Housekeeping · 빈대 예방

Six Ways to Keep Bed Bugs Out of Your Home

Check luggage and secondhand furniture before bringing bed bugs home. Identify suspected insects before attempting treatment.

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Wikimedia Commons · Photo: Piotr Naskrecki; content providers CDC / Harvard University / Gary Alpert / Harold Harlan / Richard Pollack. Wikimedia Commons, public domain; original photo. · Public domain (CDC PHIL #9820; no copyright restrictions) ↗

Bed bugs can hitchhike through luggage and secondhand furniture; their presence is not evidence that a home is dirty. The EPA advises checking hotel luggage racks, examining used furniture and reducing clutter. Bites alone do not establish a bed-bug diagnosis.

Your try-it-at-home checklist

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1. On arrival at accommodation, keep your suitcase off beds and sofas and inspect the luggage rack and nearby crevices first.
2. Examine accessible mattress seams, bed-frame joints and luggage-rack corners for bugs, dark spotting or shed skins without dismantling or damaging hotel property.
3. If suspicious evidence appears, report it to management and request a safe alternative room. Photograph the insect or signs for identification if safe.
4. Inspect secondhand sofas, mattresses and furniture seams before bringing items inside, rather than moving unverified items straight into a bedroom.
5. When returning home, manage luggage and laundry carefully, following fabric care labels. EPA notes that high-heat drying can help kill bed bugs for suitable washable items.
6. If bed bugs are confirmed at home, reduce clutter and vacuum, but do not overheat a room with space heaters or spray pesticides indiscriminately. Seek a qualified pest-control assessment.

U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyProtecting Your Home from Bed Bugs ↗Official EPA page read, updated July 6, 2026; guidance on rack inspection, secondhand furniture, reducing clutter, vacuuming, safe drying.U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyTop Ten Tips to Prevent or Control Bed Bugs ↗Original EPA list discourages unsafe amateur room heat treatment and inappropriate DIY freezing, emphasizes professional controls and appropriate high-heat laundry.Wikimedia CommonsFile:Adult bed bug, Cimex lectularius.jpg ↗Verified exact photo credit Piotr Naskrecki / CDC PHIL #9820, explicit no copyright restrictions and public domain notice. Direct original file visually rendered.Wikimedia CommonsCommons: Reusing content outside Wikimedia/technical ↗Hotlink is explicitly allowed but attribution and individual licensing still required.

Your try-it-at-home checklist

Further reading

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