Three short checks. Then your day starts.
These three checks take about a minute. Most mornings, you'll see nothing — and that's the whole point. The cups, the sheets, and your skin are how we know the plan is working.
- Look at the 6 black cups under the bed legs.
Bend down or sit on the floor. Look inside each of the six little black plastic cups under the legs of your new bed. They should be empty.
If you see something: Anything in a cup — a bug, a speck, a flake — is good news, not bad news. The cup did its job. Take a phone picture and text it to Ben. Don't pour it out, don't touch it. Just leave the cup where it is and wait for him to look.
- Look at the sheets and the mattress edge.
Pull the top sheet down a little. Look at the bottom sheet under where you slept. Then look at the piped edge of the mattress where the seam runs. You're looking for tiny dark dots — like ballpoint-pen ink dots — or any small bug.
If you see something: If you see ink-like dots, take a phone picture and text it to Ben. If you don't see anything, that's exactly what we want.
- Look at your arms and legs.
Pull up your sleeves. Roll up your pajama pants. Look at the skin on your forearms, your shins, the back of your knees, and your neck. Notice anything new since yesterday.
If you see something: Take a picture (good light, near a coin or a fingernail for size) and text it to Ben. Most skin marks aren't bed bugs — but the picture is what tells him for sure. There's a whole page on this called “Bites and skin” on the home screen.
When you're done.
Tell Ben “all clear” in the “Ask Ben” chat at the bottom of this page. If anything caught your eye, describe it to Ben there — color, size, where you saw it. That's the whole morning routine.
Three checks. One note. The rest of your day is yours.
What an “empty” cup looks like
The cups are little black plastic dishes with a smooth slippery moat on the inside. An empty cup has nothing in the moat — no bugs, no husks, no specks of dust bigger than a pinhead. A few normal flecks of carpet fluff are fine. If you can't tell, take a picture and text it.