Bed Bug Control Products

Sprays, powders and traps. Sprays and powders treat the bed and the harbourages around it; traps sit under the bed legs to intercept bed bugs moving towards you at night, which is how you find out whether numbers are falling.

Interceptor traps sit under the legs of a bed or item of furniture and catch bed bugs as they climb up or down. Some use a textured surface or a lure; others rely on the bed bug's own movement towards a host. They will not clear an infestation on their own, but they are the most reliable way to confirm whether you have bed bugs and whether treatment is working.

Sprays are applied to the bed and surrounding surfaces the label permits; powders go into cracks, crevices and frame joints where bed bugs harbour and sprays don't reach. Between them they cover the two places bed bugs are - on the bed, and in the gaps around it.

Follow the label directions for each product. Keep children and pets away during application, allow treated areas to dry fully before the room is used, and keep powder out of direct contact with sleeping surfaces. Physical options such as mattress encasements involve no active substance at all.

Several weeks in most cases, and more than one treatment. Eggs are protected from most products and hatch after the first application, so a repeat in line with the label is part of the process. Judge progress by the interceptor traps rather than by whether you can still see bed bugs.

Within a few feet of where you sleep, in anything with a seam or a gap: mattress seams and labels, bed frame joints and screw holes, headboard fixings, the underside of drawers, skirting board gaps, and cracks in bedside furniture. Treatment that misses these is treating a fraction of the population.

Use mattress and bed base encasements, inspect bedding and frames regularly, and check second-hand furniture and luggage before bringing them in. Interceptor traps left under the bed legs will tell you early if anything returns.

If activity continues after a full treatment cycle, if it has spread beyond one room, or if you are in a flat or shared building where the source may be next door. Bed bugs are among the hardest pests to clear as a DIY job and escalating early often costs less than repeated part-treatments.