A doctor has revealed a horrifying reason why you should never unpack your suitcase straight away when you get home from a trip.
While some travelers might cheer themselves on for sorting their luggage immediately upon returning from their trip, Virginia’s Dr. Jason Singh has now explained why delaying unpacking could actually pay off in the long run.
In a TikTok video that has since gone viral, Jason warned that opening your suitcase right away could cause bed bugs to become an infestation. These bed bugs can lay eggs in your clothes and belongings and eventually invade your home if they travel with you in your luggage.
According to Jason, “bed bug eggs typically hatch within six to 10 days,” adding that the babies, called nymphs, “require a blood meal after hatching to continue developing.”
However, if the bed bugs remain trapped in your suitcase, they will not be able to feed and will ‘die of starvation or dehydration’.
A doctor has revealed a disgusting reason why you should never unpack your suitcase straight away when you get home from a trip
Virginia’s Dr. Jason Singh shared in a TikTok video that putting off unpacking can benefit you in the long run (stock image)
There’s a catch, though: Keeping your suitcase closed for a few hours or even days won’t prevent an infestation. Jason explains that travelers should leave their bags closed for two weeks to prevent the spread of these nasty critters.
“This is why you shouldn’t unpack your suitcase right away when you get home from vacation,” Jason began the clip, which has been viewed more than 592,000 times since it was posted in June.
“Okay, listen up, especially if you’ve stayed in a hotel and it’s because of bed bugs.”
He continues: ‘Bed bug eggs typically hatch within six to ten days and the nymphs require a blood meal shortly after hatching to continue developing.
‘If your suitcase remains closed and untouched for at least two weeks, any bed bug eggs or nymphs inside will likely die from starvation or dehydration.
‘Now you have a reason to be lazy, like me, and just leave your suitcase hanging over there on the side.
“I mean, let’s be honest, what kind of psycho pulls it off right away? Let me know.”
Jason’s advice came as a pleasant surprise to many ‘lazy’ travelers, some of whom responded in the comments, happy to hear that their procrastination might actually work to their advantage.
Many followers openly shared that unpacking it takes a very long time, just like Jason personally does
Someone wrote: ‘So my procrastination is doctor approved. Perfect.’
A second person commented, “My luggage sits in the garage or utility room for hundreds of hours!”
A third person added: ‘Thank goodness. It takes me ages to get the energy to unpack.’
A fourth person wrote: ‘Then I’m safe, because I’m lazy.’
A fifth person commented: ‘Omg yaaas, this takes me months. I just take the dirty laundry bag out and wash it, and that’s my “unpacking.”
One person added: ‘I’ve never been happier that I have ADHD, [cause] ‘My suitcase remains unpacked for ages.’
Someone else wrote humorously: ‘I haven’t quite gotten over my 2019 summer vacation yet.’
Other followers admit that they immediately unpack their belongings when they get home from a trip.
Someone wrote: ‘I’m unpacking everything and throwing it all in the washing machine as soon as I get home. I need all my stuff [that] I’m traveling with you!
A second person commented, “I’m the psychopath who unpacks everything at home.”
A third person added: ‘I’m unpacking [as] “As soon as I get in. Wash everything and then put Lysol on the suitcase.”
Other followers admitted that they unpack their belongings as soon as they get home from a trip
A fourth person wrote: ‘I always unpack right away. I have to get my house in order before I can relax, and just looking at an unpacked suitcase makes me angry.’
A fifth person commented: ‘Who has two weeks of extra clothes they don’t need when they get back from vacation? Or am I just a farmer and only have a week or two worth of clothes in total?’
Someone added: ‘I literally unpack within an hour of getting home. Usually because I need all my toiletries, and I just throw everything in the washing machine.’
Someone else wrote: ‘If I don’t unpack now, I won’t unpack for the next month.’
According to Travel and leisureIt is advisable to first take your clothes out of your suitcase and put them directly in the dryer, instead of in the washing machine.
Eric Braun, a board-certified entomologist, told the outlet: “You [can] Wash them after you dry them, but the high temperature will kill the life stages.
“The water isn’t hot enough to kill them, so they might survive a wash.”
He continued: ‘You’re going to take all the clothes out of the suitcase [and] all the clothes you are currently wearing and put them in the dryer on high heat for about 30 minutes.
‘If you have clothes that can’t be tumble dried but still need to be dry cleaned, you can put them in a bag and take them to the dry cleaners.
‘Then you go and look at your luggage [and] Check your luggage. If you suspect that there are bed bugs in your luggage, have it treated professionally.’
