In a recent blog, we told you all about avoiding picking up bed bugs when you're in a hotel room. After all, it stinks to be bitten by bed bugs when staying overnight, but that's a short-term problem that can be alleviated with bed bug bite relief in a little time. While it might seem counterintuitive, it's much more important to protect your luggage and your clothing when you're in a hotel room because that's how they end up back at your home...and that's when the real problem starts.

In the link above, we told you all about how to check into the hotel room, how to protect your luggage with anti-bed bug covers, and why you shouldn't use the bureau's drawers. (It's also a good idea to use a human-friendly and all-natural bed bug spray to kill them before they can reach your luggage.)

Whether you implement any or all of those precautions, bed bugs are one of the sneakiest pests out there. If they don't get into your suitcase because you're using our covers, maybe they climbed into the shirt tag and couldn't be shaken out.

Their nefarious habit of moving from place to place is one reason we hate them and carry so many products to wipe them out!

So what should you do once you get home? The trip might be over, but precautions remain to ensure your home doesn’t become infested. While it might seem a little over the top, anyone who’s ever had bed bugs in their home knows how worthwhile the process is.

Keep It In The Garage

First of all, everything we suggest should be done in the garage. If you happen to dislodge any bed bugs, they’ll crawl off and die (even though it might take a year for that to happen). It’s better to take care of this process in the garage to keep them away from the interior of your home.

Wash Your Clothes

And the minute’s up! Take all of the clothing that can withstand high heat and toss it in the garbage bag as well. In most cases, even cold-washed clothes will be fine for a single wash in such a manner (they’re often cold-washed because that will make them last longer). After tossing all those clothes in the wash, throw away the garbage bag. You’ll probably want to wash your clothes and spray your shoes with some natural plant-based bed bug killer.

If you have clothes that cannot survive a high-heat wash and a high-heat dry, dry cleaning is probably the answer. Leave them in the garage until you can get to the dry cleaner. Wrap them up in a garbage bag, tie them tight, and set them aside.

Deal With Your Luggage

Now that everything else you took is getting the high heat or spray treatment, it’s time to consider your luggage. At the very least, you should give it a thorough vacuum with an attachment that can reach down into the seams of the luggage. After you’ve done this, check any spots where bed bugs could be hiding, including pockets or even under the rollers or handle.

After the vacuuming, be thorough with a steamer. A handheld steamer raises the temperature so high that the bed bugs can’t survive. The steamer aspect also ensures that it’s getting into crevices and hidden spaces better. (To be safe, spray the luggage with some bed bug-killing spray.) After you’re done with the steamer, put your luggage out in the sun to dry because you don’t want the moisture the steamer creates to cause mold or mildew to grow in the luggage.

When it’s all dry, think about a place to keep your luggage besides a bedroom. Keeping your luggage in a furnace room or basement will ensure that any bed bugs that might have survived the process, however unlikely, will be regulated to a non-sleeping house floor.