How not to bring bed bugs home

[redblonde]

Hi - we are currently in an Airbnb for 2 nights - last night I got loads of bites. Never saw any bugs and have checked the mattress and can see nothing, but my guess is bed bugs. My question is how do I make sure I don't take them home? I've read that a 60 degree wash kills them but I have clothes that won't survive that. Do I just bin them? If I strip as soon as I'm home in the kitchen then bung everything in the wash, will it be ok? What about shoes/coat? It's bad enough encountering them here, without taking them home. All suggestions gratefully received! Thanks.

Oh no!! This happened to my DH on a work trip.

I made him strip off in the drive and get immediately into a long hot shower with lots of scrubbing required. Everything went on a hot wash that could do, things that couldn't got binned. Suitcase was disinfected outside to within an inch of its life! Happy to report none survived.

Apparently freezing can kill bed bugs. You need to make sure it freezes all the way through.

Could you put the clothes that are too delicate for a hot wash in the freezer?

The bugs hate heat. Tumble try anything you can

You are going spend another night there

knowing this???!

You need to be systematic about this.

Take the cleanest, freshest clothes you have in your suitcase and wear these home. Don't wear old clothes as bedbugs like the smells.

Put the suitcase and bags in the boot, not on the seats.

Pop to the shops on the way back and buy large bin bags.

You could sit on one on the way back the rest of the way to minimise the chance of any getting in the seats...

Put the suitcase and all clothes in the bin bags and tie them. Leave them outside for now. Strip off to underwear or get naked before entering the house.

Shower, refresh, etc (you'll probably need it!).

When you're done, take a few binbags and go outside. Stand a little bit away from your suitcase (to be safe) and separate clothes into darks, whites etc. Put these into the bin bags and tie them.

Take these in, and very carefully tip them into the wash and put them on the highest heat wash possible, and dry on the highest heat possible.

For delicates (shouldn't be many), put into small bags and freeze, then wash as normal.

For the suitcase, I'd probably buy a mini steam cleaner (amazon for about £30). Be thorough. Use this to steam clean the boot and passenger seats of the car (hopefully not leather!).

I had the same issue in an Airbnb last year. I did LOADS of reading and took advice from pest control that dealt with bed bugs.

How are you getting home? If your suitcase is going into the car, you should put it inside a black bag (or two) to prevent the car becoming infested.

Firstly, make sure you aren't bringing any back on yourself. Shake yourself off when leaving and check the bottoms of your shoes. When you get home, strip off your clothes into a black bag. Shoes should be left outside until they can be checked. Bedbugs don't generally like to stay on people but it's worth having a shower anyway.

Suitcases/bags should be left outside and then all clothes emptied into black bags.

Do you have a tumble dryer? If so, put everything dry into there for 30 minutes - this is long and hot enough to kill all in the cycle (nymphs, adults and eggs). Don't overload the machine so everything gets sufficiently hot. When heating everything dry there is less damage and shrinkage to your clothes. I did this with all my clothes and had no damage at all.

If you don't have a dryer, put everything into the washing machine on a hot wash. Do this from the black bags to prevent any bedbugs from escaping into your house.

When the suitcase is empty, check the entire thing, especially in the cracks and crevices like around the zips. This is where bedbugs will hide. Eggs look like a grain of rice but smaller.

Anything that can't be washed on a high heat or go in the dryer should go into a ziplock bag and then into the freezer for at least 4 days.

I hope that helps! Apologies for such an easy!

I think I was bit by one in Romania. I left my suitcase outside in the bin area. I stripped down outside and went in naked and showered. Then I methodically washed everything and tumble dried on hot - hot for 20mins kills them. Things that can’t be tumble dried like linen I washed per usual and then ironed dry, paying special attention to seams. I tossed some things like my glasses case that I couldn’t wipe clean. Suitcase was left for last. It is a hard shell one and I steam cleaned it inside and out.

We went home last night. Followed the advice above, now going through the long and tedious process of tumble drying everything we can. Chucking other stuff. And I'm investing in a hand held steamer. I don't know what to do about shoes - so trainer type ones that have fabric in them so could potentially harbour bugs but won't stand a hot wash/tumble.

Presumably you’ve complained?!

Yes and obtained a refund

This makes me think: i wonder if airline cargo holds or even airline seats are rife with bedbugs? We know they never get cleaned.

I wouldn't have brought the suitcase home with me. I would have stripped in the garden and disposed of those clothes. We had bed bugs around 6 years ago and cost us around £3k to get rid of them. It was an absolute nightmare!

Shoes or trainers, put in a plastic bag then put in the freezer for a couple of days. Freezing kills them. We had a problem with bedbugs in a ski chalet once.