How to Treat a Suitcase After Bedbugs: City of London

Start With the Contents

Deal with what is inside before you deal with the case. Empty it somewhere with a hard, pale floor, well away from beds and upholstered furniture, and move clothes straight into a bag or the washing machine without shaking them out. A hot wash followed by a hot tumble dry, where the labels allow, is what kills bedbugs and their eggs in fabric.

Toiletry bags, shoes and chargers can be checked by eye and wiped. Anything that cannot be washed, dried or wiped should go into a sealed bag until you have decided what to do with it.

Where Bedbugs Sit in a Case

They avoid open, smooth surfaces and look for tight folds. On most cases that means a predictable list of places.

• The piping and stitching round the edges of the lining.
• Zip channels, both inside and outside.
• Inner pockets, dividers and the straps that hold clothes down.
• The channel the telescopic handle slides into.
• Around the wheel housings and the feet on the base.
• Any label, luggage tag or fabric panel on the outside.

Look with a torch. You are looking for the insects themselves, pale oval eggs about the size of a pinhead, pale shed skins, and small dark spots of digested blood.

Hard-Shell Cases

A hard shell is the simplest. Vacuum the lining seams, the pockets and the handle channel with a narrow nozzle, then wipe the inside and outside with a damp cloth and hot soapy water. Pay attention to the wheels and the handle track, which are the places a quick wipe usually misses. Empty the vacuum into a sealed bag outside when you have finished.

If the lining is removable, take it out and wash it on a hot setting if the fabric allows. A steam cleaner along seams can also help, as long as the material will stand it; test a hidden corner first.

Soft Cases, Holdalls and Rucksacks

Soft luggage has more seams and more places to hide. Small holdalls, rucksacks and fabric washbags can often go in the tumble dryer on a hot setting, which reaches every fold at once. Check the label first, as some coatings and plastic parts do not like heat.

A large soft case that will not fit in the dryer needs the same careful vacuuming as a hard one, with more time on the seams. If you have access to a freezer big enough, our guide on whether cold kills bedbugs explains when freezing can help and when it cannot.

A Case You Are Not Sure About

Sometimes you have done all of this and still do not trust the bag. There are a few sensible options:

• Keep it sealed in a large bag, away from bedrooms, until you are sure.
• Leave it in the room during a heat treatment, if you are having one, so it is treated with everything else.
• Ask us to look at it during an inspection from £120, if you also want the bedroom checked.

Throwing it away is an option too, but seal it in a bag first so you are not carrying an open case through the building. For suitcases that sat in a hotel room, the London guide on where hotels should check for bedbugs explains where to look before you put a case down next time, and the City of London page covers treatment if they reached your home.

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