What Attracts Bed Bugs and How to Prevent and Eliminate Them

Few things can make a comfortable bed feel less inviting than the unwelcome surprise of bed bugs. These tiny pests are experts at staying out of sight, slipping into homes unnoticed and settling close to where people sleep.

They can show up in any home, no matter how clean it is or how new the mattress may be. Knowing how bed bugs get inside, what attracts them, and which signs they leave behind can help you catch an infestation early and take the right steps to eliminate it.

What Are Bed Bugs & Why They’re a Big Deal

Bed bugs are small, wingless insects that usually feed on blood while people and animals sleep. Adults are about the size of an apple seed, with flat, brown bodies that become reddish-brown and swollen after feeding. Nymphs, or young bed bugs, are smaller and may appear pale or translucent, while bed bug eggs are pearl-white and about the size of a pinhead.

Their tiny size is only part of the problem. Bed bugs can remain hidden in hard-to-reach spaces, making an infestation difficult to detect. Females can lay one to three eggs per day and hundreds over their lifetime. Under favorable conditions, a new generation can develop in as little as four to five weeks, allowing a small infestation to grow quickly.

Although bed bugs are not known to spread disease, their bites can cause itching, disrupt sleep, and, in rare cases, trigger allergic reactions.

How Bed Bugs Get Into Your Home

Bed bugs are skilled at traveling unnoticed. Their small size makes them easy to miss, allowing them to move from one place to another before anyone realizes. They can enter a home in several ways:

• Overnight travel: Bed bugs can crawl into luggage, bags, or clothing in an infested hotel, vacation rental, or other lodging and travel home with you.
• Secondhand items: Used mattresses, bed frames, upholstered furniture, bedding, and clothing can harbor bed bugs or their eggs in seams, folds, joints, and crevices.
• Nearby infestations: When living spaces are connected or close together, bed bugs may crawl through cracks and other openings to move from one home to another.
• Public and shared spaces: Bed bugs may crawl onto bags, coats, or other belongings on public transit or in other shared spaces and hitch a ride home.

What Attracts Bed Bugs

Once bed bugs make their way into your home, they rely on cues from your body to find you.

Carbon Dioxide
Every breath releases carbon dioxide, signaling to nearby bed bugs that a host is present. This helps guide them toward you while you sleep.

Body Heat
Your body heat gives bed bugs another way to narrow down your location. As they emerge from hiding to feed, warmth helps guide them toward exposed skin.

Access to a Host
Bed bugs need blood meals to grow and reproduce, so they stay near beds, couches, and other places where people rest for extended periods. They do not live on the body but return to nearby hiding places after feeding.

Signs You Have a Bed Bug Infestation

Bed bugs can be difficult to spot, especially early in an infestation. Since bites vary from person to person and can resemble other insect bites, look for a combination of the following signs:

• Live bed bugs: Check mattress seams, box springs, bed frames, headboards, and nearby cracks or crevices.
• Dark spots or rusty stains: Tiny dark marks may be bed bug droppings, while reddish-brown stains can appear when a bug is crushed.
• Eggs and eggshells: Bed bug eggs are pearl-white, about the size of a pinhead, and often hidden in seams or narrow crevices.
• Shed skins: As young bed bugs grow, they leave behind pale or translucent exoskeletons.
• Bite marks: Red, itchy bumps may appear in lines or clusters, but bites alone cannot confirm an infestation.
• A musty odor: A larger infestation may produce a noticeable sweet or musty smell.

The Bed Bug Sign Checker

Tap everything you have actually found and see how strong the evidence is. Because bites and odors have other causes, the checker gives the most weight to what you find in and around the bed.

This checker is a guide to what you have found, not a diagnosis. Other insects can leave similar bites and marks. If you are unsure, a licensed pest control professional can confirm whether you have bed bugs.

What to Do If You Find Bed Bugs

Finding bed bugs can be stressful, but a careful response can help keep the infestation from spreading.

Inspect hiding places
Carefully check the mattress, box spring, bed frame, headboard, nightstands, baseboards, and nearby upholstered furniture. This can help you understand the extent of the infestation and where treatment is needed.

Keep the Infestation from Spreading
Avoid moving bedding, clothing, furniture, or other belongings loosely through your home. Seal anything that must leave the infested area in a plastic bag or protective cover, and keep clean belongings separate until treatment is complete.

Wash Affected Items
Take sealed bags of bedding, clothing, and other machine-washable items directly to the washing machine and carefully empty the contents into it. Wash each load using the hottest water setting the fabric can safely tolerate. Because washing alone may not eliminate every bed bug or egg, transfer the items directly to the dryer for heat treatment.

Use Heat to Kill Bed Bugs

High heat can kill bed bugs and their eggs when used correctly. Dry machine-washable items in a dryer on high heat for at least 30 minutes, provided each item can safely withstand the temperature. If a dryer is unavailable, smaller items can be sealed in black plastic bags and placed outside in direct sunlight during very hot weather. However, success depends on your climate, making this method less reliable than a dryer.

For mattresses, bed frames, upholstered furniture, carpets, and baseboards, use a steam cleaner that reaches at least 130°F. If you do not have one, check whether a suitable steam cleaner is available to rent from a local home improvement store. Move the steamer slowly and avoid forceful airflow, which can scatter the bugs. Never attempt to heat an entire room with a thermostat, fireplace, or space heater, as this can be ineffective and dangerous.

Brush and Vacuum

Use a stiff brush along mattress seams, folds, and tufts to loosen bed bugs and eggs that may be clinging to the fabric. Vacuum these areas immediately, then vacuum the box spring, bed frame, headboard, nearby furniture, baseboards, and flooring as well. Use a crevice attachment for tight spaces. When finished, seal the vacuum bag or canister contents in a plastic bag and place it in a secure outdoor trash container. Vacuuming may not remove every bug or egg the first time, so repeat the process as needed and continue checking the area.

Use Chemical Treatments if Necessary

If you want to take your treatment a step further, choose an EPA-registered pesticide labeled specifically for bed bugs and the surface you plan to treat. Common options include products containing pyrethrins or pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, chlorfenapyr, or insect growth regulators.

Desiccants are another pesticide option. Products containing pesticide-grade diatomaceous earth or boric acid damage the bugs’ protective outer coating, causing them to dry out slowly. Use only EPA-registered desiccants labeled for bed bugs and apply them only where directed, usually in cracks and crevices. Never use food-grade or pool-grade diatomaceous earth because it can pose a greater inhalation risk.

Follow every product label exactly, and never apply more than directed or mix products yourself. Avoid rubbing alcohol, kerosene, gasoline, and pesticides intended for outdoor use. Foggers and bug bombs should not be used as the only treatment because they may not reach the places where bed bugs hide.

Monitor and Repeat as Needed

One round of treatment may not be enough. Inspect treated areas every few days for live bugs, eggs, shed skins, dark spots, or other new signs of activity. Some bugs or eggs may be missed during the initial treatment, so repeat laundering, heat treatment, brushing, and vacuuming as needed. Reapply pesticides only as often as the product label permits. Keep track of where and when signs appear so you can tell whether the infestation is improving or spreading.

When to Call a Professional

Bed bugs are persistent, and there may come a point when professional treatment is the safest and most effective option. Consider calling a professional if:

• Signs are not improving: You continue finding live bugs, eggs, stains, or shed skins with little or no reduction in activity after repeated treatment.
• The infestation is spreading: Bed bugs have moved beyond the original room or appeared in multiple areas of the home.
• Hiding places are difficult to reach: Bugs may be inside walls, large pieces of furniture, or other spaces you cannot safely or thoroughly treat.
• You cannot complete treatment safely: The infestation requires products, equipment, or physical work that you are not comfortable handling yourself.

Choose a licensed pest control company with specific experience treating bed bugs. Ask how the company will inspect your home, which methods it plans to use, and whether follow-up treatments are included.

How to Prevent Bed Bugs

Because bed bugs usually enter on belongings or move from nearby infestations, prevention starts with limiting those opportunities and watching for early signs.

Use a Mattress Protector

A fully encased mattress protector helps prevent bed bugs from getting into your mattress and reaching the seams and folds where they often hide.

Our MLILY Fully Encased 360° Mattress Protector was designed for exactly this kind of protection. Its full-zip enclosure creates a secure, scientifically backed barrier that seals the mattress on all six sides and blocks bed bugs from getting inside. It also guards against spills, dust, and allergens while remaining breathable, silent, and virtually unnoticeable beneath your sheets.

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Take Precautions When Traveling

Before unpacking, inspect the mattress seams, headboard, and luggage rack for bed bugs or other signs of activity. Keep luggage on a rack away from the bed rather than placing it on the bed or floor. After returning home, unpack directly into the washing machine, dry suitable items on high heat, and inspect your luggage before storing it away from the bedroom.

Inspect Secondhand Items

Carefully check used furniture, mattresses, bed frames, clothing, and bedding before bringing them home. Pay close attention to seams, folds, joints, and narrow crevices where bed bugs or eggs may be hidden.

Reduce Hiding Places

Keep clutter away from beds and other resting areas, vacuum regularly, and avoid storing loose belongings beneath the bed. Seal cracks and openings around baseboards, pipes, and wiring to reduce places where bed bugs can hide or move between nearby spaces.

When It May Be Time to Replace Your Mattress

Following the treatment steps above may allow you to eliminate bed bugs and keep your current mattress. However, replacement may be the better option if the mattress is heavily infested, damaged, or already nearing the end of its usable life.

Before bringing home a new mattress, make sure the infestation has been addressed throughout the room. If you discard the old mattress, follow local disposal guidelines, which may require sealing it in plastic, labeling it as infested, or arranging a special pickup.

Once the infestation is behind you, start fresh with a mattress that makes your bed feel inviting again. At MLILY, we combine thoughtful construction, advanced materials, and sleep technology across a range of memory foam and hybrid mattresses, each offering its own balance of cooling, pressure relief, and support. Explore the MLILY mattress collection to find the one designed for the way you sleep.

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Sources: “Do-It-Yourself Bed Bug Control.” United States Environmental Protection Agency, 10 Aug. 2026, www.epa.gov/bedbugs/do-it-yourself-bed-bug-control. Accessed 16 Sept. 2026. “How to Find Bed Bugs.” United States Environmental Protection Agency, 8 Sept. 2026, www.epa.gov/bedbugs/how-find-bed-bugs. Accessed 16 Sept. 2026. “Preparing for Treatment Against Bed Bugs.” United States Environmental Protection Agency, 6 July 2026, www.epa.gov/bedbugs/preparing-treatment-against-bed-bugs. Accessed 16 Sept. 2026. “Pesticides to Control Bed Bugs.” United States Environmental Protection Agency, 8 Sept. 2026, www.epa.gov/bedbugs/pesticides-control-bed-bugs. Accessed 16 Sept. 2026.