Can bed bugs live in your car? Yes, bed bugs can live in your car. If you have a be bug infestation in your home then they have already likely infested your car as well. Unfortunately, it is very easy to infest other areas of your life with bed bugs since they travel from person to person.
Bed bugs are not pleasant. They are disgusting, uncomfortable, can potentially carry disease and should be kept as far away from your car as possible. Bed bugs can surprisingly live in your car, while it is rare it is a real possibility. They can live inside the seats themself or in the numerous little cracks and holes that a car's interior is home to. If you think you have bed bugs in your car, or know you do, you will want to get rid of them immediately. This article will not only cover how to remove bed bugs from your car in detail but everything else you could need to know about these blood-sucking insects.
Bed bugs are small brown insects, they are about the size of an apple seed once fully grown. They feed on human blood, or the blood of other animals, which is why they can sometimes seem like they are red. This is an indication that they have recently been feeding. If you find red bed bugs in your home or your car, that means they were likely feeding on you (unfortunately). Bed bugs are not capable of flying, they travel by walking.
An adult bedbug is capable of laying upwards of 200 eggs each year of their life. Bed bug eggs are very small, they are no bigger than a speck of dust. This can be why they are so hard to spot. Bed bugs bite when they are feeding, this is why they are so uncomfortable for people. If you find yourself covered in small painless bites, you may at first credit this to mosquitos (especially in warmer climates). But it is far more likely to be bed bugs. Bed bug bites don't hurt at all, this is how they manage to feed on people unnoticed. Bed bugs feed for between 3-10 minutes, depending on their age, before they are full. Once they have had their fill, they quietly crawl away until its time to feed again. This is why you can still sleep soundly at night, even with bed bugs.
Bed bugs are very good at hiding. They don't make nests like other insects, they instead find hideaways in groups where they sleep. This can make finding the bed bugs themselves very hard. There are a few ways to spot them or signs that they are there. First, if you happen to spot even a single bed bug there is almost certainly dozens, maybe even hundreds, more. Bed bugs breed so quickly that just seeing one is often evidence of an entire colony.
If you don't happen to spot a bed bug, but still have a strong suspicion they are there, there are some signs to look out for on your body. If you find you are covered in lots of red spots, they may or may not be itchy, this is a clear sign. They will likely be on your exposed skin. Like your neck, arms, ankles, or the small of your back where your shirt might ride up a bit. If you do find evidence of this, it doesn't automatically mean they are from your car. It is far more likely they are from your bed. The next step is to check both your car and your home for the following signs.
Bed bugs shed skin 5 times during their life. Before they shed, they must first have a big feed. This means you should be on the lookout for their skin on the seats of your car and your bed/couch. They are more difficult to spot, but you should look for signs of eggshells and bug fecal matter. This will be a brown stain somewhere around your car. Lastly, if you spot blood spots on your car seats this is likely caused by you squashing and killing a bed bug that recently fed or from you bleeding out of a new bite. If you find bed bugs in your car there is a very high chance they are also in your house.
Bed bugs do not fly so they rely on walking from place to place. They are not big enough to survive walking from house to house, so how do they make it from place to place? They attach themselves to fabrics and hair/fur. Bed bugs will lay their eggs inside something such as an old couch and the couch will then be sold to someone new, the bedbugs now have a new home. They can also attach themselves to your hair or the fur of your pet. Once you arrive at your car or house they simply walk off into their new home. If you find that you have a bed bug infestation you likely either got it from some furniture you purchased or from sitting on someone else's already infected couch/car seats/bed etc. If you recently bought a second-hand couch and the next week find you have bed bugs it is already too late to stop the spread of an infestation. It is still advisable to throw the couch out.
Bed bugs travel by attaching themselves to fabric or furniture, so they likely entered your car from you, your pet, some used furniture, or another person. Once they entered your car they scurried off to hide somewhere inside the car, until its time to feed. The bed bugs will crawl up the car seats onto your skin whenever it is time to feed. Bed bugs will happily stay in your car because it is generally pretty safe for them, and you provide them a constant source of food. If you drive yourself to and from work you are providing your bed bugs with breakfast and dinner every day.
Bed bugs also need places to hide. A car is perfect for this. They can hide in the seats, in the air vents, in all the little cracks and holes that might fill the interior of your car. Since bed bugs are only about the size of an apple seed finding hiding places big enough for them isn't hard at all. If you have leather seats, not fabric, you are less likely to get bed bugs in your car. But it still isn't a guarantee. You also likely keep your car very comfortable climate-wise, if you keep your car in a garage your bed bugs likely never experience extreme heat or cold. They are generally pretty comfortable.
Since we have established that bed bugs travel by latching on to people and things, you need to be considerate of people you have with you in your car. You may think that giving your coworker a ride to work is a nice thing to do, but if you happen to have bed bugs you may just be passing on the infestation. Treating your car for bed bugs as soon as you discover them is the most responsible thing to do. If you do know for a certainty that your car has bed bugs, it is best to avoid giving people a ride. It may be embarrassing or uncomfortable but explaining to someone that your car has bed bugs so you cant give them a ride is far better than having to explain to someone that you are the reason they now have bed bugs too. You may be better off taking the bus yourself if your car has bed bugs, at least until it is treated. Knowingly driving someone with bed bugs is selfish and irresponsible.
Bed bugs are very cold-resistant, especially for their size, this means yes they can survive in the cold of your car. There is evidence of bed bugs surviving for short periods in temperatures as low as negative thirteen degrees Fahrenheit. They are also capable of living inside your car at zero degrees Fahrenheit for many days. If you were hoping to freeze them to death, you would only be able to do so in the dead of winter. If you live in a warm climate you are out of luck.
The reason that even if it is as cold as the above-mentioned temperatures your bed bugs will survive is that you keep using the car. Every time you turn the car on, turn the heating up and drive the car you are bringing the temperature of the entire car back up. This means that yes, your bed bugs might spend some time in very cold temperatures, but it isn't long enough to kill them. If you do live somewhere that gets below zero and are hoping to kill the bed bugs in your car this way, you do have one option. You could avoid using your car for a week, by the end of the week hopefully, the bed bugs will be dead. This is no guarantee, just a possibility.
When it comes to getting rid of the bed bugs from your car, there are a few options available to you. First, you will want to find evidence of them being in the car. This is easy to do following the above-mentioned methods. Once you are sure of the infestation it is time to take action. First, if you are choosing to remove them yourself and live in a cold area you could use the above-mentioned method of letting them freeze to death in your car. If this isn't an option for you, you will need to take further steps.
Deep cleaning your car will likely identify any bed bugs and allow you to remove them. Using a vacuum cleaner and a steam cleaner you will be able to get rid of the bugs, their fecal matter, and most importantly their near-invisible eggs. It is especially good to use a steam cleaner. The high temperatures can kill the bugs, ready for you to vacuum them up. Once the car is clean you can spread some bed bug killing powder/spray over the seats and footwells. This will cause any remaining bed bugs to die off too. It is advised that you avoid using your car for a few days after spreading these chemicals around for your wellbeing and to increase its chances of having worked.
Lastly, hire a professional. Some exterminators specialize in removing bed bugs, not just generic insect infestations. Hiring one of these companies can both save you a lot of headaches but will guarantee that the job is done properly. There are different species of bed bugs, so catching one and freezing it to show the exterminator the exact species can help them greatly. Exterminators will often seal your car up and pump gas into it that will kill all of the bed bugs. They also have access to pesticides you don't.
The best way to keep bed bugs out of your car, other than not bringing them into your car knowingly, is by keeping it clean. Regularly steam cleaning your car and wiping down the surfaces is a great way of keeping bed bugs from settling in, should they somehow make their way into your car. If you have your car professionally cleaned often you are far less likely to get bed bugs. But there is still no guarantee.
Hopefully, this article has answered any questions you might have had about bed bugs. They are horrible little insects that can be very hard to get rid of. If you keep this article in mind you should know exactly what steps you need to take to check for bed bugs and if necessary have them removed. Bed bugs spread from place to place so easily, if you do have bed bugs it is your responsibility to make sure that you don't drive anyone else in your car until they are removed. Remember, whilst it is possible to remove them yourself it is recommended to hire a professional.
