Bed Bug Advice & Guides

The bugs most often mistaken for bed bugs are carpet beetles and their hairy larvae, booklice, spider beetles, fleas, ticks, cockroach nymphs, and bat

To check a hotel room for bed bugs, put your bag in the bathroom or on the luggage rack first. Then, with your phone

Bed bugs can survive outside for a while, but they don’t live there. They’re indoor insects that depend on people for food and shelter,

A dead bed bug usually looks flat, dried out and lifeless: often lying on its back with its legs curled in, and paler or

Not necessarily. Bed bugs usually stay close to where someone sleeps, so in the early stages they’re often found in just one bedroom. But

There’s no smell proven to keep bed bugs away from your bed. In lab studies, low-strength essential oil sprays such as peppermint and cedar

No. Most beds don’t have bed bugs, and neither do most homes. Bed bugs only turn up where they’ve been carried in, usually in

Bed bugs can live for months in a sealed plastic bag. Adults and nymphs can go months without feeding: about 1 to 4 months

Yes, spiders will eat bed bugs if they happen to catch one, but they won’t get rid of an infestation. Spiders hunt whatever small

No, bed bugs don’t bite through clothes. They feed on skin they can reach, which is why bites usually turn up on the face,

You get bed bugs by carrying them in. They hitch a ride in luggage, bags, coats, second-hand furniture and clothing, or crawl through from

Yes, ironing can kill bed bugs and eggs on the fabric directly under a hot iron, but it only treats what the plate touches

Flea spray may kill a bed bug it hits directly, but it won’t clear an infestation. Flea sprays are made for fleas, bed bugs

Yes, but only when the cold is severe and lasts long enough. Killing every life stage takes days of steady, deep cold, not a