Aprehend® Bed Bug Prep Sheet
What to do before, during and after your Aprehend® bed bug treatment with Tillsonburg Pest and Wildlife. Print this page and keep it handy.
Before You Start
Aprehend® is a biopesticide made from the spores of a natural fungus (Beauveria bassiana strain GHA, PCP Reg. No. 33745). We spray thin strips where bed bugs travel. Bed bugs pick up the spores as they cross, and the label says they die within about 4 to 10 days. Good prep lets us reach those routes and helps the treatment work.
Follow this sheet and any extra instructions from your technician. If anything here doesn’t fit your home, call us at (226) 641-6305.
1. Before Treatment
Bedding and laundry
- Strip every bed: sheets, pillowcases, mattress pads, duvets, blankets and bed skirts. Bag them in the room, then carry the sealed bags to the laundry.
- Wash in hot water (at least 49 °C / 120 °F) and/or dry on the hottest dryer setting for at least 1 hour.
- Pick up clothes, towels and fabric items from floors, chairs and under beds. Launder and dry them the same way.
- Keep clean items in new, sealed plastic bags until after treatment.
- You don't need to empty dressers or closets unless your technician sees bed bugs in them. Empty storage drawers built into bed frames.
The room
- Clear clutter from floors, especially around beds, sofas and chairs.
- Move beds and furniture a little away from the walls so we can reach the baseboards.
- Vacuum along the baseboards and around beds before we arrive. Seal the vacuum bag or contents in a plastic bag and put it in the outdoor garbage.
- Cover fish tanks, terrariums and small animal cages with a clean sheet or towel, and plan to keep pets out of treated rooms until the spray dries.
- Tell us if anyone in the home has a weakened immune system or allergies, so we can plan around them.
- Don't steam or wet-clean the bed frames, furniture or baseboards right before treatment.
- Don't use foggers or store-bought bug sprays before or after treatment.
- Don't move furniture or belongings out of infested rooms into other rooms. That can spread bed bugs.
2. On Treatment Day
- Our technician sprays narrow strips, about 5 cm (2 in.) wide, on bed frames, headboards, box spring edges, sofa and chair frames, and along baseboards.
- We don't spray mattresses, sheets, pillows or blankets.
- People and pets stay out of the rooms being treated while we spray and until the spray has dried. Your technician will tell you when it's okay to go back in.
- Open windows or run a fan to air out the rooms once you're back in.
- Ask your technician to show you where the strips are, so you know which spots to leave alone.
3. After Treatment
Leave the strips alone
- Don't wipe, mop, wash, vacuum or steam the treated strips. Cleaning removes the spores, and water stops them from working.
- Don't spray cleaners, disinfectants or other bug sprays on treated surfaces.
Keep your normal routine
- Keep sleeping in your own bed. Bed bugs come out to find you, and that's how they cross the strips.
- Put clean bedding back on once the spray has dried, and keep washing and drying it on hot as usual.
- You can clean the rest of the room as usual, away from the treated strips.
- The strips may be visible in some light. They can stay active for up to 3 months in cool, dry rooms.
What to expect
- Seeing a few bed bugs in the first 2 to 3 weeks is normal. They may wander into odd places as the spores work.
- Per the label, bed bugs that pick up spores die within about 4 to 10 days.
4. Follow-Up at About 30 Days
- Your follow-up visit is included: we come back about 30 days after treatment to inspect.
- If live bed bugs are still present, the label allows Aprehend® to be applied again, and we'll plan it with you.
- Seeing live bed bugs a month after treatment? Call us at (226) 641-6305.
Once the job is done and you want to remove the strips, ask us first. We’ll tell you when and how.
Sources
This prep sheet is based on the Aprehend® Canadian product label (PCP Reg. No. 33745) and Rockwell Labs’ Aprehend® homeowner prep sheet and post-treatment guidance. The product label always comes first: if anything here differs from the label or your technician’s instructions, follow the label and your technician.
Questions About Your Treatment? Call Us
Call for a free phone estimate. An inspection is required for an exact quote.