Before you acquire used furniture, keep in mind just because it seems nice on the outside, does not mean it’s perfect on the inside.
So, it is advisable to assess used furniture before purchasing to prevent pest infestation in your house. All in all, by incorporating the right pest control methods when inspecting, you will certainly not miss out on acquiring affordable furniture. Well, in this case, it will be beneficial to incorporate the professional services of exterminators.
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In order to assist you to save some cash on the furniture expenses and make sure that your house is pest-free, we have tips on how to check for the pests before acquiring used furniture. Read on to find out more!
Find out the Furniture You Need to Purchase
While some circumstances may force you to purchase used mattresses or box-springs, you need to note that these types of items are a hotspot for multiple pests like the bed bugs. Thus, you should save for new pieces of stuff and get used furniture for other parts of the house.
Generally, pests love upholstered furniture because they can get into the fabric and hide in seams and pleats. So, if you’re the type of person who is into furniture styles, it would be beneficial to consider the vinyl, composite, or even the hardwood stuffs instead. Ordinarily, in addition to having several crevices, these types of furniture are easy to clean. Thus, if there’re pests, you can easily eradicate them.
Use Common Sense
Pests can hide in seams and narrow cracks. Bed bugs, for instance, are hard to spot and even much harder to get rid of them once they come to your house. The truth is that finding pests in furniture that seem reasonably clean and safe is quite challenging. Thus, always avoid searching for furniture from dumpsters and alleys.
While it sounds like a no brainer, you’ll often come across people on the TV bragging about how they found incredible home pieces of stuff abandoned somewhere. Honestly speaking, if you come across furniture meant for the city dump, it would be kind of you to leave it alone!
Inquire Where the Used Furniture was Stored
While it seems unnecessary, inquiring from the seller where the furniture was stored is fundamentally essential. Indeed, some sellers keep the furniture in storage units, which can be predisposed to pests because most of these places aren’t always airtight or sealed.
Furthermore, the fact that most sellers cycle through multiple storage units, pests can quickly spread from one unit to the other. Additionally, most sellers keep mattresses and upholstered stuff in these storage units, which again, offer conducive environments for pests.
Remember, an average adult bed bug can go for more than a year without eating. Therefore, it does not mean that you will not find a bedbug in the furniture just because the seller has stored the items in a clean storage unit for over a year.
Avoid Purchasing the Upholstered Furniture
While this is unpleasant to your ears, remember that upholstered furniture can be a paradise for pests. It can be quite impossible to identify them once inside. If the person selling the furniture vacuumed or cleaned them without realizing the presence of the pest, the superficial clues, and signs of pest activity may be absent as well.
Basically, steam cleaning cannot eliminate pests from the upholstered furniture. The extreme heat needed to eradicate pests, such as bedbugs plus their eggs cannot penetrate the upholstered padding pieces deeply enough to perform the task optimally.
If you still think that you are a lucky star and want to risk acquiring the second-hand upholstered stuff, assess them deeply for signs of pests, and check for the stuff that people do not sleep on or near.