Before a fumigation, you need to bag or remove all consumable items that aren’t in airtight containers. This includes food, medicine, pet food, tobacco products, and anything else you or your family might eat, drink, or put in your body. The fumigant gas penetrates nearly everything, so proper bagging is the single most important safety step you’ll handle before the process begins.
Food and Beverages
Any food that isn’t sealed in a manufacturer’s original airtight container needs to go into the special bags your fumigation company provides, called Nylofume bags. These are thicker than regular trash bags and designed to resist gas penetration. Items that need bagging include opened boxes of cereal, bags of chips, flour, sugar, rice, bread, spices, cooking oils, and anything stored in twist-tie bags, Ziploc bags, or containers with snap-on lids.
Canned goods with intact factory seals are generally safe to leave out. The same goes for unopened glass jars and bottles with unbroken seals. If you’ve already opened a jar of pasta sauce and put it in the fridge, though, that needs to go in a Nylofume bag. The key distinction is whether the original manufacturer’s seal is still intact. If you’ve broken it, bag it.
Beverages follow the same rule. Unopened cans of soda and sealed water bottles are fine. Opened bottles of wine, juice cartons you’ve poured from, or a half-finished bottle of liquor all need bagging. Items in your freezer and refrigerator need the same treatment as pantry items. Leave your fridge and freezer doors propped open during fumigation (unplugged), and bag or remove everything perishable.
Medicine and Vitamins
All medications need to be bagged or removed from the home, including prescription pills, over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, supplements, herbal remedies, and topical creams or ointments. Even if a pill bottle has a childproof cap, that cap is not gas-tight. The same applies to blister packs of medication. Don’t assume any pharmacy packaging is airtight enough to protect against fumigant penetration.
If you use medical devices that come into contact with your body, like CPAP machines, nebulizers, or insulin pumps, remove those as well. Anything you inhale through, inject with, or apply to your skin should leave the house or go into a Nylofume bag.
Pet and Animal Products
Dog food, cat food, birdseed, fish food, and pet treats all need bagging. This is easy to overlook, especially large bags of dry kibble stored in a garage or laundry room. Rawhide chews, dental sticks, and similar items count too. If your pet would chew or eat it, bag it.
All pets, fish, and living plants must be removed from the home entirely. Fish tanks cannot be bagged. You’ll need to relocate aquariums, terrariums with live animals, and any indoor plants you want to survive. Turn off aquarium aerators before leaving since they would pull fumigant gas directly into the water.
Toiletries and Personal Care Items
Toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, lip balm, and dentures all need to be bagged or removed. These go in or near your mouth, and fumigant residue on them poses a real ingestion risk. The same applies to bar soap, loofahs, and any skincare products in open or pump-top containers.
Shampoo bottles with flip caps, deodorant sticks, and similar toiletries in sealed containers are lower risk, but many fumigation companies recommend bagging them anyway to be safe. When in doubt, bag it. The cost of a ruined tube of toothpaste is nothing compared to the risk of exposure.
Items You Don’t Need to Bag
Clothing, bedding, towels, and linens do not need to be bagged. The fumigant gas does not leave harmful residue on fabrics, and it dissipates completely during the aeration period after treatment. You don’t need to wash your clothes or sheets after fumigation.
Dishes, pots, pans, and cooking utensils can stay in your cabinets unbaged. Sealed cosmetics like pressed powder compacts, nail polish, and perfume in spray bottles are also fine. Electronics, furniture, books, and decorative items stay as they are. The gas won’t damage them, and they don’t pose an ingestion risk.
One common source of confusion: plastic-wrapped items from the grocery store, like packages of bottled water shrink-wrapped together, are not considered sealed. That plastic wrap has gaps. If you’re unsure whether a container counts as factory-sealed, treat it as though it isn’t.
How to Use Nylofume Bags
Your fumigation company will typically provide Nylofume bags as part of the service. They look like large, semi-transparent plastic bags. Place your items inside, squeeze out excess air, and twist the top tightly. Then fold the twisted portion over and secure it with a rubber band, zip tie, or tape. A single fold without securing it isn’t enough since the bag can untwist during the 24 to 72 hours your home is under fumigation.
Double-bagging is a good idea for items you’re especially concerned about, like baby formula or critical medications. You can also simply remove high-priority items from the house entirely and keep them in your car or wherever you’re staying during the process. Removal is always safer than bagging.
A Room-by-Room Approach
The most practical way to prepare is to walk through every room and check for consumables. Start in the kitchen and pantry, which will take the most time. Open every cabinet, including the ones above the fridge you rarely use. Check the garage for pet food, gardening chemicals you might use on edible plants, and any snacks stored in a secondary fridge or chest freezer.
In bathrooms, gather all oral care items and anything in open containers. Check bedside tables for cough drops, antacids, or sleep aids. In kids’ rooms, look for candy, gummy vitamins, or snacks tucked in drawers. If you have a home bar, bag any opened bottles.
Most fumigation companies will do a walkthrough with you before tenting the house and will point out items you may have missed. But the responsibility for bagging is yours, and missed items cannot be safely used after fumigation. Taking an extra hour to be thorough is well worth it.