Steam, in theory, would kill the colonies that have taken residence on your purchase, but it isn't guaranteed, so I never buy anything soft off craigslist. My exception was the upholstered seat of a set of dining chairs, but I would never purchase a sofa off craigslist. On the other hand, I have sold a sofa on craigslist without any problems.

If you are going to reupholster this one anyway, you would be removing the environment a lot of these critters would be hiding in...the exception being bed bugs since they can practically infest anywhere and anything.

Personally, I would not do it.

I would not toy with even a possibility of getting beg bugs. Whether steaming would kill them or not... just like the other commenter stated, it's not guaranteed especially if they are hiding deep inside the sofa. Ones you get them, that beautiful and affordable sofa will become ugly and costly so very quickly with all the cleaning, inspections, and throwing out the sofa and your other furniture items.

This will probably be the minority opinion, but bugs have more to do with bad luck than buying new or used. There are people out there who have got bed bugs from buying new furniture. Warehouses and showrooms can be infested too. I personally trust the average craigslist seller to throw out rather than sell their bug infested furniture more than I do a corporate store.
I always check furniture for any signs of bugs and I tend to buy used furniture from less populated areas/single family homes rather than large apartment building or dense areas and I would never pick anything up off the side of the road.

Between steam cleaning, reupholstering and a little luck you should be just fine.

My home got bed bugs from a dresser. However, not too many months before that I bought a lovely little settee from an older lady that had it in her garage. Other than it being the new favorite thing for my cat to claw up, there were no pest. So it is a gamble, and you have to trust the people you buy from. If you are at all on the fence, just think that it will cost about $800 for a 3 bedroom home for Terminex to come in and take care of the problem!

This might be why so many of our great (bug free) pieces aren't selling on Craigslist. Or maybe it's that the market is saturated with spring cleaning.

When selling used furniture maybe along with "pet free, smoke free home" we need to say "bug free". Assuming one can know that definitively.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bed_bug) says that you have to get the couch up to 115 degrees for 7 minutes to kill all bed bugs. I don't think steam cleaning can do that since you can't heat up the whole couch at once and they can hide from the steam. I would still steam clean the couch to get rid of other yuckies though.
I suppose if you are buying off craigslist and the seller has the item at their house, you can call them and make an appointment to look at it and assess what the house looks like - if it's clean, you are probably pretty safe. I agree with MICHELLEB, most people wouldn't knowingly sell a bug infested piece of furniture - who would want to keep it around long enough to sell it?

I know that critters are a serious business, especially with such major outbreaks of beg bugs in the last few years. But it seems to me that choosing to live in fear of them, promotes a buy new all the time consumer mentality. It means also may mean a big trade of in quality. You may only be able to afford the least expensive and poorly made new furniture instead of a sturdier or more original used piece.
Maybe I am being over cavalier given the current critter climate, but personally every piece of soft furniture I have or have had in my last three apartments, except my mattress has been from craigslist, and I have have been very happy. It has also allowed me to buy and sell furniture between moves to find pieces that better fit each space.

Do you live in an area where bedbugs are a big issue? I live in the midwest, and never hear much about them out here. I would be more cautious if I lived in NYC. I buy almost all of my furniture used, and while I understand that there is an element of risk no matter where you live, I inspect things very carefully before I buy them. There are often signs when something is infested with bedbugs.

I'd say take a look and inspect it thoroughly--remove all the cushions, use a flashlight to look in crevices, and even flip the item on its back. If you have any reservations after doing that, pass. I have never had an issue with used furniture, but we ended up with a moth problem after buying a new rug. The rug is long gone, but we STILL have moth issues. Those things have cost me a fortune in ruined clothing and craft supplies, not to mention the original rug.

It seems to me that if you are really going to live in fear of bedbugs, rather than just malign pre-owned furniture, to be consistent about avoiding equally risky practices, you would also have to never: use a moving truck, stay in a hotel, allow houseguests who ttavel with their luggage using hotels, sit on furniture on public places, etc., etc. In many aspects of life, we rely on the other person to do the right thing, like the person driving in the next lane not to plow into us. Buying stuff is no different...keep your eyes open, be defensive, and follow gut instinct.

I just wanted to comment because I am seeing a lot of misinformation on this thread. First of all, going to see the house where the furniture came from is not going to be any indication. A perfectly clean house can get bed bugs just as easily as a messy one. The only indication might be if they have a lot of their possessions bagged or in plastic containers - that could indicate they are battling a bed bug infestation.

However, you'd really have to be a monster to go through the hell of bed bugs and then try to sell your infested belongings to someone. I doubt most average people would knowingly sell infested items. The danger is that if their infestation is just starting, they might not know. Also, getting rid of an infested item isn't going to solve their problem. Many people don't understand this so they might try it anyway, but if you get rid of a couch in your home that has bed bugs, you're not getting rid of the bugs. They will still be in other areas of your home.

Personally, having lived through having bed bugs myself I still buy items from Craigslist. You have to assess the risk item by item. Any type of furniture can carry bedbugs, even wooden or metal pieces. The risk is a lot lower if you are buying from someone who lives in a single family home rather than an apartment building (I only say this because infestations in homes are easier to treat than in apartment buildings).

And finally, no, steam cleaning will not kill the bugs. They are able to burrow down deep inside and the steam won't touch them.

I buy a lot of things off Craigslist (or rather Kijiji, the Canadian equivalent). I have never had problems. That being said, you have to go see the furniture, the house; cleanliness means nothing to bed bugs or any other critters really, unzip the cushions, look under the cushions, ... You also have to trust the people that your buying things from that they would throw out infested things, if you don't trust them, by all means don't it from them. I recently bought a couch on Kijiji and instead of buying a neutral coloured couch from people trying to make there couch seem like the best in the world, I instead decided to buy a couch from a couple that admitted that the couch was older but clean, and the mattress of the sofa bed needed to be replaced. To me trust is most important.

Also steam cleaning won't kill bed bugs since the foam is so thick. It is however a good idea to have it steam cleaned to get any stains out, and the smell of the other persons house out (I don't know if it's just me, but it doesn't feel like it's mine unless it smells like nothing or my house).

I wonder if the upholsterer you plan to use could advise you. (Maybe they have a system in place for suspect furnishings.)

I have seen giant plastic bags meant for protecting mattresses when moving. Maybe you could get a couple of those, enclose the sofa, seal the bags shut with tape, and then do something to kill anything that might lurk -- insert steam, chemicals, hot air, or something into the confined space... Maybe it would even get hot enough left outside in the sun for a few days... (Just brainstorming, here...)

If that's the sofa you want, I have to say I like the lines, and since it's relatively simple, it might even look great in Cheetah! (No fussiness to compete with the spots.) ;^)

Totally understand your concern about critters, and especially bed bugs, which can be incredibly time-consuming, difficult and expensive to get rid of.

If you really love the piece, it may be worth investigating having it fumigated (this has to be done in an off-site location by professionals to really work) - or perhaps hiring a company with critter-seeking dogs to check it out?

Extreme measures, but an ounce of prevention ...

@alahoop I live in the midwest as well, and theres a huge bed bug problem.

Depending on where you live, I would just give it a very hard look before handing over the money (though if I lived in a city with a massive epidemic, I would probably just avoid it). Don't worry about offending the seller, just make sure you check all of the nooks and crannies. It's no guarantee, but if the owner DID have bugs and they see you doing this, they may mention it when they otherwise may not have. If it looks bug-free and they affirm they've never had a problem, grab it and go at it.

I recently bought a really cheap wooden trunk off craigslist. Although it smelled strongly of cigarette smoke and dog, I had planned on re-inventing it with some shabby chic paint so the smell didn't concern me. The apartment and tenants seemed clean, and so did the trunk, but the next morning I opened the trunk again and saw about 4 small, beetle like bugs crawling in and out of one crack. I disposed of the piece quickly (luckily it was cheap, maybe that should've been an indication?), but I'm worried that whatever-they-were might've had the chance to crawl out into my apartment or on the backseat of my car. Now it's hard for me to browse craigslist and consider paying $100+ for potential clinger-ons.

I like your idea of cheetah spot fabric.