Updated at: 07-07-2022 - By: iatsabbioneta

Bed bugs will find a hiding place in any crack or fissure. This isn’t just for your bed linens either. It covers everything from your clothes to your furniture to your electronics (boots, shoes, sneakers, etc.) They can flourish and multiply in any place that is isolated and dark.

Because they die at temperatures above 122 degrees, bed bugs in shoes will be killed by heat. If your shoes are made of the proper material, they can be washed and dried in the same machine.

No matter what you do, the infection must be completely eradicated. Just eliminating the bed bugs in your shoes won’t do anything because they’ll keep coming back until you get rid of them all.

Can You Carry Bed Bugs on Your Shoes?

It’s highly unlikely that this will happen. There is a risk of crushing them if they are inside the shoe.

Bed bugs want to avoid being on stationary objects. It doesn’t matter to a flea or a mite because they can latch on to a piece of hair. Bed bugs are unable to do this, thus they flee from any movement.

As a result, if you have a bed bug on the outside of your shoe, it will not stick to you as you walk about. As soon as you picked up or put on the shoe, they’d scamper away.

Nonetheless, it is possible. People who are seeking to get rid of their bed bugs can find support in online communities dedicated to the topic. A friend or family member’s house was almost ‘tracked’ by bedbugs, according to these people.

Get Rid of Bed Bugs in Shoes | Sterifab | Bed Bug Blog

The crack between the shoe and the sole is where the bed bugs have taken up residence.

Do Bed Bugs Live in Shoes?

That means your shoes will not be infested by bedbugs when you’re wearing them. The fact is that they can exist in your shoes even when you don’t have them on.

Shoes meet all of the conditions that bed bugs have for a suitable living environment.

  • The best place for them to hide is in close proximity to where you sleep, ideally within six feet of your mattress.
  • If you put your shoes in your wardrobe, or below your bed, that’s a good place to hide it.
  • Fabric is preferable for their harborage because it is easier for them to adhere to it.
  • Cracks and crevices, such as those between the tongue and shoe or the shoe and insole, are necessary for them to conceal themselves.

When it comes to bedbugs, it’s crucial that you don’t move your shoes around or wear them. A few pairs of shoes that you don’t wear anymore are great places for bedbugs to hide out because of the reasons outlined above.

However, bed bugs won’t have time to establish a home in your shoes if you wear them every day. When you put the shoes on, or when you pick them up, you’ll crush or shake them out, and they’ll be gone.

How to Check Shoes for Bed Bugs?

You shouldn’t be alarmed if you can’t get rid of these obnoxious, persistent insects from your shoes. I’m going to demonstrate the seven most effective methods I’ve found for eliminating bed bugs from shoes.

But first, here are a few pointers on how to inspect your shoes for bed bugs. You may notice these symptoms if your shoes are infested with bedbugs.

Bed bug bites occur when your feet are in shoes that have been infested with bed bugs. An itchy and swollen foot is the most prevalent sign of a bed bug bite infection. These locations will also become red as a result.

The insect’s scent glands give off an obnoxious musty odor when exposed to your shoes.

When you remove your shoes, blood spots appear on your socks or in your shoes.

Your shoes have bedbug excrement, eggshells, and fecal marks on them, or you shake them and the organic matter comes out.

How Do I Get Bed Bugs Out of Shoes?

Heat is the greatest technique to get rid of bedbugs. Temperatures above 122 degrees quickly kill bed bugs. Temperatures like that can be achieved in a variety of ways, some of which require a fee while others can be done at home.

Shoes in the Washing Machine

The best technique to get rid of bed bugs is to put them in a dryer or washing machine and dry them out. The washing machine can be used to wash most shoes if you don’t know it. It all comes down to the materials they’re built from.

Fabrics like polyurethane, nylon, and polyester can typically be washed in the washing machine. The majority of shoes can be washed, since rubber and plastic are also washable.

It’s not safe to wash shoes made of leather or suede, and if they’re ornamented or made of satin or silk, you should avoid doing so as well. Because leather is porous, even an hour in the washing machine will damage a pair of leather shoes. Always check the care tag before washing your garments.

Can bed bugs survive in washing machine?

The washing machine is one of the most effective techniques to get rid of bed bugs. It can reach the proper temperature, which is a big plus. That’s not all; the water also flushes out any bed bugs that could have escaped detection. Use the following procedure to clean your shoes:

  1. Scrubbing away any loose debris is an easy method to get your shoes ready. This step is helpful if your shoes are dirty or muddy, but it is unnecessary if your goal is simply to kill bed bugs.
  2. Use a mesh laundry bag to keep your shoes from becoming ruined while you wash them. They’ll also keep your washing machine’s laces from getting tangled up in the drum, which might lead to ripping, tearing, or even destroying the machine. Using an empty pillowcase tied shut as your washing bag is a good alternative.
  3. Shoes should never be left in there unattended. To keep the drum from rattling, add some cloths or towels.
  4. A hot setting in your washer for at least 60 minutes is recommended. Even bed bugs that are stowed away in the shoes will be killed by this method.

After the wash is complete, remove the shoes from the pillowcase/laundry bag and inspect them for bedbugs, if necessary. Possibly at the bottom of the bag if there are any.

There won’t be any survivors. A tea tree oil spray can be purchased or prepared at home and used to repel and kill any eggs that may still be present in the area where you are moving.

Shoes in Dryer

If you don’t have access to a washing machine, drying your shoes can be an option. Just like the washing machine, the dryer removes water from the process. The temperature needed to kill bed bugs may be reached by almost any dryer.

In order to avoid damaging your shoes when drying them, there are a few things you may do. Using towels or other textiles to line the insides of your shoes will help them dry more quickly.

Additionally, a shoe bag that hooks on the dryer door can keep your footwear organized. The drum’s rhythmic beat prevents them from banging around.

Putting shoes with plastic in their composition into the dryer is a no-no. It melts when the temperature rises to that level. What about drying leather shoes?

Sadly, no, this is a bad idea. Your shoes’ leather surface will dry out if you use a dryer. Cracking, breaking, and aging your shoes will occur as a result of wearing them in this way.

Bed Bug Heater

Consider paying for heat treatment if you can’t put your shoes in the dryer or washing machine. Using this method is the best approach to get rid of bed bugs quickly and easily. To get rid of these pests, you’ll need the help of a professional exterminator.

You’ll need specialized equipment to get your house up to 122 degrees, and in some situations, much higher. It can take up to an hour or more for the entire house to achieve the desired temperature.

Heat is the only method that is certain to kill them.

Bag Your Shoes

Another option is to bag the shoes and store them in a container until the bedbugs die. Most people begin with this approach, despite the fact that it is not the most productive. To kill bed bugs, place the shoes in a sealed plastic bag or box.

The main drawback is that it takes a long time for bed bugs to die.. Even in perfect isolation, bed bugs can take more than a year to die.

Their size means they don’t need much air and won’t die from suffocation. They don’t have the same thirst for water as we have. They can go a year without eating because they are so little and acquire so much nutrition from a single meal.

There is only one exception to this rule: extreme temperatures. Extreme heat kills bed bugs. If the temperature in the bag reaches 122 degrees Fahrenheit and remains there for an hour in the sweltering summer heat, many bed bugs will die.

Temperatures within each shoe would have to rise to those levels if the bag sat there for a long period of time. It’s like how mornings in the winter bring relief from the chill.

Dichlorvos Strips

Unlike air fresheners, lorvos strips don’t actually make the air smell better. They emit an insecticide that is often used to keep food safe from pests in warehouses and storage facilities.

If you’re going to utilize them, you’ll want to keep them in an airtight container. Put one of these strips in your shoes before you bag them up to get rid of bed bugs. It just might do the trick.

But remember that these stripes are primarily designed to deter pests. They may or may not be effective in eliminating an infestation completely. And if the bed bugs are properly hidden, they won’t be exposed to the air or pesticides, which increases their chances of surviving.

Dichlorvos strips, on the other hand, should only be used by pest control specialists and should not be utilized by homeowners or consumers.

If you want to buy them, they aren’t considered a restricted-use product. Follow the directions on the label if you do decide to use these or similar goods.

As a potent pesticide, dichlorvos is well-researched. Dichlorvos has been ruled out as a carcinogen in a research published in Cancer Causes Control, but that doesn’t rule out additional health dangers.

If Nothing Else Works

Your shoes will be thrown away if nothing else works. You can dispose of them by putting them in a bag that they can’t open.

There aren’t as many hiding spots for bed bugs in shoes as there are in, say, furniture, so you should be able to pull them out. However, if they deposited eggs in your shoe, they could re-infest your entire house.

This is what most people discover when they have to leave their current home. Unfortunately, you can’t afford to hold onto belongings that might be infested.

When a person is forced to leave their home, this is what they usually discover. Things that may be infested must be thrown away because you can’t afford to keep them.

bed bugs shoes treatment

How to Stop Bed Bugs Getting in Your Shoes

It’s simple to keep bed bugs out of your shoes. Taking a look at how you can not only remove them, but also entirely repel them, here are some tips:

  • Keep your shoes out of the reach of bed bugs. For starters, keep them out of your bedroom. It’s best to avoid hiding them under your mattress.
  • Spray your shoes with a bed bug spray, either homemade or commercially available. Bed bugs have learned to avoid areas that have been sprayed with these types of sprays in order to survive.
  • In order to keep your shoes safe, store them in a bag or box. Large plastic bins with a sealable lid can be used to keep the items safe and secure. Even though bedbugs may be able to crawl through small gaps, they can’t make it past a plastic cover. Diatomaceous earth can be sprinkled around the lid to deter them.
  • Some pest control spray or strips can be used to seal the shoes in a bag. This is where Nuvan (dichlorvos) strips come in handy. To keep bedbugs away from your shoes, put your shoes in a plastic bag with these, and you’ll have a barrier to keep them out for weeks.

You could attempt a broad treatment for your bed bug problem. If you don’t, the bed bugs will get back into your shoes and infest them.

How to Kill Bed Bugs in Footwear for Good

Then, how do you get rid of bedbugs in your home? There are several options:

  • The use of heat. Although pricey, this is an extremely effective method.
  • Sprays of pesticide. You have the option of hiring a pest control professional or spraying your home yourself. It is important to keep in mind the fact that bed bugs have developed resistance to pesticides.
  • Encasements for mattresses and box springs. A zippered cover secures your mattress or box springs. They totally encase the mattress so that no one can get in or out of the mattress. The majority of bed bug infestations originate in mattresses, so removing your mattress is a no-brainer.

The only way to get rid of bed bugs is to use one of these three ways. It’s pointless to attempt to clean your shoes on your own. To get rid of bedbugs, you’ll need to get rid of all of them from your home.