Can clothes prevent bed bug bites at night?
Bed bugs are nasty little creatures that love to sneak into your bed at night and suck your blood while you sleep. If you’ve ever seen a bed bug in action (yes, there are videos available on YouTube), then you’ll be absolutely amazed at the speed at which a bed bug will fill up with blood as it feeds.
As you can imagine, everybody wants to find ways to avoid having their blood sucked out by a bed bug. Some people think that wearing clothes to bed will keep them safe. That’s why we often get asked, “Can bed bugs bite through clothes?” Today, we’re going to tackle this exact question and then give you some tips on how you can prevent these little creepy-crawlies from getting into your home in the first place.
Will Bed Bugs Actually Bite Through Clothes?
To answer this question, we must consider a few mitigating factors. First, bed bugs don’t actually bite when they suck out your blood. They inject a needle-like proboscis that’s similar to the type of “insect nozzle” used by mosquitoes.
The second thing to consider is the type of clothing you’re wearing. A bed bug isn’t going to penetrate your jeans, but they could get past very thin leggings and similar clothing.
Third, there’s the tightness. If your clothes are thick and tight around you, then bed bugs are going to have difficulty getting inside. All that being said, unless you’re wearing a hazmat suit, your hands and other parts of your body are likely to be exposed.
Just face it. You can’t escape the wrath of the bed bug!
How to Prevent Bed Bugs in Your Home
Thanks to pest control professionals, bed bugs can be eliminated quickly. However, if you have a bed bug infestation, the cost could be a tiny bit significant (that’s probably an oxymoron, but we’re going to go with it anyway). To help you prevent getting bed bugs in your home, follow these tips:
Clean Up Your Home’s Clutter
Although bed bugs usually hide in your bed, hence the name, they can also hide among clutter just like other insects, such as our favorite creepy-crawly, the cockroach. Cleaning up your home’s clutter will reduce the number of places that bed bugs and other nasty critters can hide.
Pick Up a Mattress Protector
If you’re a little paranoid about getting bed bugs or would like to be extra cautious, we suggest that you purchase a mattress protector. This is exactly how it sounds. It’s a plastic cover that zips up around the mattress, preventing bed bug bites at night.
Wash Clothes in Hot Water
Bed bugs will very often hide inside clothing, which can be a real problem if you’ve spent the night away from home. If you think you might have a bed bug problem, then you definitely want to wash your clothes in hot water. Do the same thing to your clothes when you get back from a trip.
Inspect Used Furniture
We’re not going to tell you not to buy used furniture because people are always trying to save money. But what we’d suggest is that you inspect the furniture very carefully because beds, couches, chairs, and other items have a lot of cracks and crevices where bed bugs can hide. You might even want to take a steamer and go over every inch, just to be sure.
How Professionals Will Eliminate Bed Bugs
If you discover that these little vampires are in your home, then you need to get rid of them right away. Not only is there the ick factor, but if you wait too long, it could turn into a bed bug infestation. Although chemical treatments were popular in the past, most pest control companies now offer a heat treatment.
With this procedure, heaters are set up around your home to raise the temperature to the point where bed bugs can’t survive. This will kill every stage of bed bugs, including their eggs. Most items in your household can stay right where they are, but certain things, such as plants, will need to be removed.
Contact ProHealth Pest Control for Bed Bug Control Services
ProHealth Pest Control gets tons of questions that are very similar to, “Can bed bugs bite through clothes?” Now that we’ve answered that question, maybe you have some of your own.
Feel free to contact us at (727) 308-3470 to find out the answers to your questions or to make an appointment.
