Bed Bugs 101: All group living facilities are at risk of frequent bed bug infestations. The most important factor in keeping containment costs down is early identification. The first thing you should do is encase all the mattresses and box springs. Without encasements, bed bugs will go undetected by residents for weeks as they lay eggs and multiply and will likely spread to many adjacent rooms since they can travel up to 30 feet each night. Encasements protect your investment in bedding and take away the bed bugs favorite hiding spots.

With the Protect-A-Bed encasements above, bed bugs will be unable to hide and lay eggs inside your bedding. Therefore, they will have to crawl up the sides of the bed at night to feed. The white color of the encasements makes it very easy for housekeeping see the black fecal spots they leave after feeding. Therefore, you are likely to notice an infestation much quicker when using encasements and will be able to call an exterminator right away when you are only dealing with a few bed bugs.

With the Protect-A-Bed encasements above, you do not need to throw out an infested mattress or box spring. Once zipped up, any bed bugs inside will die of starvation after 12 to 18 months and no new bed bugs can get in. If you decide to throw away your mattresses anyway, we recommend using the Protect-A-Bed Mattress Disposal Bags so you don't spread bed bugs through your facility. Then, you should definitely buy encasements for your new bedding to protect your investment.