Second-hand beds, mattresses and sofas are one of the most common ways bedbugs reach a new home. Used furniture can be good value — but a few minutes of careful inspection before you pay can save you a great deal of trouble.
Before you go
Take a bright torch (a phone torch works), a thin card, and a pair of disposable gloves. Ask the seller if you can see the item in good light and turn it over. A seller who refuses to let you look properly is a reason to walk away.
Inspecting a mattress
- Seams and piping. Shine the torch along every seam and the edge piping on both sides. Look for clusters of black dots, pale shed skins, tiny white eggs, or live insects.
- Labels, handles and tufts. Bedbugs shelter under fabric labels and around buttons and handles.
- Stains. Small rusty-red or dark spots on the fabric surface are a warning sign. General staining is common on used mattresses, but dense dot-like clusters in seams are not.
- Tears and holes. Damage to the cover gives bedbugs access to the inside, where they cannot be inspected.
- Smell. A heavy, sweet, musty smell can occur with large infestations.
Inspecting a bed frame or base
Bed frames often hide more bedbugs than the mattress does.
- Look into screw holes, joints and corner brackets.
- Turn slats over and check where they rest on the frame.
- On upholstered bases and headboards, check stapled fabric edges and the underside dust cover.
- On metal frames, check hollow tubes and joints.
Inspecting sofas and chairs
Remove cushions and check seams, zips, piping and the crevices where the back meets the seat. Turn the furniture over and look at the underside fabric and the frame joints.
If you find anything, walk away
Even a single sign of bedbugs is a good reason not to buy. Treating an item once it is inside your home is more difficult than avoiding it in the first place.
When it arrives home
Even if the item passed inspection, take a few precautions:
- Inspect it again outside or at the door before bringing it in.
- Vacuum seams and crevices and dispose of the vacuum contents in a sealed bag outside.
- Fit a sealed, zippered mattress encasement on used mattresses. It traps anything inside and makes future inspection much easier. Ask us about encasements on WhatsApp.
- Keep an eye on the bed for the next few weeks and act early if you notice any signs.
If you think a recent purchase has brought bedbugs in, do not move it around the house. Read how to identify bedbugs in your mattress and bedroom or contact us for an inspection.
