Friday, September 04, 2015
For college students, the temptation to re-use another’s furniture is considerable – it’s free! But bringing used furniture into your apartment can also invite unwanted guests: bed bugs.According to Jonathan Boyar, owner of pest management firm Ecologic Entomology, all used furniture is suspect and should be avoided. Bugs can hide in crevices deep inside the furniture that are not easily inspected.
Store-bought insecticides and home remedies, Boyar says, almost never eliminate bed bug infestations in the home or on infested furniture. Those products can actually make the problem worse by spreading the bugs out into areas where they don’t normally exist, making the eventual remedial process even more difficult.
If you suspect a problem in your apartment, contact your landlord as soon as possible to have the issue assessed, advises Boyar. The problem may not be limited to just one apartment and the landlord may need to inspect all abutting units or every unit in the building. Pest control companies need the consent of the property owner to perform treatments in their building.
Source: Ecologic Entomology
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