Can Bed Bugs Survive Water? The Truth (2026)

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

A natural hope when fighting bed bugs is to simply drown them, which raises the question: can bed bugs survive water? The perhaps surprising answer is yes — bed bugs are quite water-resistant and can survive being submerged in water for a considerable time, so you cannot reliably drown them. This is why simply soaking items in water, or relying on the water in a wash cycle, does not dependably kill bed bugs. What actually kills them in laundering is the heat, not the water.

Understanding this clears up a common misconception. People assume that washing, soaking, or flooding bed bugs will drown them, but their resistance to water means this is unreliable. Bed bugs can endure submersion, float, or cling, and survive the wetting, especially the resistant eggs. So water as a drowning method is a weak approach, and the real weapon in laundering is the high heat of the wash and especially the dryer.

In this guide you will learn whether bed bugs survive water, why they resist drowning, whether washing drowns them, what actually kills them in the wash, and how this affects laundering and treatment. We will use clear tables and finish with a printable checklist. 💚

Can Bed Bugs Survive Water? Quick Answer

The quick answer is yes — bed bugs are surprisingly water-resistant and can survive being submerged in water for a considerable time, so you cannot reliably drown them. They can endure wetting, float or cling, and survive submersion, and their eggs are even more resistant. This is why soaking items in water, or relying on the water in a wash cycle, does not dependably kill bed bugs.

What actually kills bed bugs in laundering is the heat, not the water. A hot wash helps, but the most reliable killer is the high heat of a full dryer cycle. So water as a drowning method is unreliable, and the real weapon is heat. Understanding this redirects you from ineffective water-soaking ideas toward the heat-based methods that work. Our guide on whether bed bugs survive the washing machine covers the laundering side.

Yes — bed bugs resist drowning and can survive being submerged for a time, so water alone does not reliably kill them. It is the heat in laundering — especially the dryer — that kills them, not the water.

Why Bed Bugs Resist Drowning

Bed bugs resist drowning for a few reasons rooted in their biology. Like many insects, they breathe through small openings (spiracles) along their body rather than lungs, and they can effectively close or protect these and survive on limited air exchange for a time when submerged. Their small size and water-resistant outer surface also help them endure wetting without immediately drowning.

Bed bugs can also float on the surface of water or cling to surfaces, avoiding full submersion, and they tolerate being wet better than people expect. So simply getting them wet, or even submerging them, does not quickly kill them — they are adapted to survive such conditions for a surprisingly long period, far longer than a quick soak.

This water resistance is part of the general hardiness that makes bed bugs difficult to eliminate (along with their starvation tolerance and egg resilience). It means water-based drowning is not a reliable control method, and explains why their resistance to water consistently surprises people who expect washing or soaking to kill them easily. Our guide on why bed bugs are so hard to get rid of covers their hardiness.

How Long They Survive Submerged

Bed bugs can survive submerged in water for a surprisingly long time — far longer than the minutes one might assume. While exact survival depends on conditions (water temperature, the bug stage, whether it can reach the surface), bed bugs can endure submersion for an extended period, certainly long enough that a brief soak or rinse will not kill them. They are not quickly drowned.

Importantly, water temperature matters enormously: bed bugs survive in cool or lukewarm water, but very hot water (at the lethal heat threshold) kills them — though in that case it is the heat, not the drowning, doing the work. So in cool or warm water, they survive submersion for a long time; in genuinely hot water, they die from the temperature.

This long submersion survival in non-hot water is why drowning is unreliable: you would need to keep them submerged in cool water for an impractically long time, with no guarantee, especially for eggs. The practical lesson is that water alone is a poor killer; if water is involved (as in washing), the heat is what matters. Our guide on what temperature kills bed bugs covers the heat thresholds.

Bed Bugs and Water at a Glance

Water Condition	Effect on Bed Bugs
Brief soak or rinse	Survive easily — not drowned
Cool/lukewarm submersion	Survive for a long time
Cold wash water	May leave survivors and eggs
Very hot water (lethal heat)	Killed — by the heat, not drowning
Eggs in water	Even more resistant than bugs

Water alone is a poor killer — only genuinely hot water (via heat) reliably kills bed bugs.

Does Washing Drown Them?

Given their water resistance, washing does not reliably drown bed bugs. The water and agitation of a wash cycle dislodge and submerge bugs, and some may be removed or killed, but the submersion itself does not dependably drown them — they can survive the wetting, especially in cold or warm water. So you cannot count on the water in a wash to kill bed bugs by drowning.

This is why a cold or warm wash may leave survivors, including the resistant eggs — the water does not drown them, and the temperature is below the lethal heat threshold. The cleaning and physical removal from washing have some benefit, but the drowning effect is unreliable, so washing alone is not a dependable kill.

So the answer to whether washing drowns bed bugs is: not reliably. The wash cleans and dislodges, but does not dependably drown them. This reinforces that the killing in laundering comes from heat, not from the water drowning the bugs — which is the key point. Our guide on the bed bug laundry guide covers laundering properly.

It Is the Heat, Not the Water

The crucial point is that, in laundering, it is the heat — not the water — that kills bed bugs. Because bugs resist drowning, the water alone is unreliable, but heat above about 120°F reliably kills them. A genuinely hot wash helps (if it reaches the lethal temperature), and the high, sustained heat of a full dryer cycle is the most dependable killer, reliably killing bugs and eggs in the items.

So when you launder to kill bed bugs, you are really heat-treating the items, with the dryer doing the heavy lifting. The water washes and cleans, but the lethal effect comes from temperature. This is why guidance emphasizes drying on high heat for a full cycle — it is the heat step that ensures the kill, not the water step.

Understanding heat-not-water reframes laundering correctly: do not rely on the water to drown the bugs; rely on the heat to cook them. Wash on the hottest setting the fabric allows, and always finish with a full high-heat dry. This is the dependable way to kill bed bugs in fabrics. Our guide on whether the dryer kills bed bugs covers the heat step.

Eggs Are Even More Resistant

Bed bug eggs are even more resistant to water than the bugs themselves, which is another reason water-based drowning fails. The eggs are protected and cemented into surfaces, and they can survive submersion and wetting that you might hope would kill them. So even if washing removed or affected some adult bugs, the eggs are likely to survive a non-hot wash and hatch later.

This egg resistance dooms water as a standalone method: a population persists through its eggs, and if the eggs survive the water, the infestation continues regardless. It is the same reason cold and warm washes fail — they neither drown nor heat-kill the resistant eggs. Only genuinely lethal heat reliably kills the eggs.

So the eggs are the clearest example of why water alone does not work and why heat is essential: the eggs survive water but are killed by the sustained high heat of a hot dryer. This is why the dryer heat step is non-negotiable for laundering, and why egg resistance is central to bed bug control. Our guide on bed bug eggs covers their resilience.

Soaking Items Does Not Work

Given their water resistance, soaking items in water to kill bed bugs does not work reliably. Some people try submerging infested items in water (sometimes for hours) hoping to drown the bugs, but because bed bugs can survive submersion for a long time, and eggs even more so, soaking in cool or warm water is an unreliable kill. The bugs and eggs often survive the soak.

Soaking also has practical downsides: it can damage many items, leave them wet and prone to mold, and still leave live bugs and eggs. So it combines unreliability with item damage — a poor trade. If hot water is used (at lethal temperature), it is the heat killing them, but maintaining genuinely lethal water temperature in a soak is impractical and still leaves the item-damage issue.

So soaking is not a recommended method. For fabrics, hot laundering and high-heat drying are far more effective; for other items, heat (dryer where possible), steam, freezing, or sealed isolation work better than water soaking. Skip the soak and use heat-based methods. Our guide on what kills bed bugs covers effective methods.

Flooding and Other Water Ideas

Other water-based ideas — like trying to flood a harborage, spraying water at bugs, or wetting areas to kill them — similarly do not work, for the same reasons: bed bugs resist water, water does not penetrate harborages the way heat (steam) does, and water can damage your home. Spraying water at visible bugs does not reliably kill them, and flooding crevices is both ineffective and damaging.

Steam is the notable exception that uses water effectively — but steam works because of its heat, not because it is water. Steam delivers lethal heat into crevices, killing bugs and eggs on contact, which is a heat effect. So even the one effective water-related method (steam) works by heat, reinforcing that heat, not water, is the killer.

So water ideas other than heat-based steam are not effective against bed bugs, and some risk damaging your home. The consistent theme is that bed bugs resist water but not heat, so methods should deliver heat (dryer, steam, professional heat) rather than rely on water itself. Our guide on bed bug steamers covers steam (which works by heat).

What Actually Works Instead

What actually works against bed bugs, given their water resistance, are heat-based and other proven methods. For fabrics, hot laundering and especially high-heat drying kill bugs and eggs. For surfaces and crevices, steam delivers lethal heat. For whole spaces, professional heat treatment works. Cold (freezing at about 0°F for days) also kills them. And physical measures — encasements, interceptors, vacuuming — protect and remove bugs.

These methods succeed where water fails because they exploit what bed bugs cannot survive (lethal heat or cold) or physically remove and trap them, rather than relying on drowning, which they resist. Combining them — treating harborages, protecting the bed, monitoring, and following up — eliminates an infestation. You can monitor with interceptors (view on Amazon) and protect the bed with a mattress encasement (see options on Amazon).

So instead of trying to drown bed bugs, use heat (dryer, steam, professional), cold, and physical measures. These are reliable, unlike water-based drowning. For significant infestations, professional treatment ties it together. The key is to attack what bed bugs cannot survive — heat — rather than what they can — water. Our guide on how to get rid of bed bugs covers the full approach.

Water vs Heat for Killing Bed Bugs

Method	Reliable Kill?
Drowning/soaking in cool water	No — bugs and eggs survive
Cold/warm wash (water only)	No — may leave survivors
Hot dryer (heat)	Yes — kills bugs and eggs
Steam (heat via water vapor)	Yes — kills on contact where it reaches
Freezing (about 0°F for days)	Yes — kills by cold

Bed bugs survive water but not lethal heat or cold — use heat-based methods.

Common Mistakes (and Fixes)

• Mistake: Trying to drown bed bugs in water. Fix: they resist drowning — use heat instead.
• Mistake: Soaking items to kill bugs. Fix: unreliable and damaging — use hot laundering, dryer heat, or steam.
• Mistake: Relying on a cold or warm wash. Fix: the water does not drown them — finish with a hot dry.
• Mistake: Forgetting the eggs. Fix: eggs resist water even more — lethal heat kills them.
• Mistake: Flooding or spraying water at harborages. Fix: ineffective and damaging — use steam (heat) instead.

Expert Pro Tips

• Do not count on drowning. Bed bugs resist water and survive submersion.
• It is the heat, not the water. The dryer heat kills; the wash water alone does not.
• Remember the eggs. They resist water even more — only lethal heat reliably kills them.
• Use steam for crevices. It works by heat, not by wetting.

Bed bugs shrug off a soaking — you cannot drown what survives submersion for hours. In the laundry, it is never the water that wins; it is the heat of the dryer.

Real-Life Scenarios

The failed soak. Sam soaked infested items in water for hours hoping to drown the bugs, but they survived — and the items were left wet and damaged. Switching to hot laundering and dryer heat actually killed them.

The cold-wash survivors. Lena washed her bedding cold and skipped the dryer, assuming the water drowned the bugs, but survivors and eggs remained. A full hot dry finished the job.

The steam success. Tom used a steamer on his mattress seams — the heat in the steam (not the water) killed the bugs and eggs on contact, unlike his earlier water-spraying attempts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can bed bugs survive water?

Yes, surprisingly well. Bed bugs are water-resistant and can survive being submerged for a considerable time, so you cannot reliably drown them. Their eggs are even more resistant. This is why water alone — soaking or the water in a wash — does not dependably kill bed bugs.

Will washing drown bed bugs?

Not reliably. The water and agitation dislodge and submerge bugs, but they resist drowning, especially in cold or warm water, and the eggs are even more resistant. The killing in laundering comes from heat — a hot wash helps, but the high-heat dryer is the dependable killer.

Can you drown bed bugs by soaking items?

No, not reliably. Bed bugs can survive submersion in cool or warm water for a long time, and soaking can damage items and leave them wet and moldy while still leaving live bugs and eggs. Use hot laundering, dryer heat, or steam instead.

Does hot water kill bed bugs?

Genuinely hot water (at the lethal heat threshold, above about 120°F) kills bed bugs — but it is the heat, not the drowning, doing the work. Cool or warm water does not reliably kill them. Maintaining lethal water temperature is impractical for soaking, so rely on the dryer heat.

Why are bed bug eggs resistant to water?

Bed bug eggs are protected and cemented into surfaces, and they can survive submersion and wetting better than the bugs. Since infestations persist through eggs, their water resistance is a key reason water-based drowning fails and why lethal heat (which kills eggs) is necessary.

What kills bed bugs if water does not?

Heat-based and other proven methods: hot laundering and high-heat drying for fabrics, steam (which works by heat) for crevices, professional heat for whole spaces, and freezing for items. Physical measures like encasements, interceptors, and vacuuming protect and remove bugs. Attack what they cannot survive — heat — not water.

Final Verdict + Checklist

Can bed bugs survive water? Yes — surprisingly well. Bed bugs are water-resistant and can survive submersion for a considerable time, and their eggs are even more resistant, so you cannot reliably drown them. This means soaking items, flooding harborages, or relying on the water in a wash does not dependably kill bed bugs. In laundering, it is the heat — especially the high heat of a full dryer cycle — that kills them, not the water. So skip water-based drowning ideas and use heat (hot dryer, steam, professional heat), cold (freezing), and physical measures (encasements, interceptors, vacuuming). Attack what bed bugs cannot survive (lethal heat) rather than what they can (water).

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.