Bedbugs in Children's Soft Toys: Ealing

Soft toys are not where bedbugs prefer to live; the mattress and the bed frame come first. But toys that spend every night in the bed, pressed against the child, are close to the food supply and full of folds. And unlike the mattress, they travel: to the sofa, to the car, to granny’s, to school.

Sorting the Toys

Start by gathering every soft toy from the affected bed and bedroom into a bag, without shaking them out. Take the bag to a hard floor away from the bedrooms and sort them into three piles.

• Washable: most shop-bought soft toys will take a machine wash; check the label.
• Dryer only: toys that would lose their shape in the wash but can take a hot tumble dryer cycle.
• Neither: toys with electronics, glued parts, fragile fabric, or ones that are simply too precious to risk.

Washing and Drying

1. Put washable toys in a pillowcase or mesh laundry bag, tied shut, so eyes and ribbons do not catch.
2. Wash on the hottest setting the label allows.
3. Follow with a full hot cycle in the tumble dryer where the toy can take it; the drying cycle is what makes the difference for thick stuffing.
4. For dryer-only toys, skip the wash and give them a long hot dryer cycle on their own.
5. Put each finished toy straight into a clean sealed bag or box, not back on the bed yet.

A short cool wash or a spin on a radiator will not do it. The heat has to get right into the middle of the stuffing, which takes time.

The Favourite That Cannot Be Washed

Every house has one: the threadbare rabbit, the bear that belonged to a parent, the thing that makes bedtime possible. Do not force it into a wash that might ruin it. There are other options.

• Check it closely under a good light, especially along the seams, the ears and any label.
• Seal it in a clear plastic bag so it can still be seen and held through the plastic until treatment.
• If you are having heat treatment, tell us about it; toys without batteries or glued parts can often stay in the room to be treated, and we will say which.
• If it has a battery or electronics, remove them before anything else happens, and ask us.

Only if a toy is heavily affected and cannot be treated will we suggest letting it go, and we would say so plainly rather than leave you to decide alone.

What to Tell a Child

Keep it short, honest and free of creepy detail. Something like: there are some tiny bugs in the bed, they are not dangerous, and the toys are going for a very hot bath to make sure none are hiding in them. Most children accept that and are more interested in watching the dryer.

Make clear it is nobody’s fault, and certainly not theirs. If an older child has noticed bites and is worried, a pharmacist or GP can look at a skin reaction, and some children have no reaction at all. Call 999 for any sign of a severe allergic reaction.

Keeping Them Clean Afterwards

Return the toys to the bed only after the room has been treated, or after the final chemical visit if that is the route. Until then, keep them bagged and let the child choose one clean toy at a time. Stop toys travelling between bedrooms and houses for now. If a sleepover might have started it, see bedbugs found after a sleepover. For the treatment itself, our borough pages on heat in Ealing and chemical treatment in Ealing set out what each asks of a family.

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