Suspecting the presence of bed bugs in your mattress but can’t find any traces of the insects?
Spotting bed bugs in your mattress can be challenging as these insects are adept at hiding. Even worse, their tiny size makes them difficult to detect in low lighting.

However, using the right approach, you can spot these insects easily. This post will provide a practical step-by-step guide on “How do you check your mattress for bed bugs?”

What Are the Signs of Bed Bugs’ Presence in Your Bedding?

Without even inspecting the mattress, noticing any of the following common signs indicates the presence of bed bugs in your bedding.

Let’s take a look at them:

  • Smelling a sweet, musty, berry-like scent but significantly less pleasant
  • Noticing tiny blood stains on your bed surface. These blood spots will typically take a linear row-like pattern.
  • Spotting yellow shed skins, tiny white eggshells, or even the insect itself in any part of the room.

How to Check for Signs of Bed Bugs on a Mattress?

Investigating your mattress for bed bugs takes only a few minutes. You need to search for bed bugs in their preferred hiding areas on the mattress.

Here are the favourite spots of these insects:

  • The mattress’s corners on both sides
  • Beneath the mattress tag
  • Mattress buttons, if it has some
  • The box springs: Remove the dust cover and look closely inside
  • The mattress’s seams, tufts, and folds
  • Any small cracks beside the mattress on the bed frame

What Do Bed Bugs Look Like on a Mattress?

The signs of bed bugs on a mattress can take many forms, from stains to excreta and more. The insects themselves can appear differently according to their life stage.

Let’s take a look at what these insects and their signs might look like on a mattress:

  • You may find tiny dark spots on the surface of the mattress, which are bed bugs’ excreta. They’re usually near the insects’ hiding places.
  • You may find blood stains on the mattress from bed bugs.
  • You might see tiny yellows skin sheds or white eggshells.
  • You will find the insects themselves, which are oval and reddish-brown about the size of an apple seed.

What to Do with an Infested Mattress with Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs can spread rapidly; a single female can lay up to 5 eggs daily! These insects will invade the whole space once your home becomes infested. For this reason, disposing of your mattress won’t completely eliminate the infestation. That’s because bed bugs are also present in many other areas. Even worse, if you move to another bedroom after disposing of your current mattress, the remaining bed bugs will likely follow you there.

As a result, the insects will also spread around the other room. This definitely isn’t the scenario you would like to experience.
Therefore, instead of throwing the mattress away, use the treatment methods in the following section to remove the insects from it.

How to Get Rid of Bed Bug Infestation on Your Mattress?

Unfortunately, treating a bed bug infestation is challenging. It takes time and may necessitate professional help. We’ll provide you with three steps that can do a great job in reducing the number of bed bugs in your home.

However, you’ll need to follow the fourth step to ensure getting rid of the insect entirely.

  1. Clean Your Bed. Place the bed sheets, covers, pillowcases, and duvets in an airtight bag and seal it until it’s washing time.
    When you’re ready, wash these items in the washing machine using the highest possible temperature suitable for their fabric. After washing, use a dryer on them at the highest temperature. This method is excellent because bed bugs perish when exposed to high temperatures.
  2. Heat the Mattress. As we’ve just mentioned, high temperature is highly effective in killing bed bugs. That way, you can heat up your mattress to exterminate the bed bugs. To do so, you need to buy or rent a steam cleaner and use it on the mattress to drive the insects off it. Although the method yields great results, it’s considerably slow and requires patience to cover every inch of the mattress.
  3. Vacuum the Insects. Although vacuuming won’t kill bed bugs, it’ll help you dispose of them far from home. To apply this step, determine the spots where the majority of bed bugs are located in your room and vacuum them. After that, remove the vacuum bag, place it in a plastic bag, and seal it tightly. Finally, dispose of the bag far away from your home and residential areas.
  4. Hire a Pest Management Professional. DIY bed bug treatment can reduce the number of bed bugs but it is unlikely to completely eradicate them. That is why, it’s recommended to use professional bed bug treatment to help you get rid of the bed bugs entirely. Those professionals are equipped with the necessary heat tools and chemicals to eliminate bed bugs completely. They can clean the entire home from these insects in a few hours.

Conclusion

Look closely at the mattress corners, underneath the mattress tags, and inside the box springs.

In addition, inspect the seams, tufts, and folds of the mattress as well as any cracks beside it. To control the spread of bed bug infestation, you can use a steam cleaner or vacuum. However, the best way to get rid of this infestation entirely is by hiring a professional pest control company.