Prepare your home for a heat treatment
Temperatures during treatment will be between 120 and 135 degrees. Due to the extreme heat, people and pets cannot be in the space during treatment. Please make arrangements ahead of time to be ready to leave the space when our technicians arrive. We will provide you with an estimated completion time, in most cases 6 to 8 hours.
Air flow is key to treatment. We need to be able to move furniture, spread out clothes, move heaters and fans and otherwise ensure heat penetrates all items in a room. If we can’t walk through a room, treatment will not be successful. In some cases, you will be asked to clean out excess clutter before treatment can occur. Be sure items going in trash are double bagged in sealed trash bags. The fewer boxes and bins in a room, the more successful treatment will be. Failure to properly prepare rooms as instructed my result in additional fees or void your warranty.
Items that must be removed from treatment areas
- Pets – including fish in aquarium
- Fresh food – fruits, vegetables, perishables
- Foods that melt – chocolate, candy, etc.
- Prescription and over the counter drugs
- Make-up, Wax based items – candles, wax figurines
- Anything pressurized – spray cans, fire extinguishers, oxygen bottles, etc.
- Flammables – lighters, lamp fuel, solvents, etc.
- Wooden and stringed musical instruments – leave in the case
- Family heirlooms and irreplaceable items should be inspected and a determination made as to whether they should be treated.
- House plants
Smaller items can be stored in the refrigerator during treatment. Larger items can be boxed and left by the door for inspection. It will be determined if any of these items need to be treated for bed bugs.
Clothing
To avoid reintroducing bed bugs, any clothing removed from the space before a heat treatment must be dried (see below) before being returned to the treated areas.
Treatment
- Wash using the hottest water cycle and dry using the hottest dryer setting will treat most clothing.
- Dry clean only items – do not wash, just use dryer.
- Avoid contaminating the freshly washed clothing. Do not return the clean clothing to the container (bag, basket etc) it was transported in unless the container was also treated.
Clothing in rooms
- Clothing in drawers can be left in place. If clothing is tightly packed then some items must be removed. It may also become necessary to remove the drawers from dressers to help with the air movement.
- Clothing on hangers may be left in closets if the space between items is large enough to allow the heated air to circulate.
- Excess clothing left in heated space (not in closets or drawers) must be placed in open weave laundry baskets. Clothing must be packed loosely. Tightly packed baskets will prevent lethal temperatures from reaching all items. Do not place clothing in plastic bags.
- Larger fabric items – linens, towels, blankets, etc. — leave in the area being heated
Papers, smaller items
- A thermal remediation treatment requires moving large amounts of air to be successful. Secure items that can be blown around.
- Loose papers need to be gathered and boxed.
- Glass items, knick-knacks etc. will need to be secured. Do not leave breakable items on shelves or other areas where damage could happen.
Electronics
- Do not remove
- Switch appliances to off
- Disconnect appliances by unplugging
Waterbeds and airbeds
- Drain waterbeds
- Partially deflate airbeds
- Select Comfort airbeds with an electronic pump must be partially deflated and unplugged.