Bedbug Control Victoria

Where Bedbugs Can Get Into Luggage on the Way

Bedbugs do not live on people. They ride in things. On a long-distance coach the likely places are the ones where fabric and seams sit still for a long time: upholstered seats, the gap where a seat meets its frame, and the luggage hold, where cases are stacked against each other for the whole trip.

The same applies to wherever you stayed before you set off. A night in a hostel or a friend's flat before the coach is at least as likely a source as the coach itself. What matters now is not where they came from but whether any are in your bags.

Unpacking When You Get In

1. Keep the bags off the bed and the sofa. Put them on a hard floor, in a bath or on a tiled hallway if you have one.
2. Unpack straight into the washing machine. Clothes from the journey go into a hot wash or a hot tumble dryer, including anything you did not wear.
3. Check the empty case in good light. Look along zips, piping, the handle base, wheel housings and any inside pockets. You are looking for small dark spots or a flat brown insect.
4. Wipe or vacuum the case and store it away from bedrooms. Empty the vacuum into a sealed bag outside afterwards.
5. Wash the jacket you travelled in. It sat against the seat longer than anything in the hold.

None of this takes long, and it is the difference between a precaution and a treatment.

If You Find Something or Start Getting Bites

If you find an insect, keep it in a sealed bag or on tape so it can be identified. Plenty of things found in a case after the trip into Victoria are not bedbugs. If you start getting bites in the days after you get back, look at the mattress seams and the bed frame joints before anything else, and do not move to another room to sleep. If you are not sure what you are looking at, an inspection from £120 confirms it before you spend anything on treatment.

If they have reached the bed, the choice is between heat, which is usually one visit and kills eggs too, and chemical treatment, which costs less but needs a follow-up visit. Our guide on when you can sleep in your bed again explains what each means for your nights.

If You Are Staying Near Victoria Rather Than Going Home

Many people get off a coach at Victoria Coach Station and go straight to a hotel or a rented room. The same routine applies there: bags on the luggage rack or a hard floor, not on the bed, and a look at the mattress edge before you unpack. If you find signs, tell the front desk and keep your belongings sealed. Our hotel page for Westminster covers what happens on the hotel's side.

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