Can Bedbugs Live in Cardboard Boxes in Redbridge?

Bedbugs like tight, dark, dry spaces close to where people sleep. The corrugated layer inside a box, the folded flaps and the edges of packing tape are all exactly that. A box under a bed or stacked against a bedroom wall can shelter bugs just as well as a bed frame, and it is a lot less likely to be checked.

Why Cardboard Suits Them

• The ribbed layer inside corrugated board is a row of narrow tunnels.
• Flaps, folds and taped seams create more crevices on the outside.
• Boxes sit still for months, so nothing disturbs whatever is inside them.
• They are often stored under beds, in wardrobes or beside bedroom walls.
• They get carried around, which takes any bugs with them.

None of this means cardboard attracts bedbugs from elsewhere. It simply gives them a good hiding place once they are in a room. The same goes for paper bags, stacks of old magazines and the packaging that new toys and appliances arrive in, all of which tend to collect in spare corners of a busy house.

Moving House With Boxes

Moving is when boxes are at their riskiest. Second-hand boxes from shops, friends or online have been in other homes and storage units first. Boxes packed in a room with bedbugs take them to the new address, along with the bedding and clothes inside.

1. Use new boxes or plastic crates rather than second-hand cardboard.
2. If you already have bedbugs, get treatment before you move, not after.
3. Wash and dry bedding and clothes hot and pack them in sealed bags.
4. Keep packed boxes out of bedrooms and off beds.
5. Unpack at the new home promptly rather than leaving boxes stacked for weeks.

If you are moving a relative in, or buying somewhere, an inspection before the move is a sensible first step.

Boxes Stored Around the Home

Family homes build up boxes: outgrown clothes, toys, paperwork, decorations, things waiting to go to the loft. The ones that matter are in or near bedrooms. Before treatment, tell us how many there are and where. With chemical treatment, floors need clearing and insecticide cannot get inside a sealed box, so contents usually need sorting and bagging first. With heat, clutter can often stay in the room if it is loosely arranged, but ask when you ring how to leave boxes on the day.

Boxes you clear out can go for recycling, but bag them first so nothing drops out on the way through the house. A household that cannot agree on what to keep will find the Gants Hill page useful.

What to Use Instead

Hard plastic crates with tight-fitting lids are the simple swap. They have smooth sides with no corrugations, they can be wiped, and you can see into clear ones. For clothes and bedding, sealed bags work well once the contents have been washed and dried hot. Keep storage off the floor beside the bed where you can, and leave a gap between stored items and the wall.

After treatment, repacking into plastic rather than cardboard gives any bugs that are left fewer places to wait. For what to watch for in the weeks after, see what happens after bedbug treatment, and for preparation before a heat visit, the London preparation guide.

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