Carpet beetles and borax

Rachel021967 · 18 April 2006 at 12:33AM

Wilkinsons sell borax. It was 89p a box last time I got some.

Suzey · 18 April 2006 at 10:55AM

Thanks! I had a feeling I'd find it cheap in there! I'll have a look next time I'm in town.

What kind of things did you use it for? I'm still trying to get a feel for how safe it is.

Suze

Rachel021967 wrote:

Wilkinsons sell borax. It was 89p a box last time I got some.

Suzey · 18 April 2006 at 11:59AM

Thanks for the reassurance!

Where do you buy your sticky traps and pheromone traps from?

And when you turn out your cupboards etc do you just take everything out, give it a shake and put it back again? Do you find any beetles/larvae in there when you are doing this?

Do you see many beetles about the house? I rarely see them. It's the shedded larvae skins I see more than anything else. I'm almost scared to clear out the bottom of the wardrobe now!

cheers

Suze (just about to put another boil wash on)

Hester wrote:

Condolences, carpet beetles are nasty bast**ds and I loathe them. Nothing to do with your cleaniless, if you live in a flat, they can be coming up through the floor boards from someone else's porperty, or they just live in dark dead spaces in old buildings, the way it goes. i use sticky traps placed in dark corners (they congregate where they think they won't be disturbed) and also at this time of year, pheromone traps which attract and catch the adult male beetle, before he can go on to breed (ha! ha!) The beetle is not what does the damage, it's the larvae, but it's good to break the cycle. Also, i have found the ONLY way to keep on top of the problem is to turn out cupboards and drawers every six weeks (one aa week so you're not stuck forever doing it, who has the time) and check for the pests - if you see one, squish it. It's oh so tedious and i hate them but don't take it personally. As our climate gets warmer, and our houses don't really cool down in the winter because we use heating, they are encouraged to multiply as never before. Good luck.

£Ronnie · 18 April 2006 at 1:46PM

Kimmy and Aggie also recommend getting yourself down to the timber merchants for a sample of cedarwood, this apparantly repels carpet/textile beetle, moths etc etc, and is much cheaper than buying a specially made one. They used a shoelace to tie it on the hanging rail and recommended sanding it every month or so to revive the smell!
HTH
Ronnie

Suzey · 18 April 2006 at 2:14PM

Thanks. I haven't seen any live larvae actually. Not sure if this is cos there aren't any or cos they're moving too quickly!

I just plucked up the courage to go through the bottom of one half of my wardrobe (it's a fitted wardrobe with two sliding mirrored doors, split down the middle inside with a piece of veneer-covered chipboard). Got rid of loads of clothes - stuff that's survived earlier culls! Didn't find many shed skins which was a bit of a relief. There also aren't many skins on the stuff hanging up, so maybe the problem isn't as bad as I thought it was. Does this sound similar to your situation?

I think I'm going to wash all my clothes anyway just in case!

Suze

Hester wrote:

Forgot to reply to your question about what i find - usually not the beetle, unless it's this time of year when the males fly to the light (such as your window sill). It's the wooly bear - the grub which, as it grows, casts its skin. They can be seen by the naked eye, and they can move damn fast. Before you hunt, have kitchen paper to hand, and then pounce and squish. As you squish, they often squirt the colour of the dye stuff that they've just been feasting on, so try not to squish onto something that you're fond off.

Uncle_Cuddles · 19 April 2006 at 10:36AM

Sorry to hijack your thread but we have what I think are carpet beatles, but funnily enough we keep finding the beetles and not the larvae. And they are in an unusual place - we keep finding the beetles in mugs, cups and bowls, etc. in a couple of kitchen cupboards. At least I think they are carpet beetles - they are round, about 3-4mm in diameter, and are stripey brown/yellow. I can't find anything else that looks like them on the internet. We don't have any carpets downstairs, and we can't find any evidence of them upstairs, so it appears that they are just isolated in a couple of cupboards in the kitchen.

I guess from reading this thread, the only solution is regular cleaning out of the cupboard, and sticky traps.

sandieb · 7 August 2006 at 3:02PM

Inspired by the maggots thread, I wondered whether anyone knows the best way to get rid of some carpet chompers? They look like woodlice. I have Googled carpet beetles, but the little varmints don't look like the ones illustrated there.

ALSO, what is the best way to get rid of those little insects which sometimes embed themselves in framed pictures?

Pink. · 7 August 2006 at 4:39PM

Hi sandieb,

The replies on these older threads might help you:

Carpet beetles and borax

tiny beetle type things

Pink

Kazonline · 1 March 2007 at 9:00AM

Yuck - I have found two tiny beetles which I think are these and now feel the need to scrub EVERYTHING.
Any idea where I can get the traps from please, and does anyone have any additional tips on getting rid of these pests please?
Kaz

IWannabedebtfree · 1 March 2007 at 10:23AM

We had some in our last house and had it fumigated straight away as I didn't know what they were and panicked. Sorry if this has been said before, but I read up a bit and it seems that the bugs like anything of animal origin, leather, wool (carpets and clothes) etc. I can only afford synthetic material and plastic handbags these days, so maybe that's why I have escaped a further infestation!
Hope you manage to get rid of yours without paying out too much.

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Carpet beetles and borax

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