What Should You Do With Suitcases After Travel?

The One Rule

A suitcase never goes on a bed, and never goes in a bedroom until it has been dealt with.

That is the whole of it. Unpacking onto a bed is the single commonest way a bed bug that has travelled in a case gets from the case into a mattress seam, and it takes about four seconds.

The Twenty Minute Routine

1. Put the case somewhere hard-floored — a hall, utility room, garage or bathroom. Not carpet, not a bed, not an upholstered chair
2. Unpack there. Everything washable goes straight into a bag and then straight to the machine
3. Hot wash and a full hot tumble dry, worn or not. Clean clothes that travelled get the same treatment as dirty ones
4. Items that cannot be washed but can take heat — some shoes, bags, some dry-clean-only clothing — go through the dryer alone where the label allows
5. Check the empty case, in detail. See below
6. Wipe it out and store it somewhere other than a bedroom

How To Check an Empty Case

Five places, and it takes about three minutes with a torch.

• The lining edges, where the fabric is stitched or glued to the shell — the equivalent of mattress piping
• The zip channels, inside and out, and under the zip tape
• Internal pockets, particularly the mesh ones and their seams
• The wheel housings and the handle recess, which are enclosed cavities
• Under the retaining straps and any elastic

A hard-shell case with a smooth lining offers considerably less than a soft fabric one with external pockets. That is not a reason to buy a new case, but it is worth knowing which sort you are checking.

Where To Store It

• Best: a loft, garage or outbuilding, away from where anybody sleeps
• Acceptable: a hall cupboard or under the stairs
• Worst: under a bed, which is where most cases live and is inside the harbourage zone of the item you least want involved

Storing a case inside a large sealed bag adds a useful layer, particularly for a case that goes months between trips.

Henley: If You Think You Brought Something Back

If you found evidence in the room you stayed in, or somebody has since told you the property had a problem, treat the case as infested rather than as suspect.

1. Do not bring it inside. Deal with it in a garage, on a patio or in the boot
2. Unpack everything into bags outside and take those straight to the machine
3. Hot wash and hot dry all of it
4. Check the case thoroughly, and ask about it when you call rather than deciding to bin it
5. Have the bedroom checked anyway if the case has already been in it