When you have a house to maintain, you are amazed pretty much every day finding out how much you need to take care of. You do everything, you clean every part but somehow there is this one part of the house that needs better cleaning. Furthermore, this one part could simply destroy the rest of the house.
Insect infestations are not uncommon in houses and when they do happen, they drive you crazy. You may be concerned about hygiene or your reputation in front of your guests, but you are highly concerned. Getting rid of insects like bed bugs, fruit flies, etc. is not easy and neither is keeping them out.
Carpet beetles are one of such insects that can cause havoc in your home destroying your valuable possessions. So, it is necessary for you to know how to get rid of carpet beetles. But, before you get to know that you should know more about the species themselves.
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What exact are carpet beetles?
As you can already guess carpet beetles are insects that reside in your house. The name tells you that carpets are one of its favorites houses and furniture, cupboards, and other dark places suit them fine too. Apparently, carpet beetles are spooky looking (Maybe beautiful to some) insects 1-4 millimeters long.
What they do is stay in your house and eat up anything that comes their way. Yes, they have a huge appetite and no choice. In fact, they will taste anything that is slightly edible.
The destruction of this creature’s cause is the reason why you should try to get rid of these beetles.
Signs that You have Carpet Beetles at Home
There are so many different insects that could be the reason behind whatever symptoms you are facing. So, how do you know that it is the carpet beetles bothering you?This is how:
1. Holes in furniture and other objects:
As carpet beetles eat pretty much everything starting from actual food to furniture, leather, etc. Everything at your house is at risk. While it does not eat synthetic things, if an edible in their terms material is entangled with the synthetic stuff then that thing I at risk too.
So, the first sign that you have carpet beetles at your home is holes and in shreds stuff. If you see your things getting destroyed, there is definitely a good reason behind it and carpet beetles are the most probable ones.
2. Flying Adults:
As if things were not bad enough, adult carpet beetles are actually capable of flying and they usually fly towards light. So, seeing them with eyes wide open is another sign that they have chosen your house. Take a look at their yellow and black body and you will know that it is them.
3. Larvae:
Carpet beetles are not harmless in their minor stage either and their larvae are quite noticeable. Apparently, these ugly things are light brown in color and measure around 2.5 centimeters. You may see them at different places in your house, especially around places where there is food.
4. Shed skin:
Carpet beetles usually leave behind evidence when they are done feasting, they shed their skin. So, you will most likely find shed carpet beetle skin in the crime scene. This is how you know that you have been targetted by the mighty carpet beetle species.
Best Methods for Carpet Beetle Control
The undeniably best way to control carpet beetle infestation is to maintain cleanliness regularly. You have to reach every part of the house that has the potential to harbor carpet beetles and destroys their potential to do so. Consistency is the key to success in this case and if you do not maintain it, the loss is yours.
Cleanliness: Regular cleaning will make you aware of the presence of the insects. Later on, you can take measures on the right area depending.
Consistency: Act in a way that you think carpet beetles are just waiting outside your house to enter, the moment you leave a spot for them to make a house at. If you do that, there is pretty much no chance that carpet beetles will invade your house.
Preventing Carpet Beetle Infestations
What exactly can you do to prevent the carpet beetles from coming to your house? Closing all the doors, of course. Here are a few things you can do:
1. Clean regularly
Dust and dirt are the roots of all insects, problems, and diseases. So, remove all of it so that the negatives do not stand a single chance. This includes vacuuming what needs to be vacuumed in full force. However, make sure you dispose of the waste really well so that nothing remains in the house.
2. Use Plastic to store
Despite there being so many debates regarding the use of plastic, plastic does come handy. If you store things in plastic, carpet beetles cannot eat the plastic and thus your item remains safe. Furthermore, you are not exactly wrongly disposing off the plastic so the environment is safe.
3. Try choosing synthetic products
This is not very plausible but you can try choosing the long term stuff that you cannot frequently take care of to be synthetic. Because carpet beetles cannot really east anything synthetic.
4. Use Sprays
Nothing works as good as something tailored to suit a particular need. If you scan the market, you will find many sprays and products dedicated to dealing with carpet beetles. Preferably, buy a spray for carpet beetles and use it in every place that you suspect can harbor the insect.
5. Use Boric Acid
You do not want to use a harmful chemical all over your house? Understandable. So, you can use boric acid which is not very harmful. Apply it on the carpet and furniture and remove whatever excess you apply. This should prevent carpet beetles from coming to your house.
6. Use Mothballs
You know those white naphthalene balls we use to get rid of cockroaches in wardrobes? Apparently, you can use similar mothballs to keep carpet beetles away from your belongings. The smell and ingredient in these balls will keep the carpet beetles out.
Removing Carpet Beetles
As you go on in life, you will figure that prevention and control are always easier than damage control. So, here we have more steps than the previous methods. Let’s see what you can do to remove the stubborn carpet beetles.
1. Vacuum the carpet and furniture
You have to suck out the bugs from whatever can be sucked out. You can imagine what a mess the inside of the waste bag of the vacuum will be. So, the next step is to completely close the waste bag, in an airtight-like condition and get rid of it for good. This will take care of the adult and bigger larvae.
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2. Apply heat by steam cleaning
Carpet beetles reproduce like a maniac (Even a maniac does not reproduce so much so fast). Therefore, if there were larvae in your house, there probably are countless eggs which the suction of the vacuum cannot pull out. This is why you need to kill them with heat. And, steam cleaning is the best way to do so.
3. Wash every fabric with hot water and detergent
It is not only the carpet and furniture that carpet beetles attack despite its name. Clothes, leather, etc. Are attacked as well and you need to wash the cushions and everything else to make sure that nothing of the carpet beetles has stayed behind. Furthermore, make sure you use warm water along with detergent to kill every possibility of germs staying.
4. Apply Boric Acid
This is more of a finishing touch so that the effort you gave stays for a while. Boric acid will repel the carpet beetles from coming in and staying in the house. So, apply it on the carpet, furniture and wherever else the carpet beetles may take rest. It is both a preventive measure and a final touch for the removing process.
5. Seek professional aid
If you think that you won’t be able to be delicate with the task of removing, feel free to seek professional help. However, know that you will have to spend more than when you do everything yourself.
Professional Cost for Carpet Beetle Removal
A professional service will surely do the job faster and better. However, at a higher cost. You yourself can do the job faster and better if you try hard enough that too at a much lower cost. In fact, you may have to spend anything between 200 to 500 dollars depending on the level of infestation your house has.
The professionals just check out your house then take extra measures to eliminate the beetles for life. They will be extra careful about everything as well while using effective machines.
Our Last Opinion
No one likes to stay with insects. Even the sight of them can be extremely nauseating. And, when such an insect harms your belongings- the life of that insect is highly in danger.
However, insects are very keen on living and never die easily. Even when they do die easily, they take birth so fast that the one death ceases to matter. This is why immediate and extreme measures are important when dealing with carpet beetle-like insect invasions. We have covered almost everything you can do to prevent and how to get rid o carpet beetles.
Let us hope, the prevention measures work and you never get such attacks again.
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