Bed bug infestations present a major problem that has increased in occurrence over the past decade. The monetary and psychological costs arising from these pests can cause extreme burdens to home owners and businesses alike. Our protective mattress covers and related products provide bed bug certified protection for your mattress and box spring.  Mattress Safe mattress and box spring encasements protect your family and your investment in bedding.

The Importance of Mattress Encasements

Box spring and mattress protectors are very important weapons in the protection of your bedding against bed bugs or during a bed bug treatment program.

Bed Bug Certified Mattress Encasements:

• Eliminate Hiding Places for Bed Bugs
• Detect Bed Bug Infestation Immediately
• Protect Your Costly Investment in Bedding
• Stop the Spreading of Bed Bugs

Mattresses must remain encased for a quarantine period of at least 18 months while being treated for bed bugs. This lengthy quarantine period is due to the fact that bed bugs can live for one and a half years without feeding.

About Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are small parasitic insects, roughly the size of an apple seed. These insects are elusive, preferring to spend most of their time hiding in undisturbed areas. Bed bugs are well known as "hitch-hikers" and are often carried unnoticed by their hosts to infest new locations.

One of the first signs of a bed bug infestation is the bites people suffer. Difficult as they are to spot, you may wonder what bed bugs look like. Adult bed bugs appear flattened, with an oval shape, in a light red or brown color, and without wings. These insects are named for their choice of habitat, which results from their preference for human blood. They often go unnoticed because they feed on their hosts mainly at night.

Bed bugs have six life stages (five immature and one adult stage). They will shed their skins through multiple stages of their lifecycle. An early sign of bed bug infestation is the discovery of these clear, discarded empty exoskeletons. Bed bugs must take a blood meal before molting to the next stage. An adult bed bug may have fed on you or your family as many as six times.

During their life cycle, female bed bugs lay roughly five eggs each day, always in a protected spot like the seams of mattresses, box spring crevices, and spaces found underneath the baseboards. About four to twelve days after laying, bed bug eggs will hatch, and live through a life cycle of six to twelve months. Bed bugs can survive a wide range of temperatures. Bed bugs will die after 15 minutes of exposure to -32C (-26F) and all stages of life are killed by 15 minutes of exposure to 46C (115F).

Because of the fact that bed bugs are capable of surviving for extended periods of time without feeding, they can be a difficult pest to manage.

Health Risks of Bed Bugs

Bed bugs can cause a number of health effects including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptoms. No study has clearly found that the insect is able to transmit disease to a human being. Bed bug bites may range from no visible effects to prominent blisters. Research must continue to understand why bed bug infestations are expanding rapidly.

Signs of Bed Bugs

Signs of a bed bug infestation usually start with bite marks appearing on the face, neck, arms, hands, and other body parts. Additional signs of bed bugs may include the exoskeletons of bed bugs after molting and bed bugs in the folds of the mattresses and sheets. Blood spots that appear rust-colored and emit a musty odor are, in fact, excretions of their fecal material.

Bed bugs are typically found close to couches or beds, where they can remain near their hosts. Harborage areas can vary greatly, however, including luggage, clutter near bedsides, furnishings, and vehicles. Animals such as birds, rodents, and bats that may nest inside a home are another attractive habitat for bed bugs. Bed bugs are an "equal opportunity infester." They do not discriminate properties based upon location, type, or quality. Due simply to their nature, logistics, and other factors, every lodging location and multi-family property is subject to a bed bug infestation.

If a bed bug infestation is found, a professional pest management company should be contacted for proper control measures. Control practices against these secretive pests must be detailed and extensive. Most of the bed bugs will be located around areas where people rest, but a percentage of bugs will move away from these sites to "hide" in more remote areas. If people do not address these "remote bugs," an infestation will continue. Along with professional pest management controls, a bed bug certified protective mattress cover will help protect you from bed bug attacks.

Tips for Preventing Bed Bugs*:

• Use HIGH temperature to launder clothes.
• After a trip, always vacuum suitcases, then use a sealed container to discard vacuum bag.
• Discourage bed bugs from hitching a ride with SuitcaseSafe®.
• Protect your clothes while traveling with the LaundrySafe® protector.
• Search for appearance of tiny blood spots that indicate presence of fecal matter by checking seams of mattresses and bed sheets.
• When staying in hotels keep a large plastic trash bag over your suitcase, or protect it with a SuitcaseSafe® encasement.
• Carry a small flashlight to assist you with quick visual inspections.
• Call pest control professionals immediately to address an infestation as bed bugs are elusive creatures and difficult to control.

*Source: National Pest Management Association, Inc.

Portions of content provided by:

Entomologist Paul J. Bello, PJB Pest Management Consulting, LLC. - Author of "The Bed Bug Combat Manual"