I have personally dealt with many bed bug cases, so I know how annoying they can be. As members of the Cimicidae family, they feed on human blood all the time, leaving behind itchy, red welts that are both painful and mentally draining. Even just thinking about these bloodsuckers moving around makes your skin crawl.
Bed bugs may like the comfort of your mattress, where they can feed on you all night without being bothered, but don’t forget that they like to travel. These little tourists are happy to make camp in strange places, like your clothes, furniture, bags, and even your beloved car.
How to Check if You Have Bed Bugs in Your Car
For those who think they may have bed bugs in their car or who already have bed bugs in their home and want to make sure they haven’t spread to their car, here are some things you can do:
- Know the signs: Bed bugs are very good at hiding since they only come out at night. They do, however, leave some signs behind. Check the seats and floor of your car for small red or brown spots. Either the bug’s waste or your blood is on these spots. Eggshells, skins that have been shed, and a musty smell are some other signs to look for.
- Search very deeply: A car isn’t as big as a house, so bed bugs can’t hide as well. This makes it easier to find them. There may be cracks or holes inside your car, between the seats, and on the carpet. Check them out. Bugs that live in beds like to hide in cracks and gaps.
- Catch them: It’s not hard to catch bed bugs. Traps usually aren’t enough to get rid of bedbugs on their own, but they can help you be sure that you have the right idea. Glue traps and interceptor trays are two popular types of traps. You could also use tape to catch them by putting it near places you think they might be hiding (cracks, crevices, etc.) and making them walk on it, which will get them stuck. Tape with two sides might work better in a car where there aren’t as many things to wrap it around.
Quick Facts About Bed Bugs
- Adult bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed and are dark brown. They don’t have wings.
- They only eat the blood of people and animals with warm bodies.
- However, bed bugs are not known to spread any diseases. However, their bites can make some people very itchy and cause allergic responses.
- They like to travel and can be found in wallets, backpacks, luggage, and more. If you have bed bugs, you may notice rusty or reddish stains on your sheets from crushed bugs, dark spots from their droppings, eggs, and eggshells, and a musty smell.
- 1–5Females can lay between one and five eggs every day, or 200 to 500 eggs over the course of their lives.
- 1–41–2At room temperature, bed bug eggs hatch in one to two weeks. The young nymphs shed five times before they become adults, which takes another one to four months.
- Bed bugs can survive for months without feeding on blood, so populations can last even after people have left.
- They are extremely hard to get rid of and usually need to be killed by professionals using methods like freezing, heat treatment, or targeted pesticide application.
Can Bed Bugs Live In A Car In The Winter?
Bed bugs can only stay alive in places that are warmer than 46 degrees Fahrenheit. So, if you live somewhere cold, they probably won’t be able to stay in a car during the winter.
Also, most types of bed bugs can’t live in temperatures above 113 degrees Fahrenheit. However, some tropical types can survive in warmer temperatures.
Bed bugs can stay alive for a long time in your car as long as it stays at the right temperature.
How to Get rid of Bed Bugs in Cars
Because bed bugs rarely get into cars, you might be able to get rid of them yourself. You can try a number of things before calling a professional.
1. Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is made from the ancient remains of diatoms, which are tiny green algae that live in water. Silica is a mineral that makes up the shells of diatoms. It’s in a lot of things, and the powder form can be used to kill pests.
Diatomaceous earth takes in the oils and fats that bed bugs’ exoskeletons give off. They dry out and die because of this. It needs to sit there for a while without being touched so that the bed bugs can dry out. After using diatomaceous earth, wash the inside of your car very well.
Diatomaceous earth is safe to use, but breathing it in can make your nose and throat hurt. When you use it on your car, be careful.
High temperatures can kill bed bugs. Temperatures above 113 degrees Fahrenheit can kill bed bugs. In the summer, if you leave your car parked in full sunlight, it might get that hot. However, you will probably need help to get it cooler. Before leaving the car in the sun for a few hours, try putting dark cloth or plastic trash bags over the windows.
You can also try using a portable heater.
2. Steam Cleaning
A dry or wet steam cleaner can help get rid of bed bugs. They can also get into your car and find places where bed bugs might be hiding, like cracks and fabrics. When you use a steam cleaner, make sure the wind isn’t so strong that it spreads the bed bugs out instead of killing them.
3. Car Fumigation For Bed Bugs
When you fumigate a small area like a car, it can be very dangerous. Do not try to get rid of bugs or fumigate your car by yourself with chemicals. Chat with a pro if you think your car might need to be fumigated.
4. Find and Freeze
Bed bugs don’t like it when it’s cold either. To kill bed bugs with cold, on the other hand, it takes very cold weather for a long time. At the University of Minnesota, lab tests https://www.bedbugs.umn.edu/bed-bug-control-in-residences/frozen showed that freezing bed bugs could kill them in four days.
Even though freezing your car might not be a good idea, you can put bed bugs in plastic bags and freeze them if you find them inside Your Car. In addition to killing the bed bugs, this will also keep them alive, which will help a pest control professional identify them and suggest a good way to treat them.
5. Chemicals and Pesticides
Using chemical insecticides and herbicides to kill bed bugs is one of the best ways to get rid of them. This method works best when there are too many bed bugs for other ways to work. It needs a lot of study, and if you often have kids or pets in the car, it’s not a good choice.
6. Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is like rock talcum powder, and it kills bed bugs right away. Neither people nor pets can get sick from this powder. Put it on all the cracks and gaps in the carpet and upholstery in your car. It will dry out the bed bugs and kill them.
7. Vacuum
Once the bugs are dead, use a cleaner to get rid of them. A shop vacuum or cleaner with a HEPA filter is useful. You should clean your car’s seats and floors. This will get rid of any bed bugs or their eggs that are stuck to your carpet or seats. Extra care should be taken with the seams between the cushions and under the seats.
How To Prevent an Infestation
Always looking for signs of bed bugs is the best way to keep them from taking over. Other things you can do to keep bugs out of your car are:
- Before you put used furniture in your car or house, make sure it’s in good shape.
- Bed bugs will have fewer places to hide in your car if you get rid of unnecessary things.
- Clean and vacuum the inside of your car often.
- If you use a shared laundry room, bring your clothes in plastic bags to and from the laundry room.
- On trips, don’t bring bed bugs with you. Check your sleeping areas, and when you stay in a hotel, use the rack for your bags instead of putting them on the floor or the bed. Also, check your bags and clothes before you leave for home.
Conclusion
Bed bugs might get into your car on your clothes, bags, furniture, or other things that they live on. Bed bugs probably won’t get to your car on their own, though, so it’s not often that they get there. It should be easy to get rid of bed bugs in your car if you find them there.