It’s unlikely but not impossible to pick up bed bugs from a washing machine, especially if the previous user washed infested items on a cold-water cycle. A hot wash kills most bed bugs, but cold water can leave live bugs and eggs behind in the drum or filter, where they could transfer to your next load. The real risk depends on water temperature, not the machine itself.
How Bed Bugs Survive a Wash Cycle
Bed bugs can technically live through a washing machine cycle. Hot water and detergent kill most of them, but survival depends on three factors: water temperature, how long they’re submerged, and whether they manage to float on the surface. A bed bug that hasn’t fed recently is light enough to float, which gives it access to air and a much better chance of surviving. One that’s been submerged in cold water without detergent can survive for hours, though a 24-hour soak in cold water killed all adults and nymphs in one study. The eggs, however, survived even that.
Soap and detergent do help. They break down the waxy outer coating on a bed bug’s body and reduce the surface tension of water, making it harder for bugs to float. Soapy water partly disables bed bugs and makes them easier to drown. But detergent alone isn’t reliable enough to kill every bug and egg, particularly in cool or warm water. It immobilizes and removes them more than it exterminates them.
Temperature Is What Actually Kills Them
Bed bugs die after 90 minutes of constant exposure to 113°F, or within 20 minutes at 118°F. Their eggs are tougher: you need 118°F sustained for a full 90 minutes to reach complete kill. That means a hot wash cycle at 120°F is effective against all life stages, while a warm or cold cycle leaves survivors. A cold-water wash is essentially just a rinse from the bed bug’s perspective.
The dryer is actually more reliable than the washer. A loosely filled dryer on high heat kills all bed bugs, including eggs, in about 30 minutes. This is why pest control experts consistently recommend the dryer as the real kill step, with washing as the first pass.
The Shared Machine Risk
If someone before you washed bed bug-infested laundry on a cold or warm cycle, live bugs or eggs could remain inside the drum, along seals, or in the filter. When you load your clothes next, those survivors could transfer onto your items. This is the scenario most people are worried about when they search this question, and it’s a legitimate concern in laundromats or shared apartment laundry rooms.
Before using a shared machine, check inside the drum and around the door seal for tiny black specks (bed bug droppings) or translucent shed skins. These are the most visible signs that an infested load came through recently. Folding tables are another spot where bugs can be left behind.
To protect yourself, run the washer on the hottest setting your clothes can handle, ideally between 100°F and 120°F. Follow up with at least 30 minutes in the dryer on medium or high heat. If you’re already dealing with a potential exposure, the dryer step alone is enough to kill any hitchhikers.
Transporting Infested Laundry Safely
If you’re the one dealing with bed bugs, how you move your laundry matters as much as how you wash it. Bed bugs can drop off clothing and infested fabric as you carry it through hallways, common areas, or your own home. Every surface between your bedroom and the washing machine becomes a potential new infestation site.
Seal everything in plastic bags before transporting. Use the bags to load directly into the washer so bugs don’t escape onto nearby surfaces. Michigan State University Extension recommends unpacking luggage or suspect items on a hard surface under bright light (a garage, mudroom, or laundry room) rather than in the bedroom, so you can spot any bugs before they settle in.
For items that can’t be washed, like dry-clean-only garments, keep them sealed in plastic bags until you hand them off. Let the dry cleaner know the items may have bed bugs so they can handle them appropriately.
What to Do After Using a Shared Machine
If you’re worried you picked something up from a laundromat or shared laundry room, the fix is simple: run your clothes through a dryer on high heat for 30 minutes. That single step eliminates all life stages. You don’t need to rewash. The heat alone is sufficient.
Transport your clean laundry home in a fresh bag rather than the one you carried dirty clothes in. If you used a folding table at a laundromat, shake out each item and inspect it briefly before putting it in the clean bag. These small steps close the most common gaps where bed bugs slip through.