After a Bed Bug Heat Treatment

The first 48 hours

Expect a warm house and some dead bugs in open view — that is normal. Vacuum them up and, as the state health department advises, “immediately place the vacuum’s contents into a sealed plastic bag.” If a residual was applied, leave it; do not mop baseboards for the period on your report.

Encase the bed

“Cover your mattress, box spring, and pillows with a certified bed bug cover encasement” (WA DOH). It traps anything that survived inside the mattress until it dies and makes future inspection a glance instead of an excavation. Leave encasements on for a year.

Items coming back into the home

Anything that was out of the house during treatment and could carry bugs — bags, laundry, a suitcase — goes through the dryer on the hottest setting for at least 30 minutes (DOH 333-414, March 2026), or stays sealed until it can.

Why a follow-up inspection

Virginia Tech’s guidance is that even the best heat treatment cannot be assumed 100% successful, which is why they recommend a residual afterward and why we schedule a follow-up look two to three weeks out. Eggs that somehow survived hatch in that window; the residual and the follow-up are there for them.

Staying clear

• Inspect used furniture before it comes in; skip curbside mattresses entirely
• Luggage on a rack, not the bed, when traveling; dryer everything on return
• Interceptor cups under bed legs for a few months — cheap early warning
• Tell us if you see anything; the follow-up is part of the job