If you find yourself in this predicament, “my friend has bed bugs and sat in my car,” we can help. Sometimes you may find out that your friend has bed bugs after sitting in your car.
On the other hand, you may have already found bed bugs in your car. Now you are wondering if your friend could be the source. Lastly, you may already know that your friend has bed bugs but didn’t consider the risk until after.
Whatever the case, here are some things to keep in mind.
Can You Get Bed Bugs From Giving Someone a Ride?
First and foremost, don’t freak out. Bed bugs are scientifically not known to transmit disease. While they are a nuisance and, more often than not, psychologically damaging, they aren’t dangerous.
Furthermore, if you have bed bugs in your car, the best thing to do is get rid of them as soon as possible.
The longer you wait, the more time they have to spread and the harder they are to get rid of. Below we will cover some good options for bed bugs in cars.
If you think your friend is the source of the bed bugs, there are a few things you can do. You can talk to them about it and see if they are willing to get rid of the bed bugs themselves.
If they aren’t willing or unable to, you may have to distance yourself from them for a while. This doesn’t mean you have to be rude, but you shouldn’t put yourself at risk by continuing to hang out with them.
The primary way to prevent bed bugs is to be proactive. Bed bugs are hitchhikers and can travel on your friend’s clothing and, from there, crawl in your vehicle. If you are going through your own bed bug treatments, car infestations can also be a way for you to still find bed bugs after treatments.
Moreover, if you know someone who has them, don’t let them sit in your car. Further, the good news is that bed bugs do not jump like fleas, so there is less transmissibility in that sense.
Precautions You Need to Take if Your Friend Has Bed Bugs and Sat in Your Car
Since a car has numerous bed bug hiding places, you’ll need to take action. You can clean, vacuum, monitor, or treat your entire car. The choice is up to you and how much risk you want to take.
Disclosure: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, we will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. The pennies it makes will go into the K9’s treat fund.
DIY Steps to Take if “My Friend Has Bed Bugs and Sat in My Car”
- Please remove all of your belongings from the car and heat treat them inside the dryer or one of the bed bug heaters like Thermal Strike. For one thing, by doing this, you will be minimizing potential hiding spots.
- Vacuum the entire car with a robust, powerful shop vacuum. Keep in mind that most gas stations have these.
- Use a good steamer for bed bugs to steam all cracks and crevices around the seats. Steaming is a very labor-intensive process. However, it will kill all of the life stages of bed bugs in your car, as long as you directly hit the bed bug with steam.
- Get some Crossfire or EcoRaider and spray every crack and crevice of your car.
Help! My Friend Has Bed Bugs and Sat in My Car
- If it’s summer, make sure your car sits in the hot sun. You can buy a temperature sensor to monitor different places in your vehicle for the exact temperature. There are many options for temperature sensors that you can monitor on your phone via an app. As an example, I have the one linked here: Sensorpush, and I use it to watch my bed bug oven with my phone.
- Place some bed bug lures on the floor, the seats, the center console, and the trunk.
- Hire a bed bug sniffing dog to inspect your car. We will often search vehicles for people who have active infestations in their homes. There’s usually a 50/50 chance of bed bugs in a car. Since cars are exposed to extreme temperature conditions, it is more likely that a bed bug will die on its own if it does make it into a vehicle.
More Extreme Steps to Take if “My Friend Has Bed Bugs and Sat in My Car”
- Hire a local pest control company in your area to treat your car with a chemical treatment.
- Use a vikane gas fumigation service to treat your car. You usually drive your car into an enclosed airtight box, and the vikane gas will penetrate through your entire car.
Can Bed Bugs Live In Your Car?
The likelihood of bed bugs in your car is high if you have a severe infestation. However, if you have a light bed bug infestation, the chances of bringing them into your vehicle are slim.
It’s important to realize that if your friend has a bed bug on their clothing, it may hitch a ride into your car. How long before you know that you actually have a bed bug issue? Our full article is linked.
Can bed bugs live in your car? Yes, absolutely, they can live in your vehicle. Although since a car goes through extreme hot and cold temperature changes, it is not an ideal place for them to live. However, some bed bugs can survive in a hot car.
A bed bug will feed every 4-7 days, so once you get into your car, the hungry bed bug will sense you. Then it starts to make its way towards you to feed on blood.
The bed bugs can live anywhere from 6-12 months without food (blood). So just not using your car for a while is not a solution to the problem of bed bugs in your vehicle.
We keep bed bugs inside of glass training vials for training our bed bug detection dogs. If we have a vial that starts with ten-bed bugs, usually, there are always one or two bugs that survive past the 6-month mark with no blood.
Can You Get Bed Bugs From Giving Someone a Ride?
Yes, you can get bed bugs from giving someone a ride in your car. In particular, bed bugs can travel on clothing. To kill bed bugs on clothing, your friend must heat treat their clothes before getting into your car.
Let’s say your friend has bed bugs in their bed, and they have a shirt sitting on their bed. Next, they put that shirt on, leave the house, and hop into your car. There is a chance that a bed bug was on their shirt, giving an even greater opportunity for that bug to end up in your vehicle.
If you know someone has bed bugs, you need to make sure they wear clothing that has been put through the dryer for at least 1 hour. You can also keep a bottle of Sterifab in your car to spray down their shoes before they get into your vehicle. After every inspection, we spray our shoes with Sterifab once we get back to the car.
Can Bed Bugs Infest Cars?
Since a car has numerous cracks and crevices, bed bugs can infest the vehicle. However, due to the extreme environmental temperature changes a car undergoes (it gets sweltering in the summer and very cold in the winter), the chances of a bed bug dying in your car due to natural causes are high.
Help, I Found Baby Bed Bugs in My Car
If you found baby bed bugs in your car, then most likely, you also probably have adult bed bugs. Just born baby bugs are a sign that you are dealing with a bed bug infestation.
If you find bed bug nymphs in your car, the best thing to do is check your house for bed bugs. Furthermore, you’ll need to treat your vehicle to eliminate the baby bed bugs. The most sure-fire way to kill bed bugs in a car is to use a vikane gas treatment company.
Bed Bugs in Childs Car Seat, What to Do?
If you have bed bugs in a child’s car seat, you must treat the entire car. You cannot just treat the car seat and expect the problem to disappear. However, one good way to deal with a car seat is to put it into one of the heaters that kill bed bugs.
Doing this will ensure you kill any bed bugs living on the car seat. Then you can treat the car itself to ensure no more bed bugs are left.
Can Bed Bugs Survive in Cars?
If you are wondering if bed bugs can survive in a hot car, the answer is “it depends.” Sometimes bed bugs can crawl under the seat or under the rug where the temperature is more relaxed. If a bed bug can find a cool pocket of air in a hot car, then a bed bug can survive in a car.
Will Bed Bugs Die in Hot Cars?
Bed bugs are known to crawl into a cooler zone within a vehicle when the car begins heating up. Yes, if the entire car gets up to 120°F, and holds steady at that temperature for 90 minutes, then the bed bugs will die in a hot car.
So to know for sure, you would have to purchase some temperature sensors and place them in various spots in your vehicle to see how hot it is getting.
Can Bed Bugs Live in a Car During the Winter?
Yes, bed bugs can live in a car in the winter. However, if you expose them to constant below-freezing temperatures for four days in a row, the chances are slim that they will survive.
Remember that if a car is exposed to sunlight and frequent temperature changes due to the environment, you cannot count on mother nature to kill the bed bugs in your vehicle. Even in the winter, the car may heat up just enough to allow the bed bugs to survive. All vehicle parts must reach 0°F for four days to kill the bed bugs.
Some studies (Cold Tolerance of Bed Bugs and Practical Recommendations for Control) show that bed bugs can survive cold temperatures by lowering their core body temperature. Doing this allows them to enter a dormant state and survive short bursts of cold weather.
If you have a friend with bed bugs, it’s essential to take precautions to prevent them from infesting your home or car. Be sure to have your friends heat treat their clothes and shoes before getting in your vehicle.
Furthermore, consider keeping a bottle of Sterifab in your car to spray your shoes after leaving their house. If you think you may have brought bed bugs home with you, check your vehicle and house thoroughly and treat any infestations immediately.
Signs of Bed Bugs in a Car
Signs of bed bugs in a car are live bed bugs, bed bug fecal matter (you can test it with Bed Bug Blue Fecal Test Kit), shed skins, or bites. Bites alone are not a sign of bed bugs in a car. Although bites and any other signs listed here are a good indicator that you may have bed bugs in your vehicle.
If you see signs of bed bugs in your car, the best thing to do is contact a professional pest control company to come and inspect your vehicle. They can confirm whether or not you have bed bugs and help you get rid of them.
Can You Fumigate A Car?
Yes, you can fumigate a car with vikane gas. There are companies all over the US that fumigate a vehicle. The method to fumigate a car involves: Some people fumigate for carpet beetle infestations in cars.
- Tent fumigation – they will place an airtight tent over your car and pump the vikane gas into and around your vehicle.
- Container fumigation – they will have you drive your vehicle into a sealed metal container, and the fumigation will happen inside the chamber.
What Steps Should You Take if You Think You Might Have Bed Bugs in Your Car
- Thoroughly Inspect the car.
- Vacuum every inch of the vehicle plus around the seat mechanisms.
- Steam the interior surfaces of the car.
- Chemical treatment
- Fumigation
Bed Bug Treatment for Cars: What Are Your Options
- DIY methods (vacuuming, steaming, and monitoring)
- Hire a pest management company to treat the car.
- Use a fumigation company to fumigate the vehicle.
What Are the Little Black Bugs Crawling in My Car?
Little black bugs crawling in your car can be several pests. Many of these bugs are not little black bugs, although, to some people with poor eyesight, they may appear to be black bugs. Below we will list some of the little black bugs that can infest a vehicle.
Fungus Gnats: Fungus gnats are tiny black bugs attracted to damp areas. In the home, you find them in potted plants or houseplants. You may find them near leaky windows, moldy carpets, or sunroofs in a car.
Booklice: Booklice are tiny insects that infest books and paper products. You can get them in your car if the rugs are moldy.
Little Black Bugs Crawling in My Car
Ants: Ants can infest a car if you have a tree with a lot of sap that you frequently park under. Also, if you eat food in your vehicle, ants can get in and begin alerting all other ants about the excellent food source.
Cockroach nymphs: Cockroach nymphs are small, wingless roaches that are often mistaken for bed bugs or black beetles. They can infest a car if you have crumbs or food left out.
Carpet Beetles: Carpet beetles are one of the most common pests to infest a car. They are attracted to fabric and will feed on it. Materials can include your clothes, upholstery, and carpeting. You may see them crawling on the seats or floor of your car.
Bed Bugs: As mentioned before, bed bugs can infest a car. They will often hide in cracks and crevices if they are accidentally dropped off in a vehicle. You may see them crawling on the seats or floor of your car.
Final Thoughts for – Help! My Friend Has Bed Bugs and Sat in My Car
If your friend has bed bugs and sits in your car, then first and foremost, do a thorough deep cleaning of your vehicle. Next, set out some lures, monitors, or traps to see if you catch anything.
Lastly, if you still can’t stop thinking about it but haven’t seen a bug, you may benefit by doing a vikane fumigation on your car. You will at least get peace of mind that any possible bed bugs will die.
Thank you for reading! I hope this article helped give you some ideas of what to do if your friend has bed bugs and sits in your car. Suppose you have any further questions feel free to reach out to us.