How to wash clothes after bed bugs? There are four easy steps that you can follow, my friends.
Undoubtedly, bed bugs are more annoying than you think.
They are usually found in your bed, luggage, books, and even in your clothes.
If they find a place to infest, they will do so.
However, when it comes to clothes.
People are more likely to catch them from a place that has bed bugs.
Bed bugs are outstanding in hitchhiking.
With just a single female bed bug, an infestation can begin.
The good thing is that bed bugs don’t cause any disease or health issues.
But, they can attack humans or animals when sleeping.
They feed themselves on human or animal blood.
That can be very gross and terrifying.
Steps To Wash Clothes After Bed Bugs
Bed bugs in clothes can live for a span of at least two to three months, depending on the place they’re living.
If you ever find your clothes infested by it.
You don’t have to worry about throwing your clothes away.
There are ways on how to get rid of it and prevent your clothes from bed bugs.
Since bed bugs can die by heat, a simple laundering of clothes should do the trick.
Prepare your materials such as rubbing alcohol, laundry detergent, trash bags.
And of course, your washing machine and a dryer.
Here are steps on how to wash clothes after bed bugs:
Step #1. Spray clothes with alcohol
Check your clothes first and separate those that are not colorfast.
Colorfast garments are clothes dyed in colors that will not fade quickly.
If your clothes say otherwise, then separate them.
For colorfast clothes, spray them with alcohol.
Also, spray the spot that has bed bugs infested on it.
Be aware that this step wouldn’t ride all the bed bugs and their eggs but only the live ones.
Rubbing alcohol has a flammable reagent.
Therefore, make sure when performing this step, you are away from places with an open flame.
Step #2. Sorting clothes
This step is where you will use trash bags to get rid of bed bugs.
But, first, separate the clothes according to their types.
For example, keep clothes with colors together in a bag and the white ones in the other bag.
The reason for this is you have to wash them separately after another.
While waiting for the next bag of clothes.
Keeping them in trash bags will prevent the bed bugs from spreading throughout your house.
Step #3. Washing clothes
Empty the clothes from the bag, one cycle at a time.
Finally, put the clothes from the trash bag directly in the washer.
This way will prevent any bed bugs from spreading around.
Once emptied, immediately dispose of the trash bag in another trash bag.
When washing the clothes, soak them in the hottest temperature the clothes can handle.
With this temperature, it will kill the bed bugs because of the heat.
Wash them according to the type of wash the clothes need.
Step #4. Drying clothes
After washing, I recommended drying the clothes at the hottest temperature it can manage.
Dry them for a least 30 minutes, and this will make sure that all bed bugs and their eggs are dead.
If you have clothes that can’t be dry in a regular dryer.
Put them in a trash bag and bring them to a dry cleaning service.
Ask them if they can take the risk of killing the bed bugs.
Of course, some dry-cleaners won’t take a chance, so don’t force them.
For clothes that can’t be tumble dry, please bring them to a commercial laundry and use a dryer with a shelf to heat them.
Heat them for at least 90 minutes to make sure all bed bugs are dead.
Another tip you can do is leave the clothes for a day on the dashboard of your car on a scorching day.
Alternative step: Freeze them
Heating them at the hottest temperature is a way to kill bed bugs in your clothes.
But did you know freezing them at a temperature below 0 degrees can get rid of the bed bugs?
Some clothes are not allowed in high temperatures, like material made of silk.
Take your clothes and put them inside a ziplock plastic bag.
Freeze them for at least 48 hours.
Make sure to seal it tightly to avoid contamination to other things inside your freezer.
For more oversized items, required to freeze them a little longer.
After, wash them at a cool temperature and hang dry.
Don’t forget to dispose of the plastic bags used in freezing the clothes.
Conclusion
We answered, “how to wash clothes after bed bugs?”
Bed bugs are more than just annoying pests that are great in hiding.
It can spread from one place to another and infest it.
It may be beds, books, and clothes.
They hitch a ride on humans, so make sure you aren’t the one spreading bed bugs around.
If you found the cause of bed bugs, be responsible enough to take any action and get rid of it.
It would be best if you took immediate action, and this can prevent a significant infestation in your home.
This method is applicable as well after bed bug treatment.
That requires you to wash your clothes and linen after.