washing and hot dryer likely killed most of them, and bagging the bugs is supposed to suffocate them.  Finally, the freezing temperature outside finished off the ones that survived the other treatments.

There is a ton of bedbug information on the web.  The link below includes an easy checklist to get you started.

Answer 2

I am pretty sure you can buy some stuff to kill them (Wal Mart). I would even call around to see how much it cost to spray. Are you renting or buying?  If you are renting I would have the landlord pay for the spraying to be done.  If you are buying, I would call/go to Walmart and see if they have stuff for this. Good luck to you!!!

Answer 3

Put your clothes in plastic bags and seal them up for a few days...I'm not sure what their life-span is..google that...

You just have to be super careful and vigilant...

Good Luck.