Washing pillows and comforter « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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Washing pillows and comforter

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weeseweiss

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Posted 3 years ago
Mon Jun 22 2009 6:47:24
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I just read here under the FAQ that you should buy new pillows and a cotton blanket rather than washing your comforter and pillows. I bought a new bed encased it in he Protect a bed brand upon delivery for matress an box springs and washed all my stuf comforter and pllows included on hot and dried it for two hours also on hot. Should I go buy new ones or do you think that was good enough. I should mention that I do not know what I am dealing with yet I only found one bug and have not had bites in weeks. Prior to that there were only four times or so that I can come up with that I had something that could have been a bite over the course of the last six months and nothing at all before that that I can think of.
My PCO thinks it may be an isolated incident but I am going on the game plan that it is not to be safe. He put down glue traps and is coming back next week to re inspect and discuss a plan of action from there. So what do you guys think about my pillows and comforter. OK or trash them?
parakeets

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Posted 3 years ago
Mon Jun 22 2009 13:28:33
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**If** the center of your comforter and pillows were heated high enough and long enough, washing and drying should be sufficient to treat them. However I get concerned since I had a comforter that was still damp after nearly 2 hours in the dryer. Comforters are made to insulate and bedbugs will crawl to the center of the insulation and be well-insulated!

An alternative is to by a mite-proof comforter encasement and seal the comforter up.

I always worry about pillows and the chance of fire in a dryer since I use foam pillows and other artifical materials. So I got mite-proof encasements for my pillows, too.

As for tossing things, the things you want to toss are those that can't be treated and the closer items were to the bed, the more likely they are to have eggs and nymphs and such. Bedding must be treated 100%. No eggs!

Did the comforter and pillows feel hot when you took them out?
philadybug

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Posted 8 months ago
Tue Aug 28 2012 16:06:13
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Great, now I think I should trash my pillows. I know it's normal not to have it be over yet, after 2nd treatment (2 weeks after initial) but getting bit last night was disconcerting. I know this is an old thread, but...

Comforter. Here's the thing- the dryer is not your ONLY weapon, right? I took mine to a laundromat an in a huge steel washer, washed bedding on HOT. Hot water for washing is above kill temp for BBs and eggs, no? Instant death.

So then, as long as it's dried somehow (dryer, at length, maybe some damp spots that dry safely away from infestation) a BB or eggs would not survive, yes?
kinihatesbedbugs

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Posted 8 months ago
Tue Aug 28 2012 16:14:22
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Hey philadybug...

I did the same thing I took my stuff including pillows to the laundry mat, washed on Hot and used their dryer on the High setting. They did dry completely in those big dryers. I think they dried in 30 minutes and I put them in for an extra 30 minutes.. the pillows were out of shape ...I'm still using my old stuff and washing every two weeks. I have the box spring and encasement on as well..so far no issues..
Nobugsonme

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Posted 8 months ago
Tue Aug 28 2012 16:41:18
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David Cain has said pillows rarely get infested.

Some people use pillow encasements but you probably don't need to replace them. The posts above are from three years ago and we have learned some thing since then.
bed-bugscouk

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Posted 8 months ago
Tue Aug 28 2012 16:41:49
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Hi,

To clarify decon options are listed below:
- Wash at above 60 C which is 140 F
- Tumble dry on high heat when the clothes are already dry for 60 minutes
- PackTite
That having been said duvet and pillows have a very low risk of carrying bedbugs as they prefer more solid surfaces to both reside and lay eggs. As such pillow encasements are actually one of the most laughable products since the cinema seat cover but they do seem to give an intangible feeling of security.

To put it into context in all the 22,000+ cases I have worked on bedbugs have only been found to be living on a pillow once and once on a duvet (the occupant had a habit of falling asleep with it on the sofa so the bedbugs learned to hang out on it for a guaranteed meal).

Hope that helps.

David Cain
Bed Bugs Limited
philadybug

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Posted 8 months ago
Tue Aug 28 2012 21:30:49
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Wow, thank you so much for the advice! I'll just go toss 2 pillows in the dryer for an hour on high heat and keep them for now. This is a really helpful forum! Lots of things covered here.

I have my army of XL ziplocs, a PCO doing a decent job, and a Packtite (original) so I'm hoping for the best.