How to Get Rid of Carpet Beetles (2024)

Carpet beetles are small, oval-shaped insects that fly into a home and leave carpet beetle larvae to cause havoc on carpets, materials, and other surfaces. While adult carpet beetles are primarily found outside, where they consume flower pollen, they will sometimes appear inside, especially around windowsills. Learning how to get rid of carpet beetles and their larvae means that you first need to find out what is drawing them indoors.

Carpet beetle larvae are small and worm-like, with poky hairs all over their bodies. These larvae (more specifically their arrow-shaped hairs) have been known to cause skin irritation and allergy symptoms in some humans, but these pests are best known for their destruction of natural fiber materials, such as feathers, fur, leather, cotton, silk, and wool.

Ways to Get Rid of Carpet Beetles Naturally

Inspect and Identify

When performing pest control, the most important step comes first: assessment and identification.

A well-rounded pest control program needs to address each pest according to its biology, and if you don't know what pest you're dealing with, that can be difficult. Do a little research. Consider the biology of carpet beetles and ask yourself these questions:

1. Where am I finding the carpet beetles and why are they there?
2. Are the carpet beetles I'm finding larvae or adults?
3. How do carpet beetles behave?
4. Where are the carpet beetles feeding and reproducing?

Remove the Sources of a Carpet Beetle Problem

If you are having an ongoing carpet beetle issue, you could be bringing them in without knowing it or they could be feeding and reproducing nearby. Adult carpet beetles live outside but will lay their eggs inside where there is ample food when the eggs hatch.

If you're not sure where your carpet beetle source is, look for a company that specializes in Integrated Pest Management. They will help you troubleshoot your carpet beetle issue. First, consider the following sources.

• Fresh-cut flowers: If you enjoy fresh-cut flowers in your home, gently shake your flowers out before bringing them in to make sure carpet beetles aren't hiding inside feeding on pollen.
• Screenless windows: Keep your screenless windows and doors closed, especially in the spring, summer, and fall months, when carpet beetle adults are most likely to fly inside.
• Food: Larvae will be more destructive than adult carpet beetles because the hatchlings are incredibly voracious eaters. Perhaps starting with one of these best carpet rakes, remove food sources, such as pet and human hair, books, seeds, grains, and flour.
• Soiled laundry: Clothing made of silk, wool, feathers, leather, felt, and furs can also be a food source, especially when dirty. Cotton is not a preferred food source for carpet beetles unless it is heavily soiled with sweat or food stains. Keep clothes clean and run laundry regularly to ensure that your dirty clothes aren't contributing to a carpet beetle problem.
• Old furniture: Be prepared to let your natural fiber, silk, or wool chair or rug go if you have a serious problem. Older pieces might be stuffed with animal hair which carpet beetle larvae will happily infest.

Clean, Seal, and Sanitize to Keep Carpet Beetles Away

To avoid a repeated carpet beetle issue, clean up the following messes regularly:

• Accumulations of hair underneath furniture
• Spilled grains and flour in the kitchen or pantry
• Heavily soiled clothing
• Dead insect parts

Soap and water are not ideal for cleaning up flour and grain spills in the pantry area. This can create a paste that becomes caked in the cracks and crevices of your kitchen and can provide further food sources for the larvae of carpet beetles and other pantry pests.

Vacuum Frequently

The vacuum cleaner is your best friend when it comes to carpet beetle management. Be diligent in vacuuming the following places:

• Windowsills in the spring when adult beetles bask in the sunlight
• Under all of your furniture, including couches and beds
• In the pantry when you have grain or flour messes
• In closets where you store natural fiber clothes long-term

What Do Carpet Beetles Look Like?

Several types of carpet beetles could be causing trouble. Regardless of what type of beetle you're dealing with, control methods are generally the same, because it is the larvae that cause indoor damage, not the adult beetles. There are four main types of carpet beetles that you could be dealing with:

1. Varied carpet beetles
2. Common carpet beetles
3. Furniture carpet beetles
4. Black carpet beetles

• Varied, common, and furniture carpet beetles: These various beetles are similar in size, shape, and coloring. Adult beetles are comparable in shape to a ladybug with elongated, oval-shaped bodies. They are much smaller than ladybugs (under a quarter inch in length) and their coloring comes in varied shades of brown, black, yellow, gray, and white speckles.
  
• Black carpet beetles: Adult black carpet beetles have a more oblong shape than the other, more rounded carpet beetles, and measure under a quarter inch in size. They range in color from dark brown to black.
  

Signs of a Carpet Beetle Issue

Several signs may indicate a carpet beetle issue:

• Hairy little worms on your floors, in your closet, or around your kitchen
• Holes in your natural fiber items and clothing
• Adult beetles that are accumulating around your windows in the spring
  

What Attracts Carpet Beetles?

Carpet beetles are one of the most common interior pests. They thrive in a variety of environments and feed on a variety of things. The following things can attract carpet beetles to your home:

• Lights, especially at night
• Open windows and doors that allow adult beetles to fly in toward the light
• Accumulations of animal hair where adults and larvae like to hide
• Piles of dead insect bits in garages or behind furniture
• Access to natural fibers such as wool, silk, animal furs, feathers, and leather
  

How to Keep Carpet Beetles Away

Take preventative steps to avoid inviting carpet beetles indoors. Take the following steps:

• Purchase rugs and furniture made of synthetic fabrics and vacuum regularly.
• Move furniture and vacuum beneath pieces regularly, especially if you have indoor pets.
• Keep your pantry clean and free of spilled grains and flour.
• Keep your eye out for any bird nests around your home or in your attic.