You will find the shed skins before you find a live larva. They are hollow, bristly, and they collect on windowsills — which is the single most useful place to look.
Shed skins, woolly bear larvae, clean-edged holes in wool, and small mottled adults at the windows.
The shed skins are the most reliable sign and the easiest to find. They are light, so they drift and collect — on windowsills, in light fittings, and in corners.
Most of what people photograph and send us as 'a beetle on the windowsill' is a shed skin. It is still the right thing to send.
£180 for the first room, £60 for each additional. Published, up to four rooms.
View Carpet Beetle Control Rayners Lane →| Location | What you may find |
|---|---|
| Windowsills | Shed skins and adults — start here |
| Light fittings | Skins and dead adults |
| 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 |
| Inside wardrobes | Larvae on stored wool, holes in garments |
| Loft or roof void | 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 mistaken for bites. It is a reaction to the hairs rather than anything biting, and it is a common reason people call about bed bugs and turn out to have carpet beetles. If bites are the main symptom and there are no skins or larvae anywhere, 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 source in the roof.
Different problem, same clear pricing — wasp nests are £90 fixed in Rayners Lane, 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 and in light fittings, and they persist for months.
Windowsills. Then light fittings, under wardrobes and chests, the perimeter under the skirting, under rugs, and 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 mistaken for bites. It is a common reason people call about bed bugs and turn out to have carpet beetles.
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.
Check the windowsills first. Photograph what you find and note which rooms.
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