Why bed bugs travel so easily in London
A city where millions of people commute, stay in hotels and short lets, share houses and pass furniture on gives bed bugs endless lifts. They tuck into the seams of suitcases, the joints of second-hand beds, sofas left out on the pavement, and the folds of a bag put down beside a bed. Once inside a flat or shared house, gaps along skirting, pipes and floorboards let them reach the next room or the next home. It has nothing to do with how clean a home is. How bed bugs get into a home covers the usual routes.
Confirm it before you act
Itchy bites are not proof on their own. Some people do not react to bed bug bites at all, while other insects, allergies and skin conditions can cause similar marks. Look for physical evidence instead: small dark spots along mattress seams, pale shed skins, tiny white eggs, or the flat, brown insects themselves, about the size of an apple pip when fully grown. The first signs of bed bugs shows what each looks like. If there is a pet in the home and the bites are mostly round the ankles, read bed bugs or fleas and getting rid of fleas.
Where to look, and how
Strip the bed and work outwards with a torch and a thin card: the mattress seams, piping and labels, the base and slats, the joints of the frame, and the back of the headboard. Then check bedside tables and the skirting boards nearest the bed. Examine things where they are rather than carrying them around the home. Check any other bed or sofa where someone sleeps regularly too, such as a sofa bed in a studio flat. If you find nothing but the bites continue, interceptor cups sold for the purpose can be placed under the bed legs to catch bugs climbing up, and a clear photo of anything you find makes identification much easier. The full search order is in where bed bugs hide during the day.
Mistakes that spread them
- Moving to sleep on the sofa or in another bedroom; the bugs follow, and a second room becomes affected
- Carrying a mattress or sofa unwrapped down communal stairs and along corridors
- Putting infested furniture out on the street, where someone else may take it home
- Setting off shop-bought foggers, which can scatter bugs into gaps and neighbouring rooms instead of reaching where they hide
- Taking unbagged clothes and bags to stay with friends or family
- Throwing belongings away in a panic before anyone has assessed the problem
Whether a bed or sofa can be kept is covered in keeping your mattress and bed bugs in sofas and furniture.
Flats, shared houses and short lets
In a block or a converted house, bed bugs can move along shared walls and pipework, and on belongings carried through corridors and stairwells. If you rent, tell your landlord or agent in writing as soon as you are fairly sure. In a shared house, other bedrooms may need checking at the same time. Bed bugs spreading between flats explains how to raise it with neighbours.
Preparing the rooms
Preparation is where your own effort counts most, and it follows one rule: nothing leaves the room unless it is bagged. Follow any instructions you are given for your visit first. In general:
- Bag bedding, clothes and soft items inside the room, tie the bags and take them straight to the washing machine
- Wash at the hottest temperature the care label allows, then tumble dry on a hot setting
- Keep clean laundry sealed in fresh bags and out of the affected room until after the visit
- Clear the floor, the space under the bed and the edges of the room so they can be reached
- Vacuum slowly along seams and skirting, then seal and bin the bag or empty the canister outdoors
Preparing a room for bed bug treatment has the full order to work in.
Looking after the bites
Most bites settle by themselves, and scratching makes them worse. For itching or swelling, speak to a pharmacist, or to your GP if a reaction is getting worse or a bite looks infected. Call 999 if someone shows signs of a severe allergic reaction, such as difficulty breathing or swelling of the face or throat.
After the visit
Follow the aftercare advice you are given, and keep unbagged items from the treated room out of the rest of the home. An odd bed bug in the period afterwards does not automatically mean the treatment has failed, because eggs laid before the visit can still hatch. Still seeing bed bugs after treatment explains what is normal and when to get back in touch, and how long bed bug treatment takes covers why the timescale depends on the home.
Booking and cost
Bed bug treatment in London is £220 for the first room and £120 for each additional room, so two affected bedrooms come to £340. Halls and landings are not counted as rooms. When you get in touch, say which rooms have signs, whether anyone has been sleeping elsewhere, and whether the property is a flat or a house.
