Answer

Yes, bed bugs can live in clothing.

Bed bugs are opportunistic and will harbor in any location that provides them with easy access to a blood meal and protection. Clothing, especially items frequently worn or stored near beds, can offer both.

Here’s why and how:

• Harborage: Clothing, particularly items with seams, folds, pockets, or buttons, provides ideal hiding spots for bed bugs. They prefer dark, undisturbed areas.
• Proximity to Host: Clothing stored in closets near beds, or left on the floor in bedrooms, are easily accessible to bed bugs.
• Travel: Bed bugs are excellent hitchhikers. They can crawl into clothing during periods of rest or when clothing is left on infested surfaces, facilitating their spread from one location to another.
• Survival: Bed bugs can survive for weeks or even months without feeding, depending on temperature and humidity. This means they can remain dormant in clothing for extended periods, awaiting an opportunity to feed.
• Eggs: Female bed bugs lay eggs in secluded locations, often near their feeding source. Clothing seams and folds are ideal locations for egg deposition. These eggs are small, sticky, and difficult to detect.
• Laundry Hampers/Baskets: Clothes stored in hampers or baskets, particularly in or near infested rooms, can become infested.
• Suitcases/Bags: Clothing packed in suitcases or bags placed on infested surfaces can easily become contaminated. This is a common way for bed bugs to spread during travel.
• Secondhand Clothing: Buying or accepting secondhand clothing can introduce bed bugs into your home if the clothing is already infested.

It is important to note that bed bugs prefer to live in mattresses, box springs, bed frames, and nearby furniture, as these offer the closest and most consistent access to sleeping humans. However, they will reside in clothing if the opportunity presents itself.