How to Prepare Your Home for Professional Heat Treatment

Don't Empty the Room Before Treatment

This is one of the most important points.

If bed bugs or eggs are associated with belongings in the treatment area, moving those items elsewhere before treatment could potentially move the problem with them.

Unless you've specifically been instructed to remove an item, don't automatically carry clothes, bedding, bags or furniture into another bedroom.

1. Deal With Excessive Clutter

Heavy clutter can restrict airflow and make heat distribution more difficult.

However, simply carrying everything out of the room isn't the answer.

Instead:

• follow the instructions provided before treatment;
• avoid dense piles of belongings;
• separate tightly packed items where advised;
• make floors and important areas accessible; and
• ask before removing anything that could potentially harbour bed bugs.

The technician needs to be able to manage airflow around the treatment environment.

2. Prepare Furniture for Airflow and Inspection

Furniture positioning can affect how heated air moves around a room.

Depending on the property, the technician may need access around beds, mattresses, wardrobes, sofas and other furniture.

Drawers, cupboards or wardrobes may also need to be opened or arranged during treatment.

There is no reason to apply an arbitrary rule such as moving every item exactly 20 or 30 cm from the wall.

Follow the instructions for your particular treatment.

3. What Should You Do With Clothes and Bedding?

Don't automatically remove every item of clothing from the treatment area.

If items are potentially associated with the infestation, moving them untreated around the property may be counterproductive.

Some washable items can be treated separately using appropriate laundering and drying methods where the fabric permits.

But delicate fabrics may not tolerate high-temperature washing.

Always check garment care instructions.

If clean or treated items need to be isolated, they can be stored appropriately to avoid mixing them back with potentially untreated belongings.

4. Identify Heat-Sensitive Items

Professional pest-control heat treatment can expose belongings to temperatures considerably above normal room conditions.

Some objects therefore require removal, protection or individual assessment.

5. Pay Particular Attention to Laminate and Bonded Furniture

Not every piece of furniture responds to elevated temperatures in the same way.

Some laminated, veneered, MDF or bonded furniture can be more vulnerable to heat, particularly where adhesives or finishes are involved.

Possible risks include:

• delamination;
• lifting edges;
• changes to adhesives;
• distortion; and
• finish damage.

Point out any furniture you're concerned about before treatment begins.

6. Plastic Blinds, Rails and Fittings Need Attention

Some plastics can soften, distort or warp when exposed to elevated temperatures.

This can be particularly relevant to:

• plastic blinds;
• blind rails;
• lightweight plastic clothes rails;
• plastic storage items;
• certain fittings; and
• other low-temperature plastics.

If in doubt, show the item to the technician rather than guessing.

7. Vacuuming Can Be Useful — But Don't Destroy the Evidence

Vacuuming can remove debris and some exposed bed bugs or eggs from accessible areas.

However, if the infestation hasn't yet been properly assessed, extensive cleaning can also remove useful evidence showing where activity is concentrated.

If you have already booked professional treatment, follow the preparation instructions you're given rather than automatically deep-cleaning everything immediately beforehand.

If vacuuming is advised, pay particular attention to accessible cracks, edges and bed construction, and dispose of the vacuum contents carefully.

8. Don't Use Extra Insecticide Just Before Heat Treatment

It can be tempting to spray the room heavily the night before the technician arrives.

Don't do this unless it forms part of the agreed treatment plan.

The technician should know which pesticides have already been applied, where they were used and when.

Tell us about any:

• bed bug sprays;
• professional insecticides;
• powders or dusts;
• foggers;
• steam treatment; or
• other pest-control products already used.

9. Make Sure the Technician Knows the Full History

Preparation isn't only physical.

Information helps us plan the treatment too.

Tell the technician:

• where bed bugs have actually been found;
• which rooms people sleep in;
• whether anybody regularly sleeps on a sofa;
• which treatments have already been attempted;
• whether furniture has recently been removed;
• whether new or second-hand furniture has been introduced; and
• whether there is suspected activity elsewhere in the property.

That information can help determine the appropriate treatment scope.

What Happens on the Day of Heat Treatment?

Why Temperature Monitoring Matters

Bed bugs and their eggs can be killed by heat when sufficient thermal conditions reach them for sufficient exposure.

But different areas of a room do not necessarily heat at exactly the same rate.

A mattress, furniture joint, open air space and dense group of belongings may all respond differently.

That's why professional heat treatment should be based on measured temperatures and managed exposure, rather than simply making the room feel very hot.

See: What Temperature Kills Bed Bugs?

Do People and Pets Stay in the Property?

People and pets should not remain within the heated treatment area while professional heat treatment is underway.

You will be given instructions about leaving the treatment area and when it can be safely re-entered after treatment.

Always follow the technician's instructions for your particular property.

What Should You Do After Heat Treatment?

After treatment, resist the urge to immediately dismantle everything or begin applying additional pesticides.

Follow the aftercare instructions provided.

Depending on the treatment plan, this may include:

• allowing the property and belongings to cool;
• returning heat-sensitive items when appropriate;
• monitoring for credible evidence of activity;
• avoiding unnecessary movement of belongings; and
• following any agreed inspection or follow-up arrangements.

If you're unsure what activity after treatment means, read: How Do I Know If Bed Bugs Are Gone After Treatment?

Can Poor Preparation Make Heat Treatment Fail?

Preparation can influence treatment effectiveness, but it is too simplistic to blame every treatment problem on preparation.

Heat-treatment results depend on a combination of factors, including:

• preparation;
• heating capacity;
• airflow;
• temperature distribution;
• sensor placement;
• exposure time;
• treatment scope;
• property conditions; and
• whether bed bugs are later reintroduced.

Good preparation gives the technician better conditions in which to perform the treatment effectively.

MothKill's Bed Bug Heat Treatment Preparation Checklist

If you're having treatment carried out by MothKill, use our dedicated bed bug heat treatment preparation checklist .

That page should be your practical checklist before treatment.

This article explains why preparation matters; the checklist tells you what to do.

The Bottom Line

Correct preparation gives professional bed bug heat treatment the best opportunity to work as intended.

But good preparation doesn't mean throwing belongings away, washing everything at the highest possible temperature or moving the contents of an infested bedroom into the rest of the house.

The objective is much more controlled:

allow effective airflow, make important areas accessible, identify heat-sensitive belongings and avoid unnecessarily spreading potentially infested items.

Then let the heating equipment, airflow and temperature monitoring do their job.

Most importantly, follow the preparation instructions supplied for your particular treatment rather than generic advice from several different sources.