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Bed Bugs in Your Bed or Mattress? What to Do Now
If you’ve found bed bugs in your bed, don’t throw the mattress out and don’t move to the sofa or spare room. Bed bugs live in and around the bed because that’s where you sleep, and moving or dumping things spreads them through your home. Strip the bed into sealed bags, wash and dry the bedding on hot, vacuum the mattress seams, and book a treatment that covers the whole bedroom, not just the mattress.
Here’s what to do with each part of the bed:
| Part of the bed | What to do now |
|---|---|
| Sheets, pillowcases and duvet covers | Bag them in the bedroom, then wash at 60°C and tumble dry on hot for at least 30 minutes |
| Pillows and duvets | Tumble dry on hot for at least 30 minutes, or wash at 60°C if the label allows |
| Mattress | Vacuum the seams, piping and corners, then fit a zip-up bed bug encasement |
| Bed frame and headboard | Vacuum the joints and cracks, and leave the frame where it is for treatment |
| Bedside tables | Empty them into sealed bags and check each item before it leaves the room |
| Things stored under the bed | Bag them, keep them in the room and check them before you move them |
Do bed bugs live in mattresses?
Yes. Bed bugs live as close as they can to the person they feed on, and in most homes that’s the bed. On a mattress they hide in the seams and piping, under labels and buttons, in the corners and on the underside, and come out at night to feed. As their numbers grow, they spread to the bed frame, headboard, bedside tables and the rest of the room.
To find them, follow our guide on how to check a mattress for bed bugs, and see what the signs of bed bugs on a mattress look like.
How do bed bugs get into your bed?
Bed bugs can’t fly or jump, so they crawl. They find you by the warmth of your body and the carbon dioxide you breathe out, which builds up around the bed while you sleep. Most arrive in luggage, bags or second-hand furniture and then make their way to the bed. To find out how they got into your home, read how bed bugs get into your home.
Bed bugs in pillows, the headboard and the bed frame
Bed bugs prefer rough, undisturbed places, so pillows are less common hiding spots than the mattress, although they can get into pillow seams and cases. Headboards are a favourite, especially upholstered ones and those fixed to the wall, and so are the joints, screw holes and slats of the bed frame and the underside of a divan base. These need treating along with the mattress, or the bugs simply move back.
How to get rid of bed bugs in a mattress
You can cut the numbers on a mattress yourself, but you can’t clear an infestation from the mattress alone, because bed bugs and their eggs are also in the frame and around the room. These steps help while you wait for treatment.
Wash and dry your bedding
Strip the bed and put the sheets, pillowcases and covers straight into bags in the bedroom, so you don’t drop bugs on the way to the washing machine. Wash them at 60°C and tumble dry on hot for at least 30 minutes. Heat kills bed bugs and their eggs; a cool wash doesn’t.
Vacuum the mattress
Use a crevice tool along every seam, label and button, the corners and the underside, then do the bed frame. Vacuuming removes some bugs but not the eggs glued into the fabric, and it doesn’t kill them. Empty the vacuum or take out the bag straight away, seal it in a plastic bag and put it in the outside bin.
Can you steam a mattress for bed bugs?
Yes. Steam kills the bed bugs and eggs it reaches, as long as you move slowly enough for the surface to heat right through. It works on mattress seams and upholstered headboards, but it can’t reach bugs deep inside the frame or the walls. A professional steam treatment or heat treatment deals with the bed and the rest of the room together.
Can you spray a mattress for bed bugs?
Don’t use shop-bought sprays on a mattress. Most aren’t meant for surfaces you sleep on, they rarely reach bugs inside the seams, and they can drive bed bugs into the frame, the walls and other rooms. Professionals choose products and methods that are safe for beds, and treat the frame, skirting boards and cracks around the room at the same time.
How to clean a mattress after bed bugs
Once the room has been treated, vacuum the mattress again, wipe down the hard parts of the bed frame and fit a bed bug encasement. Baking soda, essential oils and household cleaners won’t kill bed bugs hiding in the seams, so don’t rely on them.
Professional bed bug treatment
Finding bed bugs only on the mattress doesn’t mean they’re only there. A technician checks the bed, the furniture and the room, then treats every hiding place, usually with heat or with an insecticide treatment and a follow-up visit to catch bugs that hatch from eggs. Before a heat treatment, read how to prepare for bed bug heat treatment.
From our bed bug exterminator
“One thing I mostly see with bed bugs is that people focus on the mattress and overlook the rest of the room.”
Todor, bed bug and heat treatment specialist · 10 years with Fantastic Services · 9,700 bookings · rated 5/5 by 1,199 customers · BASIS PROMPT verified
Should you throw away a mattress with bed bugs?
Usually not. Throwing out the mattress doesn’t get rid of bed bugs, because they’re also in the bed frame, the headboard, the furniture and the cracks around the room. A new mattress in an untreated room soon has bed bugs too, and carrying the old one through your home drops bugs and eggs on the way out.
Most mattresses can be treated and kept. Replace one only if it’s torn, very old or too heavily infested to clean, and only after the room has been treated.
How to get rid of a mattress with bed bugs
- Wrap it tightly in thick plastic and tape it but before it leaves the bedroom.
- Label it clearly as having bed bugs, so nobody takes it home.
- Book a bulky waste collection with your council and tell them about the bed bugs.
- Never leave it on the street or in a shared hallway.
Do mattress encasements stop bed bugs?
They help, but they don’t clear an infestation on their own. A bed bug encasement is a zip-up cover that wraps the whole mattress. Bugs already inside are trapped and can’t feed, new bugs can’t hide in the seams, and the smooth surface makes any that are still around easy to spot. Bed bugs can survive for months without feeding, so keep the encasement on for at least a year and check it regularly for tears.
Choose one sold as bed bug proof, with a tight zip that closes fully, and use matching covers on the pillows and the divan base if you can. An encasement works alongside treatment of the room, not instead of it.
Can you sleep in your bed if you have bed bugs?
Yes, and you should. If you move to the sofa or another bedroom, bed bugs follow you and start a second infestation. Keep sleeping in your own bed until it’s treated, and make it harder for them to reach you:
- pull the bed a little away from the wall;
- keep sheets and duvets off the floor;
- don’t store anything under the bed;
- fit a bed bug encasement on the mattress;
- put bed bug interceptors under the bed legs to catch bugs climbing up.
How long after bed bug treatment can I sleep in my bed?
It depends on the treatment, and your technician will tell you exactly. After an insecticide treatment, you can usually go back once the treated surfaces have dried, typically within a few hours. Don’t wash or vacuum the treated areas until you’re told it’s fine. After a heat treatment, you can sleep in your bed the same day once the room has cooled down, as no chemicals are used.
After an insecticide treatment, keep sleeping in the bed. Bugs that hatch from eggs come out to feed and cross the treated areas, and the follow-up visit deals with any that survive.
What doesn’t work on a mattress
- Diatomaceous earth and other powders. They work slowly if at all, don’t reach bugs deep in the seams, and the fine dust shouldn’t be breathed in, so they don’t belong on a bed.
- Silica gel and boric acid. Not suitable for mattresses and not enough to clear an infestation.
- Rubbing alcohol. It only kills the bugs it soaks and makes the bed a fire risk.
- Bug bombs and foggers. They don’t reach hidden bugs and scatter them into other rooms.
- Throwing out the mattress. The bed bugs stay in the frame and the room.
How to keep bed bugs out of your bed
Once your home is clear, a few habits make it much harder for bed bugs to settle in your bed again. Keep the area around the bed clear and don’t store bags or boxes under it. Leave the encasement on the mattress, check the seams and headboard when you change the sheets, and check any second-hand bed, mattress or headboard before it comes indoors. After a trip, unpack straight into the washing machine, not onto the bed. For more ways to stop them getting in, see where bed bugs come from.
If you’ve found bed bugs in your bed, book bed bug treatment or call 020 3746 2723. A technician will check the whole bedroom and treat every hiding place, not just the mattress.
