How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs

If headlines and horror stories are to be believed, Cimex lectularius (as it’s known to scientists — that’s the common bed bug to us) is your worst nightmare. Not so, says Brittany Campbell, an entomologist for the National Pest Management Association (NPMA). “While bed bugs are alarming, it’s important to note that they do not spread disease. They can be troubling because of possible reactions to their bites and there is some evidence they can even cause respiratory allergies.”

“It may be impossible to fully prevent getting bed bugs,” she continues, “but the best prevention is attempting not to bring them home in the first place. Learn what bed bugs look like and the signs of an infestation and then inspect the places you visit and items you bring into your home to limit the introduction and spread of bed bugs.”

“Listen, bed bugs happen,” says Jeffrey White, director of technical content for BedBug Central and host of Bed Bug TV. “Not commonly, not a lot of people deal with them, but they do happen, and we don’t always know how we got them."

“But even if you get them, if you identify the problem as early on as possible when there’s only a handful of bugs there, it’s actually very straightforward to get rid of that problem. Early detection makes things so much easier and so much cheaper to deal with, so knowing the signs and symptoms, knowing that if you’re participating in behaviors that might increase the chance of picking up bed bugs, products like monitors and encasements are a great idea, and doing periodic inspections of your home will all take the stress out of the whole topic of bed bugs.”

Ready to learn the ropes? Read on.

When inspecting your home and belongings for evidence of bed bugs, “you are specifically looking for the bugs themselves, tiny eggs, the shed skins from bed bugs that have molted and black, ink-stain-like fecal spots,” Campbell says. (We’ll spare you a large-scale illustration right now, but you can see reference photos here and here.)

“One of the number one myths about bed bugs is that you can’t see them,” White says. “You absolutely can. The adults are about a quarter inch long; when they first hatch they’re very small, about the size of a letter on a penny, but typically if those bugs are around, there’s going to be adults somewhere. The number one indicator of bed bugs is the fecal spotting; when they go to the bathroom they leave little black spots behind.”

“Bites are sometimes the first indicator that someone may be experiencing bed bugs; however, they should never be used to confirm or dismiss a bed bug infestation,” Campbell says. “People react differently to bed bug bites: some may have itchy, red welts, while others have no reaction at all, depending on their immune system.”

“Research has suggested that up to potentially 30% of the population doesn’t react,” White notes. “Any time you’re reacting to something and you can’t figure out what it is, it’s always a good idea to do an inspection and try to figure out if you have bed bugs.”

“If you think you’ve encountered a bed bug but can’t properly identify it, you should send either an intact specimen or clear photograph to an entomologist or pest control specialist for confirmation,” Campbell says.

Can’t catch or take a detailed photo of a bed bug in your home? “Any time you have a strong suspicion that something isn’t right, I would probably call in an expert to at least do an inspection. Most experts are not going to proceed with treatment unless they have a confirmed issue,” White says. He notes that some pest control companies will perform that initial inspection for free.

Why is acting fast so important? “Bed bugs can breed and multiply quickly, so the earlier you can combat an infestation, the better,” Campbell says. And why professional help? “If you do try to treat a bed bug infestation on your own, depending on the products that you use, you can make infestations worse. People will go out and buy aerosol bug bombs, and those are totally ineffective for bed bugs and may actually spread them around your home,” White explains.

If you’re a renter and find evidence of bed bug infestation in your home, contact the building owner or manager as soon as possible; it’s possible that resolving the problem is their responsibility. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 21 states have laws or regulations that apply to bed bugs, and many of those apply to hotels, landlords or property managers.

Remember when White mentioned “participating in behaviors that increase the chance of picking up bed bugs”? Long story short, he was talking about bringing home furniture. “One of the most common ways that people introduce bed bugs into their home is through either used or discarded furniture. Now, that’s typically through discarded furniture rather than used furniture. But if somebody has a pretty serious infestation in their home, bed bugs can move beyond typical spots like the mattress, box spring and bed frame and get into other things, like dressers and nightstands. You can see them in odd things like lamps and electronics — they can get into just about anything," says White.

“So when you see a piece of furniture and take it in, there’s always that potential there. I was at an estate sale this past weekend and we ended up getting a piece of furniture — and I took a quick look at it before we brought it in the house,” notes White.

You can also keep an eye on bugs looking to infiltrate the furniture you've already got with monitors or interception devices, “which basically means the bug falls into them and they can’t get out,” White explains. (He’s very well-acquainted with how they work, as he’s designed some.) “You can put them either under your bed legs or near your bed legs. If I know I’m bringing lots of used furniture into my house, I would probably have monitors installed near and around my beds and couches, because I know there’s a chance I could bring bed bugs in.” In other words, if you know you have bed bugs, an interception device may prevent them from getting up to your bed from the floor; if you know there’s a chance you could bring some home from an irresistible free furniture find on the neighbor’s stoop, that same device will give you a heads up.

While it is technically possible to bring a bed bug home in a borrowed book, it’s pretty unlikely. “Bed bugs can infest library books and while you can put them in the freezer, it takes four days to kill them even at freezing temperatures,” Campbell says. “Before you throw all of your books into a freezer, inspect them first for bed bugs. If there are no signs, then spend those four days you would have lost, reading.”

Battling bed bugs does not mean bidding beloved furniture farewell. “Two of the big misconceptions when it comes to bed bugs are that if I get them either: one, my home will never be rid of them — obviously, you can get rid of bed bug infestations — and two: I have to throw furniture away. Not true in any way, shape or form,” White says.

“You can buy covers for the bed, mattress or box spring that will both lock bugs in and keep bugs out. The bottom line is that no matter how a pest control company treats your home, if they’re coming in and recommending you dispose of lots of furniture, that typically indicates that you might want to look for another pest control company. Unless you have a really bad problem — that’s where the dynamic can change a little bit.”

To trap and starve bed bugs that have gotten into your mattress or box spring (and prevent their pals from joining them in the future), invest in encasements — that is, impermeable covers that prevent them from getting in or out. “The encasement should fully enclose the mattress or box spring, it should be six-sided and it should be designed for bed bugs,” White says. Look for “small, intricate zippers that bed bugs cannot slip through,” Campbell adds. “Immature insects are very small and can fit through the teeth of zippers that are not made specifically for bed bug prevention.”

What happens if the encasement you’ve purchased develops a hole? Once again, don’t panic. “We all live life, and whether it’s the cat, the dog or just wear and tear on the bed, these encasements do occasionally tear,” White says. “If a hole or tear is a couple of inches or fewer in size, you can usually patch it with something as simple as a piece of duct tape.” If your wear and tear is more extensive, you’re going to need another encasement — which, White says, should go right on top of the old one. “If it was put there because there were bugs in the bed, you don’t want to take the old encasement off even with a hole there,” he explains.

Know that while bed bugs are “excellent hitchhikers,” as Campbell puts it, they don’t settle down in hotels nearly as often as we’ve been led to believe. “I travel a lot for work, and I know the likelihood of encountering a bed bug in a main chain hotel is pretty low,” White says. “The going statistic right now is that 1% to 2% of a given hotel’s rooms will have an issue at any given time.”

To zero out the chances of bringing one home as a souvenir, thoroughly inspect your hotel room — including behind the headboard and in sofas and chairs — as soon as you arrive, and contact management immediately if you find that you’ve got unwanted roommates. (If you find yourself wanting to take furniture apart, White advises you consult the hotel first.) “If you’re still concerned after that, you can always store your suitcase in the bathtub, which is unlikely to be infested, and bed bugs have trouble navigating its slick surfaces,” White says. No tub in your room? “Consider placing your suitcase in a plastic trash bag or protective cover for the duration of your trip to ensure that bed bugs can’t take up residence there prior to departure,” Campbell says.