Bedbug Control Sydenham

Do Bedbugs Get Into Wardrobes and Drawers?

They prefer the bed, because that is where the person is for hours at a time. But a wardrobe or chest of drawers close to the bed is well within reach, and in a busier infestation they spread into the joints, backs and runners of furniture near the bed. Clothes left on the floor, on a chair or in a heap on the bed are more at risk than clothes folded away.

Furniture on the far side of the room, or in another room, is less likely to be involved. An inspection tells you which pieces to worry about. In the older Sydenham houses that have been split into flats, built-in cupboards beside a chimney breast count as storage near the bed too, and we look inside them.

Where They Hide in Storage Furniture

• The back panel of a wardrobe, where it is pinned or stapled to the frame
• Drawer runners and the corners of drawer bottoms
• The gap under a wardrobe or chest that stands on the floor
• Screw holes and the joints of flat-pack furniture
• Folds of clothes that have been left in the same place for weeks, especially close to the bed

Hiding places further from the bed, behind skirting and wallpaper, are covered in our guide on bedbugs behind wallpaper and sockets.

What to Do With the Clothes

1. Bag clothes in the room, so nothing is carried loose through the house.
2. Wash what can be washed hot, then tumble dry on a hot setting. The dryer does most of the work.
3. Tumble dry what cannot be washed, if the label allows, rather than washing it at a low heat.
4. Keep clean clothes sealed in fresh bags until the treatment is finished, and put them back only then.
5. Do not store bags in another bedroom. Keep them somewhere nobody sleeps.

If you use a launderette, the laundry guide covers getting infested washing there and back without spreading it.

How Each Treatment Handles Storage

Whichever route you choose for a Sydenham bedroom, the storage furniture is treated where it stands, as part of the room rather than as a separate job.

Chemical goes into the joints, backs and runners of furniture near the bed, and into the skirting behind it. It is not applied to your clothes, which is why the washing and bagging matter so much. Leave the furniture where it is so we can reach behind it. Expect two, sometimes three, visits about 10–14 days apart.

Heat raises the whole room, furniture and contents, to a temperature bedbugs cannot survive, and kills eggs as well. Tightly packed drawers and a stuffed wardrobe slow the heat getting through, so we ask you to loosen them, and the thermal camera shows when their centres have come up. We give you the list of what must come out beforehand; the heat preparation guide has the detail.

Either way, treatments start at from £220, priced on the rooms and route. Other parts of the borough are on the Lewisham page.

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