Where Do Bed Bugs Come From? How You Get Them and How They Spread

Bed bugs come from other places that already have them. They don’t come from dirt and they can’t fly or jump, so they get into your home by hitching a ride in luggage, bags, clothes and second-hand furniture, or by crawling through from a neighbouring flat. Hotels, hostels, holiday lets, visitors and public transport are the usual starting points.

It only takes one mated female or a few eggs to start an infestation, which is why bed bugs can seem to appear from nowhere. These are the most common ways they get in:

How do you get bed bugs in the first place?

You get bed bugs by picking them up from somewhere that already has them. They don’t live on people the way lice do. Instead, they hide in seams, cracks and soft furnishings close to where someone sleeps or sits, and climb into anything left nearby: a suitcase on a hotel bed, a coat on a sofa, a bag on a cinema seat. When you take that item home, the bed bugs come too.

Dirt has nothing to do with it. Bed bugs feed only on blood, so a spotless home is no protection, and bed bugs are not a sign of a dirty home. Clutter doesn’t attract them either, but it gives them more places to hide and makes them harder to find.

Do bed bugs come from outside?

No. In the UK, bed bugs don’t live outdoors in gardens, grass or trees. They live only where people sleep and rest, and they’re always brought in by people or on items. If you’ve found bed bugs, they came from another home, a place you’ve stayed or something you brought indoors.

Can bed bugs appear out of nowhere?

It can feel that way, but no. An infestation starts small, with a few bugs or eggs hidden in a seam, and grows quietly for weeks. Bites can take days to appear and some people don’t react to them at all, so the first signs often show up long after the bed bugs arrived. To find out what to look for, see the signs of bed bugs.

How did I get bed bugs?

Think back over the last few months. Most infestations start with one of these:

• a night away in a hotel, hostel, holiday let or someone else’s home;
• guests who stayed over, or a child back from a sleepover or school trip;
• a second-hand bed, sofa, mattress or bedside table;
• neighbours with bed bugs, especially in a block of flats or shared house;
• student halls, care homes or other places where many people sleep.

Knowing where they came from helps stop it happening again. If it was a hotel or a rental, tell the owner or landlord so the source can be treated too.

What causes bed bugs?

Bed bugs are caused by contact with an infested place or item. Some routes carry more risk than others.

Travel: hotels, hostels and holiday lets

Travel is one of the most common ways people get bed bugs. Hotels, hostels and short-term lets have a steady stream of guests, and even a clean, well-run hotel can have bed bugs if one guest brings them in. They hide around the bed, the headboard and upholstered chairs, and climb into cases left open on the bed or floor. Bed bugs are found all over the world, so a holiday abroad and a weekend in the UK carry the same kind of risk.

Before you unpack, check the room for bed bugs, starting with the mattress edges and headboard. For what to do if you find them while you’re away, read how to get rid of bed bugs while travelling.

Second-hand furniture and mattresses

Used beds, mattresses, sofas, headboards and bedside tables are among the riskiest things you can bring home. Bed bugs and their eggs sit deep in seams, joints and screw holes, where a quick look won’t find them, and furniture that looks clean can still be infested. The same goes for second-hand rugs, cushions and soft toys. Wash second-hand clothes and fabric items at 60°C before you use them, and never take in furniture left out on the street.

Before you buy, follow our guide on how to check used furniture for bed bugs.

Visitors, sleepovers and staying with friends

Bed bugs move with people’s belongings, so guests can bring them in without knowing, and you can bring them home after staying with friends or family. Children pick them up at sleepovers and on school trips, in sleeping bags, pyjamas and soft toys. If someone you’ve stayed with finds bed bugs, wash and tumble dry what you took with you on hot and keep an eye on your own bed for the next few weeks.

Flats, HMOs and shared housing

In blocks of flats, houses in multiple occupation and student halls, bed bugs can spread from one home to the next without anyone carrying them. When numbers grow or a flat is treated, they crawl along pipes and cables, under doors and through gaps around sockets and skirting boards into the neighbouring rooms. That’s why an infestation next door can become yours, however careful you are.

If a neighbour has bed bugs, tell your landlord or managing agent straight away. Treating only one flat rarely works, because the bugs move back from next door, so the affected flats need checking and treating at the same time.

Public transport, offices and cinemas

Bed bugs can also turn up on buses, trains, the Tube and in cinemas, offices and other public places with soft seats. They don’t live there in large numbers, because nobody sleeps there, but a bug can climb into a bag or coat and travel home with you. The risk from any single trip is low.

Where do bed bugs come from in the UK?

Bed bugs aren’t new to the UK. They’ve been here for a long time and are found all over the country, in homes, hotels, hostels, student halls and care homes. They’re most common where many people sleep close together and come and go often, such as cities, blocks of flats and shared housing.

Travel keeps bringing in new bed bugs, and many of them are resistant to common insecticides. Shop-bought sprays often fail and can push bed bugs further into a room, which is one reason infestations are hard to clear without professional bed bug treatment.

How do bed bugs spread?

Once they’re inside, bed bugs spread in two ways: by crawling from room to room, and by being carried in the things you move around.

How fast do bed bugs spread?

Faster than most people expect. Bed bug eggs hatch in about a week, the young bugs can be adults in about a month in a warm home, and each female lays 200–500 eggs in her life. A few bugs can become an established infestation within a couple of months. At first they stay close to the bed. As numbers grow, they move into sofas, chairs, skirting boards and other rooms.

Can bed bugs spread from person to person?

Not by touch. Bed bugs don’t live on your skin or hair, so you can’t catch them from a hug or a handshake. They spread between people’s homes in belongings: bags, coats, clothes, bedding and furniture. If you have bed bugs, keep your bag and coat off other people’s beds and sofas until your home has been treated.

Things that make bed bugs spread

Some of the things people do when they find bed bugs make the problem bigger:

• Sleeping in another room. Bed bugs find you by your body warmth and the carbon dioxide you breathe out, so they follow you to the sofa or spare room and start a second infestation.
• Moving furniture or bedding. Carrying an infested bed, chair or pile of bedding to another room takes the bugs and eggs with it.
• Throwing out furniture unwrapped. Bugs drop off on the stairs and in the hallway on the way out. If something must go, wrap it tightly in plastic and label it so nobody takes it home.
• Using shop sprays and foggers. These rarely kill the hidden bugs and often drive them into walls, sockets and other rooms.
• Vacuuming without care. Vacuuming removes some bugs, but empty the vacuum into a sealed bag and put it in the outside bin straight away.
• Waiting. The longer an infestation goes on, the further it spreads and the longer it takes to clear.

How to avoid getting bed bugs

You can’t make a home bed-bug-proof, but these habits make it much less likely you’ll bring them in:

• When you travel, keep your case off the bed and the floor, on a hard surface or in the bathroom, until you’ve checked the mattress edges and headboard.
• When you get home, unpack straight into the washing machine, wash clothes at 60°C and tumble dry on hot, and check the inside of your case before you put it away.
• Before you buy second-hand, check every seam and joint, and don’t bring furniture indoors until you’re sure it’s clear.
• In a flat or shared house, seal gaps around pipes and skirting boards, and report any bed bugs to your landlord or managing agent early.
• After guests stay, wash the bedding they used at 60°C and keep an eye on the bed for a few weeks.

Found bed bugs? What to do next

Don’t move furniture or sleep somewhere else, and don’t use shop sprays. Check what you’ve found against the signs of bed bugs, then follow the first steps in our bed bugs guide. To clear them for good, book bed bug treatment or call us on 020 3746 2723.