Bed Bugs In The Bedroom

What's happening?

Bed bugs are flat, reddish-brown insects about five millimetres long that feed on blood at night and spend the day hidden within a few metres of where you sleep. They are not a hygiene problem: they arrive on luggage, second-hand furniture, or through a shared wall in a flat, and a spotless bedroom is no defence. The evidence is specific: dark spots of digested blood along mattress seams and piping, shed skins, blood smears on the sheets, and bites that often appear in a line or cluster. What makes them hard is where they hide: headboard joints, bed frame screw holes, skirting, behind a loose bit of wallpaper, inside a bedside cabinet. Amateur treatment usually spreads them into adjoining rooms rather than clearing them.

What usually causes it?

• Brought home in luggage, a bag or clothing after staying somewhere infested
• Second-hand mattresses, bed frames, sofas or bedside furniture
• Spreading between flats through shared walls, service voids and skirting gaps
• A visitor's bag or a child's overnight bag carrying them in
• Moving an infested item between rooms, which seeds a second population
• Insecticide sprayed by an occupant, dispersing bugs into adjoining rooms rather than killing them
• Clutter and stored items beside the bed giving hundreds of harbourage points

Is it dangerous?

Not dangerous in a medical sense: bed bugs are not known to transmit disease. The bites itch and can become infected if scratched, and some people react strongly. The real harm is sleep and mental health: a persistent infestation is exhausting and distressing. Do not use insecticide foggers or bug bombs: they rarely reach harbourage, drive bugs deeper into walls and adjoining rooms, and some cannot be used safely in an occupied bedroom.

Can I fix it myself?

Some genuinely useful things, none of which are spraying. Wash affected bedding and clothing at 60°C and tumble dry hot, or seal items in bags and freeze them where washing is not possible. Vacuum the bed frame, mattress seams and floor edges and empty the cleaner outside into a sealed bag. Reduce clutter round the bed. Keep sleeping in the room: moving to another bedroom spreads the infestation. Do not throw the mattress out yet, do not fog, and do not move furniture to other rooms.

When should you call a pest controller?

Call a pest controller as soon as you are reasonably sure, because early infestations are far easier to clear. Bed bugs realistically need professional treatment: either targeted insecticide applied to harbourage over repeat visits, or a heat treatment that raises the room above the lethal temperature. In a flat, tell the landlord or managing agent: adjoining properties usually need inspecting, and treating one flat while the neighbouring one is untreated does not hold.

What will the pest controller actually do?

• Inspect the bed frame, mattress seams, headboard, skirting, furniture joints and floor edges to confirm and map the infestation
• Advise on preparation (laundering, bagging, decluttering) that decides whether treatment works
• Apply approved professional insecticide to harbourage rather than surfaces, over the repeat visits the life cycle needs
• Offer or arrange heat treatment where insecticide is unsuitable or resistance is suspected
• Fit mattress and base encasements and monitors so any survivors are detected
• Advise on inspecting adjoining rooms or flats, and on what may safely be discarded

Who fixes this

• Bed bug treatment

Questions people ask

Sources & References

1. NHS: Bedbugs
2. HSE: Biocides
3. GOV.UK: Report a pest problem