Bed bugs are an incredibly annoying pest to have in the home.
Sure, they at least don’t transfer any diseases but can you imagine what it would be like to lie awake at night, constantly having your rest interrupted by another bite you swat away and another itching spot forcing you to search for the culprit.
Images courtesy: Gilles San Martin/Flickr
Well, scientists have recently been studying bed bugs, as the number of incidents involving them has risen across the world recently. Part of this is because of how much we now travel on a day-to-day basis in comparison to years past. One team of researchers in particular wanted to know just how it is the bugs get from one home to another, and it may have to do with your dirty laundry.
Scientists already know that the smell of humans attracts these creepy crawlies, even if they don’t know which odorous chemical is responsible. So for their experiment the team from the University of Sheffield in the UK prepared a control setup. They had all the aspects of a mock bedroom in place, including a stack each of dirty and clean laundry, all without any actually people in the room. What they found was that the bugs were twice as likely to congregate near the unwashed clothes as the washed ones.
A previous theory, that bed bugs are possibly attracted to the human as a source of carbon dioxide like in mosquitoes, was proven wrong. The bed bugs paid no attention to the CO2 content in the room at all. As such, the researchers are pretty sure your dirty laundry is to blame for a home epidemic of the bugs, if they can’t fully explain it yet.?
So the next time you go on a trip to somewhere you’re likely to find the insect, make sure you take a few precautions. Keep your suitcase shut and sealed, and place it away from your bed, preferably on a metal rack. Better yet, you could carry a plastic bag or casing to wrap your entire suitcase in, and make sure you leave your dirty laundry lying around the room before you pack it away. Otherwise, you may end up with the worst infestation possible.