6 Best Bed Bug Traps for Severe Infestations

Updated on by Jared Belson | Please note that there may be affiliate links on this page.

There’s no shortage of bed bug infestations even in the tidiest and most well-kept households in the country. That’s because you can bring back bed bugs home with you from anywhere you travel.

But, if you buy and use the best bed bug traps, then you will be better equipped to potentially avoid getting a full blown infestation in your home.

Best Bed Bug Traps to Use for a Relaxing Sleep

I’ve reviewed some of my favorite traps out there. They’re easy to handle, non-toxic, and they can do wonders when it comes to monitoring bed bug activity. Which one’s the best for you? Find out below.

The EcoPest Bed Bug Interceptors come in packs of eight. Each trap features a dual-wall design with a textured exterior and a slippery interior wall that prevents bed bugs from climbing out. Each interceptor is perfectly leveled and very sturdy, capable of supporting the weight of king-size and even bigger beds.

With eight of them in each pack, you’ll be able to place traps in two separate rooms in order to monitor the bed bug presence and activity. This should help you use the right bed bug killers at the appropriate time and avoid wasting any product.

As long as you can raise the bed stands, you shouldn’t have any issues with sliding the trays underneath each bed post.

However, if you have a severe infestation, the interceptors can’t do much. Adding pesticide to the traps will help, but it may also deter some bed bugs from climbing in.

  • 8 traps in a package
  • Heavy-duty construction
  • Slippery interior walls
  • Large enough to fit a wide range of furniture
  • May not help trap all bed bugs during severe infestations

If you really want to make sure that the bed bugs can’t escape, then glue traps may be the way to go. The Trapper Max Glue traps can be purchased in packs of six, 12, 36, and 72, depending on how big of a problem you have.

The glue is non-toxic, but it’s efficient enough to trap even spiders and cockroaches. With such a strong adhesive, you should be careful where you place the glue mats. They’re likely to also stick to your feet or your pet’s paws and get dragged all over the house.

I also like that the mats are foldable. You should be able to fit them into tight spots, and even wrap them around bed posts. The boards are lightly scented but it’s nothing that will keep you from sleeping at night.

Each mat has a glue-covered surface area of 4.5” x 6.5”. However, the mats themselves are slightly larger at 5.25”x7.75”.

  • Very strong adhesive
  • Foldable mats
  • Multiple value packs available
  • Non-toxic adhesive
  • Need placing in low-traffic areas

The ClimbUp Insect Interceptor is another well-designed tray-like bed bug trap. Each pack contains four trays. They’re great if you want to monitor the bed bug activity and you can use them before or after a bed bug treatment.

The dual-wall build is effective and can keep more than just bed bugs from climbing onto your bed. While probably not the sturdiest around, the ClimbUp Insect interceptors are well-balanced and have a perfectly flat base which can provide good stability to any piece of furniture.

Of course, the all-white design will let you spot any creepy crawler that doesn’t belong in your home. Lastly, I’d like to mention that the ClimbUp Insect Interceptor pack offers good value for money, given the size and design of the trays.

  • All-white design
  • Non-toxic trap
  • Good value
  • Stable and flat base
  • They won’t hold as much weight as other similar products

The thing I like most about these XL interceptors is their shape. Unlike most similar traps which favor the ashtray shape, the Trapbedbugs XL Bed Bug Interceptors are rectangular trays. This means that they are compatible with a wider range of furniture.

The shape doesn’t help improve the durability of the tray, but it helps with the stability and the capacity to trap insects. Although looking very different than most commercial models, these interceptors feature slippery interior walls.

Given their size and durability, the XL Bed Bug Interceptors are also quite affordable. And, it’s always a good thing if you can use a non-toxic trap or monitoring system to check on your bed bug activity or infestation.

The interior well walls are not as slanted as in other models, but the surface is just as slippery as you would expect. As far as aesthetics go, Trapbedbugs XL aren’t the catchiest trays.

  • Extra-large trays
  • Very slippery well walls
  • Affordable
  • Superior tray durability and weight resistance
  • Not as easy to blend into a bedroom decor

If you’re shopping on a tight budget, then Bug Snarer may be the manufacturer for you. It offers four, eight, and 12-packs at competitive prices. The Bug Snarer Bed Bug Trap Interceptors are sturdy and very slippery in order to prevent insects from escaping the well.

Each 3” x 3” tray should fit subtly underneath bed posts and other furniture. Each can support furniture pieces up to 800lbs. They are all white, making it easy to track how many insects you have in your room.

Although the traps won’t work for bed bugs that are already nesting in your mattress, these interceptor trays can still be used to check the quality of a hotel room, monitor the effectiveness of a heat or powder treatment, and so on.

  • All-white trays
  • Very sturdy
  • Stable and flat foundation
  • Wide slippery interior sides
  • Limited tray capacity

The Harris Bed Bug Glue Traps is another pesticide-free solution to trap bed bugs and monitor their activity. This four-pack includes rectangular trays with a very strong adhesive layer that’s capable of trapping everything from tiny fleas to spiders and roaches.

Although the trays aren’t very big, the adhesive is strong enough to deal even with a mid-sized infestation. You can use these trays in both commercial and residential areas.

The Harris Bed Bug Glue Traps are foldable, but they can’t be folded into cylinders. However, you can fold them in such a way that they become completely covered. You don’t need to see a bunch of nasty insects stuck to the traps.

The only noteworthy downside of these traps is a narrow color palette.

  • Discreet design
  • Powerful adhesive
  • Pesticide-free
  • Can be used on any surface
  • Not many color options to choose from

Why You Should Use Bed Bug Traps

Before spraying or fogging your room, you should be sure that you do in fact have a bed bug infestation. Otherwise, you’d just be wasting money on products you may not need. Not all heat treatments and bed bug powders come cheap, by the way.

The whole point of using bed bug traps is to see if you have any to begin with. You can use them when you move into a new home, to test a hotel room, or after you’ve completed a bed bug treatment at home.

No treatment guarantees 100% success rate, but the traps allow you to monitor the situation and decide whether you need to reapply the treatment or not.

Are Bed Bug Traps Toxic?

Very few of them are. I tend to stay away from the toxic ones, since most well-type trays work pretty good these days. Bed bugs have a very hard time climbing up the slippery walls. So, as long as you don’t have too many of them, they should remain trapped inside.

You can, of course, add pesticide to the trays. But if you want to up your game even further, consider glue traps as an alternative. They’re not always as pretty but they are most efficient.

The adhesive can keep bed bugs glued to the tray for weeks. And even though bed bugs are resilient creatures, the traps may actually kill a bunch of them before you get started with the treatment.

Where to Place Bed Bug Traps

The tray traps, like those listed in this article, work best when placed under bed posts or furniture legs. That’s if they’re sturdy enough to handle the weight.

Glue traps should be placed near bed posts or around them, if possible. Avoid placing them underneath heavy furniture to avoid ruining the tray.

The reason you want to place them at bed posts, under mattresses, and around furniture legs in general is because that’s these are the main routes that most bed bugs and other annoying critters take.

Trap Your Bugs Quickly and Safely

By avoiding toxic options, you can use bed bug traps whenever, wherever. You won’t have to go out of your way to hide them from pets and kids, which very convenient in my opinion.

Some traps are larger than others and some are sturdier than others. It all comes down to what you need and how many traps you need to solve the problem.

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