As a homeowner, you face a lot of challenges every day. Factors like bills, maintenance, and other things like how to get rid of pests in your home are common challenges for homeowners. Everyone knows that your house should be your resting place and a peaceful spot for you to relax. But how can you relax if you are suffering from bed bug infestation?
Before that, you should first understand what a bed bug is. Bed bugs are small insects that are usually light brown. They mostly feed on blood and are very active during the night. They are commonly found in the bedroom, hence the name bed bugs.
So, can bed bugs go through mattress covers? Well, when preventing bed bugs, all tips, tricks, and solutions are great to do. There are several methods to prevent bed bugs, and you can start with encasement or mattress covers.
Understanding Bed Bugs
Bed bugs’ primary hosts are humans since they are attracted to body heat, and their primary food source is blood. Other characteristics of a bed bug include:
- Six legs
- Wingless Body
- Body about the size of an apple seed or half a centimeter long
- Large antenna, and
- Largemouth or mandibles
These tiny creatures are tough to kill and can survive through different harsh conditions. This is why treating bed bugs has become challenging.
A bed bug’s life starts from an egg, usually white, and every egg population is usually around 250-300 eggs. They are mostly found in cracks and nooks on the floor. Bed bugs are very fast to increase in numbers. After 1 or 2 weeks of hatching of eggs, bed bugs can start feeding.
How Does Mattress Covers Work?
Now that you know what bed bugs look like and their behavior, the next thing to learn is how mattress covers work. First, the purpose of mattress covers is to prevent spills from liquid, stains, and dirt. A waterproof layer on mattress covers usually prevents liquid from entering your mattress.
Aside from protection from liquid, other benefits of mattress cover include protection from bacteria. It is a necessity or essential for mattresses in your household.
Lastly, mattress covers also protect your mattress from wear and tear. Several types of mattress covers are available in the market, such as encasement, elastic strap, and fitted. It is up to you which one will suit you best.
Can Bed Bugs Go Through Mattress Covers?
As mentioned earlier, bed bugs are resilient and can survive harsh conditions. Bed bugs can crawl out or penetrate the fabric of the common mattress covers made with mesh. The common misconception about bed bugs infiltrating mattress covers is they go through every type of fabric.
The answer for whether bed bugs go through mattress covers is no. However, in some situations, when the cover has thin fabric, it penetrates through. However, bed bugs can’t bite their way out of the fabric of the usual mattress covers and instead get trapped inside.
Since bed bugs don’t have teeth, they can’t chew holes in the mattress covers. Mattress covers can kill bed bugs that get trapped inside them. Mattress covers can protect you from any bed bug bites during the night. But ensure that the mattress cover you bought has zippers or can fully cover your mattress. Since bed bugs are small, some might still crawl out of the mattress cover.
Proper Installation and Maintenance of Mattress Covers
To have efficient mattress covers against bed bugs, you should know how to install them properly. Also, knowing which type of mattress cover suits your situation is effective. For example, an encasement mattress cover is great for trapping bed bugs.
To properly install your mattress covers, here’s how you should do them:
- Once you have bought your encasement, open it from the packaging and place it on a flat surface. This is to let air come out.
- Clean the floor at the foot of your bed before installing the encasement.
- Slowly install the mattress down over the footing of your bed.
- Place the zippered mattress encasement over the top two corners of your mattress.
- Ensure you avoid getting the zippered edge to catch the mattress cover. At the same time, you gradually pull the mattress encasement down the mattress.
- Carefully raise the mattress’s edge from the ground and place it back onto the bed frame as you approach the lower end.
- Tug the mattress cover over the remainder of the mattress.
- With caution, zip up the enclosure to completely secure it around the mattress.
- Place the mattress back to its original position.
- Add your favorite bed sheets and pillows and enjoy having yourself protected from bed bug bites.
After you install your mattress covers properly, the next step that you’ll do is to check on them regularly and have maintenance. A trick to maintaining them is also to clean them regularly. Cleaning them also ensures that you check if there are any bed bug trapped inside and you can get rid of them.
Additional Measures for Bed Bug Prevention
Encasement covers are great for the prevention of bed bugs. However, it’s not a solution for an infestation. While mattress covers are proven effective, it’s always better to have a Plan B to prevent bed bugs from biting you during your sleep. To keep bed bugs away, you must take these precautions:
- Clean your encasement mattress cover regularly.
- Check if there are openings on your encasement.
- Have a regular inspection from a professional pest control.
The importance of a professional bed bug exterminator in Atlanta is to give insights on what you should do to prevent bed bugs from entering your home. Aside from that, if there are signs of bed bugs in your home, they can start the steps to eliminate bed bugs.
So, ensure you always have a professional you can call anytime. A trusted professional will save money, protect you from stress, and eliminate problems. Once there are signs of bed bugs, do not hesitate to call a professional exterminator for help.
A Bed Bug-Free Home for a Bed Bug-Free Sleep at Night
Bed bugs are challenging to eliminate but not impossible to eliminate. With the correct information on how to deal with them, the fight against bed bugs becomes easy. Encasement covers for mattresses are a great start to your battle with bed bugs.
Encasement covers limit the oxygen intake of bed bugs trapped inside them, preventing them from biting you and reducing their chance to breed. Again, to achieve a bed bug-free sleep at night, always install your mattress covers appropriately and have regular maintenance.
While preventive measures against bed bugs like mattress covers are effective, it will be more efficient if you put little effort into calling a professional pest control for bed bugs in Atlanta once you notice them. Taking action immediately against bed bugs is better than later.
