Bedbug Control South Woodford

Why Waiting Until After Exams Is Tempting but Risky

The obvious plan is to put it off until the last paper. The trouble is that bedbugs do not wait: numbers build up week on week, bites get worse, and they can spread to a brother's or sister's room or to the sofa where the revising teenager falls asleep. A problem in one bedroom in spring can be a problem upstairs by summer.

Treating early, in a gap between papers or at a weekend, usually costs the student less time than months of poor sleep. Our guide on whether bedbugs bite every night explains why a few quiet nights do not mean they have gone.

Protecting Notes, Books and Laptops

Revision material is what students worry about first. Paper and books are not damaged by treatment, but how they are handled depends on the route:

• For heat, most books and papers can stay in the room and are treated with it. Laptops, tablets, chargers and some other electronics come out beforehand, along with aerosols and anything else on the list we give you.
• For chemical, desks and shelves are left in place, but the floor needs clearing. Notes in folders can be moved to a sealed plastic tub for the fortnight so they are not lost in the shuffle.
• Either way, check a school or college bag along its seams before it goes into another room, and keep revision on the desk, not on the bed.

Picking a Date That Works

Heat is usually one visit, with the student out of the room for most of a day and back in once it has cooled. That makes it easier to fit into a single gap between exams, and it costs more than chemical. The Redbridge heat treatment page describes how that day runs in a family house.

Chemical is an hour or two each visit and the room is usable again once dry, but there are usually two, sometimes three visits about 10 to 14 days apart. Plan the second one around the exam timetable as well as the first. The chemical treatment page sets out the course of visits.

Sleep and Study in the Meantime

Keep the student in their own bed until treatment. Moving them to a sibling's room or the sofa for a better night's sleep usually gives them a second room of bedbugs. Hot-wash and dry their bedding, keep the floor clear, and revise at a desk or kitchen table rather than on the bed.

If the bites are keeping them awake or look infected, a pharmacist or GP can help; call 999 for any sign of a severe allergic reaction. For households in South Woodford, telling us the exam dates when you ring helps us suggest a sensible day. If you are not sure it is bedbugs, an inspection confirms it first.

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