Washing clothes in hot water can kill bed bugs, but the wash cycle alone isn’t the most reliable step. The dryer is what really does the job. A household dryer set on high will kill all bed bug life stages, including eggs, in about 30 minutes. Combining a hot wash with a high-heat dryer cycle gives you the best results.
Why Heat Matters More Than Water
Bed bugs die when exposed to 113°F for 90 minutes or longer. Raise the temperature to 118°F and they die within 20 minutes. Their eggs are tougher: you need 118°F sustained for a full 90 minutes to reach 100% egg mortality. A standard hot water wash cycle can reach these temperatures, but the duration and consistency of heat exposure vary depending on your machine. Cold or warm water cycles won’t reliably kill bed bugs or their eggs at all.
Detergent doesn’t add much killing power here. Research from Rutgers University found that most detergent-based and plant-derived products are ineffective against bed bugs. The soap and water may dislodge some bugs, but heat is the actual lethal factor.
The Dryer Is the Real Weapon
A loosely filled dryer set on high kills all bed bug life stages and their eggs in 30 minutes. That makes it the most practical tool in your laundry room. Even if you can’t wash an item in hot water (think delicate fabrics or stuffed animals), running it through a high-heat dryer cycle for 30 minutes will do the job. The key word is “loosely filled.” An overpacked dryer won’t distribute heat evenly, and some bugs or eggs could survive in cooler pockets.
The University of Minnesota Extension recommends temperatures above 122°F for at least 20 minutes to kill all stages. On most household dryers, this corresponds to a medium-high or high setting. If your dryer runs cool or you’re unsure about its output, extend the cycle to 45 minutes to be safe.
How to Wash Infested Clothes Step by Step
The process matters as much as the temperature. Bed bugs can crawl off clothing during transport and infest new areas, so handling infested laundry carelessly can spread the problem through your home or to a shared laundry facility.
Start by sealing infested clothes in plastic bags right in the room where the infestation is. Use sealable plastic bags or tightly secured garbage bags. Don’t carry loose armfuls of clothing through hallways or common areas. Sort items by wash temperature while they’re still in the infested room if possible, using a separate sealed bag for each load.
At the washer, dump clothes directly from the bag into the machine and immediately seal and discard the empty bag in an outdoor trash bin. Wash using the hottest water temperature the fabric can handle. Then transfer everything to the dryer on high heat for at least 30 minutes. Once the cycle finishes, fold and store the clean items in fresh sealed bags, not the ones you transported them in. Keep clothes sealed until the infestation in your home is fully resolved, or you risk recontamination.
What About Items You Can’t Machine Wash?
For items that are dryer-safe but not washable, skip the wash entirely and go straight to a 30-minute high-heat dryer cycle. This works for pillows, shoes, stuffed toys, and bags that can tolerate the heat.
Suitcases and larger items that won’t fit in a machine can be hand-washed with hot soapy water between 100°F and 120°F. Use a scrub brush along seams, folds, and zippers where bed bugs tend to hide. For dry-clean-only garments, seal them in plastic bags and bring them to a dry cleaner. Let the cleaner know the items may be infested so they can take precautions to avoid spreading bugs to other customers’ clothing.
Cold Water Washes Won’t Work
A cold or warm water cycle, even with detergent, is not a reliable way to kill bed bugs. While prolonged submersion in water can eventually drown them, a typical wash cycle doesn’t last long enough, and water temperature below 113°F won’t trigger thermal death regardless of duration. If you must wash a delicate item on a cooler setting, the dryer step becomes non-negotiable. Without high heat at some point in the process, you can’t count on killing the bugs or their eggs.
Laundry as Part of a Bigger Plan
Washing and drying your clothes and bedding is an important step, but it only addresses bugs living on those specific items. Bed bugs also hide in mattress seams, box springs, furniture joints, baseboards, and electrical outlets. Laundering alone won’t eliminate an infestation. It works best as one piece of a broader treatment plan that addresses the bugs where they actually nest and breed. Seal your clean laundry in fresh bags after drying so it stays protected while the rest of the treatment is underway.