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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu - Visitor at work with bedbugs

45 replies

Lardybumbum · 02/12/2025 20:12

My bosses friend came to visit us on Friday in our tiny office. It’s literally two desks, a shelf and a sofa. She brought with her a midsize rucksack (that she put on the floor leaning against the sofa) and her jacket (that she put on the sofa beside her). She sat on the sofa and proceeded to tell us she had been bitten by bedbugs in a hostel through the week and she was visibly covered in bites.

I have a fear of bedbugs and fleas etc. I’ve never come across them in real life thankfully so I went into panic mode. Come Monday morning I was out getting bedbug spray and a hoover to try to clean the sofa and hopefully stop any bugs taking up residence.

My boss thinks I’m being ridiculous as her friend was only sat there for a few hours while they chatted. I’ve come home today with two small itchy lumps on my arm. It could be coincidence but I’m spiraling. I know how hard infestations are to get rid of and now I’m worried they’ll be in my home. I hadn’t sat on the sofa between her being in the office on Friday until today after spraying it with pesticide yesterday and hoovering it this morning.(Tuesday)

Can someone please reassure me I’m being unreasonable to worry that I now have bedbugs feasting on me.

yabu - they don’t develop new homes that quickly
yanbu - burn the office down

OP posts:
Gfdeh · 03/12/2025 09:50

Your boss really is a moron.
This is why people are told to never put luggage on a bed apparently.
Yanbu.

TealScroller · 03/12/2025 09:50

I'd feel the same way, bed bugs can be carried on clothing and bags, they get around that way! I don't know if you did this, but I'd have stripped off in my porch and put my clothes on a hot wash and got straight in the shower. Advise your bosses to treat the office too.

PurpleThistle7 · 03/12/2025 09:56

We brought 'one' bedbug home from holiday once and we stripped the flat bare - spent days at the laundromat double drying everything (ruining half our clothes in the process). Our friend who came to stay with us during this time threw away all his belongings on his way out the door. There's really no over stating how awful they are and how hard they are to get rid of. We bagged loads of things up for months as they live through almost anything.

Whatinthedoopla · 03/12/2025 18:01

I had them, and it's horrendous to get rid of.

You need to wash everything you had on, wash your bedding, everything!!!

If you have bites, start preparing yourself and disinfect all clothing!!

Get yourself a water hoover, some of the pesticides and start clearing them out!

Jorge14 · 03/12/2025 18:08

I would feel the same as you, not sure if it’s unreasonable or not but I’m extremely ocd about anything like that

KM123456 · 03/12/2025 20:00

I cant remember the protocol, but I think it involves more than washing. I think it also may involve drying at high heat for clothes.
I work in a wound center and we have been exposed a couple of times. I would be FURIOUS with your boss..Just furious.

ChaliceinWonderland · 03/12/2025 20:14

Omg shudder

Createausername1970 · 03/12/2025 20:22

I know someone who travels a lot for work and after one scary encounter with bed bugs, his luggage and clothes he travelled home in, go into quarantine in the garage.

You aren't over reacting. But did she definitely know they were bed bugs? Could have been fleas maybe?

BlunderBust · 03/12/2025 20:44

I stayed in an infested hotel once. I unknowingly brought one back in my rucksack. Dh had bites after a few weeks being home. I was horrified. I bought bugbombs online - pack of 3, did all three and found a dead one a few days later. Thankfully that was the end of it. I’d recommend getting some and setting them off in the office. Good luck.

CantBreathe90 · 03/12/2025 20:53

Can you not WFH for a bit? Your boss was stupid, letting her gross friend in.

northernballer · 03/12/2025 21:00

I thought there were some in the place we stayed in on holiday so stripped in the back garden, washed everything on 90 and then tumble dried it. Anything that couldn't be washed went in the freezer for a month and all cases etc in bin bags in the garage.

I am still paranoid and it was 4 years ago so you have my sympathy.

GreensAreGoodForYou · 03/12/2025 21:47

Lardybumbum · 02/12/2025 20:12

My bosses friend came to visit us on Friday in our tiny office. It’s literally two desks, a shelf and a sofa. She brought with her a midsize rucksack (that she put on the floor leaning against the sofa) and her jacket (that she put on the sofa beside her). She sat on the sofa and proceeded to tell us she had been bitten by bedbugs in a hostel through the week and she was visibly covered in bites.

I have a fear of bedbugs and fleas etc. I’ve never come across them in real life thankfully so I went into panic mode. Come Monday morning I was out getting bedbug spray and a hoover to try to clean the sofa and hopefully stop any bugs taking up residence.

My boss thinks I’m being ridiculous as her friend was only sat there for a few hours while they chatted. I’ve come home today with two small itchy lumps on my arm. It could be coincidence but I’m spiraling. I know how hard infestations are to get rid of and now I’m worried they’ll be in my home. I hadn’t sat on the sofa between her being in the office on Friday until today after spraying it with pesticide yesterday and hoovering it this morning.(Tuesday)

Can someone please reassure me I’m being unreasonable to worry that I now have bedbugs feasting on me.

yabu - they don’t develop new homes that quickly
yanbu - burn the office down

Get yourself some DIATOMACEOUS earth. Bed bugs (and other insects) die when the crawl in it so you can put it around the feet of your bed/in corners etc. It looks powder and you have to be careful not to inhale lots of it but it's NOT chemical. It works on a mechanical level - for a tiny insect it's like walking on glass and kills them like that. So as long as you don't inhale big puffs of it, it won't harm you.

I am paranoid about bed bugs as I had THREE bad experiences. Once, got bitten on a bus in Thailand but luckily just had the row of bites and then nothing more. Then, got bitten in a (very fancy) cabin in South America and although I didn't know whether we'd brought any with us, I put all our luggage outside on the lawn in the sun for TWO DAYS and tumble dried everything at high heat too, just in case. Then, finally, picked up ONE little f8cker on a bus and kept getting bitten but couldn't find it until one day I felt something moving in the seam of my jeans and found it. I tried to kill it (squished it and used my fingernails too) thought I had, but wanted to be 100% sure so stuck it between two pieces of sticky tape so I could see it and it started moving after a few minutes! So I burnt it. I spent many sleepless nights itching and feeling like things were crawling on me and went a bit insane, honestly. So I totally feel sympathy for anyone going through any bedbug-related issue! Diatomaceous earth is a life saver IMO.

BlackCoffeeAndSugar · 03/12/2025 22:36

Uugh

Yourcatisnotsorry · 03/12/2025 23:38

I was in an (extremely expensice) hotel and got a bedbug bite and saw one. I was only in the hotel for 3 hours luckily but I threw away anything I could and put everything else on multiple hot washes and freezer cycles . Take no risks with these things. It affected my mental health for several months worrying that I’d brought them home. I would avoid the office until it’s been professionally deloused.

custardcreme77 · 04/12/2025 07:51

Just had an awful random thought - what about removal vans when moving house? Do they use fabric protective covers for furniture? What if a prior removal had bedbugs in / on the furniture?😱

I knew I shouldn’t have opened this thread😳

Breadandbutta · 04/12/2025 08:08

custardcreme77 · 04/12/2025 07:51

Just had an awful random thought - what about removal vans when moving house? Do they use fabric protective covers for furniture? What if a prior removal had bedbugs in / on the furniture?😱

I knew I shouldn’t have opened this thread😳

You're right... I am so confused by how bed bugs at not more commonplace. I don't know anyone who's had an infestation before, in my entire life!!! You'd think that if they were real that easy to breed they'd be like nits or worms... Crawling across coats in cloakrooms at school, being in removal vans, etc ... Surely they'd be everywhere?!

CheeseIsMyIdol · 04/12/2025 08:10

BriefEncountersOfTheThirdKind · 02/12/2025 20:27

That wasn't clear in your OP tbh

Show quote history

Itwas clear to me.

Spinningmom21 · 04/12/2025 09:14

ComfortFoodCafe · 03/12/2025 09:11

Sod that, i would be setting fire to the sofa.

This!

samsswampy · 04/12/2025 10:55

I think a lot of people are scaremongering a bit, if she was in the office during the day the bed bugs would be hiding in her bag and unlikely to come out in the light. We had bedbugs after my daughter had a friend bring them in her bags during a sleepover. I found them in the mattress and behind the headboard, both were disposed of and we cleaned everything then used smoke bombs in each room and that was the end of them

Balloonhearts · 04/12/2025 11:22

It's early days, no infestation has had time to take hold yet. Spray the fuck out of it, hoover daily, set off a bedbug bomb overnight. Gotta go nuclear while there's still only one or two.

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