Bedbug Control White City

Why the Written Part Matters So Much

Before any treatment we send a list of what to do: which items come out of the room, what gets washed, what stays. After it, there is a shorter list about when rooms can be used again. A grandparent who moves a bag of clothes into the treated room, or a teenager who sprays something from the shop, can undo a good treatment without meaning to.

So the aim is that every adult in the home knows the few rules that matter, whatever language they read best.

Ways to Make the Instructions Work

1. Ask us to go through it on the phone with the person who will be at home on the day, slowly, so they can ask questions.
2. Have someone who reads it well translate it in their own words and write the key points down in the family's language.
3. Use pictures. Photograph each item that has to come out of the room and stick the photos on the door.
4. Mark things with tape. A strip of coloured tape on anything that must not go back into the room until we say so.
5. Keep the list short. Five rules on one page are better than a full sheet nobody finishes.

Think about who will actually be in the flat on the day and the days after. If that is an older relative who reads another language, the instructions have to reach them in a form they can use, not just the person who booked the visit. Tell us who that is when you ring, and we will go through the key points with them before we leave.

The Rules Everyone Needs to Know

Whatever else gets lost in translation, these should not:

• Keep sleeping in your own bed until the treatment. Moving rooms usually spreads them.
• Do not throw away the mattress or the bed unless we say so.
• Do not use sprays or powders from the shop.
• Bedding goes into a bag in the bedroom and straight into a hot wash.
• On the day, follow the instructions the technician gives, and ask if anything is unclear.

Choosing the Treatment

Heat treatment is usually one visit, which means one set of instructions to follow instead of three. Heat-sensitive things such as aerosols, candles, medication and some electronics come out first, and pets go out too. It costs more than chemical. Chemical is a course of visits about 10-14 days apart, with floors cleared and bedding washed each time, so the household has to repeat the preparation. In a White City home where one person is doing all the explaining, fewer visits can be easier. The Hammersmith and Fulham page covers planning around family and work.

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