Back from a trip? A room-by-room bed bug check

Bed bugs do not come from dirt. They come from somewhere else, and the most common somewhere is a suitcase that sat on a hotel bed or a bedroom floor. A quick check when you get home costs ten minutes; missing them costs two treatments and a lot of laundry.

The suitcase

Unpack in the hallway or bathroom, not on the bed. Put everything that can go in the washing machine straight in at 60°C, or in a hot dryer for 30 minutes. Vacuum the case inside and out, paying attention to the seams, zips and wheel housings, then store it away from bedrooms.

The bedroom

Strip the bed and look along the seams and piping of the mattress with a torch. You are looking for dark spots, tiny pale skins or live insects. Check the joints of the bed frame, the back of the headboard, and the first few centimetres of carpet or skirting around the bed.

The rest of the house

If anyone fell asleep on the sofa after the journey, check its seams and the joins under the cushions. Bed bugs rarely spread far in the first weeks, so checking the bedrooms and sofa is usually enough.

If you find something

Do not move to another room to sleep; that spreads them. Keep sleeping in the same bed, bag and wash the bedding, and book a survey. Early infestations are faster and cheaper to clear, and our preparation checklist tells you exactly what to do before we arrive.