Inspection

How to check for bed bugs, at home and away

How to check a bed, a bedroom or a hotel room for bed bugs: the spots, skins and eggs to look for, where they hide, and what to do after a trip away.

The short answer

Check the bed first, with a torch and a plastic card: strip the sheets and look along the mattress piping, seams and labels, then the base, the slat rails, every frame joint and behind the headboard. You are looking for live bugs, dark spots that spread into the fabric like ink, pale cast skins and pinhead-sized white eggs. Then work outward to bedside furniture, skirting and curtains before deciding whether you need professional bed bug treatment.

The first signs of bed bugs, before you see a bug

Four signs turn up before most people ever see a live bed bug. Dark faecal spots, about the size of a full stop, that soak into fabric; rusty smears on sheets where a bug has been crushed; pale yellowish cast skins; and eggs about 1 mm long, pearl white and stuck in place. Bites are a reason to look, not proof. A sweet, musty smell, which the CDC mentions, is only noticeable in heavy infestations.

Any one of the first four, found in or around a bed, is worth taking seriously, and two of them together are close to certain. Either way, it is worth checking the whole bed properly, in the order below, before deciding what comes next.

How to check a bed for bed bugs, step by step

You need a bright torch, an old plastic card or a flat blade, clear tape and a zip bag. Strip the bed and start at the pillow end, where the University of Kentucky advises looking hardest, then work along the mattress seams, piping and labels, turn the mattress and do the underside, then the base, the slat rails, every frame joint and screw hole, and behind and inside the headboard.

Run the edge of the card firmly along each seam and into each joint: it flushes out bugs and scrapes up spots and skins where you can see them. An unfed bed bug is only about as thick as a credit card, so any crack that would take the card is worth a look. Lift anything suspicious on tape and seal it in the bag, then compare it with sizes and colours at each life stage.

Checking the rest of the bedroom

Once the bed is done, work outward about two metres. Check bedside tables, including the drawer joints and the underside, then upholstered chairs and couch seams, curtain folds, skirting boards and carpet edges, and the backs of picture frames and any loose wallpaper. In heavy infestations the US EPA notes bugs also turn up around power outlets and where the wall meets the ceiling.

Look at power outlets from the outside only and leave the covers on; spots or skins around the edge are enough to tell you. Furniture close to the bed matters far more than the far side of the room, so spend your time there.

How to check a hotel, motel or hostel room

Before unpacking, leave your bag in the bathroom or on the luggage rack, pull back the sheets at the pillow end, and check the mattress seams and the headboard with your phone torch. Check the luggage rack itself as well, as the US EPA suggests, and keep your bag on it for the whole stay, never on the bed or the floor. Health New Zealand gives the same advice about keeping bags off the floor.

If you find signs, tell reception and ask to move. We would ask for a room that is not next door or directly above or below, since bed bugs move between neighbouring rooms along shared walls and services. A brief look on arrival takes two minutes and saves bringing anything home.

After a trip, or before second-hand furniture comes inside

When you get home, unpack straight into the washing machine and put everything through a hot dryer cycle, because the US EPA says it is the dryer's heat that kills bed bugs; the NHS suggests a 60 °C wash and at least 30 minutes on a hot setting. Check the suitcase seams with a torch, and store suitcases away from bedrooms, never under the bed.

Second hand furniture deserves the same care. Health New Zealand advises against buying second hand mattresses, and anything upholstered or slatted is best checked outside, along the seams, joints and underside, before it comes into the house. Student halls and flats, where beds and couches pass from one tenancy to the next, are where this matters most in Auckland. In a rental, a dated record of what you found also settles who is responsible in a rental.

Interceptors: confirming a suspicion over two weeks

An interceptor is a smooth-walled cup that sits under each bed leg and catches bed bugs climbing up to feed or down again, because they cannot climb its slippery inner wall. With the bed standing clear of the wall and the bedding tucked in, the legs become the only route. Two weeks of empty cups is meaningful reassurance, and a single bug in one is confirmation.

Ready-made interceptors are sold for the purpose, and the US EPA describes a homemade version using two nested containers. The cups are also how we measure progress between treatment visits, so if you have already started them, keep them in place.

If you slept in a bed that had bed bugs

Do not panic and do not throw things out. Bag the clothes you wore and the bag you travelled with, give them a hot dryer cycle on arrival, inspect the suitcase, and watch your own bed for signs over the next few weeks. Bites from that night may only appear days later, which is not proof that you have brought any home.

If bites keep appearing after a week or two at home, start the bed check above and put interceptors down. Our guide to what bed bug bites look like covers how long marks take to show and what else could be causing them.

When to stop checking and get it confirmed

One specimen or clear spotting is enough, and further searching only delays treatment. The other point to stop is when repeated checks find nothing but the bites carry on, because that is when a professional inspection pays for itself: we look where you cannot, inside frame joints, behind the headboard and around outlets.

Our inspection costs $140 to $190 and is credited against treatment if it goes ahead, and if we find nothing, we say so and we do not treat. When you are ready, book a bed bug inspection and bring anything you have caught.

Questions

Questions about checking for bed bugs

Do I have bed bugs or am I just being paranoid?

The worry is completely normal after a bite or a news story, and it is not a sign of anything wrong with you. The answer comes from evidence, not feeling: a careful check of the bed and two weeks of interceptor cups under the legs will settle it either way. If you would rather have someone else look, we will tell you honestly if there is nothing there.

Can you see bed bugs during the day?

Usually not. Bed bugs feed after dark and pass the daylight hours packed into seams, joints and cracks, so you rarely see one walking about in daylight unless the infestation is heavy or the bugs are very hungry. That is exactly why checking by day works: they are all in their hiding places, where a torch will find them.

Are there smells bed bugs hate that keep them away?

There is no reliable evidence that any smell, essential oil or spray-on fragrance keeps bed bugs away or clears them, and none of the official guidance we rely on recommends one. What does work is physical: encasements on the mattress and base, hot drying of bedding and clothes, and interceptors under the bed legs.

Should I tell my landlord or the hotel?

Yes, promptly and in writing. Tenancy Services says tenants who notice signs of pests should let the landlord know straight away, and a landlord has to provide the property free of pests at the start of a tenancy. In a hotel or hostel, tell reception before you leave so the room is checked before the next guest.

Can bed bugs live in a car or on a couch?

A couch, yes: the seams, the underside and the joints of the frame are common hiding places, especially where someone sleeps on it. A car is uncommon, because nobody sleeps there for long, but bugs can be carried in on bags or furniture being moved. Check the seats and boot if you have recently moved infested items.

Sources

If you need someone

When the check finds something

Bed bugs

Bed Bug Treatment

Bed bugs are not a hygiene problem and they are not cleared in one visit.

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