I think my kid's camp bedding got bedbugs last summer. If I wash it, is it ok?

[Anonymous]

Last summer my high school kid went to a 1 week academic based camp at a university, and the students were housed in dorm rooms. He brought his own bedding, including a mattress pad. After he got back I washed it, put it in a large plastic bin with a lid, and stored it in the basement.

He'll be going to a similar thing next week so I just got the bin out of the basement, and noticed a bunch (dozens) of little brown things all over the mattress pad. I'm pretty sure they are dead bugs! I tried taking photos but I can't really get a good enough pic--they just look like tiny brown lumps. They are definitely not alive.

I have the mattress pad in the washer on hot right now...since they are obviously dead, will the mattress pad be ok? Or should I just trash it? The sheets were stored in the same bin and at first I didn't see anything on the sheets...but as I've unfolded them, I'm finding some. I guess I have the same question about the sheets--if I was on hot, and these bugs are obviously no longer alive--the sheets are ok?

I'm surprised to find these, because at last summer's camp he was the only student in his room, no roommate. The dorm mattresses are those kind that a lot of dorms use--with a blue rubber-like outside... not like regular home mattresses.

Did the bus just suffocate in the sealed bin? Die of starvation? It's been about a year since I first put them in the bin (and didn't open the bin until just a few minutes ago) so there's no chance of any live ones still hanging out in there, right? The bin was in an unfinished basement storage room, stacked on top of/underneath other bins (mostly Christmas decorations) and we haven't seen any other signs of bed bugs in our house at all.

Ugh, now I feel itchy all over.

[Anonymous]

Oh my god toss it all and the bin

[Anonymous]

Dear god, just throw it all out! It’s bedbugs.

[Anonymous]

Oh my god no throw it out!!!!! Are you kidding. This is not the place to be cheap. Bed bugs can “sleep” for long periods of time when they don’t have access to people they go dormant basically and then they wake back up when new blood comes basically. It sounds like they hopefully suffocated but I would NOT risk it.

[Anonymous]

How tiny?

The bedbugs are actually not that tiny, about the size of an apple seed. If all you are seeing are tiny little things, those are likely some other pest.

[Anonymous]

Ok thanks! I will throw it all out. Do you think I need to worry about other things in the basement storage room? Or do you think the fact that they were all dead means the bin was sealed well enough? It's just a basic rubbermaid storage bin, similar to this:

[Anonymous]

Thank you lucky star you put that stuff in a bin. What about his clothes? The suitcase? Is your house infested and you don’t even know it?

[Anonymous]

I think you’re probably ok on other stuff I would guess because there weren’t humans that they would have been trying to leave to access

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How tiny?

The bedbugs are actually not that tiny, about the size of an apple seed. If all you are seeing are tiny little things, those are likely some other pest.

These are probably smaller than an apple seed, but not much. Also, when I google photos of bedbugs, the pictures show bugs that are more round-shaped than what I am seeing. The bugs I have seeing are more elongated, and a grey-ish brown...whereas the bed bug photos I see look more reddish brown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you lucky star you put that stuff in a bin. What about his clothes? The suitcase? Is your house infested and you don’t even know it?

It's been a year. I honestly can't remember exactly which clothes he brought with him to that camp. He used a duffle bag as a suitcase, and he's used it many many times since that camp.
I'm sure we would know if the whole house was infested--but all the bedrooms are on the second floor and this bedding was being stored in the basement.

[Anonymous]

OMFG. Dry it on high heat, since you've already gotten it wet, then stuff it in a tight, tied, plastic bag and toss it in a dumpster.

Take the plastic bin outside, spray it down with alcohol, wrap it tight plastic bag, and put in dumpster.

[Anonymous]

Just reread your post. Get rid of your sheets as well. You dryer might not be hot enough to kill everything.

Bedbugs can live for a year or two without feeding! Unlike lice, which die faster if they dont feed.

[Anonymous]

Bedbugs can only go 5 or 6 months without a meal. If that’s even what they are (who knows) they are totally dead. It’s fine.

[Anonymous]

I would try to ID the bugs first, because there are a lot of bugs that could end up in that bin.

But if you have any doubt that they could be bed bugs, throw it all away of course. Not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just reread your post. Get rid of your sheets as well. You dryer might not be hot enough to kill everything.

Bedbugs can live for a year or two without feeding! Unlike lice, which die faster if they don't feed.

No they can't. Seven months is the outside time.

I doubt they are bedbugs and even if they were, they are dead now.