Should You Throw Away Bed Bug-Infested Furniture?

The Test

Bed bugs sit in gaps. If every gap on an item can be reached, opened out and dealt with, the item is treatable. If there is an enclosed interior that cannot be opened, and there is an established population inside it, that is when disposal becomes the honest answer.

Everything below is that test, applied.

Keep and Treat

• Mattresses in sound condition. No interior to reach; the harbourage is surface geometry
• Bed frames, wooden or metal. Dismantled and treated — normal work
• Divan bases, in most constructions. Drawers out, base tipped, underside dealt with
• Bedside cabinets and chests of drawers. Drawers out and inverted, recesses reachable
• Wardrobes. Structure treated; contents washed
• Clothing, bedding, curtains, soft toys. Hot wash and a full hot tumble dry deals with every stage in fabric
• Books, boxes and hard goods. Inspected and treated in place
• Pillows and duvets. Washable, and routinely thrown out for no reason

It Depends

• Upholstered chairs and sofas. Turns on the dust cover underneath — intact and openable is treatable; an established population inside the frame through a tear often is not
• Padded and buttoned headboards. Seams and button recesses are reachable; activity through the stuffing is not
• Divan bases with sealed voids that genuinely cannot be opened, in some constructions
• Ottoman bases. Usually treatable; the mechanism and lining need looking at

Usually Goes

• Sofa beds with an established population in the mechanism and the folded mattress. The hardest common item there is
• Anything already at the end of its life, where treating costs more than the item is worth
• Anything soaked in a shop-bought product by somebody trying to deal with it themselves
• Items with a torn dust cover and heavy activity inside the frame, where the padding is involved

Three Things That Are Never a Reason to Throw Something Out

1. That it has bed bugs on it. That is the starting condition, not a verdict
2. That you feel it is contaminated. Understandable and not a technical reason. Treated and encased is genuinely dealt with
3. That somebody has said so without looking underneath it. The answer for upholstery is under the dust cover, and that is where the decision is made

Sandhurst: The Order To Decide In

1. Do not throw anything out before an inspection
2. Have the item looked at, including underneath
3. Ask specifically: can the interior be reached?
4. If yes, treat it, and ask about an encasement afterwards where one exists
5. If no, and there is an established population inside, then it goes — wrapped, marked and collected
6. Have the room treated either way. The item was never the whole of it