Bedbugs are blood-sucking insects that cause a lot of trouble for home owners. It is almost impossible to notice their first single appearance. They go out to “hunt” at night during the deep phase of human sleep. It is reliably known that these parasites live in beds, sofas and furniture located in the bedroom.
Can there be bed bugs in clothes? The answer is they can, but not for long. Let's look at this problem from all sides and give advice on how to get rid of blood-sucking reptiles.
Infection of a home through things
Are bed bugs carried on clothes?
In order for the parasite to attach itself to a new guest, you need to at least visit a dysfunctional home in the evening or at night. It is at this time that the bloodsuckers crawl out of their hiding places. They like to live in crevices, so that both their back and stomach are in contact with objects.
This makes them feel safe. Most often, there is a risk of bringing bedbugs home on clothes during business trips and travel, when you have to spend more than one night overnight.
In order to prevent this nuisance, you need to store your clothes in tightly closed cases or suitcases during overnight stays in hotels.
If during your stay in a new place there were at least some signs of the presence of parasites, then at home you need to:
- carefully inspect all seams of clothing;
- wash clothes at 90 degrees, if possible;
- clean clothes from bedbugs using special products.
It is better to immediately monitor the sanitary conditions of a temporary shelter for an overnight stay. You should not leave bags and wardrobe items on your sleeping area.
It is easy to transfer bedbugs on clothes from a dysfunctional home, but getting rid of them at home will require a lot of patience and possibly expense.
Question-answer section
Sometimes it is difficult to understand what causes bedbugs in an apartment. A specialist will help you find the cause, and you can ask questions online. Answered by entomologist Irina Igorevna Kireeva, 21 years of experience.
Why do bedbugs migrate to new apartments?
Petrova Irina Igorevna
Entomologist with 24 years of experience
“Insects can move freely around an apartment building through communications (ventilation, through cracks where pipes are installed). This happens due to a lack of food (if there are too many insects) or they become crowded. In addition, parasites flee during large-scale persecution with insecticides.”
Why are there so many bedbugs if there weren’t any recently?
Petrova Irina Igorevna
Entomologist with 24 years of experience
“The reason is the high reproduction rate. Provided they have access to food, insects leave from 5 to 19 eggs per day, less often – no more than 1 egg. After 1-2 weeks, sexually mature offspring appear, which also leave parasite eggs everywhere. For this reason, it is important to understand how bed bugs appear in an apartment in order to avoid their infestation.”
Is a too large colony a bedbug nest?
Petrova Irina Igorevna
Entomologist with 24 years of experience
“Parasites do not establish true nests. They only gather together in hidden areas, leave most of their eggs here, and spend the daytime hours when they do not attack people. Such clusters are called nests, but they do not depend on the number of parasites.”
Why exactly do bedbugs not appear?
Petrova Irina Igorevna
Entomologist with 24 years of experience
“Common myths: the appearance of insects is associated with folk superstitions, negative energy at home and unsanitary conditions. If you are studying the question of where bed bugs come from in an apartment, then the listed factors should be immediately omitted. They are looking at more realistic ones: old furniture, migration from neighbors, etc.”
Do bedbugs live in human clothes?
Bedbugs prefer quiet places without vibrations or shocks. Therefore, to the question: can bedbugs live in clothes for a long time, the answer can only be negative. Clothing that is worn constantly is not the best place for a parasite. And the bug will definitely not bite a person in such conditions. Most likely, he will hide in folds and pockets and, when the opportunity arises, crawl out to look for a quiet, secluded place.
If things lie next to the bed, on a chair, or the closet is close to the sleeping area, then bedbugs will readily inspect them. The insect has a well-developed sense of smell, and clothing is attractive. You should not look for a bloodsucker in fur items. Small paws begin to get tangled in the hairs, and movement slows down - this is not very pleasant for bedbugs.
Parasites love synthetic and dense fabrics. If bedbugs have just moved into a room, it is unlikely that they will choose clothes. After all, there are many secluded and quiet places in apartments - baseboards, cracks in wallpaper, seams in furniture upholstery, etc.
But you shouldn’t relax, and practice shows that bedbugs do occur in things. Especially if they live next to a person for a long time with impunity.
Citizens living nearby
There are a lot of apartments in the high-rise building, and there are also a lot of people. There is a high probability that after pestering the premises by your neighbors, the bedbugs will move to your place. Insecticides irritate their receptors, insects take an easily justifiable flight.
It is important to maintain friendly relations with your neighbors. Greeting with a sincere smile when meeting is an integral attribute of mutual predisposition
And from here follow periodic discussions of the children’s progress at school, shared gatherings in the kitchen with tea and cigarettes, and conversations about bedbugs.
A normal attitude acts as a catalyst that opens access to relevant information. The more good-natured the communication, the more complete the verbally described pictures. Ask on occasion if your neighbors have been killing bedbugs for an hour, and everything will immediately become clear.
Why do many people think that bedbugs are found in everyday clothes?
There are two reasons for this misconception.
The itching from the bite lasts for a long time - weeks. Clothes fit close to the body and irritate the skin where the bug once fed at night. A person gets the impression that he is constantly being bitten, and the bloodsuckers are hiding in his clothes. It is recommended to lubricate the bite areas with special anti-itch creams in the morning.
There are linen lice, and bedbugs are confused with them. These parasites live constantly on clothes. A person is subject to bites while wearing clothing. In this case, washing things at a high temperature will help. To enhance the effect, insecticidal agents such as A-Par are added. Bedbug bites look like a small red dot with redness around it. Lice marks resemble an allergic rash or eczema.
Disinsection service with 24-hour on-site service
If you have a problem with insects, we invite you to contact us, the pest control service “Dezstation”. We have been professionally exterminating bedbugs for many years and know everything about how to quickly and effectively deal with these insects.
Our employees are ready to travel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Call the phone number listed on the website or fill out the feedback form to find out how to prepare for disinfestation and invite specialists to a convenient time.
How to treat clothes against bedbugs?
What to do if insects were noticed in a person’s wardrobe. First of all, don’t panic and don’t rush to throw away or burn expensive new clothes. Removing bedbugs from clothes is easier than it might seem at first glance.
Ineffective methods of processing things
- taking things out into the cold;
- normal wash;
- leaving the infected apartment for 2 weeks;
- hanging items of clothing outdoors for long periods of time.
- bedbugs hiding in jeans
Why won't this help?
The thing is that, like many insects, bedbugs are capable of falling into suspended animation. When all vital processes slow down, and the body is able to survive both frost and lack of food.
Killing bedbugs in clothes by washing is an ineffective way. Bedbug larvae can tolerate temperatures up to 60 degrees. The shell of the eggs has a sticky structure that does not allow them to peel off from the fabric even after contact with water.
Not every item of clothing can withstand a water temperature of 90 degrees, and there are other effective ways to treat items against bedbugs.
Working methods to get rid of bedbugs in clothes.
- Taking things to the dry cleaner. In this case, you need to indicate the real reason for the appeal.
- Using steam when ironing. Particular attention should be paid to the seams.
- Treating things against bedbugs with special insecticides.
- Use the freezer for a long time and at a minimum temperature. At -25 and below, larvae and adults die.
- Vacuuming clothes. A special attachment for clothes and maximum power are required.
You can achieve satisfactory results in killing bloodsuckers by combining several methods. For example, use a steam cleaner after washing and drying.
If the fabric is delicate, you can put it in the freezer, and then send it to the dry cleaner. Treat clothes such as coats with a vacuum cleaner and then steam them. Disinfecting clothes against bedbugs with chemicals gives the fastest results. But it requires compliance with a number of rules and precautions. You should try to use the least harmful formulations for humans. After the treatment, be sure to wash and rinse the clothes well.
A vacuum cleaner will not be able to remove all insects, but a certain effect will be noticeable.
To get rid of blood-sucking annoying insects, it is best to seek help from specialists.
Fertilization
Bedbugs reproduce in an interesting way.
This process is painful. So, entomologists call it traumatic insemination. It is carried out through violence, which is not typical for other insects. During the absence of a food source, bedbugs receive food from their own eggs, located in the peritoneum of the female. Therefore, even a surviving queen can give new life to a huge colony.
A female bedbug mates once in her life, which cannot be said about males. They copulate up to 200 times a day. They attack the “newlyweds”, forcibly pierce the body with the genital organ and inject sperm into the abdomen. In terms of gender, they are not picky. They are capable of attacking nymphs, other males and insects not belonging to their species.
When copulating with a male, the released sperm are mixed with the victim's semen. Such indiscriminate attacks continue endlessly until the parasite reaches its target. The alpha male releases a large volume of sperm, but only high-quality sperm is fertilized.
The resulting amount of sperm is enough for the female to last for the rest of her life, remaining in a special zone of the body. Then it is spent evenly, as needed.
To fully understand how fertile bedbugs are, scientists have established the regularity of offspring produced by one female individual - 40-70 larvae per month, most of which survive and turn into adult insects. Against this background, it becomes clear why bedbugs reproduce so intensively in a short period of time.
Chemicals?
What is the best bedbug chemical for clothing?
It is worth paying attention to high-quality insecticides, such as:
- Gektor (Hector)
- Agran remedy for bedbugs
- Cifox
- Foresight PRO
- Get Total
These products have an average toxic effect on humans. But you should not be negligent about this method of exterminating parasites. Health risks remain. You must follow the instructions carefully. When treating clothes against bedbugs, wear a mask and gloves.
After the procedure, clothes should be placed in a bag and not used for a week. After this period, things should be washed in a soda solution and rinsed in cold water several times.
Traditional methods
Folk remedies are effective for small numbers of ecoparasites or as preventive measures. They give a temporary effect, repelling bedbugs, but not destroying them. These methods are useful if there are small children living in the house, people with allergies, i.e. the use of potent drugs is undesirable. People's experience offers:
- Use strong-smelling herbs: chamomile, wormwood, valerian, tansy, wild rosemary, elderberry. You can pour powder or spread out twigs.
- Apply strong-smelling perfume or cologne to your body.
- Compositions with a pungent odor - vinegar, ammonia, acetone, denatured alcohol. Their solutions are used to wipe surfaces or place containers filled with them.
- Turpentine. For example, a 1:1 mixture with ethyl alcohol with the addition of 1/20 camphor. Treat, leave for a day, ventilate, wash thoroughly.
- Freeze the room - at temperatures below -200C, bedbugs die;
- Treat the room with steam or boiling water.
Strong-smelling compounds and herbs will only repel pests temporarily. Treatment with steam or turpentine is more effective, but it will have to be repeated. When there are a large number of bedbugs, special chemical compounds are used.
Brief characteristics of the insect
Bedbugs are six-legged insects with semi-rigid wings. Bedbugs are found almost everywhere. Even Greenland or Chukotka are not bedbug-free areas.
There are many species (more than 30 thousand) of harmful insects. People can treat water striders, turtles, soldiers and other species calmly, although they try to protect cultivated plants from them. But other species are not just unpleasant, but dangerous to humans.
These include blood-sucking parasites: bedding (linen), sofa (furniture). Despite their tiny size (4 to 8 mm), these flat insects cause big problems. The bug is capable of piercing a person’s skin, using one existing proboscis to numb the injection, and using the other to suck blood from the wound. Moreover, blood in 10 minutes. it drinks twice its weight, so a well-fed bug becomes 2 times larger.
Bedbugs are very tenacious and reproduce quickly. One female manages to lay about 500 eggs in a year (the average lifespan of a bug). A month will pass, and each will grow into an adult insect, and each will look for an opportunity to feed on human blood.
The harm caused by bedbugs also increases because people do not immediately notice their appearance and do not always begin to fight them in time. And the number of parasitic insects that appear in the house increases during this time. And along with them, the problems from their presence in a person’s home increase.
Danger of bedbugs:
- allergic reaction to a bite, skin irritation, itching, swelling of the skin, infection in the wound when scratching;
- multiple wounds that do not heal for a long time;
- the possibility of transmitting infectious diseases and the danger of contracting them (tuberculosis, typhoid fever, hepatitis, etc.).
Reviews
Marina, 32 years old, south. Moscow
I like the professional treatment method - all the work was completed in 1 day, after which there were no insects in the house.
Varvara, 28 years old, Tambov
I found bedbugs in my bed (on the mattress) when I was changing the sheets at my grandmother's house. It turned out that they had been living here for a long time, and she didn’t even try to fight. I had to do the cleaning first, then I treated the room with Kombat aerosol. I also laid out cotton pads soaked in ammonia everywhere. That helped.
Irina, 24 years old, Tula
I tried to remove insects from myself, it seemed to work. I didn’t see any more traces of them. But I found out that the parasites now live with neighbors, which means they could soon return to me again. I decided to renew the coverings on the floor and walls to close all the cracks, and also wash the floor with vinegar.
Bugs in the closet
