The more you know about bedbugs, the easier it is to avoid them. Did you know that these pesky critters, as well as ticks and mosquitos, find their prey by detecting the carbon dioxide they exhale? If you didn’t, you do now.
Researchers proved this theory by leaving a block of dry ice, essentially frozen carbon dioxide, in the forest for about two hours. When they inspected the area afterward, the blood-thirsty insects had surrounded the area where the chunk was. The carbon dioxide emission attracted the bugs without there actually being a living creature present. This experiment shows why bedbugs are so attracted to beds. Humans are lying still and breathing, therefore, emitting carbon dioxide all night. It’s essentially a five-star restaurant for bedbugs.
This experiment also indicates why bedbugs love dirty laundry.
Dirty Laundry Experiment
In another experiment, scientists placed four tote bags containing clothing in two variable-controlled rooms. Two of the bags had dirty clothes and two had clean clothes. They were both in the presence of bedbugs. At the end of the experiment, it was discovered that the bedbugs were twice as attracted to the bag with soiled clothes over the bag with clean clothes. This experiment further suggests that when a living, breathing being is not around, bedbugs can still detect their presence via their odor or carbon dioxide emissions. The research indicates that dirty laundry will attract bedbugs.
What You Can Do to Avoid Bedbugs in Your Laundry
The more you know about bedbugs’ habits, the easier it is to avoid them. That being said, if you are in a space you are unfamiliar with or you may suspect has an infestation, do not leave your dirty belongings:
- in an open suitcase
- on the floor
- on the bed
- on other furniture
It’s important to keep clothing, especially dirty laundry, in a sealed bag. If you want to take extra precautions keep your clothes in a zippered-up, airtight plastic bag in your sealed suitcase or duffle bag. Keeping your clothing concealed will help mask the human smell that bedbugs love.
Luggage Racks
Another solution is putting your bags on metal luggage racks in hotel rooms. Bedbugs are unable to climb up smooth surfaces like the metal poles in these racks. Even if you’re staying in a five-star hotel, it’s a fantastic idea to ensure your dirty laundry is not accessible to potential predators. This will help you not bring any bedbugs home with you and reduce the possibility of an infestation in your home.
Hitchhikers vs Travelers
Another fact to note about bed bugs is that they are not travelers. They can’t fly, they don’t move very fast and they’re nocturnal. They don’t stay on their hosts for a long period of time and they often don’t leave their habitats unless they’re feeding. Even though bedbugs don’t necessarily travel, they do their own miniature form of hitchhiking. As you know by now, it’s been proven that bedbugs are attracted to our clothes due to our smell and the emission of carbon dioxide. This attraction indicates how bedbugs have made it from place to place. For example, from someone’s house to their workspace or from someone’s hotel room onto an airplane. Often, they burrow their way into our luggage without us knowing. This proven theory also helps us understand how these pesky critters have managed to re-emerge on a global scale after nearly being eradicated in the 1940s. They’ve been hanging onto us without us even noticing.
Laundry
A final tip for making sure you don’t bring bedbugs home as a souvenir on your next vacation is to find a laundry service before heading home. Whether it’s available at your hotel or you have to go to a laundromat, it’s a great idea to ensure you don’t have any hitchhikers. The heat on the average dryer will likely eradicate the presence of any bed bugs. Even if you don’t have bedbugs there’s nothing wrong with coming home with a suitcase of clean clothes!
If you’ve taken all of these steps and still find yourself with itchy red bumps or tiny, apple seed shaped black bugs crawling around your home at night, don’t worry. Contact Bed Bug Exterminator Pro today for affordable bed bug heat treatment. We’ll eliminate all of your bedbugs in just one visit with a money back guarantee. You won’t even need to remove your clothing or furniture. Until scientists find a way to prevent bedbugs from being attracted to our smell, give us a call at (416) 566–4079 or 1(855) 576-9558.
