Bed Bug Encasements

Mattress encasements were once only used to help allergy sufferers sleep at night. Now, however, they are being used as a primary weapon against bed bug infestations.

Bed bugs are proving to be one of the most challenging bugs pest management professionals have ever faced. The resiliency of this insect is nothing short of amazing.

In addition to being capable of withstanding weeks of freezing temperatures and the ability to survive many months without a blood meal, we are now finding that we might also have to deal with some significant pesticide resistance concerns.

With the odds in favour of the bed bug, the pest control community has been eager to welcome tools and techniques that help level the playing field.

Problems with eradicating a bed bug infestation lie with the difficulty of eliminating 100 percent of the population from mattresses that have become infested. Regardless of whether vacuum cleaners, steam units or pesticides are used, bugs and eggs can be located in areas where they remain protected from such control efforts.

Complicating matters is the fact that bed bugs readily disperse away from beds, infesting other environments within dwellings to include other furniture, personal items and even beneath floor boards. The end result is that discarding the bedding is rarely a solution – replacement bedding is more than likely to become re-infested by bugs that are still present.

The Case for Encasements

The use of encasements overcomes the challenges associated with mattresses and provides numerous benefits that can lead to more efficient control, peace of mind and cost savings. By properly encasing the new mattresses, re-infestation of the new bedding can be prevented.

As bugs that are still in the dwelling migrate to sleeping areas in the days and weeks to come, they are unable to get inside of the mattresses, but instead are restricted to the exterior of the encasements, where they can be readily observed and eliminated.

Encasements also can help people who have not yet experienced a bed bug infestation but are looking to prevent their mattresses from becoming infested in the event that bed bugs are somehow introduced into their homes.

Proper Design is Key

Encasements for mattresses are widely available in the consumer market, but have they been developed for the purpose of bed bug management? While in theory it seems like any encasement should be effective, it turns out that not all materials are bite-proof; not all zippers are escape proof; and the end of the zipper is a point of vulnerability for escape.

For this reason, Attack Pest Control suggest that if you are looking to buy a mattress encasement to help eradicate / prevent bed bugs, you should ensure that you ask whether it is suitabile for the purpose you are going to use it for.