Bed Bug Washing Temperature

Key steps in washing clothes to control bed bugs.

Bed bug washing temperature. Washing at lower temperatures will kill adults and nymphs but most bed bugs eggs will survive. At 20 degrees they can live from 20 minutes to 2 3 hours. With a few common sense practices you can easily disinfest clothes and ensure these items do not become bed bug hiding places as you remove bed bugs from the rest of your home. If the temperature is 17 0 c the bug lives no longer than 24 hours but as a rule death occurs after 2 3 hours.

Temperature that kills bed bugs. The appropriate temperature for killing bed bugs using a washing machine is 140 f for a 30 minutes wash cycle. Using freezing cold temperatures to kill bed bugs is one option. Instead of washing delicate clothing or pillows in a washer use a clothes steamer.

How to kill bed bugs with heat. What temperature do bed bugs die at. The steamer temperature must reach between 160 and 180 degrees f. So ensure that you wash your clothes beddings and other washable infested items in the hottest water to kill bed bugs at all stages of development.

Bed bugs don t live in clothes like body lice but they will hide in clothes or shoes. For a 30 minute wash cycle. Although these can be tricky to achieve in a residential setting it isn t impossible. Put an infested object such as bedding or pillows in a sealed plastic bag then put it in a freezer at zero degrees fahrenheit for about four days.

Washing will kill some of the bed bugs but it is the heat of drying that will kill any remaining bed bugs. Adult bed bugs die at 119 degrees fahrenheit and their heat resistant eggs require temperatures upwards of 125 degrees. They can be found all over the house. Temperature related bed bug control.

This high temperature will kill all bed bugs and their eggs in your clothing. At what temperature do the larvae of bed bugs die. On the other end of the spectrum the temperature at which adult bed bugs freeze to death is 19 48 f. According to various scientific studies the temperature that is lethal for adult bed bugs is 118 94 f.

You know that bed bug infestation is not just confined to bed area. Studies have found that bed bugs and their eggs cannot tolerate high temperatures. Miller of the department of entomology at virginia tech 113 degree temperatures kill bedbugs within 90 minutes but the bugs die at 118 degrees in only 20 minutes. A sustained temperature of 120 degrees fahrenheit will kill all stages of the bed bug s lifecycle.

One hundred percent of bed bugs are killed when wash water is 140 f. Follow the instructions for the machine and cover every surface of the fabric to kill the bugs and the eggs.