Can You Get Bed Bugs on Bunk Beds?

Where Bedbugs Hide

Comforter

If bedbugs do find their way to bunk beds, you basically have double-duty to perform as opposed to searching and cleaning just one bed. Bedbugs can easily go undetected. Within the bed, the bugs hide underneath mattresses and inside bed springs, which are the foundations between the frame and the mattress. In addition to that, bedbugs will settle into the entire frame of the bunk beds, including any headboards, lurking in any crevices and holes they can find.

Detecting Bedbugs

You have ways to find out if the bunk beds have been infested. Although bedbugs are not known to transmit any types of diseases, they bite humans during the night, leaving small bumps, often in a row, that sometimes result in itching, redness and swelling that notify you of the bedbugs' presence. Look for the presence of the small, reddish-brown insects with flat bodies around the bunk beds, under the mattresses and inside any holes in the mattresses and box springs. Examine the bedding, looking for dark brown or dark black spots, which is the discharge from the bugs. Also sniff the air, looking for a sweet, musty smell that often accompanies the bedbugs.

Eliminating Bedbugs

Although pest control professionals will likely offer the best defense against a bedbug infestation, there are methods that homeowners can use. Place all the bedding in plastic containers to transport them out of the room, and wash and dry the items in the highest washer and dryer temperature settings. Use encasements on the mattresses and box springs to suffocate all bedbugs within these parts while preventing them from reaching their human food sources. Be aware though that sometimes the bed needs to be dismantled and discarded as insecticides are sometimes ineffective on bed bugs in the mattresses and box springs.

Checking Other Areas

If you find bedbugs in your bunk bed, likely the insects have also infested other areas, at least inside the room. Vacuum the carpet area underneath the beds, and also examine any cracks and crevices in the room's floors and walls. Also examine the folds in room curtains, and the crevices of any other furniture inside the room, including within drawers and behind clocks. Scrub these areas with a stiff brush, or follow the manufacturer's directions when using commercial bedbug aerosols and sprayers to get rid of the insects and any eggs they leave behind.