How to Check for Bed Bugs in Your Home: A Room-by-Room Guide
If you suspect bed bugs, a careful check is the first thing to do — the earlier you catch them, the cheaper and easier they are to treat. Bed bugs are small, flat and secretive, so knowing exactly where and what to look for makes all the difference. Here is how to check your home properly.
What you are looking for
Bed bugs leave several tell-tale signs, and you rarely see the bugs themselves at first. Look for:
- Live bugs — flat, oval, reddish-brown, about the size of an apple pip (5mm). After feeding they look rounder and darker.
- Dark spots — tiny black or brown specks on sheets, mattress seams and skirting. This is bed bug faeces and is the most reliable early sign.
- Blood smears — small rusty stains on bedding where a bug has been crushed after feeding.
- Shed skins — pale, translucent casings the bugs leave behind as they grow.
- Eggs — tiny (1mm), pale, oval and often clustered in cracks and seams.
- A sweet, musty smell — heavy infestations can produce a distinctive odour.
Room by room: where to check
The bed (start here)
Bed bugs are named for a reason — the bed is their favourite home. Strip the bedding and check the mattress seams, piping and tags, then the bed frame joints, slats and the headboard, especially where it meets the wall. Screw holes and cracks in a wooden frame are classic hiding spots.
Around the bed
Check the bedside table, the edge of the carpet and skirting boards nearest the bed, curtains, and any cracks in the wall or plug sockets within a couple of metres. Bed bugs rarely travel far from where you sleep.
Sofas and soft furnishings
If you fall asleep on a sofa, treat it like a second bed — check the seams, under the cushions and in the frame. Armchairs and upholstered furniture are common secondary sites.
Wider room
In an established infestation, check picture frames, behind loose wallpaper, inside wardrobes, and along floorboard gaps. Use a torch and, if you have one, a bank card or old store card to run along seams and cracks — it drags out bugs and debris.
When to check
Bed bugs are most active in the small hours, so if you want to catch them moving, a torch check around 3–4am can be revealing. But the physical signs — the dark spots especially — are there day or night, so you do not need to stay up to confirm a problem.
I have found signs — what now?
Do not panic, and do not start throwing furniture out — that often spreads bugs to other rooms or to neighbours. Avoid supermarket sprays too; they rarely kill eggs and can scatter a colony. Bed bugs double in number roughly every two weeks, so acting quickly matters. The most reliable solution is whole-property heat treatment, which kills adults, nymphs and eggs in a single visit. If you have caught it genuinely early — a bug or two spotted within days of a trip — a £175 single spray visit may be enough. Not sure? We give honest advice over the phone.
Frequently asked questions
How can I tell if I have bed bugs or something else?
The most reliable sign is small dark faecal spots on your sheets, mattress seams and skirting near the bed, often alongside rusty blood smears and pale shed skins. Bites alone are not proof, as they resemble other insect bites — look for the physical evidence around the bed.
Where do bed bugs hide during the day?
Within a couple of metres of where you sleep: mattress and bed-frame seams, headboards, bedside furniture, skirting boards, plug sockets and cracks in the wall. They are flat and hide in the narrowest gaps, coming out mainly at night to feed.
Can I check for bed bugs myself?
Yes — strip the bed and inspect the mattress seams, frame joints and headboard first, then the surrounding furniture and skirting, using a torch. If you find dark spots, blood smears or live bugs, contact a professional rather than treating it with shop sprays, which rarely work.