Bed bugs in a storage unit? Nobody wants that. When you’re moving or traveling, a bed bug infestation is one of the worst things to encounter. Bed bugs are tiny critters hitching unwelcome rides on your regular bedding, clothing, and belongings. They make their nests in your things, leaving you uncomfortable and irritated.
This might be one of the things you feel most wary of when stowing belongings long-term in a storage unit. What if you have to deal with an infestation? Thankfully, you’re not likely to get bed bugs from the storage unit, especially if it’s a quality, modern facility—like a BuxBear storage facility. But it can happen, so let’s dig into how and what you can do.
Firstly, what is a bed bug?
Bed bugs are tiny insect pests that wind up in homes and bedding. They’re very small and not easy to spot. If you notice brown spots on your bedding or cardboard, stains, cracked eggshell crumbs, and musty smells, chances are there is a bed bug nest somewhere.
If you wake up one morning with small red bites or a rash and itchy skin, you may have encountered a bed bug.
How do you get rid of bed bugs?
Unfortunately, a simple dust and clean is not enough to eliminate them. These critters can latch onto clothing, bedding, and even bags and belongings and can spread from one spot to another without us realizing.
Often the only solution to get rid of a bed bug infestation is a thorough disinfection.
Firstly, separate your items by space. Do not let items in different rooms mix with the infested room. Strip the upholstery, bedding, clothing, and more, and launder them thoroughly with disinfectants.
Second, call a reliable pest control service to thoroughly spray down and clean up all the nooks and crannies of the infested room.
Third, examine if there is any food or wet items in the room that may attract and sustain bed bugs. If so, please get rid of them.
What if there are bed bugs in my storage space?
Finding bed bugs in a storage space is not very common. Of course, a lot depends on the storage space service you have chosen. We highly recommend using storage spaces that have a standard disinfection policy. BuxBear storage has regular pest control and disinfection policies that monitor the cleanliness of the storage units. We suggest checking the reviews of the storage service and their hygiene practices before opting for them.
What if bed bugs get in anyway?
People must realize that the process of shifting and moving by nature exposes your belongings to many elements and attracts possible contaminants. Bed bugs don’t appear out of thin air. They are often brought in by accident.
1. They could enter along with your belongings from your old home.
Most belongings are packed in cardboard, but that is not foolproof or airtight. If your home or last location had an infestation, the infested items could enter the storage unit.
2. They could have latched on mid-transit.
Stop-overs in motels and different environments allow the bed bugs to latch onto your luggage or belongings. Mixing these with storage items can start an infestation. We suggest considering the relative hygiene of the places you choose as a rest stop.
How do we avoid an infestation in a storage unit?
The best policy is prevention when you are packing, moving, and using storage spaces in transit. Maintaining good hygiene goes a long way in ensuring you don’t face problems. Taking a few precautions can keep you and your belongings safe.
Here are a few handy steps you can follow to prevent bed bugs in storage units:
- Launder and disinfect all your soft furnishings, clothes, and upholstery before moving things into your storage unit. Pre-laundered and sealed soft furnishings significantly reduce the chances of dealing with bed bugs in storage units.
- Use airtight packaging when sealing your clothes and soft furnishings. Ziplock bags, vacuum-sealed bags, and airtight bins are often better than cardboard in keeping out bed bugs in a storage unit. Cardboard is cheap, convenient, and disposable, but it is also an organic material — a suitable choice for bed bugs. Use cardboard for non-fragile hard furniture instead of soft furnishings.
- Separate and pack items by room, type, and person, even when they are going into storage. Don’t mix your clothes with your roommates or family members. This keeps your storage unit organized and minimizes bed bugs from spreading through your things.
- Get a reliable transporter and storage unit service provider. Ideally, your transporter and storage unit should have a hygiene policy and a regular disinfection system. You could check on their most recent disinfection and scope out their reviews before you pick one.
- Include some safe, non-toxic repellents and drying agents in your packing if you can. These will remove moisture and prevent bed bugs in your storage unit. Drying agents reduce the chances of bed bugs in storage units.
- Your move may involve stages and stop-overs, but don’t unpack, mix, or open your belongings mid-transit, as they are opportunities for bed bugs to get in. Try to reduce the number of people and stops that handle your belongings as they go in and out of storage units. This is a straightforward way to ensure your belongings’ safety.
- Ensure you don’t pack food, perishables, and wet items in your storage unit. Perishables are an open invitation to bed bugs in storage units, and we highly recommend not including them in your things.
- Separate your transit luggage, and don’t mix them with what was placed in storage right away. Once you reach your destination, don’t rush to unpack and rearrange your items. Disinfect and launder the luggage you traveled with, and then unpack your stuff from the storage unit. Your clean belongings from the storage unit may be infested by bedbugs that have arrived in your transit luggage.
- If you are arriving in a new home, try to get a round of pest control done in the new place before settling in.
- After unpacking or moving in, if you notice bed bugs, immediately isolate that space, and take the items that you suspect have an infestation for a cleaning.
Bed bugs in a storage unit? Not at BuxBear
The chances of you running into bed bugs in a storage unit are low, thankfully. There’s no one way to predict how bed bugs will arrive in your belongings and begin an infestation, and it is best not to jump to conclusions about the source. What actually matters are the hygiene steps you take to secure your belongings, practice safe packing methods, and keep hygiene in mind while traveling.
Many factors come into play to lead to a bed bug infestation. Hygiene is one of them. Climate and other infestation sources are other factors. Traveling and storing your belongings mindfully can go a long way in keeping the bed bugs at bay. Keep things clean, and if you think you have a bed bug problem, disinfect thoroughly!
As for your storage unit, the most critical move you can make is to use a reputable storage company like BuxBear, which has cleanliness practices in place to protect you and your belongings from pests.