Your dryer is only for fabrics. You cannot shove your mattress in there. (Trust me, I checked—mine doesn’t fit.) For furniture, you’ll need a steam cleaner or a professional heat treatment. But for clothes, bags, and linens? The dryer is your best, most affordable weapon.
One more thing: don’t mix infested items with clean ones after the cycle. Remove your bug-blasted laundry and seal it in a plastic bag until you’re ready to wear it. Otherwise, one loose bug wandering on the floor can re-infest everything. Ask me how I know.
Final verdict: 45 minutes to an hour
So, how long to kill bed bugs in the dryer? 45 minutes on high heat for adults, 60 minutes for eggs. If you’re not sure, go with the hour. Add a cool-down tumble for safety.
Remember, the dryer is a heat death chamber, but it’s not magic. Be patient. Be thorough. And for the love of all that’s holy, inspect your shoes before you put them on—I learned that one the hard way too. (Spoiler: it was not a pleasant discovery at work.)
You’ve got this. Now go nuke them into oblivion.
