How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs: A Step-by-Step Guide

Finding bed bugs is upsetting, but they can be eliminated. The catch is that bed bugs are built to survive: they're about as thin as a credit card, they can live for months without a meal, and most U.S. populations have become resistant to the common pyrethroid sprays sold in stores.^12,13,14 That's why a single spray or a bug bomb rarely works, and why the most successful approach combines several methods over several weeks.¹

This guide walks you through the same steps the EPA, university entomologists and the pest control industry recommend, from confirming you have bed bugs to knowing when they're really gone.

Can You Get Rid of Bed Bugs Yourself?

Sometimes. A small infestation that's caught early, mostly confined to the bed, can often be controlled by a determined homeowner. Expect it to take weeks of careful work.¹ The CDC and university experts recommend a professional with bed bug experience when you can afford one, and it's the better choice if:^13,8

• You're finding bugs in several rooms or on furniture away from the bed.
• You live in an apartment, where bed bugs often spread between units. In one Indianapolis high-rise, 45% of the building's 223 apartments were infested, and many new cases turned up next door to or across the hall from known ones.¹⁵
• You've already tried treating and you're still being bitten.

Step 1: Confirm It's Bed Bugs

Bites alone can't tell you it's bed bugs. Bed bug bites look like mosquito or chigger bites, rashes or hives, they can take up to 14 days to appear, and some people never react at all.^12,13 Before you spend money on treatment, find physical evidence:^12,13

• Live bugs. Adults are 3/16 to 1/4 inch long, about the size of an apple seed, reddish-brown, flat and oval. Young bed bugs (nymphs) are smaller and pale, and can be hard to see.¹⁶
• Dark spots like marker dots on mattress seams, sheets and the headboard. These are droppings.
• Rusty or reddish stains on sheets from crushed bugs.
• Eggs and shed skins. Eggs are about 1 mm, pearly white and glued in cracks.^16,12,9
• A sweet, musty odor in heavy infestations.

Not sure what you found? Your county extension office can identify insects, often for free, and the Cornell Insect Diagnostic Lab accepts mailed samples for a small fee.^1,17 See our bed bug pictures, signs of bed bugs and bed bug bites guides for help.

Step 2: Prepare the Room

Preparation matters as much as treatment. It removes hiding places and kills many bugs before you ever spray.^18,1

1. Don't move things out of the room unbagged. Bag items in the room before carrying them anywhere, and don't take belongings to another home until they're treated. Otherwise you'll spread the infestation.¹⁸
2. Bag and dry your fabrics. Put bedding, clothes, curtains and stuffed toys in sealed plastic bags (such as heavy-duty zip bags (we earn a small commission)). Run them through a hot dryer for at least 30 minutes. It's the dryer that does the killing: a warm wash can leave most eggs alive, though a hot 140°F wash kills all stages.^19,4,5 Keep clean items sealed in fresh bags until treatment is finished.¹⁸
3. Declutter. Clear the floor and under the bed, and get rid of papers and boxes you don't need. Clutter gives bed bugs places to hide and blocks treatment.^18,8
4. Vacuum thoroughly. Vacuum mattress seams, the bed frame, baseboards, carpet edges and furniture. Seal the vacuum bag or contents in a plastic bag and put it in an outdoor trash can right away. Vacuuming may leave eggs behind, which is why the next steps matter.^1,18
5. Pull the bed a few inches from the wall and keep sheets and blankets off the floor so bugs can't climb up.^1,8
6. Seal cracks in baseboards and around the bed with caulk, and check behind outlet covers and loose wallpaper.^1,12

Step 3: Kill Bed Bugs with Heat (or Cold)

Heat kills every stage of bed bug, including eggs, as long as it reaches them.^20,3 What matters is the temperature where the bugs are actually hiding: about 118°F held for 90 minutes, or 122°F for less than a minute.³

• Clothes dryer: 30 minutes on high kills bed bugs and eggs in a full load of dry items.^5,4
• Steamer: A handheld steamer (we earn a small commission) that reaches 160°F to 180°F at the surface kills most exposed bugs and eggs.^3,8,21 Move slowly, about one foot every 10 to 30 seconds, along mattress seams, tufts, the bed frame, furniture joints and baseboards.^5,21 Use a wide nozzle or cloth cover so the airflow doesn't scatter bugs.¹ Steam only reaches about 2 inches into cracks and less than an inch into fabric, and it leaves nothing behind to kill bugs later, so it's one step, not the whole treatment.^3,8
• Heat chambers: Portable heat units for luggage and belongings (around $200 to $350) heat items above 120°F over several hours.^5,11
• Freezing: For things you can't heat, seal them in a bag and freeze at 0°F for at least 4 days. Many home freezers don't get that cold, so check with a thermometer.^22,11,1

Don't try to "cook" a room by cranking the thermostat or using space heaters, a propane heater or a fireplace. It won't get hot enough and it's dangerous.¹ Whole-room heat treatment is a professional job (see below).

Step 4: Apply the Right Products

Use only products registered by the EPA that list bed bugs on the label, and follow the label exactly. You can check any product with the EPA's bed bug product search tool.^1,23 Because many bed bugs resist pyrethroids, look for products that combine different chemical classes, or that kill in a way bugs can't resist, like silica dust.^24,14

Want everything in one box? A bed bug kit (we earn a small commission) bundles these products. Some products sold online, including chlorfenapyr sprays like Phantom, are labeled for use only by licensed pest control professionals. Skip them, and never use outdoor or agricultural pesticides indoors.^32,33

Where to treat:

• Mattress and box spring: Steam or spray seams, tufts, folds and tags. Turn the box spring over, check the inside frame, and treat it. Then encase both.^25,8
• Bed frame and headboard: Treat joints, cracks and screw holes, which are favorite hiding spots.¹²
• Furniture: Remove nightstand and dresser drawers and treat the inside corners, tracks and joints.¹²
• Room edges: Apply silica dust along baseboards, in cracks near the bed, and behind removed outlet and switch plates (not into the electrical box).²⁶

Step 5: Encase the Mattress and Box Spring

After treating, zip the mattress and box spring into encasements made for bed bugs. Bugs trapped inside eventually die, and the smooth cover leaves no seams for new bugs to hide in, which makes inspection easy.^1,8,2 Leave them on for at least a year: in cool rooms, bed bugs can survive a year or more without feeding.^34,8 Check the covers for rips now and then.³ Cheap vinyl covers tear easily.¹¹

Step 6: Monitor and Repeat

Most sprays don't kill every egg, and eggs hatch in about 1 to 2 weeks, so plan to inspect and re-treat about every 2 weeks.^8,2,9

• Put an interceptor under each leg of the bed and any couch where people sleep, and check them every week.^1,30 In one study, interceptors found 70% of very light infestations compared with 50% for visual checks alone.³⁰
• Keep treating until you've found no bed bugs for at least a month. Researchers use about 8 weeks with no catches to declare an apartment clear.^11,35
• Even then, keep the interceptors in place and keep checking for at least a year.¹

What Kills Bed Bugs Instantly?

Direct heat does. At 122°F, bed bugs and eggs die in under a minute, and steam at 160°F to 180°F kills most exposed bugs on contact.^3,8 In a Texas A&M lab study, none of the eggs steamed in the open hatched, though 6% to 16% of steamed adults and nymphs survived.²¹ A labeled contact spray also kills the bugs it hits.^25,29 The problem is that nothing "instant" reaches the bugs hidden deep in cracks, so instant killers are only one part of the plan.¹

What doesn't work instantly, or at all: rubbing alcohol killed no more than about half of bed bugs in lab tests, and it's a serious fire hazard.^11,36 Don't use bleach either. It isn't a bed bug treatment, and where pesticides have been applied it can turn some of them into more toxic compounds.^33,8

What Doesn't Work (and Can Make Things Worse)

• Bug bombs and foggers. In Ohio State tests, three brands of store-bought foggers had little if any effect on bed bugs, because the fog doesn't reach the cracks where they hide.⁶ Foggers are also highly flammable and can cause fires and explosions.^37,7
• Rubbing alcohol, kerosene or gasoline. They can ignite, and alcohol works poorly anyway.^1,36
• Diatomaceous earth alone. It works much more slowly than silica dust. In one test, about 10% of bed bugs died within 24 hours after walking on diatomaceous earth, compared with about 97.5% on silica gel.^27,8 If you use it, buy a pesticide-grade product, not pool-grade.¹
• Most essential oils. In Rutgers tests of 11 "natural" products, only two killed more than 90% of bed bug nymphs when sprayed directly, and only one had any noticeable effect on eggs.³⁸ See natural bed bug remedies for the evidence.
• Outdoor or agricultural pesticides indoors. Outdoor-only products should never be used indoors. Of 169 reports to a national pesticide hotline about indoor bed bug pesticide use, 129 involved health effects, including one death.³³
• Throwing out the mattress. It usually isn't necessary, and bugs left elsewhere will move into the new one. If you do discard furniture, rip or mark it ("Bed Bugs") so no one takes it home.^1,3
• Sleeping on the couch or in another room. Bed bugs can follow the carbon dioxide you breathe out to your new sleeping spot and spread through the home, and the ones left behind can survive for months without feeding.^11,8

Video: How to Get Rid of Bed Bugs

Professional Bed Bug Treatment

A pro should inspect first, explain the plan and the products, and schedule follow-ups. Be wary of any company that promises one visit will do it.^4,9 Look for a licensed company and ask what products they'll use.³³

• Chemical treatment: An initial treatment plus at least two follow-up visits about 2 weeks apart. Most infestations need 2 to 4 treatments over 3 to 6 weeks.^9,10
• Heat treatment: Pros heat rooms to roughly 120°F to 140°F, using sensors to make sure lethal temperatures reach every hiding spot. It can clear an infestation in a day, but it leaves no residue to stop bugs from coming back, so some companies also apply an insecticide.^8,5,2,39
• Fumigation: Whole-building fumigation with sulfuryl fluoride (Vikane) is used for severe cases. You'll be out of the building for days.⁸
• Dogs: Trained dogs can help find bed bugs, but accuracy varies a lot between teams. Ask the company to confirm any alert by finding a bug.^40,3

How much does bed bug treatment cost?

Ask whether follow-up visits are included and whether there's a warranty.⁹

Renters and Apartments

Tell your landlord right away. Bed bugs move between units, so the apartments next to, across from, above and below yours should be inspected too.⁴ Many cities and states set landlord duties. In New York City, for example, owners must use licensed pest professionals, address infestations promptly and disclose a building's bed bug history from the past year to new tenants.^42,4 Maine requires landlords to inspect within 5 days of a tenant's report.⁴³ Check with your local health department for the rules where you live.

How Long Does It Take?

Plan on several weeks to a few months. The time depends on how big the infestation is, how much clutter there is, and whether neighbors have bed bugs too.¹ Professional chemical treatment usually takes about 3 to 6 weeks, and heat can work in a day plus follow-up monitoring.^9,10,8 Even light infestations can linger. In a Rutgers study, bed bugs were still present in some treated apartments after 16 to 22 weeks.³⁵

Free Expert Guides

For more detail, these free, up-to-date guides from government and university experts are worth reading:

• Do-It-Yourself Bed Bug Control, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Bed Bugs (ENTFACT-636), University of Kentucky Entomology, revised 2026
• Cost-Effective and Money-Wasting Bed Bug Control Methods, Rutgers University

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