by KYW’s Michelle Durham
It's a problem that many people don't know they have or if they do, they don't want to talk about it; bedbugs. And once you have them, it takes a lot of effort to get rid of them.
General Manager of Action Termite and Pest Control John Russell explains how you get bedbugs in the first place:
"You would go to a hotel after someone left that had bedbugs. You would put your clothing into the drawers and dressers and not realizing it then you take your clothes with you when you leave; go home and then spread it to the residential area."
It takes a lot of effort to get rid of them. Russell and his team bring in bug sniffing dogs to determine where they are; once that happens the intensive treatment begins:
"We have to treat every nook and cranny: picture frames, moldings, electrical outlets. We have to pull the carpet up. The second treatment is actually steam."
Steam will kill the eggs that haven't hatched yet. Bedbugs leave tiny blood stains on mattresses and sheets, so you can look for those. And Russell says when you check into a hotel pull the sheets off the bed and check the mattress seams and the headboards.
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