How to Leave the Bedbugs at Work by Nancy W.

Ok, the good news is that the latest bedbug inspection turned up none of those pesky critters at our beloved library.

BUT, just in case, I suppose I shall continue to take some fundamental precautions.

Here is what I do:

When I get home from work I don’t lollygag around in the clothes I wore to work. I change clothes immediately. I put the clothes I wore to work in a garbage bag and close it tightly with a twist tie, leaving it on the porch. Every few days I wash these clothes in a load separate from my other tee shirts and party dresses.

I am told by an avid internet bedbug researcher that it is best to wash the clothes in hot water. HOWEVER, if I washed my clothes in hot water they would probably shrink to the point they wouldn’t fit a Barbie Doll, much less me. So, whut can I say? I am doing the best I can.

My internet researching friend also tells me that it is best not to wear potentially contaminated clothing in a carpeted area of the house. So, if your house is carpeted, change your clothes in the kitchen.

High temperatures seem to be a big factor in the demise of bedbugs, so I am happy that my garbage bag of clothing is on the back porch which gets afternoon sun. I imagine it gets pretty toasty inside that bag around mid-afternoon.

I think it would be a good idea to change shoes when getting home from work when possible. I believe it is unlikely that a particularly enthused and acrobatic bedbug might cling tenaciously to the rubber sole of my shoe in order to hitchhike home with me, but you never know.

One final thing to keep in mind as the panic builds and you begin to itch and feel things crawling all over. When we had the initial inspection in which bedbugs were found I asked the pest control guy how likely it was that I might pick up a few and take them home with me. He said the odds of that were very remote.

VERY REMOTE

VERY REMOTE 

VERY REMOTE

These are beautiful words.