As the name implies, you will likely find carpet beetles in your Portland home in your carpets, as well as in other fabrics. The larvae feed on keratin, a fibrous animal protein in wool, felt, silk, fur, leather, and feathers. They stay away from cotton and other synthetic fabrics unless blended with wool. If you see carpet beetles in your bathroom, kitchen, or mattress, it is likely you have a carpet beetle infestation and need pest control in Portland as soon as possible. Kanga Pest Control provides reliable and effective carpet beetle control solutions.

How Carpet Beetle Infestations Start

A carpet beetle infestation can begin slowly and undetected, causing damage to vulnerable and valuable items. There are signs of carpet beetles you may notice, such as:

• Carpet beetle droppings in your home
• Molted skins from the larvae
• Threadbare spots and irregular holes in carpets, furniture, and other fabrics
• Seeing them appear on inside window sills

An adult carpet beetle is oval-shaped, 1/16 to ⅛ of an inch in size, and ranges in color from black to various brown, white, orange, and yellow patterns. An adult carpet beetle does not feed on fabrics but prefers flower pollen. However, the adults will lay tiny eggs that hatch into the fabric-hungry larvae. These larvae are slow-moving, about ⅛ to ¼ of an inch long, brownish-tan in color, and densely covered with bristles and hair.

So, how do they get inside? The adults can fly inside your Portland home on their own, or they can sneak in on an infested item, such as an article of clothing, furniture, or a rug.

Risks Of Having Carpet Beetles In Your Home

Carpet beetles in your Portland home scavenge on your fabric items instead of biting humans. Although a small number of people can be allergic to the molted skin or bristles that larvae leave behind, most are not. Carpet beetles tend to feast on items that are not regularly used or in areas that are not regularly cleaned.

• Carpet beetles may hide within fabric folds on clothing (hems, cuffs, collars) or on blankets stored in chests, boxes, and closets for long periods.
• You may find carpet beetles on the edges and undersides of rugs and carpets that are not vacuumed regularly. This is why you might be prone to see carpet beetles in your bathroom rugs. We sometimes overlook cleaning those as often as rugs in other areas of the home.
• Decorative items, including taxidermy mounts, are often infested with carpet beetles, especially if these items do not get cleaned on a consistent basis.
• Hair, lint, and debris that has accumulated under your baseboards and inside floor vents can hide carpet beetles.

These pests can be virtually anywhere in your home where fibrous animal proteins are, making an infestation hard to spot and sometimes making it difficult to get rid of carpet beetles. Having a professional pest control inspection and ensuring your home is clean and vacuumed can help in stopping an infestation before it starts.

The Best Way To Get Rid Of Carpet Beetles

If you’ve noticed carpet beetle droppings in your home, holes in your favorite wool sweater, and you haven’t vacuumed the area rug in the spare bedroom in who knows how long, you likely have carpet beetles, and you need them gone before they ruin more of your things.

Enlisting the help of Kanga Pest Control is the absolute best way to get rid of carpet beetles and any other pests from your Portland home. We offer an array of plans, customizable services, price-matching, and our pest-free guarantee.

Carpet Beetle Prevention Tips

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, which is true for pest prevention as well. Here are a few tips to keep carpet beetles from getting into your Portland home:

• Have wool and other susceptible items dry-cleaned and packed in tight-fitting plastic bags or containers before storing them away for an extended period.
• Store more valuable items, such as furs, in cold vaults.
• Keep your rugs and carpets regularly vacuumed and cleaned.

The most effective tip of all? Call Kanga Pest Control. Contact us for your estimate today.