How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs for Good

Getting rid of bed bugs for good takes a combined plan, not a single spray. Confirm the infestation, contain it so you do not spread it, kill bugs on clothing and bedding with high dryer heat, encase the mattress and box spring, put interceptors under the bed legs, vacuum and steam hiding spots, and apply labeled residual products carefully to cracks and crevices. Then monitor for at least two to three months, because eggs hatch over time and a single missed female can restart the problem. Small, early infestations in a single room can often be handled by a careful homeowner. Larger infestations, apartments and repeat problems usually need a licensed pest control company using whole-room heat or a multi-visit treatment program.

Part of our Pest Control guide →

In this guide

1. Step 1: Confirm You Actually Have Bed Bugs
2. Step 2: Contain the Infestation
3. Step 3: Heat-Treat Clothing, Bedding and Fabrics
4. Step 4: Vacuum and Steam Hiding Spots
5. Step 5: Encase the Mattress and Box Spring
6. Step 6: Isolate the Bed With Interceptors
7. Step 7: Use Insecticides Carefully and Correctly
8. Step 8: Monitor and Repeat
9. When to Call a Professional
10. How to Keep Bed Bugs From Coming Back
11. Frequently Asked Questions

Step 1: Confirm You Actually Have Bed Bugs

Treatment is time-consuming, so be sure before you start. Look for live bugs, pale shed skins, tiny white eggs and dark fecal spots that smear like ink on mattress seams, box spring corners, bed frames and headboards. Carpet beetles, bat bugs and even skin irritation can mimic bed bug problems. Our guide on the signs of bed bugs and how to check walks through a full inspection. Save a specimen in a sealed bag or on clear tape if you can, so a professional can confirm it.

Step 2: Contain the Infestation

The instinct to sleep on the couch or move to another room is the fastest way to spread bed bugs, because they follow people. Keep sleeping in the same bed and make that bed a trap instead.

• Do not move furniture or belongings out of the room until they are treated or sealed.
• Bag items in the room in clear, sealed plastic bags before carrying them to the laundry.
• Do not throw away furniture unless it is badly infested or damaged. If you do, wrap it in plastic and mark it as infested so nobody takes it home.
• Reduce clutter under and around the bed so there are fewer hiding spots and treatment can reach surfaces.
• Tell your landlord if you rent. Bed bugs spread between units, and many cities and states assign treatment responsibility.

Step 3: Heat-Treat Clothing, Bedding and Fabrics

Heat is the most reliable bed bug killer for anything washable or dryer-safe. All life stages, including eggs, die when exposed to high heat for a sustained period. The dryer is the key tool; washing alone in cool water is not enough.

1. Strip all bedding and bag it in the room.
2. Gather clothing, curtains, stuffed toys, pillows and fabric items from the infested room, bagging each load.
3. Dry on the highest setting the fabric allows for at least 30 minutes after the load is fully dry. Wash first if items are dirty, then dry on high.
4. For items that cannot be washed, such as shoes or backpacks, a dryer cycle on high heat alone often works if the item tolerates it.
5. Put treated items into new clean bags and keep them sealed until the room is under control.

Items that cannot go in a dryer can be treated in a portable bed bug heater, by a professional heat service, or by freezing. Freezing works only if the item reaches about 0°F and stays there for several days, which most household freezers cannot guarantee, so heat is preferred.

Step 4: Vacuum and Steam Hiding Spots

Vacuuming removes bugs and eggs from seams, carpet edges and furniture quickly. Use a crevice tool and work slowly along mattress seams, box spring edges, bed frame joints, baseboards, upholstered furniture seams and the carpet edge around the bed. Vacuuming does not get every egg, because they are glued down, so follow up with steam.

A garment or upholstery steamer that delivers dry, high-temperature steam kills bugs and eggs on contact. Move the nozzle slowly, about an inch every several seconds, along seams, tufts, folds and cracks so the heat penetrates. Avoid blasting high-pressure air, which can scatter bugs. After vacuuming, seal the bag or empty the canister into a sealed plastic bag and put it straight into an outdoor trash can.

Step 5: Encase the Mattress and Box Spring

Zippered encasements designed for bed bugs trap any bugs inside the mattress and box spring, where they eventually die, and they give bugs nowhere to hide on those surfaces. They also make future inspections easy, since you are checking a smooth fabric surface instead of seams and tufts. Look for encasements labeled as bed-bug-proof, with tight zipper teeth and an end stop that covers the zipper pull. Leave them on for at least a year. Box springs are a major harbor, so encasing them is as important as encasing the mattress. You can find options by searching for bed bug mattress encasements.

Step 6: Isolate the Bed With Interceptors

Turn the bed into an island. Pull it several inches away from the wall, make sure sheets and blankets do not touch the floor, remove storage from under the bed, and place a climb-up interceptor cup under each leg. Bugs trying to reach you get trapped in the outer well, and any bugs coming off the bed get trapped in the inner well. Check and empty them weekly. Interceptors are the best way to tell whether your treatment is working: declining catches over several weeks mean you are winning.

Step 7: Use Insecticides Carefully and Correctly

Insecticides can help, but many bed bug populations are resistant to common pyrethroid products, and misuse can be hazardous. Only use products whose label specifically lists bed bugs and the site you are treating, and follow the label exactly. The EPA maintains a searchable list of registered bed bug products.

• Desiccant dusts: products such as silica gel or diatomaceous earth labeled for bed bugs damage the insect’s waxy coating and dry it out. Apply a very thin layer into wall voids, behind outlet covers, along baseboard cracks and bed frame joints, not on mattresses or open surfaces. Dusts work slowly but resistance is not an issue. Our guide to diatomaceous earth for pests covers safe handling; avoid breathing the dust.
• Contact and residual sprays: labeled sprays applied to cracks, crevices, frame joints and baseboards. Do not spray mattresses or bedding unless the label explicitly allows it.
• Avoid foggers and bug bombs: they do not penetrate the cracks where bed bugs hide, can drive bugs deeper into walls or neighboring rooms, and pose fire and health risks when misused.
• Never use outdoor or agricultural pesticides indoors, and never use rubbing alcohol or flammable liquids as a spray, which has caused house fires.

Step 8: Monitor and Repeat

Bed bug eggs hatch over one to two weeks, and nymphs go through several stages before maturing, so a single round of treatment almost never finishes the job. Plan to repeat vacuuming and steaming of the bed area weekly for several weeks, keep checking interceptors, and inspect seams and frame joints regularly. Most guidance suggests that an infestation is likely eliminated only after several weeks with no bugs found and no new bites, and many professionals monitor for two to three months before declaring success.

Week	Key tasks
Week 1	Confirm, bag and heat-treat fabrics, vacuum, steam, encase mattress, install interceptors, apply dust to voids
Weeks 2 to 4	Weekly vacuum and steam of bed area, check interceptors, re-launder bedding on high heat
Weeks 5 to 8	Check interceptors weekly, inspect seams and furniture, spot-treat any finds
Weeks 9 to 12	Continue monitoring; if no bugs are found, gradually return stored items after inspecting them

When to Call a Professional

DIY treatment is realistic for a small infestation caught early in one bedroom of a single-family home. Call a licensed pest control company if any of these apply:

• You find bugs in more than one room or in living-room furniture.
• You live in an apartment, condo, dorm or other multi-unit building.
• You have been treating for several weeks and interceptors are still catching bugs.
• Someone in the home has a strong reaction to bites or cannot safely do the work.
• The infestation is large, with visible clusters of bugs and stains.

What Professionals Use

Whole-room or whole-home heat treatment uses specialized heaters and fans to raise room temperatures high enough, for long enough, to kill all life stages in walls, furniture and belongings. It is often done in a single day but has no residual effect, so many companies add a residual product afterward. Chemical programs combine dusts, residual and contact sprays across two or three visits a couple of weeks apart. Some companies also use canine inspection, steam, freezing systems or fumigation for severe cases. For a sense of what you might pay, see our breakdown of pest control service costs.

How to Prepare for a Pro Treatment

Your pest control company will give you a prep list. It typically includes laundering and bagging fabrics, reducing clutter, emptying dressers and closets, pulling furniture from walls and removing pets. For heat treatments, you may need to remove items that can melt or be damaged by heat, such as candles, aerosol cans, medications and some electronics. Good preparation has a big effect on how well treatment works.

How to Keep Bed Bugs From Coming Back

• Inspect hotel rooms before unpacking and keep luggage off beds and carpet.
• Dry travel clothes on high heat as soon as you get home.
• Inspect used furniture, especially upholstered pieces and bed frames, before bringing it inside, and avoid curbside mattresses entirely.
• Keep encasements on the mattress and box spring and interceptors under the bed legs as an early warning system.
• Seal cracks around baseboards and outlet plates in multi-unit buildings to limit movement between units.

For other household and garden pests, including how to choose between DIY and professional treatment, start with our pest control guide.