How bed bugs get into your home
Bed bugs don’t arrive because a home is “dirty”; they arrive because they’re exceptional hitchhikers. They travel on luggage, clothing, furniture and deliveries, then shelter in tiny cracks around beds and seating. Understanding how they get in is the first step to stopping them and choosing the right, science-backed solution.
As UK heat-treatment specialists, ThermoPest helps households and businesses understand the evidence, avoid common mistakes, and act decisively. If you need to see how professionals eradicate them end-to-end, explore our bed bug heat treatment process.
What people believe vs reality
- Myth: Bed bugs come from poor hygiene. Reality: They track to people, not cleanliness. Any home can be affected after travel, visitors, or deliveries.
- Myth: They jump or fly. Reality: Bed bugs crawl. Long-distance spread is almost always via belongings.
- Myth: Only hotels have bed bugs. Reality: They move through homes, offices, transport, cinemas, and second-hand goods.
- Myth: They only live in mattresses. Reality: They hide in bed frames, skirting, sockets, headboards, sofas and even screw holes.
Science-backed facts on how they arrive
- Travel and commuting: Luggage left on beds/soft seating, rucksacks on carpets, and coats on upholstered chairs can introduce hitchhikers.
- Second-hand furniture and textiles: Beds, sofas and bedside tables are high risk, especially if collected from kerbs or storage without inspection.
- Deliveries and moves: Shared vans, storage units and borrowed suitcases can transfer bugs or eggs.
- Visitors and shared spaces: Guests, house-sitters, or items brought from other properties can carry bugs in unnoticed.
- Building spread: In attached housing, bed bugs can move room-to-room or flat-to-flat via gaps, conduits and under doors.
Adult Cimex lectularius can survive months without feeding, and a single gravid female can seed a new population. Eggs are tiny and sticky, often glued deep within seams and joints, which is why casual inspection can miss early introductions.
Common mistakes that make things worse
- Using smoke bombs/foggers: These rarely reach harbourages and can drive bed bugs deeper into walls and adjacent rooms.
- Throwing out the bed immediately: This spreads insects through hallways and stairwells and loses critical evidence for a proper treatment plan.
- Only treating the mattress: Most activity sits around the frame, headboard, bedside furniture and skirting.
- One-off chemical sprays: Eggs resist many chemicals, and surviving bugs may be repelled, causing dispersal.
Practical steps you can do safely
- After travel, isolate luggage on hard floors; unpack directly to bags for washing. Tumble-dry clothing on the hottest safe cycle.
- Quarantine any second-hand furniture; inspect screw holes, under fabric, and joints before bringing it indoors.
- Fit bed and pillow encasements and use interceptor traps under bed feet to detect early activity.
- Reduce clutter near beds and sofas, and vacuum crevices with a crack/crevice tool. Dispose of bags outside immediately.
- If professional treatment is planned, read up on preparing your home for treatment to protect belongings and help the heat penetrate.
Why heat treatment is the superior solution
Bed bugs are increasingly tolerant of common insecticides, and eggs are notoriously hardy. Correctly delivered heat solves these problems by treating the whole room volume, not just the visible insects.
Eliminating cold spots
Household heaters and DIY steam rarely heat every void and joint. Professional heat systems move and mix air so concealed areas like floor voids, skirting gaps and furniture frames don’t remain as cold refuges.
Sustained lethal temperature
Lethal ranges are well established; if you’re curious, see what temperature kills bed bugs. The key is holding those temperatures for long enough so heat reaches eggs deep inside materials.
Sensors and monitoring
Professionals place multiple wireless temperature probes across rooms, furniture and high-risk voids. Continuous monitoring confirms uniform heat and verifies that no cool zones remain.
All life stages killed
When temperatures are correctly maintained, eggs, nymphs and adults are all neutralised in the same visit, avoiding the drawn-out cycles common with chemical-only approaches. For a step-by-step view, explore our bed bug heat treatment process.
If you’re weighing options, here’s why heat treatment works better than chemicals in most real-world scenarios.
ThermoPest expertise
ThermoPest focuses on precision heat treatments for homes and businesses. For households, targeted preparation, controlled heating and post-treatment advice keep disruption low and outcomes high. For organisations, our commercial heat treatment for hotels and landlords minimises downtime and protects reputations with documented temperature data.
After any intervention, it’s sensible to monitor your property after treatment to confirm success and catch re-introductions early.
If you need help deciding next steps, our team can outline options, from inspection and monitoring to full heat-treatment programmes tailored to your setting.
FAQ’S
Question: Do bed bugs only infest dirty homes?
Answer: No. Bed bugs follow people and their belongings, not cleanliness, so even immaculate homes can be affected after travel, visitors, or second-hand items. The misconception delays action and allows populations to grow. DIY sprays rarely reach eggs hidden in joints and seams. A practical first step is to fit mattress encasements and use interceptor traps to detect activity; in professional practice we combine these with targeted heat.
Question: Can one bed bug start an infestation?
Answer: A single fertilised female can lay dozens of eggs, so yes, one introduction can seed a population. Because eggs are resistant to many chemicals and tucked into deep crevices, casual cleaning won’t stop an early colony. That’s why prompt inspection and, where appropriate, whole-room heat are recommended. In professional practice, we confirm activity with monitors before designing a treatment plan.
Question: How do bed bugs spread between rooms or neighbouring properties?
Answer: They crawl through gaps around skirting, under doors, along carpet edges, and via service conduits such as pipe chases and sockets. Attempts to “chase” them with aerosols can drive dispersal into new areas, complicating control. Sealing obvious gaps helps, but it won’t remove established harbourages. In professional practice, we heat treat the affected room(s) and inspect adjacency to prevent re-migration.
Question: What temperature actually kills bed bugs and eggs?
Answer: Both adults and nymphs die reliably when the core of their harbourages is held in the lethal range; eggs need the most heat and time. The critical factor is sustained, even temperatures so there are no cold spots shielding eggs in thick furniture. Household devices seldom maintain this, which is why DIY methods struggle. A safe step is to launder and tumble-dry fabrics on the hottest setting they tolerate; in professional practice we validate room temperatures with multiple sensors.
Question: How can I avoid bringing bed bugs home after travelling?
Answer: Keep luggage off beds and upholstered seating, and unpack on hard floors. Bag clothes straight to the wash and tumble-dry hot; inspect seams of cases and rucksacks, focusing on zips and handles. DIY sprays inside luggage aren’t necessary and can stain; targeted heat or laundering is safer. In professional practice, we advise routine monitoring at home after trips to catch introductions early.
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