Is a weekly column by journalist and bed bug survivor theresa braine.
Can bed bugs climb plastic air mattresses.
An adult bed bug releases about five eggs per day and after the 2 week incubation period each egg can hatch as many.
Bed bugs also reproduce rapidly.
Measuring only between 1 and 7 millimeters in length these pests are pretty hard to spot their size makes it even more difficult to control the infestation.
For more click here by fall 2009 i was sick of sleeping on the air mattress that had been my bed since shortly after my june bedbug discovery.
While bed bugs can t live in foam they can stash themselves in any crevice that s close to your body while you re inert such as in the small cracks of your bed frame.
The plastic mattress is a control measure for bed bugs.
Essentially i was sleeping on the floor.
Besides literally bringing me down it was hard on my knees every time i had to heave myself up i had been.
In fact it can be used as the cover.
Plastic makes it more difficult for bed bugs to survive thus killing them.
So even though.
This can work to your advantage if you re battling bedbugs as you can create barriers to keep them from climbing onto your bed.
The best attribute about an air mattress regarding bed bugs is the fact that burrowing to the hard plastic or vinyl outer cover is difficult for the little pests.
Bed bugs are tiny reddish brown insects that have tapered bodies with horizontal ridges.
But if you choose to buy a used piece of furniture make sure to inspect it thoroughly before you set it up in your bedroom.
A vinyl mattress cover is perhaps the best way to protect your bed from the wrath of bed bugs.
They can only crawl for locomotion so moving from the floor to the bed requires them to climb up a leg of the bed or to scale belongings or furniture you ve placed nearby.
In fact a vinyl mattress cover can help prevent bed bugs altogether.
It is very possible for a bed bug to climb plastic with a rough surface and when facing a very smooth plastic it becomes very difficult for them and might end up not being able to climb.
The fact that they can t climb metal or plastic comfortably should not guarantee you a good night sleep.
It slips over your mattress making it more difficult for bed bugs to navigate.
So it makes sense that your first line of defense against bed bugs starts with your mattress.
And even if they were to succeed you ll definitely know as your mattress will begin to leak.
