Bed bugs are in the news — and nightmares — which is why you want to avoid bed bug infestations in your home, office, and when you’re traveling for business or vacation. we’ll show you how to prevent bed bugs wherever you’re living, staying, or working.
How common are bed bugs? One in five Americans have had bed bug problems or know someone who had them, according to The New York Times.
It’s always better to be safe than itchy when it comes to these pesky insects. Read tips from one writer to protect yourself when traveling, and don’t forget to check out our section below where we ask the experts for more tips and insights.
In the news:
- Paris bed bug invasion spurs panic, threatens Olympics
- Major Las Vegas Strip hotels battle bed bug infestations
- Hawaii airport closed 3 gates for deep cleaning to remove bed bugs
- New Jersey wedding ruined by bed bugs, lawsuit says
- Chicago is Orkin’s bed buggiest city for 3rd straight year
Bed bugs can be a problem in homes, offices, hotels, motels, vacation rentals, dorm rooms, airports (really), movie theaters, and on public transit.
To prevent a bed bug infestation where you live, work, or stay when traveling, take these 11 steps:
- 1. Don’t Store Items Under Your Bed
- 2. Store Items in Plastic Containers
- 3. Dust Mite-Proof Encasements
- 4. Remove Clutter From the Floor
- 5. Vacuum Regularly
- 6. Keep Clothes off the Bed
- 7. Inspect Your Hotel, Motel, or Dorm Room
- Firsthand Experience: Better Safe Than Itchy
- 8. Wash Clothes and Luggage After Traveling
- 9. Wash Sheets at the Highest Temperature Setting
- 10. Keep Your Bed Sheets off the Ground
- 11. Don’t Pick Up Furniture From Curbs or Dumpsters
- Where You Will Find Bed Bugs
- How to Check for Bed Bugs
- How to Identify Bed Bugs
- The Cost to Treat a Bed Bug Problem
- FAQ About Bed Bugs
The best way to avoid a bed bug infestation in your home is to follow these 11 steps to prevent bed bugs:
1. Don’t Store Items Under Your Bed
Storing items under your bed creates opportunities for bed bugs to hide near your mattress. You may also unknowingly store an infested item.
2. Store Items in Plastic Containers
Bed bugs find it difficult to crawl on smooth surfaces such as glass or plastic. Keep your storage items in a plastic container or plastic bag to help prevent spreading a bed bug problem.
3. Dust Mite-Proof Encasements
Cover your mattress or box spring in dust mite-proof encasements to create a barrier between you and any potential bed bugs.
4. Remove Clutter From the Floor
Keep your clothes off the floor. If a wandering bed bug latches onto your sweater, you run the risk of that bed bug infesting your dresser or closet.
5. Vacuum Regularly
This prevention method helps you remove stray bed bugs. For further prevention, dispose of the vacuum bag in an outside trash can.
6. Keep Clothes off the Bed
You don’t know whose bed these biting pests have infested. It’s best to keep your clothes off any beds if you want to prevent bed bugs from coming into your home.
With that in mind, keep other people’s clothes off your bed. You never know if they may be transporting a bed bug from their home. Instead of placing guests’ coats on your bed, hang them in the coat closet.
7. Inspect Your Hotel, Motel, or Dorm Room
Before unpacking your clothes in your new sleeping arrangements, such as a hotel, motel, or dorm room, inspect the space. Check curtains, the carpet, the walls, and surrounding areas for any signs of bed bugs. Most importantly, check the bed for any signs. If you spot a potential infestation, ask for another room. Avoid placing your clothes on the bed.
Firsthand Experience: Better Safe Than Itchy
During my time in college, I had an amazing opportunity to travel to Europe for credit as part of a class. One of the most unforgettable experiences was when my roommate and I stayed at a hotel and woke up with bed bug bites all over our bodies. I must admit, it was far from a pleasant experience.
After being horrified by the bed bug bites, we quickly treated them. We cleaned the affected areas with warm water and mild soap, and then applied an anti-itch cream to alleviate the itchiness. Oh, so scratchy!
To avoid getting bed bugs when traveling, I learned some important lessons. First, I always research and read reviews about the hotels I plan to stay in. It’s important to choose hotels that have a good reputation for being clean.
Also, I started doing some things to protect myself. I started carrying a small portable bed bug spray and using luggage liners to create a barrier between my stuff and any potential infestations. I also got into the habit of checking hotel rooms when I arrive, looking for signs of bed bugs on the mattress seams, headboard, and other common hiding places. It’s better to be safe than itchy.
8. Wash Clothes and Luggage After Traveling
Ensure your travels don’t bring home a bed bug. Immediately wash your clothes and clean any luggage, including suitcases, backpacks, and purses.
9. Wash Sheets at the Highest Temperature Setting
About once a week, wash your bed linens at the highest temperature. The heat can help kill bed bugs and their eggs.
10. Keep Your Bed Sheets off the Ground
When making your bed or sleeping, make sure your sheets are not touching the floor. A hanging sheet allows a wandering bed bug to crawl up to your bed.
11. Don’t Pick Up Furniture From Curbs or Dumpsters
A free couch on the side of the road can be tempting, but bringing it into your home can lead to a major bed bug infestation. Avoid taking any furniture from curbs or dumpsters, as bed bugs may have infested them.
Where You Will Find Bed Bugs
A Pest Gnome analysis found that 85% of all bed bugs are found where their name tells you they will be found – in the bed. Other places where bed bugs are found:
- Couches and office chairs
- Nightstands and dressers
- Curtains and drapes
- Windows and door frames
- Walls, ceilings, and outlet covers
- Your clothes
- Household items
- Floors and carpets
- Hotels, motels, theaters
Where Do Bed Bugs Come From?
Although bed bugs have no wings (and therefore can’t fly), they are quite the traveling bug. They happily travel from place to place on luggage, upholstery, and from room to room in multi-family dwellings.
A survey of 5,500 pest control professionals shows where they have most commonly treated bed bugs:
| Location | Bed Bugs Found |
| Single-family homes | 91% |
| Apartments/Condos | 89% |
| Hotels/motels | 68% |
| Nursing homes | 59% |
| Schools and daycare centers | 47% |
| Offices | 46% |
| College dorms | 45% |
| Hospitals | 36% |
| Public transportation | 19% |
The 2018 Bugs Without Borders survey conducted by the National Pest Management Association also found:
- Bites are the most common way that people realize they have bed bugs, representing 92% of the calls to professionals.
- Symptoms of bed bug bites don’t appear for 2-3 days, so by the time you are aware of them, you might have a major infestation.
- A whopping 97% of pest professionals treated bed bugs in the previous year.
- Most bed bug complaints come during the summer.
How to Check for Bed Bugs
How do you check for bed bugs? First, you need to round up some gear, know where to look for signs of bed bugs, and learn how to spot signs of an infestation.
Note: Bed bug bites are not a definitive sign of an infestation. Why? Bed bug bites can look like mosquito bites or common rashes. Also, some people do not react to bed bug bites.
Use a flashlight to inspect dark spaces for live bugs, eggs, feces, or molted skin. Eggs are about the size of a pinhead, are pearl-white, and stick to surfaces.
The fecal matter from bed bugs is partially digested blood appearing in clusters of tiny spots, often found on bed sheets. Their feces will soak into the surface and leave behind a black dot, almost like a marker tip.
Bed bugs shed their skin and leave behind a molted, translucent skin shell. The shell looks like an actual bed bug, but empty. They appear in different sizes depending on the life stage of the bed bug.
How to Identify Bed Bugs
Key characteristics to help you identify bed bugs:
- Size: A quarter-inch long
- Shape: A flat, oval-shaped body
- Segments: Three
- Antenna: With four parts
- Color: Brown unless full of blood; then reddish-brown
See Related: Bugs that Look Like Bed Bugs
The Cost to Treat a Bed Bug Problem
A Pest Gnome pricing guide on bed bug treatment finds that:
- Homeowners pay about $917 to $1,917 for professional bed bug treatment.
- For an infestation that’s isolated to one room, an average of $308.
- For an infestation of an entire house, as much as $5,267.
Ask The Experts
- How common are bed bugs, and how concerned should homeowners be about these pests getting into their homes?
- What is your advice to homeowners who tend to have persistent bed bug problems?
- In your experience, what preventative measures have proven to be the most effective at keeping bed bugs at bay?
- What bed bug prevention step do homeowners most commonly ignore (but shouldn’t)?
1. How common are bed bugs, and how concerned should homeowners be about these pests getting into their homes?
While bed bugs can be somewhat common in environments with high amounts of human activity, I think with the proper awareness and precautions, people can be aware enough to prevent bed bugs from getting in their homes. This can be more of a challenge, however, when living in an apartment complex where bed bugs can spread from domicile to domicile from under doorways or through electrical outlets.
2. What is your advice to homeowners who tend to have persistent bed bug problems?
If you are having persistent bed bug problems, consider what activities may need to change to prevent bed bugs from continuing to be an issue.
Is someone consistently bringing bed bugs into their home? Are they consistently going somewhere where bed bugs are?
Alternatively, if there are nearby apartments in a shared building, they could put out pit-fall style traps on their furniture to intercept bed bugs that attempt to climbing-up onto beds, chairs, or couches.
If you are actively going into bed bug-infested environments, bring a change of clothes and shoes to change into before going home. These clothes can be bagged and placed into a freezer for 48 hours to kill any bed bugs.
Pest control services should be hired if a person is attempting to manage bed bug infestations themselves and they continue to be an issue.
3. In your experience, what preventative measures have proven to be the most effective at keeping bed bugs at bay?
The best preventative measures for bed bugs are awareness and inspections so that you can avoid any hitchhikers.
A person should know what the different life stages of bed bugs look like, and signs of their presence, such as stains from defecating a blood meal and their cast skins or molts.
Then, when they are traveling or purchasing second-hand items, they should inspect their domiciles or potential goods for purchase for bed bugs.
They could also consider hiring a licensed pest control operator, who can apply a specific product as a bed bug preventative.
4. What bed bug prevention step do homeowners most commonly ignore (but shouldn’t)?
If you have a suspected bed bug encounter or infestation, reach out to an entomologist, extension agent, or pest management professional and request that they identify the suspected insect.
Once introduced, bed bugs can become problematic in a short period of time. With prompt action, bed bug infestations can be prevented from spreading or becoming much more difficult to eliminate.
1. How common are bed bugs, and how concerned should homeowners be about these pests getting into their homes?
Not that common in rural areas. Most common in popular areas. Most infections occur when traveling and bringing the newly hatched bed bugs in clothes that were left lying on a bed or chair that was infected by the bed bugs.
2. What is your advice to homeowners who tend to have persistent bed bug problems?
Inspect, inspect, inspect. Wash, wash, wash.
3. In your experience, what preventative measures have proven to be the most effective at keeping bed bugs at bay?
Inspect the crevices of bed mattresses and stuffed furniture. When returning from a visit, wash bedding and clothes in hot soapy water. Dry clothes in the hottest setting.
4. What bed bug prevention step do homeowners most commonly ignore (but shouldn’t)?
Inspect, inspect, inspect. Wash, wash, wash.
1. How common are bed bugs, and how concerned should homeowners be about these pests getting into their homes?
Bed bugs are very common; they may be present within every human community on Earth, and so may be found on every continent.
Multi-unit dwellings such as apartment buildings, condominiums, residential hotels, and homeless shelters are all known to commonly include bed bug infestations. Bed bugs should be considered as one of the most common pests of the home, along with German cockroaches, carpet beetles, pantry moths, pantry beetles, clothes moths, and mice.
We should always be vigilant of introductions and infestations. With this said, bed bugs are not known to transmit human disease. Quality of life, general well-being, and financial health can all be significantly impacted by bed bug infestations, of course.
2. What is your advice to homeowners who tend to have persistent bed bug problems?
Hire a professional to ensure that the existing infestation is eradicated, and try to determine the source of the infestations, especially if multiple, repeated introductions are suspected to have occurred. Follow the preventive steps outlined by UC IPM here.
3. In your experience, what preventative measures have proven to be the most effective at keeping bed bugs at bay?
Inspections and precautions associated with secondhand furniture, traveling, and guest hosting will help detect introductions before infestations become large. Clutter management helps to reduce the potential hiding places for bed bugs. Regular and professional inspections of ALL units within multi-unit dwellings should be components of the pest control contract of the community (this is the responsibility of the housing management, not the residents).
4. What bed bug prevention step do homeowners most commonly ignore (but shouldn’t)?
Clutter management is one important preventive step that is often ignored. Even if good inspection and prevention practices are in place, clutter provides hiding places that are difficult to inspect and difficult to treat.
1. How common are bed bugs, and how concerned should homeowners be about these pests getting into their homes?
Very common, and can be found anywhere in a built environment. Homeowners should be very concerned, but there is no need to panic.
2. What is your advice to homeowners who tend to have persistent bed bug problems?
You likely have a source that keeps bringing back bed bugs, even after you have treated. Identify that source.
3. In your experience, what preventative measures have proven to be the most effective at keeping bed bugs at bay?
Accurate information on bed bug biology and behavior, that helps to avoid picking them up and keeping them away.
4. What bed bug prevention step do homeowners most commonly ignore (but shouldn’t)?
Thorough inspections.
FAQ About Bed Bugs
Why Are Bed Bug Numbers Increasing?
● More frequent travel
● Growing tolerance to pesticides
● Lack of awareness and application of preventive measures
What Are Places Where Bed Bugs Are Known to Lurk?
Places that are known to be hot spots for bed bugs include:
● Baseboards
● Crevices (remember to seal cracks)
● Electrical outlets
Hiding places include:
● Bed frames
● Luggage racks
● Mattress covers
● Mattress seams
● Secondhand furniture
● Upholstered furniture
● Used furniture
Do Bed Bugs Transmit Diseases?
While the bite of a bed bug can leave an itchy red welt, there is no evidence that bed bugs transmit diseases to people.
When to Call a Bed Bug Exterminator
There are so many bed bugs and in so many places that you can expect to have a bed bug problem sometime during your lifetime. Don’t wait for an infestation. Follow the common-sense steps above to prevent bed bugs from becoming an issue.
If you already have bed bugs, it’s best to call a bed bug exterminator. Some have dogs that can sniff out bed bugs.
And how do you get rid of bed bugs? Steam treatments, extreme cold, pesticides, deep cleanings, and fumigation are just some of the ways pest control pros rid homes, offices, public spaces, and public transit of bed bug infestations.
Additional source: CDC
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