Dry cleaning is not just an untested suggestion for bed bugs. Researchers have put bed bug-infested clothing through a commercial dry-cleaning process using perchloroethylene and found that it killed adults, nymphs, and eggs. Dry cleaning can kill bed bugs. A controlled study found that dry cleaning with perchloroethylene was effective against every bed bug life stage tested, including eggs. For dry-clean-only clothing, however, the cleaner should be told that the items may contain bed bugs before you bring them in so they can be contained and handled without spreading bugs through the shop.
What the evidence does not establish is the frequently repeated claim that perchloroethylene kills bed bugs through a particular neurotoxic or cuticle-damaging mechanism. The effectiveness of the tested dry-cleaning process is supported. That specific explanation is not.
Dry Cleaning Has Actually Been Tested Against Bed Bugs
One of the strongest pieces of evidence comes from a controlled study specifically designed to test ways of treating bed bug-infested clothing.
Researchers placed adult bed bugs, nymphs, and eggs inside small permeable cotton pouches and put those pouches into garments. They then tested several common treatments, including washing, tumble drying, freezing and dry cleaning.
Dry cleaning with perchloroethylene killed all of the bed bug life stages tested.
That gives dry cleaning considerably stronger evidence than many home remedies promoted for bed bugs. It was not inferred from how the solvent works or from its effects on other insects. Bed bugs and their eggs were deliberately placed into clothing and subjected to the process.
The study also found that washing at 60°C (140°F) and hot tumble drying for at least 30 minutes were effective against all life stages.
We Wouldn’t Attribute the Result to the Solvent Alone
The distinction between a successful dry-cleaning process and the effect of the solvent by itself matters.
The study tested garments through dry cleaning with perchloroethylene. It demonstrated that the tested treatment killed the bed bugs and eggs placed in those garments.
It did not establish that perchloroethylene kills bed bugs through the specific mechanisms sometimes described online, such as neurological poisoning or stripping protective waxes from their bodies.
Nor does the study let us separate exactly how much of the mortality came from the solvent, the temperatures reached during processing, other parts of the cleaning cycle, or a combination of those factors.
For practical purposes, you don’t need to solve that mechanism before using the result. The useful finding is that the complete perchloroethylene dry-cleaning treatment tested by researchers was effective.
Tell the Dry Cleaner About the Bed Bugs Beforehand
Bed bug-infested clothing should not simply be carried loose into a dry-cleaning business.
The University of Minnesota recommends telling the dry-cleaning service that the items may contain bed bugs. The cleaner can then keep the clothing sealed in plastic bags until immediately before it is loaded into the machine.
That protects against a very different problem: live bed bugs escaping from untreated clothing while it is being transported, sorted or stored.
Seal potentially infested dry-clean-only garments before moving them from the affected room. Contact the cleaner before arriving and explain that the items may contain bed bugs so the business can tell you how it wants them packaged and delivered.
What About Dry Cleaners That Don’t Use Perchloroethylene?
This is where the evidence becomes narrower.
The bed bug study specifically tested perchloroethylene dry cleaning. It should not automatically be treated as proof that every alternative dry-cleaning solvent and every modern cleaning system produces identical results.
Some cleaners now use hydrocarbon solvents or other alternatives to perchloroethylene. Without comparable bed bug testing of those specific processes, we would not assume that the evidence transfers perfectly from one system to another.
If a dry-clean-only item is being treated specifically because of bed bugs, asking the cleaner which process it uses is reasonable.
A Dryer Has Separate Evidence Behind It
For clothing that can safely tolerate tumble drying, a household dryer remains a particularly straightforward heat treatment.
The EPA recommends placing clothing and bedding in a dryer at high temperature for 30 minutes to kill bed bugs. Washing by itself may not be sufficient. The University of Minnesota similarly recommends approximately 30 minutes at medium-high heat for a full load of suitable items.
We cover that method separately in whether a clothes dryer kills bed bugs.
Dry cleaning becomes especially useful for clothing that cannot safely go through the normal hot-dryer treatment. Rather than risking damage to wool, delicate fabrics or other dry-clean-only garments, those items can remain contained and be handled by a cleaner that has been warned about the infestation.
For the broader process of sorting, containing and treating affected clothing, see how to get rid of bed bugs in your clothes.
Keep Cleaned Clothing Away From the Infestation
Killing bed bugs on a garment does not protect it from becoming infested again.
If the home still has an active bed bug problem, cleaned clothing returned to the same exposed closet, dresser or floor can potentially pick up bugs again. The EPA recommends storing treated clothing and other cleaned items in sealed plastic bags so they remain bed-bug-free while treatment continues.
Use clean bags or containers for treated clothing rather than putting it back into the same bags that held potentially infested items.
Dry cleaning should therefore be viewed as a way to treat suitable belongings, not as treatment for the infestation elsewhere in the home.
Questions About Dry Cleaning and Bed Bugs
Do you need to wash clothes before taking them to the dry cleaner?
No. If an item is going to the cleaner because its care instructions call for dry cleaning, there is no reason to wash it first. Keep the potentially infested garment contained and tell the cleaner about the bed bug concern.
Can bed bug eggs survive dry cleaning?
In the controlled study using perchloroethylene dry cleaning, the eggs tested did not survive. Eggs are important because they can be harder to eliminate with some control methods than mobile bed bugs.
Can you put dry-clean-only clothing in a dryer instead?
Follow the garment’s care label. High dryer temperatures can damage fabrics that are not designed for tumble drying. Dry cleaning provides a researched alternative for suitable delicate garments without deliberately ignoring their care instructions.
Should you put dry-cleaned clothing straight back into the closet?
Not while the surrounding area may still contain bed bugs. Keep treated clothing protected in clean sealed bags or containers until the infestation has been brought under control.