Tag Archives: nature

Preparing for Pest Professionals – When Doing It Yourself Isn’t Enough

I’ve been through the whole Bed Bug business, so I’d like to consider myself a pro at handling this. So far, I’ve talked about how you can identify if you have bed bugs, Cleaning after finding bed bugs, how you can get rid of them on your own, and today I’m going to talk about how you get ready for Pest Control if, in the end, you decide that you need a professional.

Bed Bugs-Preparing for Pest Professionals

I’m going to be honest with you right up front, it isn’t easy. In some ways, you may think that you would have rather just handled everything on your own, but I assure you that having the professionals in was the RIGHT decision, and if you can afford it, I would absolutely recommend the same for you.

How to Prep for Bed Bug Pest Control

  1. Wash everything. Literally. You will need to go through and wash everything that can be washed in the rooms where you’ve seen the bed bugs. This means emptying out every drawer and your entire close. Even if you THINK that there aren’t any bed bugs lurking in your clothes, don’t take the risk, just wash everything.
  2. Remove all bedding, including mattress pads and the gauze underneath the box springs. Bed bugs LOVE holing up behind the mesh. Wash all of the bedding and the mattress pad, toss the gauze out.
  3. Remind yourself that everything must be washed in HOT HOT water and then dried in HOT heat for at least 30 minutes (I personally go longer).
  4. Store clean laundry in an airtight container. Once you’ve completed a load of laundry, you will NOT want to put it back in your drawers / closet until after pest control finishes. You need to place it in an airtight bag, but those vacuum bags are expensive. We did a little research and determined that the large black contractor bags (these worked best for us, Husky Contractor bags), twisted closed and then sealed with a zip tie are JUST as effective and much less.
  5. Remove all of the face plates on outlets and light switch covers. If you’re wondering why, it’s because Bed Bugs can lurk within walls and enter and exit via this face plates. They’re pretty simple to remove, so just do it!
  6. Place all of the furniture in your rooms in the center of each room. Pest control will need to get behind and around them so that they can treat the edges of the room. I recommend getting slippy furniture movers, they make them both for hardwood and for carpeted floors. For hard wood and for carpet (affiliate links).
  7. If you live in an apartment, insist that your landlord have all apartments checked for Bed Bugs. <A little secret, our landlord refuses to force the tenants below us to have their place inspected. She said she’d let them know we have had them, but will not force them to have a person come in and look. So frustrating!!!>
  8. Finally, remind yourself that no matter the hassle of prepping for pest control, it is worth it, if you can once and for all, get rid of the Bed Bugs.

Going through the whole experience (now, twice) has been difficult, but I have learned a lot and am hopeful that I can impart some of this knowledge onto you.

If you’d like to read my other posts on the subject matter of Bed Bugs, you can read them here.

How to Choose a Pest Control Company – a fantastic article, that is very handy to have around, should you ever need to hire pest control.

Your turn!

If you’ve gone through an ordeal like this before, how did YOU prepare?

Have you had to do as much as we did? More? Less? Share in the comments below!

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Weekly Wishes – Nature

It’s Weekly Wishes – Nature time!

Weekly Wishes is a link-up started by Melyssa from The Nectar Collective. It is a place where you can post and share you wishes and goals for the week ahead on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, etc and then link it up on Melyssa’s blog. I LOVE doing this because it holds me accountable for the week ahead. I’ve shared my goals with the world (through my blog) and I know people will read and wonder whether I stuck to my goals. It definitely keeps me honest!

Is it seriously Monday already? I swear that I had just been joyous that Friday had ended and was on my way home from work. Guess the busy days cause that to happen, huh?

Either way, we had the best weekend! Saturday was full of us bumming around, to almost every store you can think of, getting all of our last minute shopping out of the way, and then grabbing (a not so healthy) lunch at Tully’s. If you’ve never been, you should go, their chicken fingers are AH-mazing. Anyhow, back to our weekend, Emmett was so good while we went in and out of one store after another. I really anticipated him melting down because he had to get in and out of his car seat and didn’t get the chance to get down and run around, but nope, he was so good! Love that lil bugger!

Sunday was almost as equally busy. Seamus had to run an errand in the morning, so Emmett and I spent time playing and being complete goofballs together. When Seamus got home, I showered and we all went out for lunch, then grocery shopping and ran a few other errands. I am seriously enjoying this Christmas season, but I will admit that I am looking forward to a weekend of not running around or possibly not even leaving the house. That sounds lovely! 😉

weekly-wishes-natureThis week’s theme for Weekly Wishes is Nature. My picture doesn’t directly  reflect nature, but it was taken while Emmett and I were out playing in the snow (that has now melted away 🙁 ) last weekend. Emmett wasn’t thrilled with being in the snow, he actually got quite upset (you can see pictures here), but I’ll keep trying. I am snow lover (except to drive in it, then I’m a nervous wreck) and I really would love to share that opinion with my favorite boy.

Now, down to business! Last week’s wishes…

My first wish from last week was to fill in my editorial calendar. Ugh! I hate reporting failures, but I just could not find the time to do this. The only day I had time was Thursday, and I really wanted to take that day away from the blog, I always seem more refreshed and motivated when I take a day away. It is what it is, life is busy right now, I’m not going to get down on myself about it.

Next was to ensure that I really spent time absorbing the Christmas season with Emmett. I did this as much as possible! Work is busy, and I’m really stressed out about it, so trying to pull myself back to family time, once I’m home, is tough. But I did force myself to do so, and felt great about it!

My final wish was to finish Christmas shopping and begin wrapping. COMPLETE! We finished shopping this weekend, and while I may get a few more odds and ends for the heck of it, we are done. Seamus has off today, so he’ll begin wrapping this afternoon. I couldn’t be happier!

This week’s wishes…

  • Spend time being with my family, this Christmas week. Next time I am here, Christmas will be over and I really want to report that we had a full and loving holiday.

That’s it, that is my ONLY wish. I’m taking it easy on myself this week, so that I can not stress about anything at home and just be happy and in love.

Alright that’s it, my loves! Be sure to stop on over to The Nectar Collective and link-up with Melyssa’s Weekly Wishes.

The Nectar Collective

 

Your turn!

What are you exciting plans for this holiday week?

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