With the likelihood of bed bugs lurking any place that humans frequent, there is a huge chance that anyone can encounter bed bugs, in any city, in any location, at any moment in time. Victims of bed bug infestations are often desperate to rid their belongings of the nasty beasts that bite in the night.
There are different ways that pest control professionals can go about extending bed bug eradication services. Heat has been found to be the “silver bullet” when it comes to bed bug death. New Jersey pest control professionals advise customers who are suffering through an infestation to wash and dry all clothing items on high heat for the immediate killing of bed bugs and their eggs. Non-washable fabric items can be placed in the dryer on high heat for a minimum of 20 minutes to kill the buggers. Another option for consumers trying to rid their clothing of bed bugs has been to have their clothing dry cleaned.
A new laundry quandary has arisen in Edmonton, Canada that should not be taken lightly by those of us across the border. CBCNews Edmonton reported that many cleaners in Canada are refusing to provide dry cleaning services to people who have bed bug ridden clothing. One particular dry cleaning company owner that was interviewed for their story said that his company will only clean bed bug infested clothing at the “main plant”, not at any of their other traditional store front shops. The company is worried that if they accept bed bug garb, that there is a chance of infesting their work area, which would be disastrous for business.
You can read the January 23, 2012 article here.
The fact that some dry cleaners are being cautious about what items they allow to be brought into their store is not surprising and in fact should actually be comforting to those who do not have bed bugs. The problem is that some people may bring clothing to their dry cleaners and choose to NOT disclose that the items are infested with bed bugs or they may not know that they have bed bugs because the infestation is in the early stage or perhaps they are uneducated about the creepy bugs.
Having a bed bug policy is place may seem like a good idea on the surface, but sadly it does not guarantee any patron that their clothing will be free of bed bugs when they are ready for pick up at a dry cleaning store!
Unfortunately we must add dry cleaners to our list of places to worry about picking bed bugs at. Time to grumble some more!