In the pantheon of insects, one inspires a special kind of ick: the flat, oval-shaped Cimex lectularius. No, this six-legged scourge does not confine itself to Parisian
hygge. “Bedbugs had slowed down over the last five years in Portland, but they’ve increased in the last year,” says Matthew White of the Killers, an extermination company that works in Portland, Salem, Vancouver, and Newport. “We think it’s due to people doing a lot more traveling and bringing bedbugs home.” 

Once bedbugs take up residence, they can be notoriously pesticide-resistant, leaving you at the mercy of companies offering bug-sniffing dogs, toxic-sounding
chemicals, and lipstick-melting heat treatments, while your home takes on the musty, sweet odor of infestation. Don’t panic. OK, fine, panic. When you’re done, here’s what to do. 

1. Who’s paying? If you rent or own a single-family home, you are. But you could be in luck if renting an apartment, says Dung Ho, tenant education and support director with the Community Alliance of Tenants. “Under Oregon law, if there’s more than one infested apartment, the landlord is responsible for the cost of treatment,” he says. And if bedbugs were present when you moved in, the landlord is responsible. The hitch: you want to start pest treatments yesterday, and might end up fronting the cost. Talk to a tenant attorney. 

2. Get help. Try the Multnomah County Bed Bug Information Line (503-988-BUGS), the Oregon State University county extension offices, and your landlord. “If you’re a renter, you really need to work with your property manager,” says Melissa Greeney, safety net specialist with Multnomah County Department of Human Services. 

3. Know your IPM. That’s integrated pest management, the gold standard. It’s a multipronged approach including prevention, sanitation, and nonchemical “interceptor traps” that catch bedbugs wandering away from beds. “IPM is about learning what bedbugs like and what they don’t like,” says Kei Lin Chang, a pesticide specialist with the National Pesticide Information Center. “Just using a spray isn’t the most effective, because they may not reach areas where the bedbugs are hiding, and they might be resistant to the pesticide.” 

4. Consider DIY. Put items in the dryer on high; vacuum and steam-clean furniture, carpets, and mattresses; put mattresses in bedbug covers; and then throw up your hands and put nonessential belongings in black garbage bags for a year. A common scenario: you treat one room, and bedbugs move to another room, and you realize that forking over thousands to the pros was, in fact, the only viable option. 

5. Call professionals. Avoid one-and-done approaches. “It’s going to take time,” says Perry Cabot, senior program specialist with the Multnomah County Health Department. Translation: three visits, plus inspections. Exterminator treatments for a 2,000-square-foot home could cost $1,600–2,500. Heat treatments, which raise the temperature above 120 degrees Fahrenheit to kill bedbugs and eggs, can cost $3,000. “If you’re going to try to DIY heat-treat your home, god help you,” says Cabot. 

You will, for months, be vacuuming and cleaning regularly, while scanning for bedbug eggs or exoskeletons. And you will forevermore keep luggage away from hotel beds, vanquish bedside clutter, and immediately wash and dry new thrift-store clothing.