BED BUG GUIDE: HOW TO IDENTIFY, PREVENT & GET RID OF BED BUGS

Bed bugs are stealthy and unsettling pests. These tiny hitchhikers sneak into homes unnoticed, hiding in luggage, clothing, or furniture. Once inside, they make themselves at home in the most personal of places—your bed—emerging at night to feed on your blood while you sleep.

Since not everyone reacts to their bites, bed bug infestations can go undetected for weeks or even months, giving them time to quickly multiply. The result? Itchy welts, sleepless nights, chronic stress, and a lingering sense of anxiety in the very space that’s supposed to bring comfort and rest.

When it comes to bed bug control, prevention is key. If you suspect an infestation (you can get bites and not find bed bugs) or know you have one (you have seen live bugs), it’s important that you take immediate action to address the situation. 

This blog post is focused on sharing professional information, tips and advice for:

• How to identify bed bugs
• How to prevent bed bugs
• How to get rid of bed bugs

What Do Bed Bugs Look Like?

Bed bugs look different at various stages of their life cycle.

Their general appearance can be characterized by:

• Mahogany-brown colouring, which changes to reddish-brown post feeding.
• Oval shaped and flat (if they have fed, they are swollen/rounder).
• 6 legs
• 2 antennae
• Wing pads (they don’t have developed wings and cannot fly).
• Their size ranges from smaller than a sesame seed to the size of an apple seed.
• First stage nymphs are larger than a pin head but smaller than a sesame seed.
• Second stage nymphs are the size of a sesame seed.
• Adult bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed.
• Bed bug eggs are the size of a pinhead and are white. If they are older than 5 days you may be able to see a black dot in them.

Bed bugs go through 7 stages in their lifecycle: egg, first stage nymph, second stage nymph, third stage nymph, fourth stage nymph, fifth stage nymph, and adult.

Bed bugs in the first to fifth nymph stages are considered immature bed bugs. They look like adult bed bugs, only smaller in size, and with lighter colouring. Upon hatching, first stage nymphs have a translucent pale-yellow colouring. They can be very hard to see with the naked eye. Second stage to fifth stage nymphs have a yellow-brownish colour that darkens with ongoing molting. Post feeding at the various nymph stages, these bugs take on a reddish-brown colouring.

Bed Bug Infestation Signs

Here are common signs that you have bed bugs:

• Seeing live bed bugs or eggs on/in/under your mattress, boxspring, bedding, furniture, walls, baseboards, etc.
• Finding shed bed bug skins.
• Tiny dark spots (fecal stains) on sheets and mattresses.
• Having red itchy bumps, often in a linear pattern. on exposed skin. The most common places they feed are your arms, neck & face (as they are drawn to carbon dioxide exhaled while spleeping), and to a lesser extent, your ankles and feet). 

It is possible to be bitten by bed bugs and not find them in the early stages of an infestation. There are also many other insects that can bite and leave similar itchy marks (like fleas, spiders & mosquitoes). Without seeing the actual bug and doing a proper identification, confirming that bed bugs are the real issue just by having bites is challenging.

How to Prevent Bed Bugs

We know we say this all the time, but the best way to get rid of a pest is to prevent it in the first place. There are many things you can do to help prevent bug bugs coming home with you.

1. Be Aware When Out & About in Everyday Life

Bed bugs are literally everywhere, so be mindful of that in your everyday life. Office buildings, public transport, libraries, schools, doctor offices, community centres, grocery stores, restaurants, and even movie theatres, can all be breeding grounds and nesting sites for bed bugs. To reduce the risk:

• Inspect and wash your outerwear, including bags and backpacks regularly. 
• Do not put clothing you wear out and about back in your dresser or closet to re-wear at a later date.
• Avoid using coat checks, and wherever possible, do not put your coat on other’s beds or couches.
• Check library books and used books for signs of infestation before bringing them home.
• Check boxes before you bring them into the house. Cardboard boxes are a common way unwanted pests (like bed bugs and cockroaches) get inside homes. 

2. Be Cautious When Traveling

Hotels, motels, B&Bs, and resorts can have bed bug infestations, even 5-star ones. To reduce the risk:

• Inspect hotel rooms before unpacking, checking mattresses, headboards, and furniture for signs of bed bugs.
• Keep your clothing stored in your luggage, and keep your luggage zipped up tight.
• Keep luggage off the floor and away from beds. Storing these in the tub is the best way to prevent bed bugs.
• Avoid putting your clothing on the bedding or floor of your hotel room.
• Store your used or dirty clothing in a plastic bag you can seal tight.
• Upon returning home, toss all your travel clothing and bags in the dryer and run for an hour on high heat. It’s also important to vacuum out suitcases in case any bed bugs decided to hitch a ride home with you.

3. Inspect Second-Hand Furniture

Used furniture, particularly mattresses, couches, and upholstered chairs, can harbour bed bugs. Before bringing any second-hand items into your home, follow these core tips:

• Avoid picking up discarded furniture from curbs or unknown sources. This is important because some people think they need to throw out their mattresses and furniture if they are infested bed bugs. This is a myth, and often only makes the issue worse by spreading it around their home (other rooms and floors are exposed to bugs while they carry these items out).
• Before bringing any used furniture inside:
• Examine seams, crevices, and cracks for bed bugs or their eggs.
• Clean & sanitize these items. If possible, use a steam cleaner.

4. Maintain a Clutter-Free Home

Bed bugs thrive in clutter, as it provides hiding places. Help reduce their chances of settling in by following these tips:

• Declutter regularly.
• Avoid keeping cardboard boxes.
• Vacuum thoroughly every week.
• Use protective covers on mattresses and box springs.
• Seal cracks in walls and floors to minimize hiding spots.

How to Treat a Bed Bug Infestation

We've shared 3 important steps for treating bed bugs, which will help give you peace of mind that the situation is under control and you can get back to sleeping easy again in your bed.

1. Don’t Panic – Take a Deep Breath

We know – easier said than done, but it really is very important to try to remain calm. Having bed bugs can wreak havoc on a persons’ mental and emotional well-being. There are a lot of feelings that people experience. Some of the most common being not feeling safe and comfortable in their homes, feeling helpless, wanting to self-isolate out of fear of people thinking they are ‘dirty’, or that they have bugs on them and will spread them to others. 

We want to stress at this point that bed bugs DO NOT live on human skin. They prefer and want to live in your bed as close as possible to where their food is. They may attach themselves to your clothing if you have been sitting or lying a long time in a place where they have nested so that they can easily feed on you and then return to their nesting area. Bed bugs do move slowly so there is a chance you could find an immature bed bug on your pyjamas when you wake up in the morning.  If you are dealing with a severe infestation, where bedbugs have fully taken over your home, there is a chance that you could have bed bugs on your clothes. Most bed bug cases in homes are low to medium level infestations, so this is not likely. BTW - we’re not sharing this information to scare you – this section is all about not panicking. We are sharing this information to help educate you on what can happen - knowledge is power!

If you find yourself face-to-face with bed bugs or suspect you have them, it is very important that you DO NOT panic and do these things. These can make the situation worse by causing the bed bugs to scatter and hide or move to other rooms or floors:

• DO NOT move your bed or bedroom furniture out of your room or throw it out.
• DO NOT stop sleeping in rooms with bed bugs.
• DO NOT rip up carpeting or tear off baseboards or put holes in the walls.

2. Carefully Clean & Isolate Affected Areas

Whether you’re worried you have bed bugs or know you have them (you can see them), these are the next best steps to take:

• Gather all infested or potentially infested items (bedding, clothing, linens, etc.) into plastic garbage bags and tie them securely. Be sure to avoid touching these items to the clothing you are wearing as you could end up getting live bugs or eggs on your clothing. 
• The reason we recommend using garbage bags is two-fold. This will help you contain infested items and minimize accidental spreading of bugs. Smooth plastic surfaces are not preferred by bed bugs because they cannot climb on them very well, so they often avoid them.
• Check out our How To Use Garbage Bags for Bed Bugs blog post. It is filled with lots of professional advice and tips so that you can effectively use garbage bags to contain and help get rid of bed bugs.
• Now that your items are contained, you can move them to your laundry area and run them through the dryer on high heat for 60 minutes. Do not open the bags until it is their time to go into the dryer.
• Washing these items first is not needed (even if they are dirty), as high heat will kill bed bugs. 
• Also, when you dry wet items, the dryer may not get hot enough to kill any live bed bugs that may be on the items, so it is best to use the dryer first to ensure that you kill any live bugs and eggs. You can then run any dirty items through the washer and then the dryer again after.
• If your washing machine has a ‘very hot’ or ‘sanitation’ wash setting, running dirty items through this cycle can effectively kill bed bugs, so that it is an option to consider if you have dirty clothes with stains that will set or ruin clothing if they are put only through the dryer, and not washed first. 
• Vacuum mattresses, carpets, baseboards and furniture thoroughly and dispose of the vacuum bag or canister contents immediately into a sealable plastic bag, preferably outside your home.
• Clean and disinfect your vacuum cleaner, as live bed bugs could remain inside tubes, hoses and connection points.  

3. Get Professional Help From a Licensed Bed Bug Control Expert.

Professional help is always needed to eliminate bed bugs. Bed bugs do not go away on their own. 

These pests have two purposes – to feed and to breed. So, the longer these bugs remain in your home, the quicker their populations will grow, and get out of control. 

There are lots of different bed bug treatment options out there. A licensed pest control expert who understands bed bugs, will be able to devise the best treatment plan for your situation. We’re often asked how many treatments it takes to get rid of them. Getting rid of bed bugs can take 2-4 treatments, but it could be less, and it could be more. It really depends on the type of treatment being done, the level of infestation, the quality of the preparation done in advance by the homeowner, and if the original source of the bed bugs is known (as they can be reintroduced during treatment).

When finding the right pest control company to help, look for a professional who is reputable, licensed, and experienced in bed bug control and bed bug extermination. Eliminating bed bugs is costly, so be cautious of ‘too good to be true’ deals or promises of full bed bug extermination in a single treatment. 

Preparation is also very important. It enables a bed bug exterminator to be more effective in treatment. Be sure to follow all preparation info you are given. If you are not given any, ask!  This could be a sign that you are not working with a credible bed bug control expert.

Get Peace of Mind with Expert Bed Bug Control

Bed bug infestations can be stressful and overwhelming, but with proper identification, preventive measures, and prompt treatment from a real expert, you can protect your home, mental health, and get a good night’s rest.

Need trusted and true bed bug pest control? Environmental Pest Control has been managing, controlling and eliminating bed bugs since 1988. We can help you sleep easy again with our safe and effective bed bug solutions. Contact us today to learn more and book service.