Do you plan to help someone move soon? Is it possible to get bedbugs from them? In this article, I will teach you everything you need to know.
Can You Get Bed bugs By Helping Someone Move ? You can get bedbugs by helping someone move, and this could happen in different ways. You can get it by putting their infested bag in your car or through other contacts with their items.
If you need help to identify a bed bug take a look at this article I wrote which will help you.
Can you get bed bugs from being around someone who has them?
You can get bed bugs by being around someone who has them. For instance, their bedding, bags, or clothing might touch your item. The bugs in those items might get into yours, and like that; you’ve got bed bugs too.
Although bed bugs don’t spread directly among individuals, they can spread from their belongings to yours if there’s contact between the two. For instance, if you visit a friend with a bedbug infestation in his home, the bugs on his carpet might find their way into your bag and attach to your clothing. Should you pick up such a bag home, the bug might leave the bag unnoticed and infest your home as well.
You can also be the direct carrier even if you visit the friend without holding a bag or any belongings. For example, should you sleep on an infested bed, the bugs might attach to your clothes or even hide in your hair. They’ll stay unnoticed in their hideouts, and when you return home, they drop and infest your home as well.
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Perhaps you’re considering not using the bedding of a friend whose home is infested because you don’t want to transport them back home. Unfortunately, you can still get it through other means as long as the home is infested. It can attach to your clothing while sitting on the sofa or other furniture in the house. You can also get it through contact with their pets.
Should you help a friend move who has had bed bugs recently?
You can help people who have had bed bugs recently as long as you’re sure that the bugs are entirely gone. You may ask them to know the last time they found bugs in their home.
There’s nothing bad about helping a friend who has a bedbug to move if you’ll disinfect your vehicle and rid it of any bugs in it when you return.
However, to be on the safe side, it’s better to ensure their items are first disinfected. Ask them to seek the service of an exterminator. Exterminators are experts in the field and can help eliminate all the bugs in the home before your friend moves.
After extermination, you may take a few days and ask your friend to examine if he finds any bugs moving around in his home or not. If after about a month there’s no sign of surviving bugs, you may proceed to help them move.
However, even with such, it is safer to inspect yourself and your car when you’re done helping your friend move. Check the car carpet and seats (especially the corners in the seats). If you find a single bug, there are chances that there are more bugs in your car. It is better to seek the service of an exterminator to disinfect your car.
More so, bug eggs could also drop in your car, and since it’s very tiny, you may not notice you have them already until they hatch and become adults. Therefore, to be on the safer side, if you’re helping a friend who has had bed bugs recently, you should hire an exterminator to disinfect your car when you’re done. You should also check your clothing before you return to your home.
How easily do bed bugs transfer?
Bed bugs don’t have wings; therefore, they can’t fly around like mosquitoes and infest a wide area within a short period. They have to crawl around to infest an area. Thus, an infestation is usually slow.
Bed bugs have no wings, and unlike many other insects, they move slowly. This means in most cases; their infestation takes time. They crawl through walls and might find their way into the ceiling. As a consequence of this, if your neighbors in other rooms have them, they can leave the room through the ceiling opening and drop into your room to get a blood meal. They can also move through floors and pipes.
However, if you don’t live or come in contact with someone whose home or this brown insect infests items, you may not have them in many homes. Unfortunately, most people get them from hotels where they once lodged while traveling.
Can you get bed bugs from walking in someone’s house?
You can not get bed bugs by walking in someone’s house as long as bugs do not infest the home. You can only get bugs if the house is infested and you or your items come in contact with an infested item like furniture.
Bedbugs will not attach to your feet when you walk through an infested house. Thus, you rarely get them by walking in someone’s house. However, if you notice that the house is infested, there are some simple safety guides you should follow to avoid going home with one. They include:
- Avoid contact with their furniture, bedding, and pets
- Walk on the carpet barefooted and not with socks. Bugs can attach to socks but not a barefoot
- Examine the area where you’ll drop your belongings or hold on to it if you won’t stay long
- Check your clothes and hair while leaving the house.
Can I get bed bugs from someone riding in my car?
If a person enters your car with an infested item, your car could be infested as well. With an infested car, the bugs could attach to your clothes, and you transfer them into your home.
Transporting a person with bugs isn’t an excellent idea. Bugs in their belongings could drop on your carpet, hide in your seats, and the whole car could end up infested.
Once your car is infested, not only can you transfer the bugs around, people who ride in your vehicle may go home with the unacceptable gift as well.
Perhaps you think your car is safe as long as people don’t hop in with their belongings. That’s not true. People who have bugs in their homes can go around with them in their clothes or hair. This means they can transfer it to you without them even knowing.
Can You Get Bed Bugs in Your Car?
Yes. You can get bed bugs in your car because they can follow you. Bed bugs can get onto your clothes or inside your belongings. They will enter your car the same way you do. Even furniture or other items that you place into your car can end up with bed bugs.
Bed bugs usually tend to stay in a sleeping area and do not wish to crawl away from it if they are comfortably feeding off of their host.
If some bedbugs manage to make their way into your car, they are not looking to create an infestation there. They would prefer to remain in a bed or with their host. They will gladly travel with you and will not get into your car on their own.
Can I Get Bed Bugs From Someone Riding in My Car?
It’s highly unlikely, but it is possible. If someone has bed bugs on their clothing or it is contained in one of their personal items, they can transfer them to you. This is uncommon, but still possible.
Bed bugs can use cars to move from one host to another. Bed bugs do not wish to stay in a car or create a nest there. They wish to travel with a new host or remain with their previous host if possible.
Unfortunately it is true that a bed bug can transfer from the person sitting in your car on to you instead. If this is a cause for concern, please ask your passenger whether or not they have been experiencing red marks or bites during the night.
Tips for Moving With Bedbugs
If you suspect that someone you know may have bed bugs during the moving process, it’s time to take all safety precautions.
Remove all the blankets and covers or pillows from the bed. Also remove towels, sheets and even curtains near the bed. Place these items in garbage bags.
Any belongings that are contained near the bed should also be placed in thick plastic bags. This also includes clothing or coats. Do not allow your friend or passenger who you are allowing to use your help to move simply throw their belongings into your vehicle without first placing them in thick plastic bags.
It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Do Bed Bugs Follow You When You Move?
Bedbugs are not going to travel on their own. The fact is they can follow you when you move from one location to another. Do not allow bed bugs to make this move with you.
Bed bugs wish to travel with their hosts. If you are bringing your mattress from one location to another, it’s best to treat it first with insecticide, boric acid, diatomaceous earth or other types of alternative treatments.
Don’t help bed bugs travel with you. It is entirely possible for bed bugs to continue their life with their host in a new location. Stop them before they do.
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