Carpet Beetles

[chomper]

Hi folks,

I recently bought a house that appears has been infested with carpet beetles :-(

I ripped out all the carpet and found lots of old skins (though only 1 alive larvea at this point)

Since then I have seen a handful(max 10) of var. carpet beetle adults which I have killed and sprayed the house with raid and insecticide.

Under the cooker I found alive larvea and adult black carpet beetles which I killed, hoovered, and sprayed with insecticide.

In the sofa I found old shed skins (I am getting rid of this when I find a way to), the cushions have all been washed and the whole thing hoovered even underneath by ripping the bottom off.

In the last few days I have found the odd larvea or dead adult. I am hoovering everything, every day and inspecting the floors and furniture with a torch. Clothes have been washed and washed again and I will start packing them into sealed boxes once they have been out on the line a few days.

Will I ever be able to eradicate these from the house or have they made too much of a home here? The downstairs floors are all laminate, do I need to rip this all up too? Are they likely to be under the floorboards or is ripping the carpet up good enough?

Please help, I feel I am going insane!
Thanks

[Hedera]

Have the doors and windows open as much as you can - this time of year the adults want to get outside to breed. You seem to be doing everything else you can. Good luck!

[notdillusional]

Help please.
I have carpet beetle eggs, larvae and adults taken over my life!
After years of exposure at home I have become sensitive to the wooly bear hairs etc. The culprit being the carpet beetle brought into the attic years ago by birds and wasps nesting there. My body is ravaged by the scabs and inflammation brought on from exposure to the carpet beetle larvae and eggs, daily . A consultant dermatologist I saw recently reported and documented my symptoms with the diagnosis I was dillusional. The medical experts are not sympathetic and I am treated with steroid creams which exacerbate the condition.
Someone please help!!

[loripo]

You might show them this...
Carpet Beetle Dermatitis — Entomology — Penn State University

not sure about the steroids but someone else might be able to comment on that.

[notdillusional]

Thanks Loripo for the very quick response

I have had contact with Penn Univ Entomology Dept by email also and have printed their documentation and replies whcih confirmed my research and evidence of carpet beetle shed skins, pupae etc to the medical professionals to no avail.

Any more suggestions would be grateful.

I have been classed as dillusional and prescribed Amitriptyline.

I have also been on a one day entomology workshop with a Universtiy Professor to understand more about the carpet beetle life cycle etc.

Please help, thank you.