Key Takeaways
- To prevent bedbugs from crawling into your luggage while traveling, store your suitcase in the hotel bathtub.
- Check the room for bugs before unpacking your clothes, and check your suitcase for bugs when you return home.
There are all sorts of nightmares one might encounter while traveling (delayed flights, lost luggage, cancelled hotel reservations), but encountering bedbugs might be the scariest of them all. These brownish-red insects are hard to get rid of and can quickly infest a room, and therefore, anything you bring into that room. So, before you unpack or even bring your suitcase all the way inside, do yourself a favor and do a thorough room check. You’ll want to look for red-brown bugs as well as blood stains on sheets or mattresses, eggs, or shedded skin (ew). Take a look through all of these common places: mattress, box spring, sheets, headboard, and curtains.
If you haven’t spotted anything (and it’s likely you won’t), you can start thinking about unpacking. But, all of this potential grossness probably doesn’t make you want to toss your clothes everywhere. We spoke with entomologist Emma Grace Crumbley about how travelers can best keep pests out of their stuff. The secret? Your hotel bathtub.
What Is the Bathtub Method?
When you enter your hotel room, don’t lay your suitcase on the floor, bed (ew), or even the convenient luggage rack. Instead, take it to your hotel tub and keep it there while you check for bedbugs, and even after you’ve checked. Why? Because bedbugs aren’t really into cool ceramic or porcelain. “The smooth, cold, and non-porous surface of a bathtub or even a bathroom is typically unattractive to these pests,” Crumbley says. “They will also be easier to spot on these surfaces.”
Bedbugs are thigmotactic, Crumbley says, so they prefer to feel pressure on all sides. This means that they’re much more likely to be found in dark, tight places, like in the mattress.
Just note that you should always check your bathroom for bugs too (think towels, shower curtains, bathmats)! It’s unlikely but not impossible.
Tips for Avoiding Bedbugs While Traveling
If you’ve searched the place and don’t see any bugs, you’ll still want to keep your prevention efforts going. Here are some helpful ways to keep bugs at bay. First off, elevate your luggage and avoid putting it on your bed. Crumbley suggests doing this when you’re back home as well. “I also recommend keeping your suitcase closed whenever you’re not using it or even storing it inside a large trash bag,” she says. Keep your dirty laundry in a separate bag whenever possible and hang your clothes in the closet instead of folding them and putting them in hotel drawers.
What to Do When You Get Home
“After returning from your trip, leave your bags outside or in the garage until you’ve had a chance to thoroughly inspect them,” she says. Check through your items on a hard, light colored surface before bringing them in. Check your luggage as well, looking at zippers, seams, or pockets. “Next, run all washer-safe clothing on a hot water cycle,” Crumbley says. “For added protection, you can also toss clothes in the dryer on high heat for roughly 30 minutes before washing—this will help remove bedbugs in all life stages, including the eggs.”
