Can a Foam Mattress Have Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs infest all types of mattresses.

Foam mattress manufacturers claim that their products help prevent bed bugs, but those claims are false. No certain type of bed or mattress can prevent or stop a bed bug infestation. Foam mattresses can prevent some of the problems associated with bed bugs, but trading in your mattress for one made of a different material isn't necessary.

Advantages of Foam Mattresses

Foam mattresses can play a small role in the fight against bed bugs. Traditional innerspring mattresses have springs and multiple layers of fabric and fibers that provide ideal hiding places in which bed bugs can nest. Foam mattresses consist of one solid piece with no air chambers or layers to provide nesting space. Using a foam mattress can help prevent bed bugs from taking over your bed from the inside-out before you notice they're there.

Disadvantages of Foam Mattresses

Bed bugs don't only live in mattresses. They live in headboards, bed frames, nightstands, lamps, under carpet and behind baseboards. They'll live wherever they have a hidden, dark crevice and access to your body. If you get a mattress that bed bugs can't nest in, you don't prevent them from moving to a different area of your home. What's more, the bugs may still nest in your sheets or between the mattress and the platform or box spring.

Switching Mattresses

If you replace your mattress with a foam mattress, you may shake bed bugs loose as you dispose of the old, infested bed. Those bugs may scatter and find refuge in other pieces of furniture where they'll multiply quickly. If you plan to replace your mattress, purchase a mattress bag designed to trap bed bugs inside. Doing so will help contain the infestation. Mark the bag so neighbors know not to pick it up and take it into their homes.

Treating Mattresses

Pest control professionals can treat an infested mattress with safe chemicals. The chemicals sold in department stores may not be designed for prolonged exposure even if the label states that they're safe for mattresses. The best protection against the bugs is to encase your mattress in a bed bug resistant cover. Check your bed and surrounding areas regularly, and vacuum any bugs you see. Empty your vacuum outside into a plastic bag that you can seal and place in the trash.

References

• Healco.com: Banish Bedbugs With a Memory Foam Bed
• The University of Kentucky; Bed Bugs; Michael F. Potter, Extension Entomologist