Do I have to throw away my clothes if I have bed bugs?

Most times, clothing, bedding and furniture from a home with a bed bug problem can be treated and do not need to be thrown away. If you decide to dispose of items, they should be carefully sealed in a plastic bag or container first so the bed bugs don't spread.

In general, you shouldn't have to throw out any items in the midst of or after a bed bug infestation. With proper treatment, all items should be able to be salvaged. Instead of throwing out clothing and bedding, it's recommended to wash them in a hot water washing machine. High heat will kill bed bugs and their eggs.

Fortunately, no! As mentioned above, washing and drying your clothes at a high temperature will kill bed bugs. It's a good idea to complete an entire wash-and-dry cycle twice to ensure your clothing is bed bug-free. Wash every piece of clothing that was in an infested area, even if you don't see the bugs on them.

If you are sleeping with bed bugs, you will definitely want to wear pajamas – the kind that covers you from head to toe. Thankfully, bed bugs are unable to bite through clothing, so the more skin you have covered, the less there is for bed bugs to snack on.

Getting a steam cleaner is a worthy investment as you are able to get the impressive steam treatment that you can do repeatedly until your couch is completely free from these pesky critters. Aside from getting rid of bed bugs through heat treatment, it can also be used for cleaning and sanitizing your home.

Don't try to kill bed bugs with room foggers or “bug bombs.” The mist released by these items just does not reach the places where bed bugs hide. Don't place mothballs or Boric acid dust between the mattress and box spring or under and around the bed.

Bed bugs are not known to spread disease. Bed bugs can be an annoyance because their presence may cause itching and loss of sleep.

Wash everything on a high temperature or sanitary cycle for at least 30 minutes. Placing everything in the dryer on the hottest setting for 30 minutes will also kill bed bugs and larvae. Immediately after you're finished putting clothing in the washer, tie up and throw out the empty garbage bag in an outdoor trash bin.

Fortunately, bed bugs should not be able to survive the high temperatures of the washing machine. By setting the water temperature to around 50°C (122°F) or higher and using a dryer on the highest heat setting, you should be able to effectively kill all bed bugs and their eggs.

Paint Thinner. It's a chemical that contains 99 percent ethanol which can instantly kill bed bugs. All you need to do is to spray the paint thinner directly on the bed bugs. It's undoubtedly one of the most effective ways to kill bed bugs.

Myth: Bed bugs won't come out if the room is brightly lit. Reality: While bed bugs prefer darkness, keeping the light on at night won't deter these pests from biting you.

First: Remain Calm & Check for Dead Bed Bugs

You don't necessarily have a problem if you just find one bed bug, either alive or dead. It's possible that you picked it up from somewhere and discovered it shortly after you brought it into your home.

Inspect the bed in detail including the headboard, frame, and box springs. If you have a metal bed frame using a flashlight to illuminate the interior of the metal tubing. Closely inspect the grooves in hardwood flooring, especially beneath or around the bed. Look along the bottom and top of the baseboards.

Bed bugs can live for as long as 4.5 months or more in an empty house before completely dying off. The two primary factors that determine how quickly or slowly the bed bugs could die off are the existence of a blood meal host, and the temperature of the house.

While not overly effective, the most useful essential oils for deterring bed bugs appear to be blood orange oil, paraffin oil, silicone oil, and spearmint oil.

How to stop the spread of bed bugs

Tell a few people if you can, and make sure they know you don't want this information passed around. Ask for a hug, if you feel so inclined; physical touch can be comforting. Lastly, do everything in your power to get rid of the bugs. Call an exterminator and follow all advice they give.

So what is the main cause of bed bugs? Travel is widely recognized as the most common source of bed bug infestations.

Bed bugs can have a specific preference of blood type while some may only be present on the side or part of the bed. These bugs might be present in another bed and not yours. A different bed bug type might also bite you or ward them off without realizing what they are doing.

So, are bed bugs contagious? No. They don't live on people and can't be directly transmitted from one person to another. However, as quick as they are to catch a ride on clothing, bedding and furniture, they are easy to transport.

Mattresses and pillows make potential habitats for bed bugs. Pillows may also be host to bed bug eggs, making them a potential point of bed bug infestations. A possible sign that bed bugs have infested pillows may be the appearance of bites.

These critters aren't lured by dirty or clean sheets. They're attracted to you. They live in warm places close to people, so your bed is perfect. Bedbugs crawl out at night and feed on your blood.

Bedrooms are the principal locations for bed bugs; however, any room where people sleep in the home may provide harborage for bed bugs. Living rooms with sofas and sofa beds are the next most common sites for bed bugs. Typically an infestation starts in one room and spreads slowly to other places where people sleep.

Plastic bags can kill people and most any bug by rapidly removing oxygen but even so, suffocating bed bugs in this manner is challenging. With their tiny size, bed bugs don't need much air to breathe and just enough air can be in a sealed bag to keep them kicking for months.

Bed bugs are easy to kill using heat. Their thermal death point is reported to be 114-115° F. Putting infested clothing in a hot dryer is an excellent way of killing bed bugs and their eggs. Heat can also be used to kill bed bugs and their eggs in furniture and carpeting.

The best way to get rid of bed bugs naturally is with steam.

Both pests and their eggs immediately die at temperatures of 212 degrees Fahrenheit.