Do

Cover your mattress with certified mattress cover
Vacuum thoroughly with proper vacuum
Wash all clothing and place in sealed garbage bags

Don’t

Don’t bomb - The use of “bug bombs” or total release foggers. These devices release insecticide in small droplets that land on exposed surfaces and do not penetrate the cracks and crevices where bed bugs hide. This typically causes bed bugs to scatter all over the room, apartment, often the whole house or building. This results in unnecessary pesticide exposure to the resident and poor control of these pests. This also causes pesticide resistance and repellency to bed bugs. In addition, The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene strongly discourages the use of “bug bombs” and foggers because of the potential of human exposure to insecticides and the risk of device explosions.

Don’t throw out mattress or box spring - Simply discarding beds and bedding is NOT a sound approach to bed bug control. Bed bugs will spread quickly to walls, molding, ceilings, light fixtures, electronics, remote controls, alarm clocks, and spaces within and along floor boards, and the edges of carpets.

Don’t do any spraying yourself leave this to a professional. Homeowners who do their own treatments more often cause bed bugs to scatter all over the room, apartment, often the whole house or building. They often put their family and themselves at risk by handling pesticides in an untrained manner.

Don’t treat mattress with pesticide – it is dangerous to sleep on top of pesticides.

Don’t vacate your home - Many people think they will starve them out by leaving their home. Bed bugs can go many months without a blood meal. Moreover, bed bugs will go into a dormant state when they cannot feed. This dormancy hampers the pest control eradication efforts, since the bed bugs will not cross over treated surfaces which cause them to die.