How to Win the Bedbug War

There's a simple tip for thwarting bedbugs that can save you from untold misery. Bedbugs are proliferating: And when you get them, getting rid of them is difficult and expensive. It's so much better to prevent a bedbug infestation than to deal with one.

Leave your luggage in a car in the sun after a trip. Bedbugs can't survive summer's baking hot car temperatures. (It's only September and we'll have enough warm days for this before autumn takes hold.) The trunk won't do the trick: You want to let the greenhouse effect work its magic on bedbugs, which have a hard time surviving temperatures above 120 degrees, a temperature that the interior of a car can easily reach in the summer. (That temperature is well beyond the melting point of M&M's, so before you do this, remove candy, medicines, lotions, shaving cream, souvenirs, and other objects that won't withstand the heat.)

Be sure to leave your luggage in the car for as long as you can because it will take a while for the heat to permeate your suitcase. Twenty-four hours is the right amount of time to melt those bedbugs away. And yes, freezing works, too, but it takes several days to kill bedbugs through below-freezing temperatures.

Thanks to Lifehacker for spotting this.