Getting ready for bed bug treatment

The short answer: Follow the prep list your pest control company gives you. Theirs comes first, because it’s written for the treatment they’re doing. Alongside it: ask what to do with clothes, toys, electronics, pets and plants, bag and wash bedding and clothes, clear clutter, and keep things in the rooms they’re in.

Once treatment is booked, there’s usually a lot to do before the day. It can feel like too much at once. Take it one step at a time.

The most important thing: your pest control company’s own prep list comes first. Different treatments need different preparation, and they know what theirs needs. Use this page as a general companion to their list, never as a replacement.

Start with their list

Ask for the prep list in writing as soon as the date is booked. Read it right away, so you have time to ask questions and get help if you need it. If anything here disagrees with what they tell you, follow them.

Questions to ask

• Clothes: Does everything need washing, or only some things? Where should clean clothes go afterwards?
• Toys: What should be washed, bagged or set aside? Our guide to kids and stuffed toys can help you sort them.
• Electronics: Should laptops, TVs and game consoles stay where they are, or be unplugged?
• Pets: Where should they be on the day, and for how long? What about cages, tanks and pet beds?
• Plants: Should they stay in the room or go somewhere else?
• Timing: When can everyone come back in, and when is the follow-up visit?

Bag and wash bedding and clothes

Strip the bed and put sheets, pillowcases and blankets straight into bags in the bedroom, so nothing is carried loose through your home. Take the bags to the washer.

Wash and dry everything on the hottest setting the care label allows. Then put the clean items into new bags and seal them. Do the same with clothes from drawers, closets and laundry baskets, if your list asks for it.

Our laundry day guide has tips for keeping clean and unwashed loads apart.

Clear the way

The professional needs to reach edges, corners, furniture and the spaces under and behind things. Reduce clutter so they can get to everything. Pick things up off the floor, clear the space under the bed, and empty whatever they ask you to empty.

Bag items as you go instead of moving them around loose. If you decide to throw something out, ask first how to do it, then seal it in a bag and mark it clearly so nobody takes it home.

Keep things where they are

Don’t move belongings to other rooms, a friend’s home or a storage unit to protect them. That can carry bed bugs to places the treatment won’t reach.

Keep your sealed bags of clean things sealed and out of the way until the professional says it’s OK to open them.

Plan for your family and pets

Find out whether you’ll need to be out of your home, and for how long. Then plan where everyone will be, and book help for pets ahead of time if you need it.

Pack a small bag with freshly washed clothes and what you’ll need for the day, and keep it sealed until you use it.

Then take a breath. Once the visit is done, our guide to life after treatment covers what comes next.

Next step · 3 of 5 doneIt’s been treatedKeeping watch and getting back to normal.