Can Bedbugs Live in Plastic Storage Boxes in Ealing?

Bedbugs struggle to climb smooth, clean plastic, and they cannot chew their way into anything. So a well-sealed box is a useful barrier. But they are flat enough to slip through a gap the thickness of a credit card, and they are just as happy hiding on the outside of a box as anywhere else near a bed.

When a Box Becomes a Hiding Place

• The lid rests on top rather than clipping shut, leaving a gap round the rim.
• The box has handles, ridges or a textured base with folds and seams.
• It is full of clothes or bedding that went in without being washed first.
• It lives under the bed or against the headboard wall, right beside the sleeper.
• It has been opened and closed every day, so bugs get in with what is taken out and put back.

The contents matter more than the plastic. A box filled from an affected bedroom simply takes the problem with it, sealed or not, and bedbugs can go a long time without feeding. Putting unwashed things in a box and waiting is not a treatment.

Under-Bed Storage

The space under a bed is one of the first places we look. Boxes, bags and suitcases there are dark, undisturbed and a hand’s width from the mattress. Fabric under-bed bags and cardboard boxes are the worst for it; plastic is better but the rims, lid channels and wheels still give them corners to sit in.

If you find signs in the bed, leave the under-bed boxes where they are rather than carrying them out through the house. Tell us what is under there when you ring, because it changes the preparation. A divan with built-in drawers is a similar story, and the London guide to places that get missed covers bed bases in more detail.

Using Boxes to Protect Your Belongings

This is where boxes earn their place. Before and during treatment you want clean clothes and bedding kept clean until the room is finished, and a good box does that job.

1. Choose boxes with clip-down lids and a rubber seal if you can.
2. Wash and dry the contents on the hottest settings they can take before they go in.
3. Wipe the box inside and out, and check the lid channel, before filling it.
4. Fill it away from the affected room, on a hard floor, and close it straight away.
5. Store it out of the bedrooms until treatment is done, and label it so nobody opens it early.

Boxes and the Treatment Itself

For heat treatment, a packed box in the treated room is a potential cold spot: the heat needs to reach what is inside. We will usually ask for lids off and contents loosened, or for boxes of washed items to be kept out of the room altogether. Anything on the heat removal list, such as aerosols or medication, must not be packed away in a box in the room. The London guide on preparing for heat treatment has the full list.

For chemical treatment, the floor needs to be clear so the skirtings and bed frame can be reached. Under-bed boxes come out on the day, are checked, and go back once the surfaces are dry. Our borough page on heat treatment in Ealing explains how a whole house is planned.

Soft Toys and Children’s Things

Sealed boxes are a good home for washed soft toys while the bedroom is being dealt with. Our guide to soft toys covers washing them first. Treatments start at £220; ring 0800 955 1018 for a price for your rooms.

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