You can’t get on the internet, watch the news or read a periodical without some report on bed bugs and how disastrous the infestation has become. There are plenty of people who have never come into contact with bed bugs, don’t know anyone who has, and are sure this is just sensationalized. Then there are others who have lived with bed bugs and swear it’s the worst, paranoid-inducing nightmare they’ve ever been through. Below are some common bed bug myths – debunked.
Myth – Using a mattress cover will protect you from Bed Bugs.
Using a slipcover around a mattress to protect you from bed bugs is like using a tablecloth at a picnic to protect the food from ants. Hello! Ants just crawl on top of the tablecloth just as bed bugs crawl on top of the mattress cover. They’re called bed bugs because they feed on humans while they sleep – not because they only live inside a mattress.
Myth – Do not put a suitcase on the bed in a hotel room to keep you from getting bed bugs.
This is a real doozie that ranks up there with ‘only put your suitcase in the bathtub’. Again, bed bugs live anywhere and I mean anywhere. Granted, fabric and upholstery give them ample hiding spaces, but so do electrical outlets, light fixtures and intersections of carpet to walls, along baseboards, crown molding and in the recessed screw holes of furniture. Some of these myths just ensure people will become obsessive on their misguided quest to find the perfect spot of protection from bed bugs in unfamiliar locations.
Myth – Bed Bugs are representative of poor hygiene and being unclean.
This is a myth that those who are holier-than-thou keep perpetuating to make themselves feel superior. Bed bugs are equal opportunity feeders and do not care if you live in squalor or the Penthouse apartment. Granted, the messier a place is, the realization of bed bugs may take longer, but cleanliness is not godliness when it comes to bed bugs. As long as there is a blood meal nearby, bed bugs are content.
Myth – To get rid of bed bugs, you MUST hire a professional.
Spoken again and again like a true pest control professional. These are the ‘experts’ most journalists turn to when writing an article about bed bugs and of course they will tell you that you need their services. And every other option is throwing your money away, a snake-oil concoction and certainly not as thorough a solution as what they offer. Well, hogwash! There are options for the average homeowner and some of them are actually safe and not tied to the use of synthetic pesticides. Imagine that! Greenbug for People is an all natural product that is effective 100% of the time – proven in independent and university lab tests – to kill adult bed bugs as well as destroy the eggs. And it is so safe, it is EPA exempt and made with food-grade safe ingredients. With Greenbug, you can wipe out bed bugs and be ‘green’ at the same time!
Myth – Bed Bugs are just media hype – a creation of a story on slow news days.
Really? This is probably the biggest myth of all because bed bugs are considered by experts to be pandemic. By definition, pandemic means ‘prevalent throughout an entire country; extremely widespread’, and that is completely accurate. Incidences in hotels alone have gone up more than 660% in just one year and the likelihood of people in the United States coming into contact with bed bugs within the next five years is statistically 100%. People need to pull their heads out of the sand on this one as bed bugs are here and here to stay.