To think that £3200 quote for blitzing bed bugs is extortionate?

[goldengoddess]

Help, I've got bed bugs and am stressed out about it. Can't sleep for imagining bugs crawling over me.

Just been quoted £3200 by Rentokil for a heat treatment which promises to eradicate bugs and eggs with one simple easy treatment - apparently they heat up the affected rooms to 70 degrees and that kills everything.

The alternative is spraying toxic chemicals which I've been quoted £1,200 for. That includes five visits to ensure entire eradication of bugs. However, that involves loads of hassle, emptying every drawer and wardrobe, removing everything from the walls, all books from bookcases and washing every item of clothing in the house, ideally at 60 degrees or over!! Feel faint at the prospect of so much upheaval and washing....

Has anyone had recent experience of bed bugs, or used the heat treatment? What was effective? Would really appreciate some advice. Thanks!

[Iggly]

Is this in the whole house?

We had one room treated chemically a few years ago and it was much cheaper, and it was effective.

[Shamoo]

When I got loads of quotes for similar in the past Rentokil were generally extortionate and far more expensive than anyone else. Went with somebody local and they were fine, did the chemical one and it worked first time fine so didn’t need a return. Was carpet bugs though no bedbugs so don’t know if bedbugs are harder to get rid of!

[Bananalanacake]

i had bed bugs about 5 years ago. I went on my council website and called the pest control section. I paid 100pounds over the phone for a man to come and treat the bed and surrounding area. the cost included a follow up spray a month later. so check your council website.

[EngagedAgain]

Yes it is, and if it's confined to one room surely it would be cheaper to buy a new bed!

[gingajewel]

We thought we had bed bugs.....we didn’t but I did a lot of research and the council do a pest control service that is a lot cheaper than most places.

[WiddlinDiddlin]

I would imagine heating everything in your house up to 70 degrees for long enough to kill bugs WOULD be bloody expensive.

Do the chemicals. They work.

Ditto comments that RentoBill are bloody expensive though, find a council service or an independent contractor. Much cheaper.

[AnnaMagnani]

Get a quote from a contractor who isn't Rentokil. With Rentokil you are paying for the name.

[goldengoddess]

I have noticed them in two bedrooms, but that doesn't mean to say the other bedrooms aren't infested as well as bed bugs are very good at hiding in tiny spaces.

I have also had a quote from the council, they charge £500 to do all the bedrooms, but whether they are as good as the likes of Rentokil I don't know.

Engaged Again: Bedbugs don't just live in mattresses/beds, but also hide in loose wallpaper, in books, in bedside tables, in light fittings, in sockets, in the gap between skirting board and floor, anywhere near the bed where their prey (ie a sleeping human) is. So throwing away the bed is not the solution as they could be anywhere which is the horrible thing. I feel invaded and it's definitely bed bugs unfortunately, as Rentokil confirmed. And i've googled pix of the horrible beasts too.

[goldengoddess]

Banana - when you had your bed bug infestation, did the council advise you to wash all your clothes at 60 degrees? As I said in my original post i feel overwhelmed at the prospect of having to wash every single item of clothing, clearly a sign we have far too many and a good opportunity to get have a blitz and get rid of some of them!

[OhDiddums]

Heat treatment is going to be expensive because each room needs to be heated up. Chemical route you should be washing absolutely every item of clothing at 60 degrees or higher. It is a lot of prep but it will ensure eradication. But depending on level of infestation it could take multiple treatments. Do you know where you picked them up from OP? I would be very careful as you could end up reinfesting yourself.

[Knittedfairies]

That's extortionate. Our local council's pest control helped sort out our rat problem when Rentokil couldn't. I wish we'd gone to the council first; much cheaper and a far better service.

[SerenaOverjoyed]

bedbugs are awful. But very killable.

Treatment for us with spray from a local company in our london borough was £250 for 3 bedrooms, our lounge, and the corridors. They came back as often as needed, telling us from the start this was usually 2-3 treatments. The bastards were all dead by the 3rd.

[Excited101]

Bed bugs are absolutely horrific to get rid of. They can live without feeding for 18 months and hide really well. If they feel under threat they just hide with potentially no trace for up for 18 months. Don’t take any risks with it. Check out The bed bug man who is based in Battersea, he knows his stuff.

[Cornettoninja]

If I had the cash I’d pay for the one off treatment (and get a carved in stone guarentee they’d be back for no extra cost within x amount of months) just for the avoidance of the upheaval. I don’t though so would suck up a cheaper one and be thankful I still had hair after.

That being said is there an advantage to chemical treatment that it carries in working for a while after like some flea treatments? If you’re not sure where the infestation came from (it could be your neighbours) that could be something to ease your mind.

Poor you though. Bed bugs/fleas/carpet bugs all need to feck off! Either way I bet you don’t get many spiders in your house this year.

[Bananalanacake]

Yes they did. I only washed all the bedding, not my clothes in the wardrobe. The council killer worked though so maybe not necessary to do all your clothes, apart from any lying on the floor.

[goldengoddess]

Thanks for all your feedback and advice. I could at a push afford the heat treatment, but really really don't want to fork out £3k for bloody bed bug treatment!

I'll get a quote from the Bed Bug man, thanks for the recommendation Excited, I live in London so will give him a go.

I've had mixed reports from people re our local council - some say they are useless and private companies much better. Trouble is it's a minefield, there are so many unscrupulous operators out there.

My husband travels a lot for work, so suspect that is where the infestation came from - bed bugs like to hitch a ride on suitcases/bags etc, which is why you should never ever put your bag on a hotel bed, or your own bed for that matter. And why hotels have those funny little fold up stands - they are for your suitcases so you avoid putting them on the floor/bed. Understandably hotels don't want to even mention the B word, so they never tell you that's what they are for! Apparently some people even put their suitcases in the bath in a hotel to avoid bed bug contamination. I know I will be in future!

[goldengoddess]

Excited can you possibly send me a link please to the Bed Bug man you referred to? I've googled him, but not sure I have got the right company. Many thanks!

[DianaT1969]

I also travel a lot for work and worry about transporting bugs home. But presumably keeping your suitcase away from the bed doesn't solve the problem of them getting a ride home on your clothes? Say we sleep in a t-shirt and throw that in the case, or sit on the bed in full clothes, presumably they can hitch a ride?
Do they hide in hair too?
I hope you manage to get rid of them OP. Battersea man sounds promising.

[roses2]

I used my local council in London who charged £200 for treatment of the whole house. They outsourced it to a private company. My bugs were eradicated after two visits.

[WishIwas19again]

No experience of bed bugs but when we had rats we got a quote from Rent o kill that was £500 to trap them. Our council offered the same service for £89, came out several times until they were gone. It was an external company they outsourced to so I would advise you try the council first

[Knickerbockerglorybuns]

Oh gosh!! Get the council to pick up the beds for the tip and treat yourselves to some new mattresses. It's probably cheapest that way

[jaseyraex]

Get some bed bug traps off Amazon. They don't look like much but they actually work. We couldn't afford to get someone out to sort them so we had to try ourselves.
We had severe bedbugs in our bedroom, all over all the bed and wooden furniture and clothes. We binned all the wooden furniture and got rid of anything else we could live without, books and badly infested clothes mainly. Washed everything else at 60 and kept them in plastic storage tubs. We got a new metal framed bed, stuck some traps under the bed legs and more dotted around the room. The bugs can climb in but not out. We caught hundreds in the first week or two, but after that they whittled down and probably a month or so later there were no more signs of bugs. That was 3 years ago and we've been bug free since. Although still got traps under our bed just in case.
They are horrible bastards. You have my sympathies!

[Alexkate2468]

Sorry to jump on the thread. How do you know if you’ve got bed bugs? I have a paranoia and am always checking but actually not sure what signs there would be - other than seeing a big....

[anniehm]

You need to also wash all your clothes on a hot wash but I had a great tip from my butcher (of all people) bag up your clothes and seal into plastic bags then drop them into your friendly local butcher (or anyone with a massive freezer) for 24 hours. Saves ruining clothes

[goldengoddess]

anniehm according to Rentokil freezing clothes doesnt kill off all the eggs. Microwaving, however, does. Five minutes with your clothes in a bag does the trick apparently. So my microwave is going to be coming in for a lot of heavy duty work in the coming weeks!

Alexkate Well i first became aware of an infestsation because I saw a bug running across my bedcover. initially I wasnt sure what it was, but a few months later I saw - and this time caught - another one, and took a pic of it and googled it. defnitely a bed bug. Check around the edges/piping of your mattress as that is where the like to hide, along with the headboard, bed slats, and with a divan bed, inside the space under the plastic webbing stuff. They also hide in furniture next to the bed such as bed side tables. in a bad infestation the mattress will have black/reddish dots which is bed bug faeces. Their eggs which are very hard to spot are like grains of rice.

jaseyraex Are the bed bug traps you refer to like little discs that you sit your bed legs in? or the sticky tape traps? I've tried the latter and not caught a single one with them, which initially lulled me into a false sense of security.

Knickerbocker no point in chucking out mattresses as I've pointed out before the bugs can live in plenty of other places too.