Bed bug infestations roughly double in population every 16 days. A single mated female you bring back from a hotel becomes 100+ bugs in 8 weeks and 1,000+ in 16. Catching them before week 6 is the difference between a £150 single treatment and a £600+ multi-room protocol.
The 30-second mattress check
- 01Strip the bed and lift the mattress off the base.
- 02Run a torch along every seam, label, and piping — bed bugs hide in folds, not on flat surfaces.
- 03Look for: live bugs (apple-seed sized, reddish-brown), shed skins (translucent shells), or 1–2mm dark spots (digested blood faeces).
- 04Check the same on the box spring or divan base — they often live there, not in the mattress itself.
- 05Check the headboard joins, especially behind it where it meets the wall.
The four hiding spots people miss
- Inside the screw holes of a wooden bed frame.
- Behind loose wallpaper or peeling paint within 2m of the bed.
- Inside electrical sockets near the headboard.
- Bedside book bindings and the seams of upholstered chairs.
If you find them
Bag and seal anything you can, hot wash and tumble dry everything else at 60°C+ for 30 minutes (kills all life stages), and book a professional treatment — DIY sprays push bugs deeper into harborage without killing the eggs. See the bed-bugs species page, the signs guide, and the emergency page for same-day treatment.