Can Bed Bugs Bite Through Clothes, Sheets, Pajamas & Plastics

Bed bug Cimex lectularius at night in the moonlight

Do bed bugs bite through clothes? Bed bugs are like little vampires that crawl out of the dark in the dead of the night to suck your blood. They are out for your blood and you need to take precaution. If they can bite through your skin and suck blood, you might be wondering, can the bed bugs bite through clothes?

And let us say you are pregnant and live in bedbug-infested houses, do you need to worry about your unborn child? Do they affect pregnancy? As it turns out, pregnant women may not have to worry about the bug but what method to use while trying to get rid of them.

Can Bed Bugs Travel on Clothes You’re Wearing?

If you had not read our previous article Can Bed Bugs live in your Clothes, Body, Car, Ear & Outside? that talked about how bed bugs are the masters of finding a way into your house from the outside, then read on.

If you currently don’t have bed bugs in your house or living space, how would they get there since they have no wings? It is simple. Hitch-hiking! You could have sat somewhere where there were bed bugs and they climbed on you or into your shoes, or bag and then into your house without a sound.

Anyway, can bed bugs travel on the clothes you are wearing? Most likely not because of two reasons.

  1. Vibrations: We all know that vibrations are irritating enough. Bugs don’t like vibrations either and they rather look for another spot to hide. When you walk, your body vibrates. The vibrations are massive if you are a bug. So a bug will always try to get off of your clothes if it realizes you are in motion. But if you are still, it will try to make itself comfortable in folds and holes on your clothes.
  2. Wärme: It turns out, bugs are not the kind of insects that like warmth as you would never have thought. Scientists have given word that bed bugs hate body heat. So if they find themselves crawling on the clothes you are wearing, then they will try to make a quick getaway if they were not looking for a blood meal. Even if you are still and not moving, they will look for a way to get off your clothes. Your body heat is a deterrent. If the bed bug on your cloth decides otherwise, then you may be in trouble.

Can Bed Bugs Bite through Clothes Socks & Leggings?

We all somehow cringe at the sight of bugs and more so those that live on human blood like bed bugs. Bed bugs may that insidious but they have limits of what they can bite and what they cannot.

Clothes and plastics are some interesting materials that we would like to see if these nasty bugs can chew through just to suck human blood.

Can bed bugs bite through Socks?

If your feet spend time under the table where it is directly in light, then you are right to worry about bed bugs. Sometimes your foot can stay still for a few minutes like when you are catching that newly released series on your TV.

Bed bugs will most likely fail to bite through socks. But, if your socks are made of light material like a mesh or sheer, then they will successfully bite through your socks.

Can bed bugs get under your Clothes?

Beg bugs love spots hidden from light or disturbance. If your clothes are folded or handing somewhere, then bed bugs would love to take refuge under them.

If you are putting them on then they could get under your clothes by chance. They don’t like coming close to your warm skin unless they need to quench their thirst.

How long do they stay in the clothes?

If your clothes are not in current use, for instance, they are somewhere on a hanger, folded them away, are lying around in disarray, then bed bugs may make them their de facto home as long as they are not further than five feet from you.

They will stay there until you decide to kick them out. But even if you get rid of them and their eggs remain in your clothes, then you will still have bed bugs in your clothes when they hatch.

Can bed bugs bite through Pyjamas?

Most likely not. Pajamas are meant to keep you warm. The typical material of most pajamas is a fairly dense form of soft cotton.

As you might know by now, bed bugs have a limitation when it comes to access your skin through the cloth barrier. Unless you just love pajamas made out of mesh fabric, you should not worry about bed bugs.

Will bed bugs bite through leggings?

Leggings are primarily made out of nylon and lycra, an elastic synthetic material. The design of the typical legging fabric is always tight and magnified at the fiber level.

With such an arrangement, bed bugs have no chance. However, other lighter leggings may be vulnerable to bed bug bites. You may need to check with the manufacturer just to make sure you will be safe when that lone bug lands on you.

Can bed bugs bite through Sheets?

Yes, that is if your sheet is made of mesh, sheer or maybe some other flimsy material. Sheets are mostly made out of a tough material of cotton and some other fabrics like polyester and hemp.

Flimsy sheets are very rare and the chances are you will not buy them. If you have such sheets then you will definitely get a bite from these insidious bugs.

Do bed bugs bite through plastic?

I know bed bugs are insidious and horrible housemates, to say the least. But that does not make them superbugs at all when it comes to biting force. Plastics are way too tough for bed bugs to chew through.

If they cannot bite through most cloth fabric, then plastic is beyond them. Even the famed Titan Beetle may find it hard biting through the plastic.

How do bed bugs spread from Person to Person?

There are virtually only two ways that a bed bug can spread from person to person, or in more realistic terms, from house to house. Either they crawl to your house from a nearby house or they hitch a ride on something that will finally enter your house.

Now that is creepy! Bed bugs are flightless insects. They don’t have the leverage of wings and infrared receptors to make it through your window with precision as mosquitoes do.

The chance of crawling into your room from outside is very low unless your neighbor, who happens to be having an army of bed bugs, has their door a few feet from yours.

Hitching a ride from another place into your home is basically the only “standard” way these bugs can hop from one person’s aboard to another. Read Can Bed Bugs live in Your Clothes? to learn more. No one is safe from these blood-sucking critters.

Can bed bugs bite one person and not the other?

Yes, bed bugs can choose to bite one person and not the other, but that is after tirelessly trying to make sure that abandoning the “blood bank” was inevitable.

Otherwise, they could just decide to cling on patience before they can land that blood oasis. After all, they can go without a blood meal for six months!

  • If you are covered: If you are fully covered from head to toe then the bugs will not have a chance. They might decide to try elsewhere, that is if they know there is another blood supplier around. I don’t think they have the concept of trying elsewhere. Bank on chance.
  • If you are covered in a repellent: We probably will not catch a bed bug sulking but in case it makes the effort to crawl to you dead in the night and find you are covered in an irritant such as an insect repellant, then it will have to try venting frustration on someone who has a bare skin.
  • If they find you and not the other: As ridiculous as this may be, it holds some serious truth. If you are two in the house with one sleeping on the couch which has no bed bugs and the other sleeping on the bed that is crawling with bed bugs, then the couch guy will not be bitten at all. Call it being in the right place at the right time. But not for too long!

Pregnancy and Bed Bugs Treatment

If bed bugs infest your living space during pregnancy, then there is cause to worry but fortunately, not about the bugs themselves. If you are pregnant, then your priority is keeping the unborn child safe from any danger, and also keeping yourself from dangers that could also harm the baby.

Can bed bug bites affect pregnancy?

This is probably the first question a pregnant woman will ask herself. Bed bugs are insidious enough and the fact that they draw blood from you looks creepier than creepy more so if you are pregnant. The good news is that bed bug bites cannot affect your pregnancy.

It could be more worrisome if thee bugs transmit disease through their bites as mosquitoes do. Scientists affirm that these bugs do not actually carry diseases that could be passed to humans through bites.

How to treat Bed Bug bites while Pregnant

Just so you know, bed bugs are not harmful to humans. They do not transmit disease. They are just nagging biters that we all need to get rid of.

Bites from bugs are not dangerous and sometimes you will not even know that it bit you when you wake up. In case it itches and swells, these are the options you could consider:

  • Ice on skin: Place an ice pack directly on top of the bitten area for about 15 to 20 minutes every other house. Repeat for six hours.
  • Keep the bitten part: Elevating the bitten part of your body ensures that it does not swell over time.
  • Try prescription medicine: You could try an antihistamine, benzocaine spray, or hydrocortisone cream. Please consult your doctor before resorting to using any of these recommended drugs more so the ingestible type.

Can Bed Bugs Cause Miscarriage?

Bed bugs cannot cause you a miscarriage. They simply bite you draw out blood which for some reason that cannot be understood, is their only source of food. Treating bites, control attempts and maybe stressful effects of having bed bugs in the house may cause you a miscarriage.

The last one is debatable though. So you do not need to worry a lot about bed bugs while you are pregnant. They can be controlled safely without putting you and the baby in harm’s way.

Is Pest Control Safe during Pregnancy?

If you found out while you are pregnant that such nagging bugs as bed bugs have set up camp and are sucking blood from you every night then chances are that you will need them out at that instant. Good enough, pest control is safe during pregnancy even though with a few conditions.

  • You are away from the house when the control process is underway and will be staying off-site for a few hours.
  • No harmful chemicals that take longer to decompose or diffuse off were used to control the pests. Otherwise, you should be safe as the bugs’ lifespans are cut short.

References on Bed Bugs Bite through Clothes

  • 1: FightBugs – Can bed bugs bite through clothes

READ MORE: How to get rid of bed bugs using bleach

Benutzerbild von Martin Miller
Letzte Artikel von Martin Miller (Alle anzeigen)
de_DEDeutsch
de_DEDeutsch en_USEnglish