Bedbugs in Stored Decorations and Seasonal Boxes: Sutton

Most homes have a few boxes that only come out once a year: festive decorations, fancy dress, camping kit, the summer duvet. They go into the loft, the garage or the back of a wardrobe and are forgotten. If any of them were packed in or near a room with bedbugs, they can bring the problem back when they are opened.

What Can Survive in a Stored Box

Bedbugs can go a long time without feeding, and cooler, undisturbed places tend to slow them down rather than kill them. A box that sat in a loft or garage for a year should not be assumed to be empty of them, particularly if it held fabric.

• Fabric items. Stockings, table runners, costumes, cushion covers and soft toys have seams and folds bedbugs like.
• Cardboard. Corrugated edges and the flaps of an old box give cover, and eggs can be glued into the joins.
• Wreaths and garlands. Dense and hard to inspect, especially if they were hung in a bedroom.
• Wooden and wicker items. Cracks and weave give hiding places.
• Glass, metal and hard plastic. Much less likely to hold them, though the tissue paper and packing around them can.

Which Boxes to Worry About

Think back to where each box was filled. A box packed in the kitchen from things kept in the kitchen is low risk. One filled in a bedroom, a spare room used by guests, or from bags that came back from a trip is worth a proper check. So is anything bought second-hand or handed down from another house.

How to Unpack Safely

1. Choose a room with a hard floor and no beds, such as a kitchen or hallway.
2. Bring boxes down one at a time and open them in good light.
3. Take items out slowly and look along seams, folds and edges with a bright torch held low.
4. Put washable fabric straight into a bag and on a hot wash or a hot tumble dry.
5. Check hard items and wipe them over; bag anything you are unsure of.
6. Flatten old cardboard boxes, bag them and put them out with the recycling rather than storing them again.
7. Vacuum the floor where you worked and empty the vacuum outside.

The things to look for are the same as on a mattress: small dark spots, pale shed skins, tiny white eggs and live insects. Our London guide to places that get missed is a good reminder of how small those signs can be.

If You Find Something

Stop unpacking, seal the box in a plastic bag where it stands, and ring 0800 955 1018. Do not carry it back up to the loft or into a bedroom to deal with later. If the box came from a room that has already been treated, tell us that too, because it affects what happens next.

Heat treatment can deal with contents that cannot be washed, as long as heat-sensitive things such as candles, aerosols and some plastics are taken out first; the London guide on preparing for heat treatment lists them. See heat treatment in the borough for how a house is done.

Packing Them Away Next Time

Sealed plastic crates are easier to check than cardboard and give bedbugs fewer places to hide. Wash fabric items before they go away, pack in a room with no beds, and label each crate with where it was filled. If you have had bedbugs in the house this year, the borough page explains how to keep them contained.

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