Dealing with carpet beetles can be quite exasperating. Admittedly, these pests are neither poisonous nor dangerous. Still, they can cause quite damage to rugs, curtains, upholstery, and even your clothing!
To avoid the havoc caused by carpet beetles, the question of how to get rid of carpet beetles naturally requires an immediate answer. Suppose you are not so keen on using insecticides to eliminate these house pests. In that case, you can use vinegar, boric acids, or foggers to get rid of carpet beetles naturally.
This post will explain various ways to get rid of carpet beetles and how to prevent future infestation. Stay put.
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All You Need To Know About Carpet Beetles
Table of Contents
Before we delve into how to get rid of carpet beetles, we must provide you with the necessary information on the beetles.
As you already know, carpet beetles are destructive insect invaders. They can grow up to 4 millimeters long once they mature and survive both indoors and outdoors. The adult carpet beetles constitute more nuisance than the beetles in their larval stage that looks like small, hairy worms.
These pests favor dark areas and thus can be found behind baseboards and in pantries, closets, dressers, crevices of sofas, armchairs, and other upholstered furniture.
Most species of adult beetles feed on rugs, carpets, cotton, linen, silk, and wool clothing, blankets, while some species feed on pasta, flour, cornmeal, and dry pet food.
Naturally, these pests are not poisonous or harbor diseases. They only wreak havoc on your properties and can also cause skin irritation due to the barbed hairs on their bodies.
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Signs of Carpet Beetles in your Home
As mentioned earlier, you might have carpet beetles in your home without knowing. Below are some tale signs of these pests in your home:
- Holes on rugs, clothing, bedding, furniture, taxidermy, etc
- Molt shedding: Light brown pieces of shed skin that look like small bug shells can be found underneath rugs, within blankets, inside the folds of clothing and furniture.
- Carpet beetle larvae: these are usually quite hairy and are typically longer than adults carpet beetles.
- Fecal pellets or excrements: the excrements of carpet beetles are about the size of a grain of salt and take the same color as the carpet beetles’ food.
- Adult Carpet Beetles: this is also another obvious sign of carpet beetle infestation.
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How to Get Rid of Carpet Beetles Naturally
Carpet beetles are a common household pest in many homes. Annoyingly, these pests are hard to detect until they have wreaked serious havoc on fabrics like carpets, bedding, clothing, and more.
If you are not a big fan of chemicals and insecticides in your home, you need to employ natural ways to get rid of these pests. Below are some natural ways to get rid of these pests.
1. Laundry
This is the first step you should employ if you’re keen on naturally getting rid of these pests. Remember that we mentioned that carpets beetles feed on rugs, carpets, cotton, linen, silk, and wool clothing and blankets.
It follows that all these items need to be washed thoroughly. You may need to wash these fabrics weekly to eliminate the destructive pests,
2. Use of Moth Traps or Mothballs
Moth traps or mothballs are also another effective way to naturally get rid of the pests. Place the traps in a strategic position in your home.
Carpet beetles will definitely wander into the mothball traps and get killed over time. However, note that using moth traps to get rid of carpet beetles will take some time.
3. Use of Vinegar
This should be one of the most popular natural ways to get rid of carpet beetles. Naturally, vinegar repels carpet beetles – both white or apple cider vinegar are both effective.
Use the vinegar to clean counters, furniture, clothes, shelves, drawers, hangers, window sills, closets, cupboards, and even your car.
To also make the approach more effective, you might need to mix the vinegar with borax. However, keep this mixture away from pets and humans as it is quite poisonous.
4. The Diatomaceous Earth Approach
This is also another effective and natural way of getting rid of these pests. Diatomaceous Earth is a fine white dust that is used to slow down the activity of carpet beetle.
All you need to do is pour the dust in any place the carpet beetles gather. The dust will slowly wear out the beetle’s outer layer of protection. Diatomaceous Earth can be found at any hardware store.
5. Use of Cedar
This is also another natural approach to get rid of carpet beetles. Cedar can be found in most hardware stores. However, the use of cedar to get rid of carpet beetles might take some time.
6. Vacuuming
This should probably top as one of the most effective ways to get rid of all house pests, including carpet beetles. Regular vacuuming will get rid of carpet beetles before they have a chance to do much damage. Make sure to vacuum all corners, drapes, upholstery, and other dark corners of your home. Vacuum at least two times a week for more effective results.
7. Borax or Boric Acid
This is also another natural way to get rid of carpet beetles. Boric acid can be found at pharmacies or in the laundry aisle of supermarkets. The powder form of boric acid is made up of natural compounds that poison insect metabolism.
Sprinkle the powder on the corners of your carpets. To target the larvae of carpet beetles, mix a tablespoon of boric acid with 2 cups of hot water in a plastic spray bottle.
Shake the bottle until the powder dissolves, and spray the solution on curtains upholstery, baseboards, dark nooks, and crannies.
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How to Get Rid of Carpet Beetles Permanently
When it comes to getting rid of carpet beetles permanently, the natural and organic approach listed above might take some time which will probably give these pests time to multiply.
The permanent way of getting rid of beetle is through the use of pest control sprays and insecticides. Admittedly, these chemicals might be a bit harmful to use around the home, but with the right approach, one can get rid of this pest permanently. Below are some lists of these effective chemicals:
- MdxConcepts Organic Pest Control Spray
- Wondercide Indoor Pest Spray
- Eco Defense Home Pest Spray
- Natural Armor Pest Control Spray
- Colton’s Naturals Peppermint Oil Pest Spray
- BorActin Dust
- Refer-Galler SLA Spray Insecticide Spray
- Bio-Advanced Pest Control
- Hot Shot Aerosol Pest Fogger
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What Causes You To Get Carpet Beetles
It might come as a surprise to you when you notice early signs of carpet beetle infestation, which begs the question, what causes you to get carpet beetles?
Remember that we mentioned that carpets beetles feed on rugs, carpets, cotton, linen, silk, and wool clothing and blankets. They live in dark areas like behind baseboards and pantries, closets, dressers, in the crevices of sofas, armchairs, and other upholstered furniture.
It follows that if your home has an excess of these materials and areas, carpet beetles will easily find their way into your home. Carpet beetles also favor products based on animal protein like leather, wool, feather, silk, and hair. It thus means you have to take extra care to ensure that your home doesn’t have an excess of the materials.
Read: Can dog urine cause mold in carpet
Why Do I Have Carpet Beetles?
If you’re suffering from carpet beetle infestation; you probably have an abundance of specks of dust and debris in your home. This is because carpet beetles are attracted to food remnants and dirty, stained clothing. But that is not always the case!
To answer this question effectively, a backup question should be, where do carpet beetles come from? Carpet beetles can be found in your garden feeding on nectar and pollen.
`However, they prefer to lay their eggs indoors in dark spaces that have abundant food. They can easily come into your home through the door or window and can even be bought in on flowers or houseplants.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does Vinegar Kill Carpet Beetles?
Yes. Vinegar is an effective and natural way to get rid of carpet beetles because vinegar naturally repels carpet beetles. Use the vinegar to clean counters, furniture, clothes, shelves, drawers, hangers, window sills, closets, cupboards, and even your car.
Does Baking Soda Kill Carpet Beetles?
Yes, Baking soda can be used to get rid of carpet beetles. Naturally, baking sodas are insect repellants. Once the carpet beetles come in contact with baking soda, it enters the body of the beetle and releases bubbles of carbon dioxide.
Does Bleach Kill Carpet Beetles?
Yes, the use of bleach is also another effective way to get rid of carpets beetles. Mix the bleach with water and spray in areas where the pests and their larvae are.
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Conclusion
When it comes to how to get rid of carpet beetles naturally, there is no hard and fast rule. You can easily opt for the natural methods of getting rid of these destructive house pests. But have it in mind that the natural approach might take some time, giving the pests more time to multiply.
Always be consistent with any of the methods adopted until you see results!
