Bed Bugs in Santa Clarita

Bed bugs have nothing to do with how clean a house is. They travel in luggage, used furniture and backpacks, and they're spreading in every price range of housing in the valley.

How to know for sure

Small rust-colored spots on sheets and mattress seams, tiny dark fecal specks in the seam lines, shed skins, and bites that appear in rows or clusters on skin exposed while sleeping. Bites alone aren't proof — people react very differently.

Where to look

Mattress seams and tags, the box spring frame, headboard joints, the seam of an upholstered chair, and behind nearby wall plates. They stay within a few feet of where people sleep.

Why DIY usually fails

Over-the-counter sprays scatter them into wall voids and adjacent rooms, turning a one-room problem into a whole-unit problem. Treatment requires a systematic approach and a follow-up visit to catch newly hatched nymphs.