Carpet beetles, while small, can have a significant impact on your home. These tiny pests, lurking beneath the fibers, can severely damage your carpets and may lead to several health issues in your home, such as skin irritation or allergies.
If you’ve spotted these unwelcome visitors, this blog is your ultimate guide to eliminating them. Here, we will explore a few simple steps to get rid of carpet beetles, from identifying the most infested areas to neutralizing them completely using natural and chemical solutions.
Neutralize Carpet Beetles With These Six Simple Steps
Get Equipped With Safety Gear
First and foremost, make sure to wear safety gear. Put on gloves, shoes, and a mask. Carpet beetles and their larvae have tiny hairs that can irritate your skin. If these hairs are disturbed, they can become airborne and cause respiratory irritation if inhaled. Wearing safety gear will help minimize contact and inhalation.
Identify The Most Infested Areas And their sources.
If there are beetles, there must be a source, so the next step in line for you is to identify and clean the source of the infestation, which will be the area with the most signs of damage and beetles.
Start with checking dark, secluded areas like basements and under carpets and rugs for signs such as Brown, bristly, shell-like shed skins from the larvae or brown fecal pellets, about the size of a grain of salt.
Vacuum The Carpet Thoroughly
The third step is to vacuum the carpet and identify the source of the infestation. Attach a powerful HEPA filter to the vacuum cleaner to ensure thorough and effective vacuuming and make sure to make multiple passes from different directions to get rid of carpet beetles to a great extent.
(Additionally, vacuum the carpet once every week or treat the spills or stains as quickly as possible to prevent beetle infestation in the first place.)
Sprinkle Baking Soda Generously
So as you are done with the vacuuming part, sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda over the infested parts of the carpet. Baking soda has dying properties that can dehydrate beetle larvae and eggs, reducing their numbers.
Once sprinkled, let the powder sit for several hours, ideally overnight. The next day, vacuum the carpet thoroughly to remove the powder or any dead beetles.
Steam-Clean The Carpet With Vinegar
Vacuuming and using baking soda are effective methods for dealing with carpet beetles, but they may not be sufficient on their own. Therefore, after vacuuming and removing the baking soda from your carpet, it’s advisable to give your carpet a steam cleaning treatment the next day.
The high heat from steam cleaning effectively kills carpet beetle eggs and larvae on contact. Since these are often hidden deep within the carpet fibers, steam cleaning reaches them where traditional vacuuming or baking soda probably might not.
Fill the machine’s tank with water and add vinegar to its designated compartment. (The acidity of vinegar will make the removal more effective.) Now, turn on the trigger, hold the handle tightly, and start steam cleaning the carpet, ensuring you do not overwet it.
Overwetting is one of the worst carpet cleaning mistakes you’ll like to avoid since it affects the fibers by discoloring them or allowing mold to grow or thrive.
Allow It To Dry Completely
After the steam cleaning process is complete, allow the carpet to dry thoroughly. This typically takes a minimum of six hours, but you can speed up the process by using overhead fans or dehumidifiers.
For natural drying, open all doors and windows to allow air to circulate throughout your home and once the carpet is dry, use a rake to fluff up the fibers.
Final Thoughts!
Carpet beetles pose a grave threat not just to your carpet but also to your well-being. Failing to address them can result in significant issues, including fiber deterioration and health issues such as skin irritation or allergies.
Nonetheless, by utilizing the appropriate natural remedies, you can get rid of carpet beetles and help maintain a safe and healthy indoor environment for your carpet and home as well.