Get Georgia Division Of Public Health Bed Bug Handbook

Technically, bed bugs are unlikely to live on the clothes you're wearing, but they can quickly take up residence on items in a suitcase, and even what's in your drawers or on your floor.

You can either manually inspect the same areas each day, or some clients find it helpful to put a sticky adhesive trap around the bed legs which would pick up bed bugs that are on the move. If no bed bugs show up in the trap after several days, that's one indication that they have been completely eradicated.

Pyrethroids are synthetic chemical insecticides that act like pyrethrins. Both compounds are lethal to bed bugs and can flush bed bugs out of their hiding places and kill them.

Extreme temperatures are the best way to kill bed bugs. Washing your clothing and bedding in a high heat wash should effectively kill off any bugs, as well as any eggs they've possibly laid. It's important to exercise caution in moving infested linens during the process to avoid spreading the bed bugs to other rooms!

Technically, bed bugs can live through a cycle in the washing machine. The truth is that while washing your clothes or linens will kill most of the bed bugs, the heat of drying your items is what will ultimately exterminate any and all remaining bugs. As we mentioned above, bed bugs do not tolerate heat.

Q: Do I have to wash and dry all the fabrics in my entire house? A: No. Bed bugs tend to hide as close to the bed as possible, so only launder the fabrics in the immediate area – your bedding, and clothing in dressers near the bed. Hanging clothes in closets can usually be left there, but wash anything on the floor.

Georgia Bed Bug Laws & Regulation In most circumstances Georgia law requires landlords to take responsibility for treating infestations, that are further refined by local and city ordinances (and individual lease agreements).