Bed Bug Answers

Travel & prevention

How to not bring bed bugs home. The habits that keep them out.

Bed bugs don’t appear out of nowhere — they hitch a ride, most often from a hotel, a trip, or secondhand furniture. You can’t control where they are, but a few simple habits keep them out of your bags and off your furniture. None of this needs special equipment; a flashlight is plenty. Every step below comes from the EPA and university extension programs.

In a hotel or rental — before you unpack

  1. Park your bag in the bathroom first

    Don’t set your suitcase on the bed or the floor when you walk in. Leave it in the bathroom or the tub — hard, bright surfaces bed bugs avoid — while you check the room. EPA · UMN Extension

  2. Check the bed with a flashlight

    Pull back the sheets and look at the mattress seams and tufts, then behind the headboard and along the frame. You’re looking for live bugs, dark fecal dots, or pale shed skins. Not sure what those look like? See how to identify them. EPA

  3. Use the luggage rack — and check it too

    Keep your bag on the metal luggage rack, away from the bed and wall — not on the floor or bed. Inspect the rack itself first; it’s a spot bed bugs reach from other travelers’ bags. Skip the dresser drawers entirely. EPA · UMN Extension

  4. Found signs? Change rooms — and know your standing

    Ask for a room in a different part of the building (bugs spread to adjacent rooms), and keep your bag sealed. In a hotel you’re a guest, not a tenant, which changes what you can ask for — see bed bugs in a hotel: what you can actually do.

When you get home

  1. Don’t put the suitcase on the bed

    Unpack somewhere hard-floored — a garage, laundry room or bathroom — not the bedroom. The bed is exactly where a stray hitchhiker wants to end up. MSU Extension

  2. Send your clothes straight to the dryer

    Unpack directly into the wash, and run everything through a hot dryer for at least 30 minutes — the heat, not the wash, is what kills any bug or egg. Do this even with clothes you never wore. EPA · MSU Extension

  3. Store the empty bag away from the bedroom

    Wipe out and inspect the suitcase, then keep it in the basement, garage or a closet far from where you sleep — never under the bed. MSU Extension

Secondhand and curbside furniture

Used furniture is the other classic way an infestation moves into a home. A free couch is not free if it comes with bed bugs.

Hard rule

Never take curbside furniture

People are told to slash or destroy infested furniture before discarding it precisely so no one takes it — a mattress or upholstered piece left at the curb is a gamble you lose. EPA

Before it comes inside

Inspect anything used

Go over secondhand beds, sofas and dressers with a flashlight — seams, cracks, screw holes and undersides — before it ever enters the house. When in doubt, don’t.

Moving day

Don’t pack them with you

Bed bugs travel in boxes and furniture to the next home. Inspect and, where you can, heat-treat soft items before a move so you don’t carry the problem along.

Everyday habits that keep them out

  • Cut the clutter. “A cluttered home provides more places for bed bugs to hide and makes locating and treating them harder.” Fewer hiding places is real prevention. EPA
  • Encase the mattress and box spring. Bed bug covers make it harder for them to move in and far easier to spot the early signs. EPA
  • Wash and heat-dry bedding regularly — sheets, blankets, and anything that touches the floor. EPA
  • Know the early signs. Caught in the first week, an infestation is far easier to stop — keep the identification guide handy, and if you find one, here’s what to do tonight.

Where this comes from

  • U.S. EPA — Tips for Travel; Protecting Your Home from Bed Bugs; Top Ten Tips to Prevent or Control Bed Bugs. epa.gov/bedbugs
  • Michigan State University Extension — Keep Bed Bugs from Moving in After Travel. canr.msu.edu
  • University of Minnesota Extension — Bed Bugs and Traveling. extension.umn.edu

Reviewed against these sources on . Practical, sourced prevention — not a guarantee. If you think something came home with you, act early: catching it in the first week is what makes it easy.