How Do You Get Rid of Bed Bugs in a Kenton Home?

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Step 1: Confirm It

Bites alone are not confirmation. Bites are the least reliable evidence there is — people react very differently, and some do not react at all.

• Live insects — flat, oval, reddish-brown, about apple-pip sized
• Dark spots on the mattress seam or bed frame — digested blood, the most reliable sign
• Small blood smears on the sheet
• Shed skins — pale, translucent, insect-shaped
• A sweetish musty smell in a bad case
• Look in seams and joints — mattress piping, bed frame screw holes, headboard, behind the bed

Read nextSigns of Bed Bugs in a Kenton Bedroom – What Should You Look For? →

Step 2: Do Not Move Rooms

The most important instruction on this page, and the one most often ignored.

• Bed bugs follow carbon dioxide. Move and they follow you
• The spare room becomes the second infested room, at £120 more
• Sleeping on the sofa makes the living room a treatment room
• Carrying bedding through the house spreads them along the route
• Staying at a relative's risks taking them there
• Stay put. It is unpleasant and it is the right answer

Step 3: Prepare Properly

• Strip all bedding and wash at 60°C, then hot tumble dry
• Bag laundered items sealed until after treatment
• Clear the floor and everything under the bed
• Empty bedside tables and under-bed drawers
• Pull the bed away from the wall, and leave access on all sides
• Vacuum the mattress, base, frame, floor and skirtings, then empty into a sealed bag, outside
• Do not move possessions to another room
• Soft toys — hot wash, or seal and freeze for a couple of weeks

Step 4: Treatment

Treatment covers every seam, joint, screw hole and harbourage in the room — the bed, the frame, the headboard, adjacent furniture, skirtings and floor edges. Adjacent rooms are inspected as part of the visit.

Step 5: Finish the Follow-Ups

This is the step where DIY and cheap single-visit jobs fail.

• Eggs are not killed by the first treatment. They hatch afterwards, which is what the follow-up is for
• Bites can continue for a short period after the first visit — that is expected, not failure
• Do not cancel the follow-up because things seem better
• Keep sleeping in the room unless told otherwise
• The programme typically runs two to four weeks across the visits

What Does Not Work

• Supermarket sprays. They kill what they hit and nothing in a screw hole
• Bug bombs and foggers. Worse than useless — they scatter bed bugs into adjacent rooms
• Throwing out the bed. Expensive, and they are usually in the skirting too
• Moving rooms. Covered above, twice, deliberately
• Ultrasonic devices. No credible evidence
• Freezing a whole room or turning the heating up. Domestic equipment does not reach the temperatures required
• Diatomaceous earth alone, spread liberally around a family home

Pets and Children

• Tell us who is in the house before the visit
• Expect to be out of the treated room for a period afterwards — we tell you how long
• Cover a fish tank and switch off the pump if you have one
• Bed bugs do not live on pets and pets do not spread them
• A cat or dog sleeping on the bed is not the cause, though a pet bed in the room gets treated too
• Soft toys are dealt with by washing or freezing, not by treatment

Afterwards

• Keep the bed away from the wall for a while
• Consider a mattress encasement — it makes future inspection much easier
• Check luggage after travelling, and do not put a case on the bed
• Inspect second-hand furniture before it comes in, especially anything upholstered
• Check the mattress seam occasionally — early detection makes it a one-room job

Related Questions

Do bed bugs mean my house is dirty?

No. They are carried in on luggage and furniture and are entirely indifferent to how clean a house is.

Can they spread from next door?

In a terrace it is possible but much less common than in a block of flats. Almost all cases are carried in.

Will they go away on their own?

No. An adult can survive months without feeding.