!44: Where Do Bed Bugs Come From When They Infest Your Home?

!±8± Where Do Bed Bugs Come From When They Infest Your Home?

There are a nearly as many ways for these nocturnal blood suckers to infest your home as there are homes but here are some of the more common ways.

Luggage And Shipped Boxes

Because of their small size, less than 1/4", they can hide in the seams of baggage when you travel and sneak a ride home with you. Boxes shipped from an infested home can easily make your home their new habitat. College dorms are a great food source for the bugs so when your college student comes home they can unknowingly have bugs hidden in bags and boxes. If you rent to a new roommate, the bugs can come along in boxes, bags and hidden in furniture.

Furniture

One common way that homes are infested is by bringing used furniture home that has been discarded on the streets, bought from a neighbor or even purchased at a used furniture store. If someone has an infestation, one of the first things that they will often do is get rid of infested furniture. Bedbugs can last a year or more without feeding so if you buy from a used furniture store, even if the item is not obviously infested, you may be bringing home someone elses problems.

From Neighbors

If you visit a home that has an infestation the bugs can hitch a ride home on your clothes or in anything you bring back with you. A neighbor can bring the bugs into your home on their clothes, boxes or bags. If your unit is close to another that has an infestation the Bed Bug can crawl along pipes, on wires, through heating and cooling vents or just through the dead spaces between walls. The bugs may move between units because they have grown in numbers to a point where they need an additional food source, the resident has moved out or because the unit is sprayed to try and kill them.

Laundry rooms are another common transfer area. One of the first things that people do when they have an infestation is launder bed linens and clothes. If they don't use a tightly closed bag they can leave a trail of bedbugs along halls and in laundry rooms.