Skip to content
LoclisBeta
Sign up
UpkeepBed Bugs

How do I avoid bringing bed bugs home after travel?

Check the bed before you unpack, keep your suitcase off the bed and floor on an inspected luggage stand, and leave clothes in the bag rather than in drawers. At home, unpack outside the bedroom and run your clothes through a hot dryer, which kills bed bugs and their eggs. If you suspect the bag met bed bugs, heat-treat it before it goes back in a closet.

Free to ask. Local shops send quotes, and you pay only when you book one.

By Kasra Taheri, Founder, LoclisPublished

Researched and drafted with AI, then checked claim by claim against the sources listed below before it was published. Prices and rules change; the dates beside each source say when it was last checked.

Step by step

Read when to stop and call a pro, further down this page, before you start.

  1. Step 1: Pack a flashlight and plastic bags

    A small flashlight makes the room check quick, and large plastic bags let you seal clothes or the suitcase on the way home.[7]

  2. Step 2: Check the bed before unpacking

    Pull back the bedding at the head of the bed and look at the mattress, its seams, the underside of the tag and the box spring for bugs or groups of black spots.[1]

  3. Step 3: Look around the headboard

    Check the edges and any gap between headboard and wall with the flashlight, but leave heavy wall-mounted headboards in place.[7]

  4. Step 4: Change rooms if you find signs

    Report it to the front desk and ask for another room, preferably in a different part of the hotel.[7][1]

  5. Step 5: Use the luggage stand

    Inspect the stand where the straps meet the frame, then set your bag on it away from the wall, never on the spare bed.[1][4]

  6. Step 6: Live out of the suitcase

    Keep clothes in the zipped bag instead of the drawers, and give the closet a quick flashlight check before hanging anything.[1]

  7. Step 7: Keep shoes in the open

    Leave shoes in an open area rather than under the bed or in the closet.[1]

  8. Step 8: Unpack outside the bedroom

    At home, unpack right away in a bathroom, garage, mudroom or foyer rather than on the bed.[1]

  9. Step 9: Run clothes through a hot dryer

    Put clothing, including clean items, through a dryer on medium-to-high heat for 10 to 20 minutes to kill all bed bug life stages.[7]

  10. Step 10: Check the empty bag

    Look over the seams, pockets and wheel housings with a flashlight before storing it, keeping in mind that bugs are hard to spot in luggage.[1][7]

  11. Step 11: Heat-treat a suspect suitcase

    If the bag may have met bed bugs, seal it in a plastic bag and leave it in the hot sun or a hot car for a day in warm weather.[1]

  12. Step 12: Store luggage away from beds

    Keep suitcases in a garage, basement or closet away from where people sleep, rather than under the bed.

  13. Step 13: Watch for signs for a few weeks

    Check the bed seams now and then for the next several weeks, since one bug can start an infestation and bites can appear days later.[3][7]

Most bed bug problems that start with a trip can be stopped with three habits: check the bed before you unpack, keep your luggage away from the bed, and heat your clothes when you get home. Travel is one of the most common ways people pick them up. Bed bugs might be in your hotel room, in the trunk of the taxi, in the luggage compartment of the airplane, or in the baggage handling facility at the airport.[1] EPA puts it plainly: "Bed bugs are great hitchhikers. They can move from an infested site to a new home by traveling on furniture, bedding, luggage, boxes and clothing."[4]

It does not take many. A single mated female brought into a home can cause an infestation without having a male present.[3]

When you arrive

Do the check before you open your suitcase. Hotel infestations are typically focused near the bed, so a quick inspection of the mattress and head board is generally enough.[1]

  • Pull back the bedding at the head of the bed and look on the mattress for bugs or their droppings, which usually show up as several black spots in a group.[1]
  • Check the underside of the mattress tag and the seams of the mattress and box spring.[1]
  • Shine a light around the headboard. In hotels, the area behind the headboard is often the first place bed bugs become established,[7] but headboards are heavy and cumbersome, and untrained people should not try to take them down themselves.[7] Look where you can see without lifting.
Close-up of a mattress seam heavily stained with black bed bug droppings, with small white bed bug eggs among them
Photo: NY State IPM Program at Cornell University from New York, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

If you find signs, do not panic or check out in a rush. The majority of bed bug infestations in hotels are limited, oftentimes to just a few rooms.[7] Tell the front desk and ask for another room, preferably in a different area of the hotel, since infestations sometimes extend to nearby units.[7]

During your stay

  • Do not put your suitcase on the spare bed.[1]
  • Inspect the luggage stand where the straps attach to the metal bars, and set your bag on it away from the wall.[1][4]
  • Keep your clothing in your bag rather than unpacking into the drawers,[1] and give the closet a quick check with a flashlight before hanging clothes.[1]
  • Put shoes in an open area, not under the bed or in the closet.[1]

The same idea applies to rentals, guest rooms and anywhere else you sleep away from home: the bed and the furniture beside it are where bugs gather, so keep your belongings away from them.

When you get home

Unpack right away, somewhere other than the bedroom: a bathroom, garage, mudroom or foyer.[1] Then use heat, the most reliable tool you have at home. Virginia Tech's extension guide says: "The heat from a hot clothes dryer will kill all bed bugs and their eggs."[2] A dryer at medium-to-high heat for 10 to 20 minutes kills all bed bug life stages, and works faster if the items go in dry,[7] so clean, unworn clothes can go straight in without a wash. Most garments labeled dry-clean only will not be harmed in a dryer at a moderate setting, provided they are dry first.[7] Check care labels for anything delicate.

Look over the empty suitcase with a flashlight, but do not rely on it: bed bugs are difficult to spot in luggage, so inspecting or vacuuming a suitcase is of limited use.[7] If you have reason to think the bag met bed bugs, seal the suitcase in a plastic bag and leave it in the hot sun or a hot car for a day.[1] That only works in warm weather. Other options:

  • Soft bags. A soft duffel or gym bag can go straight in the dryer when you get home.[1] Worth considering for trips where you are worried.
  • Small items. Small items can go in a sealed bag in a freezer at 0°F for three days, checked with a thermometer, since many home freezers are not that cold.[5]
  • Not the thermostat. Raising the indoor temperature with the thermostat or space heaters will not kill bed bugs.[6]

If you were bitten during the stay, treat everything you brought as suspect. Kentucky's entomologists advise: "Should you experience itchy welts suggestive of bites during your stay, it would be prudent upon returning home to place all clothing directly into the washer/dryer."[7] For how to read bites, see what bed bug bites look like compared with other bites.

The other ways bed bugs come home

Travel is not the only route. Look over secondhand beds, couches and other furniture for signs of bed bugs before they come into the house.[4] At a shared laundry, carry clothes in plastic bags, take them out of the dryer straight into a bag, and fold at home rather than on the shared table; a dryer on high heat can kill bed bugs.[4][1]

Stop and call a pro if

  • You find a live bug, eggs or shed skins at home after a trip. Keep a specimen and call a licensed pest control company early, while the problem is small.
  • New bites keep appearing in the weeks after you get back. See how to check your mattress for bed bugs and book an inspection if you find evidence.
  • You live in an apartment or shared building and suspect bugs have spread. Tell your landlord in writing.

Getting help on Loclis

You can browse bed bug services, look up pest control around Blacksburg, see what bed bug treatment costs in Virginia, or read the other pest control answers. If something came home with you, describe the job on Loclis and licensed pest control businesses can quote.

Common questions

Should I put my suitcase in the hotel bathtub?
The guidance from Virginia Tech is to keep the bag off the spare bed and on a luggage stand you have checked, set away from the wall. A hard, bare surface away from the bed and upholstered furniture follows the same idea: bed bugs gather near where people sleep.
Do I need to wash clothes I did not wear?
If there is any chance the room had bed bugs, yes. A dryer on medium-to-high heat for 10 to 20 minutes kills all life stages, so dry clothes can go straight in without a wash.
Is a hotel with bed bugs a sign it is dirty?
Not necessarily. Bed bugs feed solely on blood, and there is often no relationship between bed bugs and cleanliness, so a pristine room can be as vulnerable as any other. Most hotel infestations are limited to a few rooms, so ask for a room in a different part of the hotel.
Can I just leave my luggage in a cold car or garage?
Cold is unreliable. Freezing can kill bed bugs, but the temperature has to stay very low for a long time, and EPA notes that many factors affect whether leaving things out in freezing weather works. Heat in summer, a dryer for soft bags, or a freezer at 0°F for small items are more dependable.
What if I find bed bugs at home after a trip?
Keep a specimen, do not start sleeping in another room, and call a licensed pest control company early, while the infestation is small and easier to treat.

Sources

  1. [1] Bed Bug Prevention Methods, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (by Dini M. Miller, Virginia Tech). Checked October 26, 2026.
  2. [2] Bed Bugs: How to Protect Yourself and Your Home (ENTO-31NP), Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech. Checked October 26, 2026.
  3. [3] Bed Bugs Biology and Behavior (ENTO-8P), Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech. Checked October 26, 2026.
  4. [4] Protecting Your Home from Bed Bugs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Checked October 26, 2026.
  5. [5] Do-it-yourself Bed Bug Control, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Checked October 26, 2026.
  6. [6] Top Ten Tips to Prevent or Control Bed Bugs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Checked October 26, 2026.
  7. [7] Bed Bugs (Entfact 636), University of Kentucky Department of Entomology. Checked October 26, 2026.

Want a pro to handle it?

Describe the job once. Licensed local businesses send quotes, and you pay only when you book one.