Bedbug Control Hornsey

Where They Hide in a Chair

A bed has seams and a frame. A recliner has far more: folded fabric round the footrest, the gap where the back meets the seat, the metal mechanism underneath, the stapled cloth over the base, and cushions that zip on and off. That is where to look, with a torch, turning the chair on its side if you can do it safely or asking someone to help.

• Dark spotting along the piping and in the creases of the seat.
• Pale skins and tiny eggs in the folds of the footrest and round the lever.
• Live bugs on the underside fabric and in the joints of the frame.

The skirting and carpet nearest the chair, and any side table or footstool beside it, are worth checking too. The bed you no longer use is less likely to be the problem, but look at it anyway.

Keep Sleeping in the Chair

It is tempting to move back to the bed or across to the sofa. Please do not. The bugs follow, and then two places need treating instead of one. Stay in the chair, keep a washable throw over it, and put that throw and any blankets on the hottest wash the labels allow every few days. A careful vacuum of the seams helps too; our guide to vacuuming explains what it can and cannot do and how to empty the vacuum without spreading them.

Treating a Recliner

Heat treatment raises the whole room, the chair included, to a temperature bedbugs cannot survive, and the heat gets into padding and mechanisms that a spray cannot reach. It kills eggs as well, and is usually a single visit taking most of a day. A powered recliner has a motor and wiring; tell us the make on the phone and we will say what needs protecting or unplugging.

Chemical treatment treats the outside seams, the frame and the edges of the room, and costs less. With a chair full of folds and moving parts it usually needs its full course of two, sometimes three visits, and you can sit back in the chair once the treated surfaces are dry.

Planning the Day Around You

If you sleep in a chair for a medical reason, tell us when you ring. For heat, the room has to be empty of people and pets for most of the day, so you will need somewhere comfortable to sit elsewhere, and any medication in the room comes out beforehand. Follow the instructions we give on the day. Bites affect people differently; for a skin reaction speak to a pharmacist or GP, and call 999 for any sign of a severe allergic reaction.

Treatments start from £220, depending on rooms and on heat or chemical, with the price given on the phone. More about Hornsey and the other parts of Haringey is on the borough page.

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