Family Owned Pest Control in Washington & Utah
License # 101704
- officestaff@zunexpestcontrol.com
- License # 101704
Carpet beetles are common household pests, infesting your furniture and clothing. Like silverfish and clothing moths, carpet beetles can damage essential items in your home.
What happens when you find carpet beetles in your car?
Our blog will tell you everything about carpet beetle vehicle infestations and how to avoid interior damage!
Adult carpet beetles regularly reside outdoors and eat pollen or nectar from flowering plants. These pests won’t harm the plants in your garden or flowers around your home like other outdoor pests.
While homeowners regularly see adult beetles roaming their homes, these tiny pests aren’t responsible for interior damage. Carpet beetle larvae instead cause much of the deterioration you see.
These larvae consume fabric and animal byproducts, meaning many items in your home are susceptible to these pests. Feather pillows, animal skins, wool blankets, rugs, and clothing are tasty treats for the tiny beetles.
Carpet beetles tend to stray away from many synthetic fabrics like nylon, polyester, and rayon, so you shouldn’t notice any damage to clothing, drapes, or covers made from these fabrics.
While cotton is a standard synthetic fabric, carpet beetles may consume wool blends or even eat through items with significant stains. If your clothing is soiled with oil or food, carpet beetles may chew through despite the type of fabric.
Homeowners typically notice damage to dirty clothing, stored fabrics, and infrequently used items. You may not see the damage to infested rugs or furniture until your flip the objects over and spot larvae or slight wear and tear.
Because of their indoor reputation, it may surprise you to see these little pests crawling around on your seat or car interior!
Carpet beetles are unlikely passengers inside your car, so don’t worry about a significant infestation. However, finding a carpet beetle in your vehicle is not wholly far-fetched!
Cars with leather seats or wool seat covers are more susceptible to carpet beetle infestations, especially if you park your vehicle outdoors around flowers or other flowering foliage. If your garage area has items infested with carpet beetles, they could lay eggs in your car.
Because you frequently use your car, you shouldn’t find carpet beetles inhabiting your front seats unless you have a significant infestation. These pests are most likely to reside under your seat or floorboards.
Adult beetles flock to light sources so that you may spot them around windows, windshields, or interior lights.
While these pests prefer animal products, they’ll stick anywhere with ample dander or spills. Polyester or nylon seats aren’t free from potential damage if they’re heavily stained or contain large amounts of hair or pet fur.
Your car is an expensive investment. Besides getting you from one place to another, you may also take pride in your car’s physical appearance. Carpet beetles can slowly rip away everything that makes your car look great!
When carpet beetles sneak inside your car, you’ll want to try our essential tips to eliminate them for good!
Thankfully, eliminating carpet beetles in car interiors is relatively easy and shouldn’t take much of your time or money.
Many tips to remove indoor carpet beetle infestations also work for vehicle bug issues. Plus, you’ll have much less area to cover!
Vacuum the Pests
If you have a vacuum cleaner handy, you can use this ordinary household cleaner to remove the pests infesting your car quickly. Simply plug up the vacuum near your vehicle and look around for signs of carpet beetles.
Don’t forget your floorboards, either! These tiny pests can hide in the fibrous areas on your floor alongside other crumbs and spills. Use the cleaner under and in between your seats to try to remove all of the hidden bugs.
If you have removable seats, lift them out of your car and inspect for any signs of larvae or eggs. Carpet beetle larvae are tiny and often difficult to see, so utilize any method you can to reach their ranks.
Once you eliminate the adults and the growing larvae from your car, you should notice a decrease in the damage to your vehicle.
Use Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is a popular natural pest control method many homeowners regularly utilize for indoor insect infestations. Because of its low toxicity, diatomaceous earth can work well with curious children and pets.
As an insect interacts with the product, the diatomaceous earth will slowly destroy the bug’s exoskeleton. Because the diatomaceous earth is composed of crushed diatoms, the sharp microscopic minerals can fatally injure insects.
Carpet beetles aren’t likely to consume the powder product, but they will still impact the insects as they traverse the fine white mist. Sprinkle it on your floorboards and thoroughly saturate the area under your seats.
Despite its impact on bugs, this product won’t cause you any harm if accidentally consumed. However, avoid inhaling copious amounts of the powder. Its abrasive quality can cause lung irritation.
Always use a respiratory mask when using diatomaceous earth, and never run an air conditioner when the powder is on your floorboards or your seats. The circulating airflow can disperse the particles throughout your car.
Plus, diatomaceous earth is messy! Be careful when spreading it around, as it could stain your seats or floorboards. Always be safe when applying pest control options inside your car, and vacuum up any residual powder.
Can I Use Pesticides Inside my Car?
While many commercial pesticides work well inside out outside of your home, we caution you against using them on the interior of your car. These products may stain your seats or negatively affect your car’s interior components.
Pesticides can successfully eliminate many pesky invaders, but they aren’t safe to use in a car, especially bug bombs or aerosol solutions. These chemicals can spread throughout your heating and cooling system and make you sick as you inhale.
Instead, consider using pesticide strips or sticky traps to eliminate stray carpet beetles around your car.
Contact a Pest Control Agency
When you have a pest problem in your car, you’ll want to act fast to avoid further damage and prevent more bugs from hitching a ride!
Some pest control agencies can remove pest infestations in vehicles, while others prioritize eliminating other infestation sources outside or in your garage. When you partner with Zunex for pest control, we can remove carpet beetles from your home and garage spaces to prevent the bugs from sneaking into your car!
.png)
