Not a sign of a dirty home
It is worth saying plainly: a spotless house can get bed bugs, and a messy one may never have them. They live on blood, not crumbs or rubbish, so cleaning habits have nothing to do with whether they arrive. Clutter only matters afterwards, because it gives them more places to hide once they are in.
Travel and luggage
Hotels, hostels, holiday lets, coaches, trains and planes all see a constant turnover of people and bags. A bug that climbs into a suitcase seam or a folded jumper can be unpacked on your bedroom carpet days later. Bed bugs turn up in expensive hotels as well as cheap ones, so the price of a room is no protection.
- Keep your case on a luggage rack or a hard floor, never on the bed
- Check the mattress seams and headboard of a hotel bed before unpacking
- Put travel clothes straight into the washing machine when you get home
- Store the empty case away from the bedroom
Second-hand furniture and mattresses
Beds, sofas, bedside tables and upholstered chairs bought second-hand, or picked up from the pavement, are a well-known source. Listings on online marketplaces rarely mention bed bugs, and a seller may not know. A few eggs in a joint are practically invisible. Inspect anything used before it crosses the threshold, concentrating on seams, screw holes and the underside; bed bugs in sofas and furniture shows exactly where to look.
Visitors and overnight guests
A guest who stays over, a relative back from abroad or a friend with bed bugs at home, unaware of it, can bring a few in on clothing or a bag. This is nobody's fault, and it is one reason a new infestation so often seems to have come from nowhere.
Moving into a new home
Bugs can be left behind by previous occupants, hidden in a fitted wardrobe, a carpet edge or a bed frame that came with the property. They can also travel with you in boxes from your old address. If you are moving house, in Cricklewood or anywhere in Brent, look over any furniture the last occupants left before you unpack, and run bedding and clothes through a hot wash as they come out of the boxes.
Rooms let between tenants
Bed bugs can survive for months without feeding, so a room that has stood empty is not necessarily clear. Landlords letting furnished rooms, in Kenton or elsewhere, can look over beds and sofas between tenancies before the next person moves in.
From a neighbouring flat or room
In blocks and shared houses, bugs can also arrive from next door through gaps around pipes and wiring, or on belongings moved along a corridor. That route has its own guide: can bed bugs spread between flats.
Buses, offices and cinemas
Public seating and workplaces occasionally have bed bugs, and a bag set down on an upholstered seat could pick one up. The risk from any single journey or film is small, and there is no need to change ordinary life because of it.
Why tracing the source helps
Knowing how they arrived helps you avoid bringing them back: a suitcase still in the wardrobe or a second-hand chair in the living room may need attention as well. Often, though, the source is never pinned down, and that is fine: it does not change what happens next, and it is no reflection on you or your home. Mention anything you suspect when you book treatment. Bed bug treatment in Brent costs £220 for the first room, then £120 for each additional room. To confirm what you have, see the first signs of bed bugs.
