Can Bed Bugs Survive the Washing Machine? (2026)

✅ Reviewed by our prevention editors • Updated June 2026 • 11 min read

Laundering is a cornerstone of bed bug control, so a key question is can bed bugs survive the washing machine? The short answer is that bed bugs can survive a cold or warm wash — washing alone does not reliably kill them all — but a hot wash helps, and the real killer is heat, especially the high heat of the dryer. So the washing machine is part of the process, but the hot dryer is what most reliably finishes the job.

There is a common misconception that simply running infested items through the washer kills the bugs by drowning or detergent. In reality, bed bugs and their eggs are tougher than that, and survival depends largely on temperature. Cold and warm water may leave survivors, while genuinely hot water helps — but the dryer heat is the most dependable step. Understanding this lets you launder effectively.

In this guide you will learn whether bed bugs survive the washing machine, how water temperature changes the outcome, the crucial role of the dryer, how to launder infested items properly, and the limits of laundering. We will use clear tables and finish with a printable checklist. 💚

Can Bed Bugs Survive the Washer? Quick Answer

The quick answer is yes, bed bugs can survive the washing machine — particularly a cold or warm wash, which may not reach a lethal temperature and can leave some bugs and eggs alive. A hot wash helps kill them, but the most reliable killer is heat, and the high heat of a hot dryer cycle is what most dependably kills all bed bug stages, including eggs.

So the practical takeaway is that you should not rely on washing alone — especially not a cold or warm wash — to kill bed bugs. Instead, wash on the hottest setting the fabric allows, and then dry on high heat for a full cycle, which is the step that most reliably finishes the job. The washer cleans and helps; the hot dryer is the dependable killer. Our guide on whether the dryer kills bed bugs covers the key heat step.

Bed bugs can survive a cold or warm wash. Hot water helps, but the hot dryer is the most reliable killer. Do not rely on washing alone — wash hot if possible, then dry on high heat.

It Comes Down to Water Temperature

Whether bed bugs survive the washing machine comes down largely to water temperature. Bed bugs are killed by heat — sustained temperatures above roughly 120°F (about 49°C) — so the question is whether the wash water reaches and holds a lethal temperature long enough to kill the bugs and eggs in the items. A wash that gets hot enough can kill them; one that does not, may not.

This is why the wash setting matters so much. A cold or warm wash stays well below the lethal threshold, so it may clean the items and remove some bugs (washing physically dislodges and drowns some) without reliably killing all of them, especially the resistant eggs. A genuinely hot wash, by contrast, can reach lethal temperatures and kill more effectively.

So it is not the washing action alone (agitation, detergent, water) that determines bed bug survival, but primarily the temperature reached. This is the key insight: think of laundering as a heat treatment, and choose the hottest settings the fabric can tolerate to maximize the lethal effect. Our guide on what temperature kills bed bugs covers the lethal thresholds.

Cold and Warm Washes May Leave Survivors

Cold and warm washes may leave bed bug survivors because they do not reach the lethal temperature. In a cold or warm wash, the water stays well below the roughly 120°F needed to reliably kill bed bugs, so while the washing may dislodge and drown some bugs through agitation and submersion, it cannot be counted on to kill them all — and the eggs, being more resistant, are especially likely to survive.

So if you wash infested items in cold or warm water and skip a hot dry, you may end up with surviving bugs or viable eggs in the supposedly-cleaned items, which is a real risk. People sometimes assume any wash kills bed bugs and are caught out when bugs persist in laundered items. The cold/warm wash cleans but does not reliably exterminate.

This is why, if you must wash cold or warm (for delicate fabrics), the subsequent hot dryer step becomes essential to kill what the wash did not. Relying on a cold or warm wash alone is one of the common ways laundering fails against bed bugs. The dryer heat covers this gap. Our guide on the bed bug laundry guide covers the full process.

Hot Water Helps

A genuinely hot wash helps kill bed bugs, because if the water reaches and holds a lethal temperature (around 120°F or above), it can kill bugs and eggs in the items during the wash. So washing on the hottest setting the fabric allows is better than cold or warm, adding a killing effect on top of the cleaning and physical removal of bugs.

That said, the temperature your home washer actually reaches on its hot setting can vary, and it may not always sustain a reliably lethal temperature throughout the cycle, especially in the center of bulky items. So while a hot wash helps and is recommended over cold/warm for infested items, it is still best paired with a hot dry to ensure the job is done, rather than relied on alone.

So use the hottest wash the fabric can tolerate for infested items — it contributes meaningfully to killing bugs — but treat it as part of a one-two punch with the dryer rather than a complete solution by itself. Hot wash plus hot dry is far more reliable than either alone. Our guide on storing clothes after treatment covers keeping laundered items safe.

Wash Temperature and Bed Bugs

Wash Setting	Effect on Bed Bugs
Cold wash	Cleans/dislodges some; may leave survivors and eggs
Warm wash	Below lethal temperature; survivors likely
Hot wash	Helps kill if it reaches ~120°F+, but varies
Hot wash + hot dry	Reliable — the recommended combination
Cold/warm wash + hot dry	Dryer heat covers what the wash missed

Temperature drives the outcome — pair the hottest safe wash with a hot dry.

The Dryer Is the Real Killer

The dryer is the real killer when it comes to laundering bed bugs. A hot dryer cycle easily reaches and sustains temperatures well above the roughly 120°F lethal threshold, and a full cycle holds that heat long enough to kill bed bugs and their eggs in the items. This makes the hot dry the most reliable, dependable step in the laundering process — more so than the wash itself.

This is why guidance consistently emphasizes drying infested items on high heat for a full cycle. Even items washed cold or warm (for fabric reasons) can be reliably de-bugged by a subsequent hot dry, and many dryer-safe items that cannot be washed can still be treated by running them through a hot dryer alone. The dryer high, sustained heat is the workhorse of laundry-based bed bug control.

So when laundering for bed bugs, think of the dryer as the essential killing step and the washer as the cleaning-and-helping step. Always include a full high-heat dry for infested items, and you can be confident the heat has done its job. Our guide on whether the dryer kills bed bugs covers this in depth.

What About the Eggs?

The eggs are a crucial consideration, because bed bug eggs are more resistant than the bugs themselves and are a common reason laundering fails. A cold or warm wash is unlikely to reliably kill eggs, and even a hot wash may not get them all if it does not sustain a lethal temperature throughout. So the eggs are exactly what can survive an inadequate laundering.

This is another reason the hot dryer is so important: the sustained high heat of a full hot dry kills the eggs along with the bugs, closing the gap that washing alone may leave. If eggs survive laundering, they hatch into new bugs, undermining the whole effort — so ensuring the eggs are killed (via the hot dry) is essential.

So when you launder for bed bugs, always think about the eggs, not just the visible bugs, and rely on the hot dryer to handle them. Skipping or shortening the hot dry is the main way eggs slip through and cause a comeback in laundered items. The dryer heat is your egg insurance. Our guide on bed bug eggs covers their resilience.

Why Washing Alone Is Not Enough

Washing alone is not enough for a few converging reasons. The water temperature in cold and warm washes is below lethal; even hot washes may not reliably sustain a lethal temperature throughout bulky items; and the resistant eggs are especially likely to survive a wash. So a wash, by itself, cannot be counted on to kill all bed bugs and eggs in the items.

Washing does provide real benefits — it cleans the items, physically removes and drowns some bugs through agitation and submersion, and is a normal part of processing infested laundry — but these benefits do not equal reliable extermination. The cleaning and partial removal are helpful, but the killing requires heat, primarily from the dryer.

This is why the standard, effective approach is wash-then-hot-dry, not wash-alone. The dryer is the step that turns laundering into a reliable kill. Understanding that washing alone leaves a gap — especially for eggs — is what prevents the common mistake of assuming clean-looking laundered items are bug-free. Our guide on why bed bugs come back covers survivors and reintroduction.

How to Launder Infested Items Properly

To launder infested items properly, treat the process as containment plus heat treatment. First, contain the items on the way to the laundry — bag them where they are, transport them sealed, and empty the bag directly into the washer to avoid scattering bugs. Then wash on the hottest setting the fabric allows, and crucially, dry on high heat for a full cycle to kill all bugs and eggs.

After the hot dry, the items are de-bugged and can be stored protected (for example, in sealed bags) away from infested areas to keep them clean until the infestation is resolved. Dispose of the bags used to transport the infested items carefully (seal and discard) so they do not spread bugs. This containment-plus-heat approach ensures the laundering actually helps rather than spreading bugs.

Following this process — bag, transport sealed, wash hot, dry hot, store protected — turns your laundry routine into an effective bed bug tool. The key steps that ensure the kill are the hottest safe wash and, above all, the full high-heat dry. You can keep clean items protected with sealed bags or store bedding in a mattress encasement (view on Amazon) setup once treated. Our guide on the bed bug laundry guide covers the full routine.

Step-by-Step Laundering

Step	Purpose
Bag items where they are	Contain bugs during transport
Empty bag into the washer	Avoid scattering bugs
Wash on hottest safe setting	Clean and help kill bugs
Dry on high heat, full cycle	Reliably kill all bugs and eggs
Store treated items sealed	Keep them clean until the infestation is gone

The full high-heat dry is the step that ensures the kill.

Items You Cannot Wash

For items you cannot wash — delicate fabrics, dry-clean-only garments, shoes, bags, and other non-washable goods — the washing-machine question does not apply, but heat can still help. Many such items can tolerate a dryer on an appropriate heat setting (for example, some dryer-safe items can go through a hot or even no-wash hot-dry cycle), which kills bed bugs and eggs without washing.

For items that cannot take the dryer either, other approaches apply: professional dry cleaning can help for dry-clean-only items (the process and heat can kill bed bugs, though you should inform the cleaner), and non-chemical methods like freezing (sustained cold around 0°F for days) or sealed isolation can treat items that tolerate neither washing nor dryer heat. Steam can also treat some surfaces and items.

So the inability to machine-wash an item does not leave you stuck — heat (via dryer where possible), professional dry cleaning, freezing, or steam provide alternatives. The key is matching the method to what the item can tolerate while still reaching a lethal condition. Our guide on whether dry cleaning kills bed bugs covers that option.

The Limits of Laundering

Laundering, even done correctly, has limits: it only treats the items you can launder, not the bugs and harborages in your mattress, furniture, walls, and the rest of your home. So while laundering clothing, bedding, and washable items is an important part of bed bug control, it is not a complete solution by itself — the infestation in the room still needs separate treatment.

This means laundering should be combined with treating the harborages (heat, steam, vacuuming), protecting the bed with encasements, monitoring with interceptors, and following up — the full set of measures that address the whole infestation. Laundering handles the fabric items; the other methods handle everything else.

So think of correct laundering (hot wash plus hot dry, with containment) as one essential component of a broader plan, valuable for the items it treats but not a stand-alone cure. Used alongside the other methods, it ensures your clothing and bedding are not a reservoir while you eliminate the infestation. For significant infestations, professional treatment ties it together. Our guide on how to get rid of bed bugs covers the full approach, and you can monitor with interceptors (see options on Amazon).

Common Mistakes (and Fixes)

• Mistake: Assuming any wash kills bed bugs. Fix: cold/warm washes may leave survivors — rely on the hot dry.
• Mistake: Skipping the dryer. Fix: the full high-heat dry is the most reliable killing step.
• Mistake: Forgetting the eggs. Fix: eggs resist washing — the hot dry kills them.
• Mistake: Carrying infested laundry loose to the machine. Fix: bag it, transport sealed, empty into the washer.
• Mistake: Treating laundering as the whole solution. Fix: also treat harborages, the bed, and the room.

Expert Pro Tips

• Always finish with a hot dry. It is the dependable killer, even after a cold wash.
• Wash as hot as the fabric allows. Hot water helps; cold/warm may not.
• Mind the eggs. They resist washing — the dryer heat handles them.
• Bag and contain. Transport infested laundry sealed to avoid spreading bugs.

The washing machine cleans your clothes; the hot dryer kills the bed bugs. If you remember nothing else, remember that the heat — not the wash water alone — is what finishes the job.

Real-Life Scenarios

The cold-wash surprise. Sam washed his infested bedding in cold water and skipped the dryer to save time, only to find live bugs and eggs survived. Re-running everything through a hot dryer finally killed them.

The proper routine. Lena bagged her infested clothes, washed them on the hottest safe setting, and dried them on high heat for a full cycle — reliably de-bugging them and storing them sealed afterward.

The delicate items. Tom had dry-clean-only garments he could not wash hot, so he used appropriate heat and professional dry cleaning (informing the cleaner) to treat them instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can bed bugs survive the washing machine?

Yes, especially in a cold or warm wash, which may not reach a lethal temperature and can leave bugs and eggs alive. A hot wash helps, but the most reliable killer is heat — particularly a full high-heat dryer cycle, which dependably kills all stages.

Does washing clothes in cold water kill bed bugs?

Not reliably. Cold water stays well below the lethal temperature, so while it cleans and dislodges some bugs, it may leave survivors and viable eggs. If you must wash cold (for delicate fabrics), follow with a full high-heat dry to kill what the wash missed.

What temperature kills bed bugs in the wash?

Sustained temperatures above about 120°F (49°C) kill bed bugs. A hot wash can help if it reaches and holds that, but home washers vary, so it is best paired with a hot dryer cycle, which reliably reaches and sustains lethal heat.

Is the washer or the dryer more important for bed bugs?

The dryer. A hot dryer cycle easily reaches and sustains lethal temperatures and reliably kills bed bugs and eggs, while washing — especially cold or warm — may not. Wash on the hottest safe setting, but always finish with a full high-heat dry.

Do bed bug eggs survive washing?

They can. Eggs are more resistant than the bugs and may survive a cold, warm, or even an inadequate hot wash. The sustained high heat of a full dryer cycle is what reliably kills the eggs, which is why the hot dry is essential.

How should I launder items that have bed bugs?

Bag the items where they are, transport them sealed, empty the bag directly into the washer, wash on the hottest safe setting, and dry on high heat for a full cycle. Then store the treated items sealed until the infestation is resolved, and dispose of transport bags carefully.

Final Verdict + Checklist

Can bed bugs survive the washing machine? Yes — especially a cold or warm wash, which may clean and dislodge some bugs but can leave survivors and resistant eggs. A hot wash helps if it reaches a lethal temperature, but home washers vary, so the most reliable killer is heat from the dryer: a full high-heat dry dependably kills all bed bug stages, including eggs. So do not rely on washing alone. Bag and contain infested items, wash on the hottest setting the fabric allows, and always finish with a full high-heat dryer cycle. Remember laundering only treats the items you can launder, so combine it with treating harborages, protecting the bed, and monitoring to address the whole infestation.

This guide is educational and prevention-focused. It does not provide medical advice. For established infestations, consider a licensed professional. Some links may earn us a small commission at no extra cost to you.