Get rid of carpet beetles.

How to Get Rid of Carpet Beetles Naturally (And Fast)

Got carpet beetles? Want to get rid of carpet beetles? You’re not alone.

Carpet beetles are one of the most devastation and relevant pets in all of North America and other first-world countries (and even third-worlds).

You’ll find them all throughout the nation and chances are you’ve already seen some before in your house but didn’t even know that it was a carpet beetle.

You’ll have to get rid of them quickly as they’ll easily eat up anything found in your home, so don’t consider them just a nuisance- they’re much more than that! And then some!

This guide will teach you some DIY methods that you can use to naturally get rid of carpet beetles for good, and some other techniques for those that are dealing with a carpet beetle population that’s gone crazy.

Ready to take your home back from these pets? Read on.

Last updated: 12/30/19.

 

What are carpet beetles?

 

Get rid of carpet beetles for good.
Carpet beetles are a huge pest as they feed on your valuable rugs and clothing- find out how to get rid of them quickly using natural and safe DIY methods with this guide! (Via AJC1.)

Carpet beetles are some of the most abundant beetles out of the 350K known beetles beetle species on the planet, which actually account for more than 25% of the total lifeforms on Earth.

And this doesn’t even count the ones that have yet to be discovered by scientists.

Beetles are prevalent on nearly every continent and in every biosphere. Although humans will never come into contact with every single beetle species, one that the majority of humans have faced is actually right in their own home- the carpet beetle.

The carpet beetle beats out all other beetles as one of the most common household pests in all of North America and will be discovered in even the most hygienic and cleanest homes throughout the country.

When you first find beetles around your home, chances are that it’s a carpet beetle.

You’ll need to act fast because these beetles are actually pretty dangerous compared to other types of beetles you’ll encounter in the household. This is because they’ll eat anything and everything.

So read on for ways you can get rid of carpet beetles quickly and permanently (assuming you keep your maintenance up!).

Nearly every household will have carpet beetles- the problem is when they become too prevalent.

 

Where do they live?

Carpet beetles will be found all over North America and all over the rest of the planet.

Typically, they actually prefer to live indoors where it’s cozy and warm with plenty of food, but they’re also found outdoors.

Of course, if you’re reading this, you probably have carpet beetles in the home because food and shelter are much easier for them to get a hold of within your household.

Within the house, they tend to be found where it’s dark and damp, such as furniture, cabinets, beds, baseboards, closets, and even your car!

They inhabit areas near food and water sources, so you’ll find them slowly crawling around carpet edges, door frames, upholstered furniture, walls, sinks, kitchen areas, and of course, across the carpet.

 

Breeding and reproduction

Just like eating, carpet beetles will breed continuously as long as there’s food and suitable shelter present.

There are many carpet beetle species, but the majority will easily produce up to 4 generations per annum. They’ll find food, then shelter, then start eating and reproducing. Eggs are laid as soon as they enter your home for the first time.

This is why it’s difficult to get rid of them when they get in because they’ll lay eggs nonstop and it’s very easy to miss a cluster of eggs which will hatch later after you thought you got rid of all of them.

They’ll lay them anywhere that’s warm and sheltered that simulates their natural outdoor environment where they’ll lay eggs with bird nests, mouse nests, newspaper, leaf litter, thatch, and even woodpiles.

They’re not picky as cigarette beetles as long as they have easy access to a plentiful food source.

 

Anatomy

Carpet beetle life cycle and anatomy.
Carpet beetles are tiny but can be seen with the naked eye. You’ve probably seen a few around your house but never knew what they were. Notice the symmetrical patterning on its back. (Via gailhampshire.)

Carpet beetles have many variations, but they typically range from 1.7 to 3.5mm, which is about 0.07 to 0.14”.

From above, the body looks spherical with fine scales of various colors that range from white, orange, and various other combinations.

The colors are symmetrical across the body. The white scales are on the lateral edges and they have a pair of antennae with 3 segments.

You can see carpet beetles with the naked eye. They’ll look like small, rounded beetles that move very slowly.

 

Life cycle

When they’re in larvae form, they’re worm-like in appearance.

The adult female lays eggs typically indoors, but may lay eggs in bird nests, mice, and even other pets. They mate near sources of light and more than 100 eggs are laid at a single time. Larvae hatch in about 35 days and larvae will roam without food for weeks if needed.

After that, the pupae will morph, then the adult emerges during the spring or summer. Carpet beetles will develop from young adults to adults within the course of 1-2 years, depending on temperatures and food.

Egg and pupa don’t move, as they’re not mobile during this part of the carpet beetle life cycle. And the eggs are very small and nearly invisible to the naked eye.

But homeowners will notice the shed larval and pupal skins, young adults or adults, or even flying adult. This is when people start to take notice- other than damaged furniture and clothing.

After becoming adults, as previously stated, they can fly and therefore migrate easily from one location to another in search of food and shelter.

The cycle then repeats when the female is matured. This means they can go from one room to another in your house easily!

 

What causes carpet beetles?

Nothing more than food and shelter. As long as those are present, that’s all that’s needed for them to be a real pest.

 

How do you know if have carpet beetles?

Pretty easy to notice once their numbers turn up.

You’ll see them flying, their larvae wriggling, and shed pupae. You’ll also notice damage to your clothes, fabrics, and other natural fibers.

 

What are they attracted to? What do they eat?

Carpet beetles will eat rugs, clothing, and furnitures. Learn how to get rid of them quickly and protect your home.
Carpet beetles will eat anything and everything that’s made out of natural fibers. This is a carpet beetle larva, which can survive without food for weeks. Even at a young age, they want to feed. (Via gailhampshire.)

Carpet beetles will literally eat anything.

This is why it’s imperative you get rid of them as quickly as possible. They breed very quickly if you provide them with food and water and leave them alone

And soon, you’ll find them all over your house. Everywhere.

Sadly, this is when people first start noticing them since they’re so small and will require a lot of them around to spark any notice.

Carpet beetles will eat carpet. Literally. They’ll also eat leather, clothing, blankets, pet hair, human skin, crumbs, bugs, furniture, and any food that you leave behind (including pet food).

They’re like eating machines that have voracious appetites and can do permanent damage to your belongings and upholstery before you even notice.

They’ll eat animal dander, features, lint, pet hair, furniture fabrics, carpet fabrics, furs, rodent nesting materials, and anything non-synthetic.

 

Do carpet beetles have diseases?

Thankfully, they don’t have any diseases you need to be concerned about.

They don’t transmit or carry anything known diseases that are harmful to humans, so you won’t get sick from finding them in your home or food (or water).

But that doesn’t mean your property is safe- they’ll start chowing down on all the stuff you own. So get rid of them fast!

 

How do get them in the house?

The most reasonable and basic explanation for this is because they’re attracted to the food source within your house.

Sure, you may be the cleanest person ever, but can you really keep your house carpet-free? Or curtain-free? Or even furniture free?

Carpet beetles eat a lot more than their name says. They’ll eat up your furnishings, carpets, and even your bedsheets. Oh, and your food too. So this is why they’re so omnipresent all over the nation- because there’s a food source in every single home.

The best thing you can do when you first notice them is to start cleaning up your house, protecting everything you want to protect, and try to prevent further infestation of carpet beetles.

Note that they can also migrate to your car, closet, and even wall voids, attacks, and basements.

 

Are carpet beetles harmful to humans?

Not really.

Other than crawling on your skin at night and around your house, they won’t necessarily transmit disease or harm you.

Carpet beetles won’t bite either, contrary to popular belief. They eat your skin that’s been shed, your oily hair, and your clothes, but they won’t directly bite your skin.

People with allergies may trigger some allergic reaction which may be mistaken for a carpet beetle bite easily. But they don’t bite, so let’s get that straight.

Other than eating your belongings, they won’t harm you directly.

 

Do they live in walls?

Yes. Carpet beetles will inhabit your wall voids, not to mention attics and basements.

Any crawl space is fair game for carpet beetles, as long as there’s a source of food. And remember, they eat anything and everything, so there’s no reason why they couldn’t live in your wall voids.

Although they can, you likely won’t find them there unless they haven’t made their way into your living quarters within your house yet. If you find them in your walls, this could be the start of a carpet beetle invasion, and you need to do something about it quickly before they start invading your home even further.

Carpet beetles definitely prefer living where humans live because of the plentiful source of food.

So even if they’re in your walls now, when they find a source of more food (e.g. in your kitchen), they’ll start moving into your territory. So eliminate them quickly.

To get rid carpet beetles in your wall voids, use DIY traps, mothballs, essential oil traps, borax, and other techniques outlines on this guide.

Read them all and use the ones that apply to your situation. Since wall infestations are a broad subject, I’d urge and suggest for you to try each one and see which one works best.

They also feed in the dark, so being in a wall void is an ideal environment for carpet beetles.

 

Carpet beetles and essential oils

Carpet beetles can be killed by using peppermint or clove oil as essential oil pesticide DIY.

Carpet beetles can be killed by using peppermint or clove oil as an essential oil pesticide.

You can use a few different essential oils to kill and repel carpet beetles from your home. The most common oils are peppermint oil and clove oil, as these two oils will kill carpet beetles upon contact.

If you’ve never had experience using these oils before, be careful.

They’re extremely powerful and the scent will linger around your home for weeks. So be warned if you’re planning to go this route.

You can dilute the solution by using distilled water. The more water you add, the less potent it’ll be. Find a good balance between the two so you can get a DIY carpet beetle killer that’s cheap, effective, natural, and works.

Simply mix a bit of peppermint or clove oil with some water and spray it where you see suspect beetle activity.

 

Do carpet beetles live in beds?

You should know the answer to this by now.

Carpet beetles eat anything. And your bed provides a source of fiber, oils, and skin from your own body.

Carpet beetles are known to come out at night and feed, so beds make the perfect feeding ground because you sleep in it on a routine and leave behind plenty of food, dander, skin, or anything else for them to munch on.

Carpet beetles will even come out at night time to eat off the essential oils shed by your body, pets, and anything else that’s carried into your bed.

This is why getting rid of them quickly is important. Unless you don’t mind them feeding off your skin while you sleep.

 

How to trap carpet beetles

You can sticky traps from your local hardware store.

These traps work well to see how far you’ve gotten in exterminating the beetle population. Don’t depend on these traps to catch them and kill them, these are better off to use as a gauge to see how you’re doing.

The fewer bugs you see over time, the less of the population is in that area. Remember to place them where you see activity so you can gauge if that area is still a problem.

 

Carpet beetles in the car

Carpet beetles can definitely infest your car as well.

They don’t care that it moves around (or not). As long as there’s a source of food, they’ll be happy.

Since the majority of cars are either leather or cloth, that’s a plentiful food source. Add crumbs from crackers, coffee spills, and soft drink stains, and they have a whole buffet of food.

Note that pets, kids, and other passengers will also bring in food sources from their clothes, pockets, and even shoe soles.

To get rid of carpet beetles in your car, you’ll have to vacuum, steam clean, and use a soapy cloth to wipe everything down. the good part is that your car is isolated, so it’s easier to clean up carpet beetles and their eggs.

Just be patient and give it a consistent cleaning, and don’t introduce more dirt or food sources into your car.

The carpet beetles should be relatively easy to get rid of with patience, maintaining hygiene, and keeping it clean.

That’s the key. Keep your car clean and the beetles will go away. There’s no secret- just keep it clean!

 

Carpet beetles in the closet

Carpet beetles love to feed in the dark. And they love clothes.

So it makes sense that you’ll find them crawling around your closet eating up your clothing.

The solution is to take out the clothes, empty the closet, and laundry everything.

Use a combo of cleaning recipes found throughout this guide, create your own pesticide (also found below), and leave the closet empty until you’re sure the beetles have been exterminated.

 

Protecting your furniture

Carpet beetles will happily munch on your furnishings including your sofa, couch, rugs, carpet, drapes, dining tables, and anything else that’s fabric or wood.

The best way to protect your furniture from carpet beetles is to simply get some kind of resistant cover, such as a plastic cover for your furnishings.

Store everything that can fit in a plastic bag or cover as you see fit. Smaller objects like couch pillows can be stored safely in plastic inside a dark area to deter carpet beetles.

Try to store them in brighter areas, as carpet beetles only feed in the dark and may find their way through the plastic.

Remember, storage of your furniture is only temporary until you get rid of them.

So you’ll only have to stash and protect them temporarily, unless you don’t plan to use the furniture much, then you can store it for extended periods.

Vacuum existing furniture and clean them regularly. Use DIY pesticide for carpet beetles as mentioned in this guide to get rid of them and deter them.

You can also opt for synthetic fibers over natural ones, especially for your carpet and rugs. They’re not as attracted to fake materials over real ones, so they won’t eat them.

 

Carpet beetle insecticide

Other than essential oils covered in this guide, you can make your own DIY pesticide for carpet beetles.

Here are a few recipes you can try at home:

Rubbing alcohol

This needs no specific recipe.

You can spray rubbing alcohol directly onto the beetles and also use it to clean surfaces that have beetle activity.

They won’t lay eggs or crawl on surfaces that have been sprayed with isopropyl alcohol.

So you can use this stuff on your bed, furniture, walls, surfaces, and other various areas where you see carpet beetles. Use 91% straight rubbing alcohol. No need to dilute this stuff.

Bleach

Use a 1:3 bleach to water mixture and use it clean your cabinets, surfaces, and anywhere else you see beetles.

Note that this is a dangerous recipe and not intended for areas with kids/pets. Use it as how you’d use bleach. This will kill carpet beetles and their eggs right away.

 

Getting rid of carpet beetles (DIY style)

Get rid of carpet beetles permanently and naturally.
You can get rid of carpet beetles naturally using the following methods. Use a combination and see which one works best for you. (Via Jean and Fred.)

Here are some techniques you can use to get rid of the DIY style, naturally.

You should definitely attempt these methods first before you use pesticides because those are dangerous and often toxic to pets and children (and yourself).

So always start with organic/natural methods of carpet beetle removal before bringing out the big guns.

Washing clothes and laundry

Throwing your clothes, sheets, rugs, drapes, and other washables will kill carpet beetles that are present on them.

The heat, soap, and laundry detergent will all eliminate the beetles and any eggs they laid. This is a good practice if you notice them within your fabrics, as this provides an easy way to eliminate them off the bat.

This will also prevent other pests like boxelder bugs and dust mites.

Keep on schedule when you’re dealing with them. Wash your fabrics weekly during this time and keep patient as you’re dealing with the problem.

You’ll feel like you’re just wasting water, but throw this stuff with the rest of your laundry during this time as it’s critical that they don’t escape from your other traps and migrate into your fabrics.

Washing will help get rid of them faster and prevent an escape route for the rogue beetles that run away.

Moth traps (mothballs)

You can use mothballs and place them in areas where you see activity- including rugs, curtains, and your clothing

Carpet beetles will wander into the mothball traps and get killed over time. However, these traps and mothballs won’t repel them.

Of course, you wouldn’t want a mothball to repel them or else they’ll never fall for the trap.

So you can use mothballs or moth traps to kill them, though it’s a passive approach and will take time.

Use these are a backup line of defense to get rid of them, but don’t depend on them to take care of all the carpet beetles in your home.

Vinegar and carpet beetles

Vinegar is another excellent will repel and kill carpet beetles.

Use white or apple cider vinegar to do a deep clean through your house, counters, furniture, clothes, shelves, drawers, hangers, window sills, closets, cupboards, and even your car.

Dab vinegar onto a large cloth and distill it with some water (7 parts vinegar, 3 parts water) and use it to clean up.

This is a safe, mild, and natural way to kill carpet beetles and also prevent them from entering your home in the future for a short period of time, as they’re repelled by the scent of the vinegar and the deep clean will keep them starving.

For extra power, you can add some borax to the mixture. This will make it a lot more powerful and deadly to carpet beetles and their eggs.

Be careful with this new mixture, as this DIY recipe is still natural, but it’s a lot more powerful and you don’t want to stay in contact with it or use it where pets and humans may consistently be in contact with the pesticide.

Even though borax is natural, it’s not made to be in contact with constantly. Use with caution.

Diatomaceous earth (DE)

This is a fine white dust that’s found naturally in the earth’s surface.

You can use this to dust areas where you see activity and will slowly wear out the beetle’s outer layer of protection.

This is an all-natural solution to killing them and you can get it at any hardware store. Go for the food-grade version if possible.

And always take precaution before attempting to use this stuff around pets, children, or other living creatures and people.

Sunlight or regular lighting

Carpet beetles don’t like sunlight or well-lit areas of your home.

Use this as a weapon by opening up your windows or curtains to let the light shine. This will deter them and also the UV light will kill bacteria throughout your home.

Use well-lit lighting to drive carpet beetles away into hiding, but note that these two methods won’t’ kill them. They’ll simply deter them.

Heat/Cold

Hot and cold will both easily kill carpet beetles.

This is why you can throw your fabrics into the laundry without worry of the beetles coming back out. Just throw them in there and the cold/hot wash cycle will kill all the beetles and any eggs they laid.

You can also use a steam cleaner to clean your house, furniture, car, and other areas where beetles are present.

Cedar

Like mothballs, cedar can also be used to kill them. It’s an approach that’ll take time, but works without needing your constant attention. Get cedar at the hardware store and place it around areas where you see carpet beetles, they’ll be killed over time.

This approach won’t repel them, only kill.

Don’t use it as your only line of defense, because they can still escape or migrate and continue breeding elsewhere away from the cedarwood.

Vacuuming

This is the most obvious way to get rid of carpet beetles.

Vacuuming on a schedule and frequently will suck up most carpet beetles and their eggs. Make sure you get all the right spots, typically where you see them.

Get carpets, carpets edges, walls, curtains, and even the furniture and bedsheets (and bed itself).

You’ll want to vacuum your house thoroughly to clear the infestation. Repeat a cleaning schedule weekly- go for twice a week if you can.

Borax

Borax will kill carpet beetles over time.

This stuff is made from natural compounds and you can find it in the laundry aisle at your local department store.

You can use this by doing the following to kill carpet beetles:

  • Get a cup of borax and a small tablespoon.
  • Scoop up a spoonful.
  • Sprinkle it lightly around your carpet edges, rugs, furniture.
  • Don’t sprinkle it directly on the carpet that’s found in high-traffic areas, as your steps will remove some borax each time you step on it and render it ineffective.
  • Go for the edges and pretend you’re building a barrier around your carpet. Use it where there’s less foot traffic.
  • Leave it there during the course of your carpet beetle removal.
  • Vacuum it up when the beetles are all gone.

Here’s a video that demonstrates how to use borax to kill bugs in general, but you can apply the same method to carpet beetles:

Steam cleaning

Steaming cleaning is a perfect alternative to vacuuming. This will kill the beetles instantly and kill their eggs. Clean as you would with vacuuming.

Laundry

Using hot temperatures from your dryer will instantly kill carpet beetles. Use this for rugs, curtains, and bedsheets/blanket.

 

How to stop carpet beetles from infesting your house

There are a few things you can do to prevent carpet beetles from infesting your home.

Here are a few tips:

Opt for synthetic fibers. Carpet beetles don’t like fake fibers for their food, so get synthetic rugs, curtains, furnishing, and any other fabrics you can replace with synthetic fiber.

Store all your necessary clothing and furniture in plastic, then seal them so they’re airtight. This will prevent them from being fed on by carpet beetles, assuming you can’t sell or donate them in the first place.

Get a cleaning schedule. Clean up your place on a routine. Vacuum regularly. Spray your counters and surfaces with rubbing alcohol and clean regularly. Use moth traps to monitor any activity from carpet beetles.

Clean your pets. Give them showers and wash them if possible.

Practice good household maintenance. Seal up cracked foundations. Keep your plants and trees trimmed.

Keep your garden and foundation around your house clean and maintained. Check your house for cracks and fill them with caulk. Block up any voids. If you notice an issue, be proactive and take care of the problem!

 

How long does it take to get rid of carpet beetles?

Depends on how bad the beetle infestation is.

If you’ve been ignoring the problem or you didn’t notice for quite some time, it’ll take much longer to get rid of them. It also depends on your plan to get rid of them.

If you go for an aggressive method, you’ll get rid of them faster if it’s effective. If you use a more passive approach, it’ll take longer.

So this depends on what you do and the approach you take to get rid of the beetle infestation.

For smaller infestations, you can get rid of them within 30 days if you’re consistent.

The populate will be drastically smaller or og&e.

For medium infection, it can take a few months to get rid of them. You’ll need to use a more extreme approach for the fastest results.

For large infestations, it can take a very long time to get rid of all of them. This may not even be possible because they’ll constantly breed new nymphs as you try to get rid of one portion of the entire colony.

Depending on your approach, this will vary in time to get rid of them.

 

Did you get rid of the carpet beetles?

Carpet beetle killer DIY recipe.
Did you get rid of your carpet beetles? Let me know!

That’s all I have for you, folks.

If you’ve successfully reduced the carpet beetle population, let me know in the comments section below. Or if you’re struggling and need help, leave a comment as well and I’ll try to get back to you ASAP.

If you’ve dealt with carpet beetles before and have some words of advice to give, let us know as well!

You could be helping someone out who’s in need right now and could use your advice!

Now get those carpet beetles under control and outta your house permanently!

Thanks for reading!

35 thoughts on “How to Get Rid of Carpet Beetles Naturally (And Fast)”

  1. Thanks for all of the tips! Is it possible to put together something what will attract them and put a sticky pad near it to trap them that way? What would you recommend d building that would attract them? Is there a particular scent or method you’d recommend?

    1. I’m currently having a infestation of beetles, I have long hair past my butt and I noticed that they are living in my hair and I know that all the data says that is impossible but I have been trying to work with a pest company that is dragging there feet. I am loosing my mind I’ve had larvae on me almost everyday for a couple of months now. I am always freezing n they laid eggs in my hair and I have tried everything to get them out. N before this I had beautiful hair n it seems that there always in my clothes even if I wash them n keep them in a plastic tote and I am taking 2hr showers a day with tea tree n peppermint shampoo and conditioner, don’t work but for a couple hrs. n there in my bed but also I had bed bugs prior to this! I’m flipping out, I wake up with larvae on me if I use a blanket and I am allergic too so makes it hard to clean, i keep my curtains in my bedroom open always. Tried vinegar and water and it is good only for a day. I need advice bad plz contact me ASAP. Thanks.

      1. Layni Carter

        Hi- I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. I had the same problem a few years ago at my old house (eliminated bed bugs only to to be inundated with carpet beetles) and can relate. It’s miserable not just because of the bugs, but it’s amazing how many people react as though you’re just crazy or on drugs. Being aware that bugs are crawling on you can begin to make you question your sanity, but I promise there is a way out. I unfortunately just found a new infestation in the back seat of my car, but I feel more prepared this time around.
        I’d guess the reason you’re reacting to them so severely is the same reason I did. Bed bug bites will trigger a histamine response, as will carpet beetle hairs. Instead of getting used to these things, the more you are exposed the more histamine is released thus the more intense physiological response, not to mention psychological. Additionally, as much as I had cleaned after the bed bugs, which we had in July, there was undoubtedly some missed remains that made for an abundant food supply contributing my infestation. We lived in a shared home where my landlord had an open pantry with dried goods in paper packages on a bottom shelf. This was the source of their intrusion but from there they made their way into a heating vent & return nearby. I’m sure they nested in there initially & in October with the bed bugs eliminated, we suddenly had carpet beetle larvae blown throughout the house as soon as the furnace was turned on. It was miserable. But I promise there is hope.

        I found that if I used epsom salt to scrub my scalp and rub through my hair prior to shampooing and as a body scrub along with essential oil infused products it helped immensely & immediately. I would put my hair in a bun and leave it that way most of the time. I eventually did a lice treatment in the end to make absolutely sure they were eliminated. Honestly it was probably overkill, but is there really any such thing with these monsters?

        As far as clothing and blankets, I would retrieve them directly from a hot dryer before use. I eventually came to realize that there weren’t nearly as many live ones as I’d thought, but their casings and hairs remain imbedded in the fabric & so it always felt as though there were. Using an oil based product such as vaseline as a moisturizer and barrier helped reduce irritation immensely. A sticky lint roller and disposable razor to literally shave the fabric helped eliminate the stray hairs & things over time to help me realize where they were dead vs actually still active. Some would survive washes by burrowing in the seams or linings or tiny corners of pockets or deep in thick blankets that the washer wasn’t fully soaking. Once I discovered this & eliminated the hiding spots as well as leftovers I actually began to make progress to the point I could store things in bins with mothballs and they would come out unscathed. Also, don’t forget your shoes – I lifted a shoe lining once to find the little monsters hiding under there eating their squished friends. Again, check seams as well as the treading on bottom. Bra padding and your purse are also places you might never think to look, but should because it only takes a couple survivors to undo any progress & yes I have found them there. Check your vehicle because they will travel.

        It’s taken me years to learn that like dust mites, carpet beetles can be found in every home or other building frequented by people that I enter. I notice signs of them other people don’t look at twice. But there is a big difference in the severe home infestation I encountered & it sounds like you’re experiencing & a few stray insects that no matter what kind are bound to find a way inside. Because I am aware I’m extra thorough when I clean, the inevitable one or two don’t intimidate me like they used to. Even with the newly discovered infestation in my car I’m not panicking. I’m just going to overkill them. Good luck!

        1. Hi Layni –

          Thank you so much for your comment. This helped me emotionally lol. This really can be traumatizing. I just moved into a new apartment and now discovered that I brought the carpet beetles with me. I’ve thrown out all of my fabric furniture and am cleaning like a maniac.

          Question for you and others … how did you treat your purses and shoes (including leather)? I currently have mine in sealed bins outside because I haven’t figured out how to ensure they are carpet beetle free?

          Any suggestions for paintings, artwork, and books?

          Thank you all,

          Meredith

          1. Latishia m morales

            Yes and all three left my house looking and thinkinking im crazy. My landlord had enough nerve to ask my daughter if I was mentally ill. Its been rough

      2. My family with hair is in the exact same situation! The doctors think we have scabies too but I think it’s just the beetles!

      3. Latishia Morales

        I’m going through same thing. No one believes me. But everyday for almost a year I feel them on my clothes and in my hair. I need help too

      4. Wendy, are you using the Raw Vinegar it’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar. Do you have a Steamer or can you get one? I bought mine used for $60 on offer up. Or you can rent one Do you vacuums every Day…Just trying to help.Let me know Kim

      5. I put a tight black cap on my head when I go to bed. Googling it says silk cap, bonnet for hair and they call it a Do-rag. Anything that tightly fits your head. I have ran apple cider vinegar through my hair with my fingers before I put on cap. Hope this helps. I know it’s awful!

      6. Hi there,
        So sorry to hear this happened to you, just wondering what eventually worked and colour were the eggs.

        I have the same problem and I’m finding red/black eggs in my ear!! I have moved into a hotel with my kids because I can’t do it anymore!

        Moving into a new house and don’t want to take the pro me with us.

    2. Tammie Johnson

      I need help drastically … I bought a plant there was full of lightning Beatles….How do I get them out of my home

    3. Kimberly Searfus

      Wow Jason, You have an awesome page I’m from Alaska I have been In CA. Taking care of my Mom. We don’t bugs we have Mosquitos and bears ,So I had been noticing something In the carpet and our bug guy said I was seeing things.I got a New bug lady took her a bit but she says yes..So it’s been 2yrs. But I have looked everywhere on the Internet and no one explained them properly they don’t look like the picture I believe what I have been seeing Is the larva. But In my hair I see a tear drop shape and a black line on my skin so am I right. Your page is excellent the best I have seen I spilled alcohol today and I found out that I had them In my skin. So this I can not find any where I’m using Alcohol In my hair should I soak It for 15 mins. I sent away for Vinegar shampoo but until then I will use Raw Apple Cider Thank You I know It will take time and I wish I would have found you sooner Best of Luck Kim

    4. Hi

      Can they get in my nose and mouth if I’m an open mouth sleeper?? I’m 71 and trying to get rid of carpet beetles. This is a nightmare.

      Elizabeth

  2. Not true about disease – look up Dermestid dermititis.
    my boy has been showing bed-bug like reactions – we had a sniffer dog in, no bed bugs. We had a vet confirm no fleas on indoor cat. We scoured the house and found two larvae and one shed pupae, and a live beetle near the pet food dish.
    We think it’s these guys. the bristles can cause reactions and possibly lead to asthma.

  3. I have been dealing with an infestation in my car for the past several months. We finally took the drastic approach of taking out the seats and the carpet. We found that they were in the body of the car. Seems the previous owner had mice nesting in the car and bringing in dog food and other such things that mice do. My husband found a plug under the car and we were able to get the dog food and insulation out using two shop vacuums and an air hose. It took us hours. I had been spraying a toxic spray designed to kill carpet beetles as well as spraying straight vinegar and huge amounts of moth balls. Daily I was vacuuming up dozens of larvae. I have had the car parked for months because I couldn’t stand having the beetles crawl on me. I am hoping that we managed to get all of the food source out of the frame of the car. I am going to wash the hole car down with vinegar and spray with 91% alcohol before replacing the carpet and putting the car back together. We have the seats and parts of the car in large black plastic bags that we will be inspecting and cleaning before the car is back to being driven by me. I am so glad to know it is a common infestation but man it is creepy and disgusting.
    Now I also have two shop vacuums to clean and disinfect .

  4. I feel so validated after reading this! I’m right in the middle of dealing with all this funk, and I’m so glad to know that I’m not the only one who’s hyper aware of these unwelcome itty bitty gross intruders! Was getting so annoyed and frustrated at family members who refused to help maintain a clean environment! Thank you!

  5. I bought a steam cleaner & my friend Judy gave me a shark vacuum cleaner (she gave it to me before I knew I had carpet beetles)(my old vacuum cleaner was weak)….but the steam cleaner I bought after I saw the dumbass bugs. They just sit there … ha ha ha. Well once one crawled on my arm. I steam clean with water & add vinegar. I use vinegar & I just sprayed a room w/it from a bottle. I have pets so i do not use toxic methods. My eyes started stinging from the vinegar. So I’m in the other room. I saw one live beetle today. I was shocked!!! Haven’t seen any since I sprayed, vacuumed, hired a guy to help me…man he made cleaning fun! Too bad he is bi-polar, he began insulting me the second time he was hired. The bugs look like mini beetles but the worms are the most gross to see. I now spray food items I throw out with vinegar before putting them in kitchen trash. I also never eat food in my bedroom without a large tray & I use trays wherever I eat food. I remember the old days my Mom had No Bugs Ma Lady in our kitchen cabinets, & the commercials for it. The sticky insect boxes work very well but catch very little but they will attract the worms & beetles in few numbers. Shucks.

    1. You mentioned you have pets. Realizing two weeks ago I have carpet beetles not bed bugs. Even though I found a couple bugs in my bed, I have been reading a lot. Articles saying they like hair and animal fur. I finally found one of their spots. A carpeted cat tree house right next to my bed! ! I never thought about that! so if anybody has a cat tree they better check for damage or any place your pet goes a lot. I just sprayed the entire thing with rubbing alcohol and opened all my windows. Oh and they also like dry pet food! I hope spraying helps for tonight. I have another cat tree in my living room

  6. So, I how found I have these little critters, I spent two days on the floor in my dining area painting a hutch and making Christmas garland. I broke out in a rash? Whaat? I then I thought I might have bed bugs, which really freaked me out. I did not sleep well that night of course. Had scoured my bed, but found nothing. Next day I pulled my room apart and found a carpet beetle larvae. Just one under my mattress. I vacuumed and sprayed down the 91% rubbing alcohol and washed everything I could. Hot dryer for everything else. After reading this post, I took a look in my closet and found two larvae in the corner under the carpet behind the door. Its on now! I got some Diatomaceous Earth food grade, vacuumed everything, put the DE under the trim around the rooms and sprayed down the alcohol. Washed all of the clothes in my closet. I really feel disgusted and overwhelmed because I’ve only found 3 larvae, but feel I need to treat my whole house! I have two cats and concerned about using a poison. My question is, does the rubbing alcohol kill the critters?

  7. I’ve been trying to fight carpet beetles for what seems like 1.5 years now. When I think I’ve done a great job at getting rid of them, they seem to just come back. My whole family has cleaned our house from top to bottom but since we can’t do it all at one time, seems like we have to constantly clean multiple times a day. I’m over it and seriously have anxiety over these beetles since they’ve eaten our clothing. I’ve tried using vinegar and borax, didn’t work. I found a few carpet beetles in the larvae stage and put them in a container with borax just to test to see if borax kills them, I left the bugs for more than two days and they were still crawling around living their best life.Still fighting these bugs and hope to one day truly get rid of them. If someone has made their own DIY carpet beetle killer spray and it’s actually worked, please share?! Thank you in advance.

    1. I’m still at the same problem for the last two weeks now and my people think that I’m crazy but what I’m using is vinegar and hydrogen peroxide don’t do the alcohol because yes I’ll call kills them but not as good as the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide it’s those two together and just spray one section of your carpet and watch it foam up when you foams up like that you’ll see all the black spots in your carpet that you probably been missing once you see that then you’ll really know how much of them that you really have and you’ll know that it’s actually working because once you spray it on a carpet they all come up the little eggs and larvae

  8. I have only seen a larvae casing or two but no beetles themselves. I am pretty grossed out but should I be worried? Thanks!

  9. I am moving and want to do whatever I need to do to ensure that I don’t take these stupid beetles with me. They have infested my mother’s house, and I’m sure all of the furniture.
    Any advice on what to do?
    My plan is to stage everything in the garage and clean EVERYTHING with disinfectant wipes and wash all of the clothes before putting them away in any dressers or closets.

  10. I have twins and i have been strugling with these creatures with a great effort for 5 months now,the there different insectisist companies couldn’t finish this problem and i had to do it on my own. I started putting all fabrics in large thick black bags.My closets are still empty, I minimised my belongings and clothes, i put some of them which are natural fabrics away in trash bins like blankets, and i delivered many new clothes that i thought i would be rarely wearing.so i put the left fabrics,clothes,pillows etc in black big bags and after washing them and drying with hot water and hot dry i again put them in new black big bags and still they are in bags. Also I bought a large freezer which gets -24 Celsius degree,and i m putting unwashable clothes in it for 2 weeks,i hope this will also kill the eggs,they say so on the internet, and I residuel sprayed every corner furniture,carpets,shelves,cracks, crevices ,frames of Doors,Windows,and got the open places fixed to prevent their arrival.residuel spray realy helps and on the label it says it is not toxic for pets and children, under beds and furniture also needs to be sprayed,and i tried to vacuum every place that they could hide and live eggs,in the beginning i sprayed once a week for over a month,and then twice a month,i m still going on spraying and i will start again in the middle of March to spray once a week for a month, residuel insectiside way helps, and all fabrics must be handled, i hope i will get rid of them,if i go on checking every thing,every corner,but it is not east as you can guess, good luck for all of us! We really need this

  11. I have only found very small little round specks of bugs in my bed, mostly my sheets. I wash and dry at home placing blankets and quilts in a hot dryer only but still continued to find the little devils. I tore the room apart and sprayed a commercial spray every place I could possibly reach. Two days later I ran the vacumm cleaner but they are so small I would never see them unless they are on something light colored and that I could get close to. I am 76 years old so I don’t have the best vision. After reading all these stories I have no hope of completing the job of getting rid of all of them. I live in a small apartment and I cannot move my bed so that is another problem. I sprayed as best I could.

  12. Some good tips here but just a couple of suggestions:
    1. The article is way too long – you could have summarised many of the points as I found some of the statements were repeated multiple times throughout (article filler perhaps?).
    2. A little more attention to the grammar and sentence formation. A quick spell check prior to posting an article is also helpful as it gives it a more professional feel.

    Other than that a very well thought out and researched article.

  13. I have found quiet a few of what I think are carpet beetles, I have been spraying the areas I find them with white distilled vinegar, (carpets, floors, window ledges, under the bath, clothes etc) we had noticed them in our en suit and bathroom, I am now finding some dead on the floor and carpet but still have some active one (found one on my sons bedroom window) does this mean the vinegar is working or what else can I do I want to get rid of them, but worried about using chemicals as I have children and pets and want to do the natural way to get rid of them and stop them coming back. Many thanks

  14. Please help me! I’ve found about six I am pretty sure there carpet beetles on my bed, on my bedroom curtain and on my windowsill which are both right beside my bed against the wall in the last few days! Last night I was sitting on my leather couch in the living room and was wearing a t-shirt and found one on my arm! I’am freaking out they must be everywhere! I live in a very old building and they could be in the walls! In my bathroom suddenly for the last couple of weeks I noticed these little long skinny really slow moving sort of ant type looking bugs! Never had that before either. I’ve never had any bug in my house before other than the odd spider. I have a cat so I need something that is safe to use around my cat to kill them! I need something to instantly kill them now! I have been itchy all over my body and my whole scalp on my head is so unbearably itchy I have not been sleeping much! Do you know what I can use to kill any large on my scalp to help stop the itching too? Please help me Thank You So Much! 🙏

  15. Hi, if I know some big is eating my clothes, but I have never seen these bugs, how do I find out what kind of bug it is?

  16. Hair treatment: In a shampoo bottle, mix apple cider vinegar with shampoo about 2 to 1 and shake well. When in the shower, put this on your upper body and ears first so they can’t escape. Then put it in your hair and rub it into your scalp well. Put some in your eyebrows too, but be very careful not to let it drip into your eyes because it really hurts. Get a disposable shower cap and put one on. I leave it on for at least 10 minutes. I listen to music, like maybe 5 songs to sort of time it being on me and this gives me time to shave my legs and wash my lower body while waiting. Remove the shower cap and rinse your hair well leaning back so it doesn’t get into your eyes. I do this about every 3 days and use regular shampoo on the other days. I also use a good conditioner after the treatment. Forgot to say, keep a clean wash cloth nearby to wipe your eyes in case it tries to drip down. They’re in my dog’s fur too so I use food grade diatomaceous earth after carefully doing the same treatment on them about once a week or so. My dogs are small and seem to tolerate this well so far. Wash sheets and dog beds in hot water often. Keep dogs clipped short. Good luck! These things are nasty! They’ll chew your hair and it falls out, Yuck!

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