How to get rid of bed bugs on clothes

If you’re dealing with a bed bug outbreak, no need to toss out your entire wardrobe. Here’s how to get bed bugs out of clothes—it’s easier than you may think.

What Are Bed Bugs?

Here’s something you don’t want to hear: Bed bugs are small insects that feed on human and animal blood. The good news is that they rarely carry any kind of disease. However, they do bite, often when we’re sleeping. They’re hard to spot, especially on a dark surface, but they’re generally brown and the size of a small seed. And they multiply—quickly.

Where Do Bed Bugs Come From

Bed bugs get around. They tend to set up shop around fabrics. If you have them, you’ll likely find them in your bed, on furniture, on clothes, on luggage, purses, book bags, etc. Because of that, you should thoroughly clean any used items you bring into your home, like a sofa or thrifted clothes. It’s also a good idea to check your luggage and other items as soon as you come home from a trip, as bed bugs can come home with you from your hotel. Since bed bugs are such good travelers, they can even make their way from your neighbor’s apartment or hotel room into yours.

Skin crawling yet? Now that you know how you may have ended up with bed bugs, let’s get into how you can get rid of them.

How to Get Bed Bugs out of Clothes

Does washing clothes kill bed bugs? Does the dryer kill bed bugs? If you’re frantic to find answers, here’s an easy step-by-step guide to handling a bed bug infestation.

First, make sure you have the following:

• Laundry detergent
• Rubbing alcohol
• Trash bags
• Washing machine
• Dryer

With those things on hand, follow these steps. Note that timing is important, so begin these steps as soon as you spot a bed bug.

1. Spray Clothes With Rubbing Alcohol

For any colorfast clothes, you suspect are infected, add some rubbing alcohol to a spray bottle and give them a good all-over spritz. Rubbing alcohol can kill live bugs on contact, but it won’t eliminate eggs, so don’t stop with this step. If you have infected clothes that are labeled as dry-clean-only, skip this step and move to the next.

2. Sort Your Clothes

Next, sort your clothes into the categories you normally would when washing, such as colors, whites, delicates, etc. Put each pile in a sealable bag so the bed bugs don’t continue to travel around your home. Once your clothes are sorted, seal the bags tightly. For any dry-clean-only garments, seal them in their own bag and set them aside.

3. Wash the Clothes

Opening one bag at a time, empty the bag of clothes into the washing machine, careful not to let the bugs land anywhere but inside the machine. Using your normal laundry detergent, wash the clothes on the appropriate cycle for the type of clothes on the hottest setting the care labels allow for. The heat is what will kill the bugs, so the hotter the better. It’s a good idea to reseal each bag as you remove the infested laundry and discard it outside of your home so any bugs that fell off into the bag don’t escape.

4. Dry the Clothes

Once the wash cycle is done, transfer the clothes to the dryer. Set it for the hottest setting your fabrics can handle, ideally over 120°F. This is the temperature that should kill both the bugs and the eggs. You want to keep the clothes in the dryer for at least 30 minutes.

5. Inspect & Store

When you take the clothes out of the dryer, give them a thorough check inside and out to make sure no living bugs remain. Fold them and store them in a sealable container or bag until you’re sure there are no bed bugs remaining in your home. This will ensure your clothes aren’t reinfested.

What About Dry-Clean-Only Items?

For these delicate items, you can actually put them in the freezer. While it may sound unorthodox, if washing and drying aren’t an option, the freezer is your next best solution. Bed bugs can’t survive freezing temperatures. Make a designated space in the freezer, open the sealed bag you set aside, and carefully empty the garments into their freezer spot. You can do this with silk garments, boots, lingerie, etc. For best results, leave them in the freezer for five days, longer if the items are especially bulky.

After that, remove them and vacuum them well to get rid of any debris, disposing of the vacuum contents outside.

How Long Can Bed Bugs Live on Clothing?

Bed bugs can live up to a year. However, like other living things, they need food to survive. If they don’t have access to blood (gross, we know), they won’t make it longer than two to three months. Still, address bed bugs as soon as you see them. While you might assume that one single bug you saw will eventually die off without food, it has friends. Bed bugs multiply quickly and travel in groups. If you saw one, you’ll soon see more, and they’ll take over your home within a couple of days.

Treating Bed Bug Stains

Thankfully, bed bugs don’t bite and eat through clothing like moths do, but they can leave behind pesky stains. This is unfortunately due to their excrement, which will leave what looks like tiny rust-colored spots. Running stained clothes through the wash will likely remove the stains, but if not, you can lift the stains by running them under cold water and then blotting them with a dab of hydrogen peroxide. You can also use an enzyme-based fabric stain remover.

Tips for Killing Bed Bugs

Here are a few further tips if you spot bed bugs on your clothes:

• If you see a bed bug, don’t put your clothes directly on the floor where the bugs can travel to other items.
• If your infected clothes have been in the hamper, immediately put the hamper outside. If it has a fabric insert, wash that along with your clothes. If not, it may be time to get a new one altogether.
• If you’re not comfortable washing and drying your clothes yourself, you can take them to a dry cleaner in their sealed bags. Just be sure to clearly communicate the infestation to the dry cleaner before taking the bags inside. Most dry cleaners have experience with caring for infested clothes, but some don’t or won’t want to risk infesting others’ clothes. It’s a good idea to call them before moving forward with this option.

Conclusion

A bed bug infestation is far from fun, but luckily, it can often be handled at home within a few hours. When you need to get garments nice and clean, Public Goods’s laundry products have you covered, with super cleaning power and no nasty ingredients. We also have your back on other laundry issues that may arise. Check out our other laundry blog posts for help with your next laundry debacle.

Can bed bugs survive in washing machine?

How long do bed bugs stay alive on clothes?

How can you tell if bedbugs are in your clothes?

What can you spray on clothes for bed bugs?