How to Get Rid of Bed Worms: Identify Them and Kill Them Fast

Those tiny worms in your bed are almost never “bed bug worms,” because bed bugs are not worms at any stage. What you are looking at is usually the larvae of carpet beetles or clothes moths, which feed on the natural fibers in your sheets, blankets, and mattress. Less often they are maggots, flea larvae, or, in one case worth watching for, pinworms.

To get rid of bed worms fast: strip the bed and wash everything washable in hot water, then run it through a hot dryer, since heat instantly kills larvae and eggs. Freeze anything you cannot wash for two days, vacuum the mattress and bed frame thoroughly, and remove the food source by storing wool and silk items in sealed containers. Below is how to identify the worm by its color, whether it is dangerous, and the full step-by-step removal plan.

Identify Your Bed Worm by Color

The color of the worm is the quickest clue to what it actually is. Use this table to narrow it down, then read the detail section that matches.

Color	Most likely culprit	Concern level
Black	Carpet beetle larvae (often striped or bristly)	Low, fabric pest
White / cream	Maggots, flea larvae, or (rarely) pinworms	Low, unless pinworms
Brown	Carpet beetle or clothes moth larvae	Low, fabric pest
Orange	Clothes moth larvae	Low, fabric pest
Red / reddish	Furniture carpet beetle larvae (maturing)	Low, fabric pest
Pink	Carpet beetle larvae mid-color-change, or stray click beetle larvae	Low, fabric pest

What Are Bed Worms?

Most of these worm-like bugs are the larvae of other insects, usually clothes moths or carpet beetles, and they are not found only on beds. They end up in your bed because they feed on natural fabrics such as silk and wool. They can be an unsettling sight, but they are harmless unless you react to their bristles. If you keep finding the adult beetles too, see our guide to carpet beetles in bed.

Where Do Bed Worms Come From?

Bed worms are the young of moths or carpet beetles. The adults lay eggs in warm, dark, undisturbed spots like wool blankets and the seams of a mattress, and the female moth can place hundreds of eggs over her life, favoring fabric soiled with sweat or spills. The hatched larvae feed on natural fibers, which is exactly why they turn up on mattresses and bedsheets.

Even bedding made mostly of synthetic polyester can be attacked if it contains some animal fiber. A few other worms, such as maggots, feed on decaying organic matter instead, so a dead rodent, bat, or lizard in the house can draw egg-laying flies whose larvae spread indoors. See our guide on how to prevent bed bugs in your home for related sealing and cleaning tips that also help here.

What Causes Bed Worms on a Mattress?

If your bedding includes silk, wool, leather, felt, feathers, or fur, you are more likely to get bed worms. Those materials contain keratin, a fibrous protein that clothes moth larvae feed on. Carpet beetles work the same way: the adults do not eat fabric, so they lay their eggs where the larvae will find plenty of animal fiber to eat. The insects typically wander in through open doors and windows, then follow their instincts to a food source, which can end at your bed.

Types of Bed Worms by Color (With Images)

If you see little worm-like creatures in your bed, it is easy to assume they are bed bugs, but bed bugs do not look like worms. Here is how to identify the worms by color.

Little Black Worms in Bed

Tiny black worms in bed are usually carpet beetle larvae, and you may spot their droppings, each about the size of a salt grain, nearby. Some species are densely bristled and can look mottled or carry black-and-white stripes. Several carpet beetle species will happily live on a mattress because it is warm and full of food, including varied carpet beetles, furniture carpet beetles, and black carpet beetles.

Little White Worms in Bed

White or cream worms in bed are most often maggots, which lay rice-grain-sized eggs and are drawn to rotting matter rather than fabric, so a pet usually carries them in by accident. They can also be off-white flea larvae, which feed on adult flea droppings and likewise hitch a ride on a pet, so it is worth checking that a dryer cycle is killing any fleas in your bedding.

One white worm to take seriously is the pinworm, a thin, thread-like, semi-transparent intestinal parasite. Pinworms emerge from an infected person at night to lay eggs, so they can show up in bedding. If you suspect pinworms rather than fabric-pest larvae, treat it as a medical issue, not a pest one.

Small Brown Worm in Bed

The usual brown worm in bed is again a carpet beetle larva. Varied carpet beetle larvae show light and dark brown bands and are narrower at the front than the rear. Clothes moth larvae can also appear brown, so the color alone will not always separate the two.

Small Orange Worm in Bed

Orange worms are most likely clothes moth larvae, which appear in a range of shades. If you cannot confidently identify the worm, your local cooperative extension office or the National Pesticide Information Center can help you identify a specimen.

Little Red Worm in Bed

Tiny red worms in bed are typically furniture carpet beetle larvae. They start out pale and whitish, then darken to red or reddish-brown as they grow. After roughly 80 to 110 days they mature into beetles marked with black spots and white, yellow, or orange scales.

Small Pink Worm in Bed

A pink worm is most often a carpet beetle larva caught mid-color-change, shifting from pale toward dark red. Do not rule out a stray from elsewhere in the house, though, such as a click beetle larva, especially if you find them in other rooms or only one in the bed.

Are Bed Worms Dangerous?

Bed worms in the usual sense, meaning moth and carpet beetle larvae, are not dangerous to people. They do not bite, they are not parasites, and they have no interest in your blood or skin, since they eat animal fibers. The catch is what happens if you let them mature: clothes moths and carpet beetles will chew through wool carpets, blankets, and anything made of silk, fur, or feathers.

The one exception is the pinworm. If the worm turns out to be a pinworm, it is a human parasite, and you should see a doctor and have the whole household checked, because it spreads easily between people living together.

How to Get Rid of Bed Worms

The good news is that whatever the worm turns out to be, the same heat-and-clean routine clears them all. Work through these steps:

1. Hot-wash and hot-dry all bedding. Wash sheets, pillowcases, and blankets in hot water, then run them through a hot dryer cycle. Heat kills larvae and eggs instantly, which is why this is the single most effective step. See what temperature kills bed bugs for the heat thresholds that also kill these larvae.
2. Freeze what you cannot wash. Seal items you cannot launder or dry-clean in a plastic bag and leave them in the freezer for at least two days. The sustained cold kills both eggs and larvae.
3. Vacuum the mattress, frame, and floor. Vacuum the mattress seams, the bed frame, and the carpet around the bed to pull out larvae, eggs, and the lint and hair they feed on. Empty the vacuum outside afterward.
4. Use a mattress encasement. A zippered, washable encasement, the same tool used against bed bugs, lets you regularly clean the mattress surface and shuts the larvae out of the seams where they hide.
5. Deep-clean and remove the food source. Store wool, silk, fur, and feather items in sealed containers, declutter under and around the bed, and clean up any food spills or sweat-soiled fabric that attracted them. If a dead animal in a wall or attic is the source of maggots, remove it.

Worms in Bed Sheets

For worms, larvae, and eggs in sheets, apply heat: wash in hot water or dry-clean, then dry on high or hang in direct sun. Go through all your bedclothes and anything made of animal fiber at the same time, since the larvae rarely stay in one spot. Anything you cannot wash goes in the freezer for two days. For a related concern, see whether bed bugs survive a washing machine.

Worms in a Mattress

Treat a mattress the way you would for bed bugs: a waterproof, washable encasement plus regular cleaning to remove larvae, fleas, and mites. Frequent vacuuming helps a lot, and a portable hot-water carpet cleaner like the BISSELL SpotClean ProHeat  drives hot water deep into the surface and extracts whatever is hiding inside.

Bed Worm Bites: Allergy Symptoms and Treatment

Carpet beetle and clothes moth larvae do not bite, but they can still cause an allergic reaction. The hair-like bristles on their bodies can trigger rashes, itchy skin, or hives on contact, and they are sometimes mistaken for bug bites. Those bristles can also become airborne and irritate your eyes and airways, causing runny-nose and watery-eye symptoms. Once you clear out the larvae, the reactions usually settle quickly. If pets share the bed, our guide on bed bugs and pets covers keeping animals from reintroducing pests.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do bed bugs look like worms?

No. Bed bugs are flat, oval insects, not worms. Adults have small wing pads but cannot fly, and they are mostly brown, turning reddish after a blood meal. If what you see is long and worm-shaped, it is not a bed bug.

Do bed bugs start out as worms?

No. Young bed bugs, called nymphs, look just like the adults but smaller and paler, not worm-like at all. They are tiny, roughly the size of a peppercorn, and hard to see. Learn more about baby bed bug nymphs.

Can my cat or dog cause worms in my bed?

A pet can carry larvae or eggs into your bed on its fur, and an intestinal-worm infection in a dog or cat (hookworm, tapeworm, roundworm) can pose a risk to people sharing the bed. Keep an infected pet off the bed until it has been treated, wash the bedding, and have the animal dewormed by a vet.

What is the fastest way to kill bed worms?

Heat. Washing bedding in hot water and running it through a hot dryer kills larvae and eggs on contact, faster than any spray. For items you cannot wash, two days in the freezer does the same job with cold.

List of Sources

Potter M. F., Clothes Moths, University of Kentucky
Choe D. H., UC IPM Pest Notes: Carpet Beetles, University of California
Pinworm Infection FAQs, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Miller D. M., Polanco A., Bed Bug Biology and Behavior, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency / Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services