The short answer: Yes — 10 minutes on high heat in the dryer kills ticks. Washing alone (even in hot water) does not reliably kill them. The correct order: dryer first (10+ minutes high heat), then wash, then dry again normally if needed.

The science (briefly)

Ticks are tough. They survive freezing winters, weeks without food, and submersion in water for hours. What they don't survive is dry heat.

CDC researchers put this to the test directly in a 2016 study published in Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases (Nelson et al.), and the findings are unusually clear:

Placing dry clothes straight into a dryer on high heat killed every adult and nymphal blacklegged tick within about 6 minutes — the nymph being the most dangerous Michigan tick stage.
Washing does not reliably kill ticks. All ticks survived cold washes and 94% survived warm washes. Only water that actually reached 130°F (54°C) killed them consistently.
Damp clothing requires far longer dryer time. Ticks that went into the dryer on washed, wet fabric took about 50 minutes on high heat to die — not 10. Wet clothes need a full high-heat cycle, not a quick pass.

The mechanism is simple: dry heat above about 130°F desiccates ticks rapidly. Water actually protects them — they're built to survive it.

The exact protocol

For maximum effectiveness on Michigan tick clothing:

If clothes are dry (came straight off your body)

Toss them directly into the dryer
Run on high heat for 10 minutes minimum
Then wash and dry normally if needed

If clothes are damp or wet

Put them in the dryer on high heat
Run for at least 50 minutes — that is how long it took to kill every tick on wet fabric in the CDC study
If you wash first, use water at 130°F or hotter, then still give it the full high-heat cycle

What goes in

Hiking pants and shirts
Socks
Hats and bandanas
Pet bedding and blankets
Picnic blankets and beach towels
Outdoor jackets and gaiters
Fabric backpack covers (small enough to dryer)

Anything that can't handle high heat — leather items, certain synthetics, waterproof shells with delicate membranes. For these, inspect carefully and use heat where you safely can (like throwing a softshell jacket over a hot vent for a few minutes).

Why washing alone doesn't work

This is the part that surprises most people: you cannot reliably kill ticks in a washing machine.

A 2003 study in the Journal of Medical Entomology first raised the alarm, and the CDC's 2016 follow-up filled in the numbers:

Cold-water wash: every tick survives
Warm-water wash: 94% of ticks survive
Hot-water wash: only kills reliably if the water actually reaches 130°F — and many home washers never get there
The wash cycle's tumbling action does not damage ticks meaningfully

The takeaway: don't trust the washer alone. A hot dryer cycle is the step that does the killing.

Common mistakes

Mistake 1: Washing first, then drying

Most people instinctively wash, then dry. The problem: any tick that's wet entering the dryer is more heat-resistant. Worse, you've now had a tick in your washing machine, where it can crawl out into the laundry room.

Better: dry first on high (10 min), then wash, then dry again to finish. The first dry cycle kills the ticks. The wash and second dry handle the clean.

Mistake 2: Using "warm" or "medium" dryer settings

Synthetics and delicates often want lower heat. Ticks survive better at lower temperatures. If you can't run high heat on a particular fabric, check it manually for ticks before it goes anywhere else.

Mistake 3: Cramming the dryer full

Air circulation matters. A jammed dryer doesn't reach the temperatures it should at the fabric layer. Run smaller loads of tick clothing — even 2–3 pieces at a time — to get the job done.

Mistake 4: Using the dryer on wet clothes for "10 minutes"

If the clothes are wet, the first phase of the dryer cycle is mostly evaporation — temperatures stay below the lethal threshold while moisture is present. Plan on a full high-heat cycle of about 50 minutes for a wet load — the 10-minute rule only applies to clothes that go in dry.

Mistake 5: Skipping the dryer altogether

Hanging clothes outside in the sun is appealing — but ticks can survive outdoor air drying for hours. The dryer takes minutes. If you have a dryer, use it.

What about line drying or air drying?

In direct sun and dry air, you can eventually kill ticks via dehydration. But this takes hours and depends entirely on weather. The dryer is dramatically more reliable.

If you don't have a dryer:

Check clothes meticulously before bringing them inside
Use a portable garment steamer at high heat
Iron items at the highest fabric-safe setting
Bag and seal clothes outside for 72+ hours in dry conditions

None of these match the speed and reliability of a 10-minute hot dryer cycle.

What about pets?

You can't put pets in the dryer (obviously). For pet protection:

Pet bedding goes through the dryer protocol weekly
Pet collars and harnesses can go in mesh laundry bags through the dryer
The pets themselves rely on year-round vet-prescribed tick prevention plus daily tick checks
Their fur can be brushed outside before they come in

Building it into your routine

The simplest way to make this work:

Designate "outdoor clothes" hooks by your back door. Anything coming in from yard work, hiking, dog walks in tall grass, or gardening goes there first. (The rest of the entry-point routine is in how to keep ticks out of your house.)
Run a "ticks-only" dryer load at the end of the day or after big outdoor activities.
Keep a basket in the laundry room specifically for this — anyone who comes in from tick habitat empties their pockets and tosses clothes in.
Wash and dry pet bedding weekly with the same protocol during tick season.

It takes minutes per load. It's the single highest-impact tick-prevention step you can do indoors.

A final note

The dryer is one of those rare pieces of household technology that does something nothing else can. Ticks are built to survive cold, damp, and starvation — but not 10 minutes at 130°F+ in dry, tumbling air.

For Michigan families during tick season, this one habit — outdoor clothes go to the dryer first, on high, for 10 minutes — is probably the highest-ROI cleaning step you can take. It costs nothing, takes minutes, and works every time.

What the dryer can't reach

The dryer handles fabric you can carry. It can't do anything about the carpet by the back door, the couch the dog naps on, or the upholstered chair where a pack got set down.

That's the part we handle. Our chemical-free deep cleaning steams carpet, upholstery, and pet zones without leaving residue or fragrance behind — a good seasonal companion to a very good laundry habit.

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Does the Dryer Kill Ticks? (Yes — Here's the Exact Protocol)