Bye Bye Beetle

When moving into an older property with carpet, it is important to perform a deep clean to remove embedded dust, hair and potential insect infestation. Some beetles thrive in old carpets, and to ensure that they don't means thorough cleaning and maintenance. The Varied Carpet Beetle is one such pest. It lives in dark, dirty environments and can become a real pain if not dealt with quickly. This guide will help you to understand your unwanted house guest and provide practical tips for removing them and maintaining a clean carpet.

Varied Carpet Beetles

The varied carpet beetle is very small and can be difficult to spot as they are small with mottled brown and white colored markings and prefer dark places, such as under skirting board or tables. However their presence is often clear enough, as clothes and large patches of carpet can often become bare of thread. They eat a variety of fabrics from silk, cotton and feathers, which means they can infest other pieces of furniture as well. Older sofas with duck down fillings are at particular risk, as are furniture pieces made of other natural materials. 

Prepping for Extermination

In order to prepare for the beetles' extermination, the first thing you should do is vacuum the area to remove as many of them as possible. It's important to then throw away the vacuum bag to ensure they don't escape and re-infest the area. If you find that clothing or furniture fabric has been infested, a wash in the washing machine, using good quality powder and high temperature water for a full wash will kill them off. Sometimes two washes may be required to remove the dead beetles. 

Killing Them Off

Removing carpet beetles is simple enough if you use a professional carpet cleaning company, as they will have high powered carpet shampoo machines and the appropriate strength chemicals to kill them off. If you want to tackle them yourself though, a commercially available cleaner containing Boric Acid is recommended, as it is organic and more house friendly. 

Prevention

Preventing carpet beetles is simple. Try to keep all windows and doors free from pollen during the summer and maintain a regular vacuuming regime. If you use synthetic fabrics you'll deter them further, and try to keep furniture up off of the floor. For example having a sofa with plastic or wooden legs will stop them from climbing up.

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