Help ! I brought bedbugs home from my hotel room ! (cruise, hotels, luggage)

[PhxBarb]

At least I think its bedbugs. I keep getting bitten at night and in the morning the bites are red and itchy. I was in Chicago for a few days and I think I brought them home with me from the hotel, in my luggage or clothes. Anyone else have this problem before? How do you get rid of the little buggers? I understand I might have a real struggle on my hands, but I can't blame the hotel cause I was fine while I was there.

[gold*dust1]

ARRGG I feel your pain. I hope someone in the know can tell you what to do. I suppose I would be googling for all information. This is always in the back of my mind when traveling. I've heard people have gotten infested from moving trucks as well. IDK maybe you have a case against the hotel if you can prove they are infested...call Dateline!

[DotLib]

You can buy diys insecticides on the market to get rid of bedbugs, or you can call an exterminator. You have to wash all of your clothes..some say dry cleaning is the way to go..I know a lot of people that cruise and travel a lot bring dryer sheets to put between the sheets of their mattress..seems they dont like this. There was also a thread on CruiseCritic about people taking black lights with them to see the critters!

I know they say once the lights are out, they come crawling out of cracks and around baseboards, so you have to pay particular attention to spraying these areas. I have seen some nasty pictures of what bedbugs do, but luckily, I have never encountered this problem. Good luck! Dot

[j_k_k]

You could always catch them, put them in a plastic jar and mail them back to the hotel. "Sorry, but some of your property accidentally infested my luggage, and I wanted to make sure you got it back okay."

I once moved into an apartment and soon discovered it was very badly flea-infested. Landlady was off in India (too bad she couldn't arrange to drown in the Ganges; I'd have gladly helped her) and didn't get back for two weeks. She came down after she returned and saw my letter, dismissively saying, "I don't think there are any fleas in here; I think that's just baloney." Oh, how I had her. "Then what the F do you suppose these are?" I asked, pointing to a plate. You see, my philosophy is that if nothing else, every flea you catch and kill is one less. You can't throw them on water (they hop out), but you can throw them on oil and they do not escape. The plate of Wesson oil probably had a hundred dead fleas in it. She turned about the same shade I am, and said, "I'll have the exterminator come bomb it tomorrow."

[nwcountrygal]

When reading the entry/exit requirements for US to Canada one of the requirements is no second hand mattress. They say you need if bring one up a fumigation report for such an item... so there must be a way of doing this. However never heard of ..... was a partner/owner in a Pest control company and say yes you will have to do your clothes, dry cleaning sounds good and at least room to remove this issue......

[VegasGrace]

Hate it happened to you as this is my biggest fear.

When we travel we NEVER place our luggage on the beds, floor- anywhere but the top rack of the closet. All clothing is hung-even undies. I bring a flashlight and before getting in the bed at night I turn off the lights and turn the light on to inspect the seams of the mattress.

So far, so good. I'm really dreading the upcoming Disney trip as 10 days calls for alot of clothing and luggage.

[albion]

I was in Ocean City Maryland when I overheard a guy say that he used a freeze spray on his bed to get rid of bedbugs.
He said that it had worked.

[VegasGrace]

ohhhh, I miss Ocean City. Am thinking about going back in about 2 weeks.

Freeze spray would work for sure.

[moved]

If you're planning a trip, check out the bedbug registry at Bedbug Registry - Check Apartments and Hotels Across North America.

[mgt04]

A bed bug infestation was brought into a department at my work place. Some guy's daughter contracted it in college and he inadvertantly brought it to work where it spread. The company took 3 months to get rid of it. They competely quarantined the department and destroyed everything there. Apparently the cubicle dividers worked as a highway system for the bugs going from cubicle to cubicle. They kept fogging the area and spraying every couple of weeks using a beagle to see if any bed bugs remained (apparently some beagles are trained to find them). As I said before it took them 3 months to get rid of it completely.

You can read up online about getting rid of them. However doing it right and quick if you have the money, I say hire a professional.