You will usually find the shed skins before you find a live larva. They are hollow, bristly and they gather in exactly the same places every time.
Shed skins, woolly bear larvae, clean-edged holes in wool, and adults at the windows. The shed skins are the most reliable and the easiest to find.
Look under furniture, along the perimeter, under rugs and on windowsills. Larvae avoid light, so the damage is always where you do not look.
Nine times out of ten, the thing on the windowsill that people photograph and send us is a shed skin, not a beetle.
£180 for the first room, £60 for each additional. Published, up to four rooms.
View Carpet Beetle Control Pinner →| Location | What you may find |
|---|---|
| Under a wardrobe or chest | Larvae, skins, bare patches in carpet |
| Perimeter under the skirting | Larvae and frass in the pile edge |
| Under a rug | The heaviest damage, usually |
| Windowsills | Shed skins and adults |
| Light fittings | Skins and dead adults |
| Inside wardrobes | Larvae on stored wool, holes in garments |
| Loft | The source — nest material, feathers, debris |
| Floorboard gaps | Larvae and accumulated debris |
The larval hairs can cause an irritant reaction in some people — small itchy raised marks that get mistaken for bites. It is a reaction to the hairs rather than anything biting. If bites are the main symptom and there are no beetles or skins to be found, bed bugs or fleas are worth ruling out instead.
A few adults at a window in spring, with no larvae or damage, may need nothing. Larvae or skins in more than one room means a population.
Vacuuming genuinely helps and will not clear an established population from board gaps and underlay.
Not really. They come in on textiles or from a bird source in the roof.
Different problem, same clear pricing — wasp nests are £90 fixed in Pinner, guaranteed for 30 days.
Around 4 to 5mm, brown and banded, covered in stiff bristly hairs, curling up when disturbed. They are called woolly bears.
Shed skins — hollow, bristly and larva-shaped. They are light, so they collect on windowsills, in light fittings and in corners, and they persist for months.
Under wardrobes and chests, along the perimeter under the skirting, under rugs, on windowsills, inside wardrobes, in floorboard gaps, and in the loft.
Clean, sharply defined holes in wool, often several close together, and bare patches in carpet under furniture and at the edges.
The larval hairs can cause an irritant reaction in some people that gets mistaken for bites. It is a reaction to hairs, not anything biting.
No. They feed on pollen outdoors. The problem is that they lay eggs indoors.
A few adults at a window in spring, with no larvae or damage, may need nothing. Larvae or shed skins in more than one room means a population.
Woodworm, biscuit or flour beetles, ground beetles, spider beetles, or carpet moth. Send a photograph and we will tell you which.
Photograph them and note which rooms. A specimen in a pot makes identification certain.
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