As the owner of a vacation rental property, your rental sees a great number of guests who come to stay in your property. It is your responsibility to keep up with the home's maintenance and cleaning needs. The bed bug problem has been on the rise, especially in single-family homes such as vacation rentals, and this problem poses a greater risk to your business than hotels and apartments. Here are some tips you can use to keep your rental property free of bed bugs.
Know What To Look For
Prevention is always the best way to keep a problem out of your vacation rental, but when you have guests coming and going you need to be on the lookout for any issues. Bed bugs travel by catching a ride on a guest's bags, pillows, clothing, or any other items they bring into your rental with them. And unfortunately, you can't ask your renters to not bring in any personal items. Instead, do regular inspections when you clean out your vacation rental property.
Talk to your cleaning personnel and teach them what to look for each time they clean. Bed bug eggs are black in color and look like the ink dot from a black tip pen on the bedding or mattresses in your rental. Bed bugs prefer to live on the mattress and bedding because it gives them access to their food source.
You can also look for spots and smears on your mattresses and bedding that are rust-colored or brown. And you might also see the bed bugs congregating along the corner seams of the mattress.
Prevent an Infestation
The more you clean your vacation rental, the better opportunity you have to rid a bed bug problem before it becomes an infestation. Washing the linens and bedding in hot water and drying them in hot air settings can kill off any stray bugs. Be sure to vacuum the carpeting well, especially underneath the beds and furniture. You can also add mattress encasements over your mattress and box springs to protect the bed from bed bug infestations.
Tackle Any Problems
If you find a bed bug problem, it is recommended that you call a professional pest control service to get rid of the problem before it can spread. Your vacation renters won't want to stay in your property if you continue to have a bed bug problem, especially with the ability of your renters to post online reviews and quickly spread the word about the issue.
A pest control professional will be able to treat the bed bugs to eliminate them completely. Many DIY and home remedies don't kill off and eliminate bed bugs from your property, which is why you should always go to a professional for complete bed bug control.
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