How to Check for Bed Bugs?

When checking for bed bugs, you need to look for physical signs. These include eggshells, shed skin, eggs, excrement, rusty stains or the bed bugs themselves. Bed bugs usually excrete at spots that are rather hidden from sight.

This is why it is important to check around seams, under pillows and near the edge of your sheets. Stains can be anywhere, as they are the results of people unknowingly crushing bed bugs while asleep. Eggs, eggshells or shed skin can also be found anywhere on the bedding.

• Related: What do Bed Bugs Look Like?

We recommend you to wear protective gloves and thoroughly check your bed and its surroundings.

How to Check Mattress for Bed Bugs?

The size of a bed bug varies from 1 to 5 millimeters, which is why we recommend you to use a flashlight for finding them. Gradually remove the bedding from the mattress and look for signs of bed bug infestation. If you discover any shed skin, feces, rusty spots, eggs or eggshells, then there are probably bed bugs in your bedroom.

Thorough inspection includes checking seams, folds, cracks and crevices. Bed bugs prefer places where people regularly sit or lay down. It provides warmth and also the opportunity for them to feed on some fresh blood. Lift the mattress up if you can and check if there are any signs of infestation under it.

The mattress and its surroundings should be checked from all possible angles. Wearing protective gloves is also recommended.

How to Check Used Mattress for Bed Bugs?

The most important thing when checking a used mattress is to use a flashlight and check it thoroughly. Leave no stones unturned and check seams, cracks and torn parts if there are any. If there is a small gap under the mattress near the edges, make sure to lift it up and check there as well.

If you notice any clues such as bed bug feces, red stains, shed skin or eggs, then your mattress is most likely infested with bed bugs. However, bed bug feces which appear as black dots can also be a sign of a previous infestation.

Since bed bugs have the tendency to form a group, these signs also have a high chance to be grouped together. Wearing protective gloves is recommended for a thorough bed bug inspection.

How to Check for Bed Bugs Mites?

In order to verify that there are bed bugs in your bedroom, you need to look for signs of infestation. The most obvious sign of bed bug infestation is when you wake up with itchy bites on your skin. Then you can start by thoroughly examining the mattress and its surroundings.

Look for blood stains, pieces of shed skin, eggs or black dots which are bed bug feces. Thorough examination is required because bed bugs know exactly how to hide from sight. Remove each piece of your bedding one-by-one and check them thoroughly using a flashlight.

You might be able to sense a musty odor in the air during your examination, which is a strong indicator that there are bed bugs in your bedroom.

How to Check for Bed Bugs in Couch?

Grab a flashlight and make sure to check out your couch from all possible angles. Check along seams, take a close look at gaps and check around the leg tips of the couch as well. There can be signs of bed bug infestation such as rusty stains, shed skin, bed bug excrement and egg shells.

These are all tiny, sometimes often not bigger than a millimeter. You might also be able to find some hiding spots where bed bug adults or nymphs hide. The examination of hidden or dark areas is important because bed bugs know exactly how to hide, often doing it in groups.

How to Check Furniture for Bed Bugs?

You can check the furniture in your house by using a flashlight and thoroughly examining them. Focus on areas where you or other residents of your house often sit or lay down for longer periods of time. Bed bugs are attracted to warmth and they prefer places where us humans are idly sitting or lying down.

Furnitures often have darker, hard to reach spots such as gaps, deep seams or short legs that provide space for bed bugs under them. Make sure to check out all these little hiding spots and look for signs of infestation. This way, you can find bed bugs, black fecal dots and maybe even some blood stains, eggs or shed skin parts.

Using protective gloves is recommended in order to ensure hygiene.

How to Check Carpet for Bed Bugs?

Since bed bugs are clever at hiding, it is not enough to check the carpet as it is on the floor. You need to check the bottom side of it and the floor boards under it as well. These insects can easily fit themselves into the smallest gap and hide there.

Cracks between floor boards should be checked using a flashlight a cardboard or something similar that can fit in the gap. Bed bugs are likely to jump out as you slide a cardboard through the cracks. If there is a bed bug infection, then you will probably find some shed skin in those cracks as well.

The favorite spot for bed bugs is going to be somewhere under the carpet. However, they are quickly going to rush away as you lift up the carpet. What you should look for are signs such as bed bug excrement, shed skin, blood drops or dead bed bugs.

How to Check Items for Bed Bugs?

You can check any item for bed bugs just by grabbing a flashlight and taking a close look at it from all angles. Make sure to look at parts of the item that are not so obvious and may be a bit hidden from sight. Lift up the item if you can and check the bottom side, including gaps, cracks and darker spots.

In case you notice any blood drops, shed skin, eggs or dark fecal spots, then there is almost certainly a bed bug infection going on. If there are any red stains, it means that a well-fed bed bug got crushed there. You are going to find these signs easily with a flashlight, especially if the item is light in color.

How to Check for Bed Bugs in a Hotel Room?

It is best to check for bed bugs right when you arrive to your hotel room. Check the bed and its surroundings first, then continue with the furniture and luggage stands. It definitely helps if you carry a flashlight with yourself. Fortunately, all the smartphones have a flashlight functionality.

Bed bugs are reddish brown insects that are of the size of an apple seed. Bed bug nymphs are even smaller, similar to poppy seeds in size. Since bed bugs are good at hiding, you are most likely going to find only signs of bed bug infestation instead of finding them.

These insects lay eggs, shed their skin and also excrete. If you find black fecal dots, pieces of shed skin, eggs or blood stains, then those are strong indicators that there are bed bugs in your apartment. Check the mattress, pillows and also the sofa, as these are the most common places to find bed bugs at in hotels.

How to Check for Bed Bugs in Empty Apartment?

Since bed bugs can survive without food for months, it is reasonable to check empty apartments for bed bugs. In a cold apartment, bed bugs usually find cracks and similar hiding places and enter a semi-hibernation state.

Bed bugs are not going to leave their hiding places in an empty apartment because there is no reason to. If they don’t feel any warmth or carbon dioxide near them, they are going to stay where they are. Carbon dioxide in the air signals them that there is a potential host inside the room.

This is why it is important to check all the possible hiding places, including gaps and cracks with a flashlight in hand. Also use a cardboard or something thin and run it through the cracks so that it pushes out the bed bugs that are in there.