What Happens To It
- It comes off the base and is worked on both faces
- The piping is opened out along its length — the seam either side of the covered cord, which is where most of the population sits
- Labels are lifted and dealt with underneath
- Handle recesses and vent grommets are done individually
- Tufting dimples on a traditional mattress
- The underside, which has the same piping and the same seams and is checked far less often
- It goes back on a base that has been done at the same time, which is the point that matters
It is detailed rather than dramatic. Nothing is cut, nothing is opened up, and the mattress is not soaked.
What It Looks Like Afterwards
- Substantially the same. There may be some residue at the seams depending on the method used
- Do not wash, wipe or vacuum it until you are told you can
- Follow the exclusion period before the bed is used again
- Clean bedding goes back on only when you are told the room is ready
- Some activity in the first days afterwards is normal rather than a failure
The Encasement, and When It Goes On
After the treatment, not instead of it, and not before it.
A bed bug proof encasement is a fully zipped cover that seals the mattress. Fitted at the right moment it does three things: seals the piping and seams so nothing can establish in them again, contains anything the treatment did not reach, and turns every future check into a glance at a smooth surface.
- It must be a bed bug PROOF encasement, not a waterproof protector — the difference is the zip and the fabric weave
- One for the base as well, where a matching one is available
- It stays on. It is not bedding and it does not come off with the sheets
- Ask about timing rather than fitting one the day after a treatment
Fitted over a live infestation, an encasement seals the problem in with the mattress and does nothing about the frame, the base or the room. That is not a treatment - it is a sealed bag with a bed in it.
What Treating the Mattress Does Not Do
It deals with one component. In an established case the base, the frame, the headboard and often the perimeter of the room are involved as well — and a mattress treated on its own goes straight back onto a base that will repopulate it.
So the mattress is never the job. It is the most visible part of it.
Cookham: The Question Worth Asking
Not "can the mattress be treated" — the answer is nearly always yes. The useful questions are:
- What was found on it, and where?
- Was the base done at the same time?
- Was the frame taken apart?
- Is the perimeter of the room in scope?
- When can an encasement go on?
Do not put a new mattress on an old base. It is the compromise people reach when they cannot face replacing everything, and it is the worst of both: money spent, and the component that actually held the population still there underneath it.
Bed bugs in Cookham? Pest Control Specialists Berkshire treats bed bugs from £220 for the first room. Bed Bug Treatments in Cookham has the full detail, or call 0118 336 1366.