An unexpected guest — Bed Bugs

[Shelley290]

I opened Sept 2019.  I have been a Super-host after the 1st 3 months. My place was newly built and everything inside is brand new! I take a lot of pride in my Airbnb from decorating to cleaning. Recently I had a military guest, the fiancé (bf lives in the barracks)  who complained about getting bit by bed bugs. She took a pic i was disgusted! After research yes it looked like a bed bug. I have NEVER dealt with  them other than being an ER nurse and picking them off patients ugh !  She was cool with it saying she dealt with them in college dorms. I asked serval of my military friends they told me the barracks always have an outbreak UGH! So mot sure if she was cool because she new they were there. They also stayed for 2 weeks and i have NEVER seen or had any complaints before! 

My question is hiw do I get rid of them. I called my exterminator he said they would have to tint my house for $3500 (thats not happening) i bought bed bug spray and sprayed literally everything then bought bed bug mattress covers but then I saw 1 on the comforter!  I threw away a mattress pad, sheets and covers because i thought it had eggs on it and i was grossed out We wash and dry everything after each visit PLEASE HELP‼️   

[Debra300]

@Shelley290,

Sorry, that you're going through this.  I don't know how to get rid of them either, but you might want to do a search here on the community to see what other hosts have done.

What I do recommend after you get a new mattress and pillows is put them in zippered encasements.  I use these, but there are other brands, also: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z06F2OI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8& =1 .

[Nanxing0]

There's a pretty good website https://store.doyourownpestcontrol.com/  they have detailed instructions and professional kits you can buy to do the work by yourself. The kit is not too expensive. Make sure the instructions are followed precisely otherwise you will be wasting your time and money. The chemicals you buy from this website are those being used by the professionals and are a lot better than those you can buy from Lowe's/Home Depot.

The issue is that you can't get rid of bed bugs with only 1 treatment. Most of those pesticides are effective in killing adult bugs but not the eggs. So you will need to repeat the treatment a couple times with 7-9 days interval according to the instructions. (bed bug eggs hatch time is about 10 days) Also I strongly suggest that you put a bug-proof mattress encasement. There are ones sold on Amazon for less than $20 each.