Can Bed Bugs Live In Floors? [Wood, Tiles & Carpet]

It is challenging to kill bed bugs. Since these are tiny insects and can hide anywhere, despite the name “bed bug,” they can infest other places, such as your precious furniture.

Bed bugs are household pests that can live in any corner of your home. And if the infection is severe, they can even live on the floor. Wood flooring is best for these insects because it provides lots of hiding places.

Usually, bed bugs live inside your bed and beddings to stay close to their hosts, but you can also find them on the floor if the home is severely infested with these insects.

If you have bed bugs in your home or basement, keep reading because today we have covered can bed bugs live on floors? In addition, we have collected some tested methods to get rid of these bugs from your hardware floor.

But first…

Can Bed Bugs Live On Wooden Floor?

Can Bed Bugs Live In Wooden Floor

Bed bugs mostly infest things made of wood. If you have a wood floor, you need to be careful because bed bugs can live on wood floors and spread them in more rooms. They may choose wood floors as the mating area to hide human eyes.

As bed bugs multiply their population, they always search for new places. They look for a place where they can easily hide.

These insects hide inside the cracks and crevices found on wooden floors. However, bed bugs can only infest older wood floors because that’s how they can discover pre-formed crackers.

Why Are Bed Bugs Attracted To Wooden Floor?

bed bugs eggs in wooden floor

Bed bugs are attracted to wooden floors because the surface is very comfortable to walk and lay their eggs.

Since bed bug eggs are very soft and smooth, they need a surface to stick these eggs easily. Bed bugs release a special kind of fluid, or you can say gum, from the stomach. This glue or liquid helps these insects stick to their eggs.

However, this glue only supports certain surfaces, and wood is the most comfortable surface for egg-laying.

In addition, these insects are photophobic, which means they hate light. And, they may be attracted to your wood floors to find a place to hide from the sunlight.

Can Bed Bugs Poop On Wooden Floor?

If you have a bed bug infestation in your home, it is very common to have poop marks. These stools look like black spots. You can find them mostly in places where bed bugs live or have infested.

If you have bed bugs on your wood floors, you will find these black poop marks. Bed bugs use these drops to identify the infestation site.

If you carefully inspect all infestation spots, you will see two things in common: shells of dead bed bugs and traces of black droppings.

Both things give a positive signal to other bed bugs that the place is suitable for infestation. However, both shells and feces can help people recognize that they have an infestation in their home.

Bed Bugs Eggs On Wooden Floor?

Bed bugs release a special type of liquid that acts as glue that helps the eggs stick to the wooden floor.

Wood is the second surface where these insects can lay their eggs, the first being cloth.

Also, bed bugs choose hardwood floors to lay their eggs on because wood floors tend to have a lot of cracks. These cracks help bed bugs hide their eggs.

How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs On Hardwood Wood Floors?

These insects are tough to kill if you don’t know how to do it. But with proper knowledge, you can quickly eliminate bed bugs on your precious wooden floor.

Vacuum Cleaner

Vacuum Cleaner to kill bed bugs in wooden floor

Vacuum cleaners are the best way to kill and clean bed bugs from your furniture, bedding, and floors.

  • Before using the vacuum cleaner, you need to ensure that the pressure is sufficient to capture all the insects and eggs.
  • Use a suction pipe at every corner as bed bugs mostly like corners and crevices. Make sure you use a vacuum everywhere you think these insects may be living.
  • Throw away the bag after cleaning all the insects off your floor. Make sure the bag is sealed as these bugs can easily climb onto the bag. You can use tape to fill the vacuum bag. Throw the bag in the trash.
  • Use a bed bugs floor powder. Yes if you are not in favour to use chemical spray. Then it is a great idea to use bed bugs killer powder. You can find many options on Amazon and walmart.

However, if you don’t have a vacuum cleaner in your home, you can use a wipe to clean out all the bugs, feces, and eggs. However, using a wipe is not a good solution compared to a vacuum cleaner.

But luckily, the next tip is easy to use and is available at any hardware store.

Alcohol Based Spray

Credit: Essortment

Using an alcohol-based spray is the easiest and fastest way to kill bed bugs and eggs. You need to identify all the places where bed bugs live.

A few drops of alcohol spray can kill bed bugs quickly. Also, bed bugs do not like the smell of alcohol. You do need to get close to bed bugs to use the spray, though, and as you know, these insects don’t like it if someone bothers them.

But still, if your wood floor has so many cracks, then using alcohol spray is the best way to prevent these insects.

Note: Do not use homemade cleaning agents like lemon juice and vinegar on your hardwood flooring.

Filling The Cracks & Gaps

To repair cracks, take a crayon that matches the color of your hardwood floor and fill in the gap. You can also use white cement or clay mixed with the same color as your floor.

Seal the cracks after cleaning all the places where you found bed bugs. By sealing all the gaps, you can make your floor crack-free, which can prevent them from living on your floor.

Do Bed Bugs Live On Tiles Floor?

Do Bed Bugs Live On Tiles Floor

Answer: Yes, bed bugs can live on tile floors. But they need a corner or a place to hide from human eyes. Creating an infestation area for these insects is convenient if your tile floor has cracks or holes.

However, the chances are slim that bed bugs will choose tile floors as their new home. They want to be closer to their host and choose bedding and other furniture over tile floors.

In addition, cracks in tile floors are thin, and bed bugs cannot enter these cracks.

These insects prefer pre-formed holes, gaps, and crevices. Their body is not made to dig any surface. They do not have teeth like termites that help them bite surfaces such as wood to create a new infestation zone.

But still, bed bugs can choose tile floor as their home. Because female bugs always find new places to lay eggs. After the male and female bug finish their mating process, the female bug begins to search for new homes.

If your home is infested with many bed bugs, a tiled floor will be the last option these insects will choose as their new infestation area.

Can Bed Bugs Crawl On Tile Floor?

Bed bugs can walk on any horizontal surface. Their six legs help them to walk on the tiled floor. However, walking on the floor is something that bed bugs ignore until they leave in search of new places.

However, these insects can face problems when climbing tile-finish walls.

The problem is that bed bugs have tiny microscopic hairs on their legs that help them climb typical walls and clothing. But on tile surfaces, these hairs slip off the surface, making it difficult for these insects to climb on.

How To Rid Of Bed Bugs Form Tile Floor?

It is much easier to kill bed bugs from your tiles than wood floors. Since they cannot dig the surface, they are unable to hide.

Use these 5 minutes hacks to kill these insects instantly:-

Wash Your Tiles

If you wash your tiles regularly, don’t worry. You are doing a great job.

But if you do not do this, you should clean the house with lukewarm water and wipe all your tiles. You can also use the mop to clean all the eggs and feces from the corners.

Pressure Gun

Using a pressure gun on your tile will clean all the bed bug stuff like eggs, poop, and dead shells. This is the easiest way to clean your floor.

However, this is a very time-consuming process as a pressure gun will release a lot of water, creating a lot of mud on your floor, which in the end, you will have to clean using a mop or wipers.

But, A pressure gun can remove all the eggs and dirty even from thin cracks. 

Vinegar

Use vinegar or another type of mixture to clean your tile surface. We would also like to add that vinegar is one of the best home remedies to kill bed bugs and eggs. The vinegar attracts the bug’s nervous system and paralyzes them, leading to their gradual death.

Can Bed Bugs Infest Carpet Finished Floor?

Can Bed Bugs Infest Carpet Finished Floor

Bed bugs prefer items made of clothing as their new home. Since bed bugs cannot dig up the carpet, they can live on the surface of your carpet. In addition, a carpet is an excellent place to hide and lay eggs because the fabric can easily absorb the glue that female bugs leave behind when they lay eggs.

Despite this, bed bugs only infest your carpet if you or your pet, such as dogs and cats, spend a lot of time in a corner where bed bugs are present.

How Do Bed Bugs Get Into Your Carpet Floor?

Bed bugs infest furniture and other objects that are close to their hosts. If these insects infested your bed and bedding, you would see them in almost every piece of furniture close to your bed.

This means that if the furniture items are in contact with your carpeted floor and they will be, you can see the feces, eggs, and small nymphs of these insects.

How To Find Bed Bugs On Carpet Floor?

Finding bed bugs is difficult because they do not like it if someone bothers them. Their six legs help them to be a good runner. You can say they have six senses, i.e., they will know what will happen next.

But, with the correct information, you can easily find these insects on your carpet floor or any other surface.

Backlight

These insects are made of phosphorus which glows in UV light because bed bugs tend to hide under cracks and gaps that sometimes become banners when you try to check for these insects.

But luckily, with the help of a backlight, you can easily find these bugs on any surface. All you have to do is use this light on all areas where you think bed bugs have infested.

But the problem with the backlight is that you have to use it directly on these insects. And when you shine a lot of light on bed bugs in an instant, these insects can penetrate deep crevices to make them invisible.

How To Kill Bed Bugs From Your Carpet Floor?

Carpet is very precious flooring, and you don’t want to spoil the beauty of this luxury-looking material. Please read all manuals before using any hack or DIY on your carpet, as many of them are very sensitive.

Steam

Since bed bugs couldn’t stand the heat, steam would be a great way to handle all these bugs. Keep the steamer head about six to twelve inches away from the carpet. Allow the steam to soak the carpet thoroughly. Use a scrub brush to blend the moist mixture into the fibers.

Microfiber Cloth And Bed Bugs Spray

If you don’t have a steamer in your home, don’t worry, there’s an inexpensive way to get rid of these little bloodsuckers from your carpeted floors.

Microfiber cloths are handy for cleaning bed bugs. Use a fabric with good bed bugs spray to kill these insects immediately and then clean the dead insects with the help of the cloth.

Scrub brush

If the carpet is old, it will be tough for you to use steam because regular steam and chemical sprays can ruin the fabric of your carpet.

So, scrubbing and brushing is a great way to clean the carpet from bed bugs without wasting anything.

Conclusion

Now you know bed bugs can live on wooden, tile, and carpet floors. It is time to make the most effective actions. You can choose any method mentioned above. All these tricks are tested to eliminate bed bugs on your floor.

Please share this article if you think it can help others. And please share your story if you also have bed bugs on your floor.

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