Recommend a good bedbug exterminator in London

September 8, 2010 2:05 PM

Bedbugs in London! Can anyone recommend a decent exterminator? After doing some research I found out that the service my council provides is for 1 treatment only. Most people recommend 2 treatments. This has left my doubting the service provided by the council How do I separate the cowboys from the pro's?
posted by errspy to Home & Garden (1 answer total)

I wasn't going to answer this because I can't actually recommend an exterminator to you, but since no one has answered after 6 days, I have decided to give you my advice anyway. First of all, take the 1 treatment that the council offers. It's a start. Then, for your second treatment, you can do it yourself. The most effective insecticide for bedbugs is pyrethrins. Check your locally avaiable products (I like "Surekill" but I don't know if it is available in London) for pyrethrin content. Then just spray everything, bearing in mind that bedbugs like to hide in cracks and crevices or in any location that is normally dark and hidden from the light. You probably need more than one can of insecticide. Use generously. Also, even though the product will advise you to use only in a well ventillated area, don't. Leave the windows closed, for greater toxicity. Then, of course, you go out of the apartment while the insecticide does its work. After some hours, you can come back and open the windows. This technique actually works. However, it is possible that you will have to do it more than once. Eventually you will succeed.
posted by grizzled at 8:27 AM on September 14, 2010