Ten Tips for Thrift Store Shopping and Bed Bugs

Today’s youth are “Thrifting” and it is fashionable. My daughter and her friends make dates to go to the local Value Village to make a statement with their thrifted clothing. She comes home with dozens of items, all at a great price.

Here are ten ways to Thrift and make sure you don’t bring home an unwanted guest – the bed bug. You will be looking for signs of bed bugs, such as a live bug, a dead bug, blood stains and black smears or black dots.

1. Inspect Your Clothing

Inspect any clothing you’re considering carefully – examine the seams, pockets, and lining. Literally turn it inside out if possible, and check the inside for signs of bed bugs.

2. Shake Sheets and Towels

The folds in linens and towels make a great place for bed bugs to hide. Give your towels and linens a good shake before you bring them in your house.

3. Check Furniture Crevasses

Bed bugs gravitate toward any spaces that are tight, dark, concealed, and warm. That means they go looking for nooks and crannies on whatever items they’re infesting. When you’re giving that bed, couch, chair, or clothing a once-over, pay special attention to its seams and edges. Feel around corners, under cushions, and along the edges, zippers, and decorative trimming.

4. Flip the cushions

This goes for chairs, couches, and anything else with cushions. Bed bugs can infest the underside or inside of cushions just as easily as they can beds. Flip them over, turn them inside out, and check the corners.

5. Bed Frames and Mattresses

If you’re looking at a bedframe, you need to pay close attention to any place there is a crack they can hide or where the cross bars meet. For the mattress, check both sides around the seams. For the box spring, inspect the plastic corners and the staples on the bottom.

6. Open dresser drawers

It’s easy to open up the draws and look for evidence of bed bugs. If the furniture once had bugs, you will see black smears on the wood. Turn the dresser upside down and check the bottom as well.

7. Use a flashlight

A flashlight will help you see into those dark areas. It’s a good idea to do an inspection before you bring furniture into your home.

8. Dry it

Heat is the most reliable way to kill all stages of a bed bugs. Immediately after getting home, you should throw anything you can into your dryer on high heat for 20 minutes.

For furniture, you might want to use a hair dryer to heat up vulnerable areas. The heat will also bring the bed bugs running out.

9. Vacuum it

Thoroughly vacuuming an item after you buy it is additional good way to prevent bed bugs. Remove the head of the vacuum and use the tube to get at hard-to-reach areas you couldn’t usually reach. Throw out the vacuum bag after your finished, or bed bugs you caught could crawl back out.

10. Keep an eye on it

Key your eyes open for any signs of bedbugs or bed bug bites.

These are just some tips on preventing a bed bug infestation. If you find yourself with an infestation, please don’t hesitate to call Adrienne or Logan of Bed Bugs Dead Bugs. We’re happy to answer all your questions and set you up with a bed bug heater.