From Mice To Carpet Beetles: Dealing With Carpet Damage From Household Pests
Sadly, there are lots of little creatures who can damage your carpet. Here is a look at the damage caused by a few common household pests as well as a few ideas on repairing that damage:
Mice
Mice often rip or chew carpet near walls or corners as they are trying to get into a home. Once inside the home, mice may rip up carpet to create a nest. If you find that some of your carpet has been ripped up by mice, you can patch it.
Buy a swatch of carpet that matches your existing carpet and cut it into a patch that is the same size as the missing bit of carpet. Line this patch with glue and gently pat it over the area that is missing carpet.
Moths
If you have wool carpet or rugs, they may be eaten by moths. If moths eat the top portion of a rug, you can pay to have it re-weaved, but unfortunately, that is expensive. If the moths have eaten a hole in your wall-to-wall carpeting, you can patch it, or cover it with a new rug.
Luckily, if the damage is on the bottom of either a rug or a carpet, you can skip the repair as most of the damage isn't visible. However, you need to thoroughly vacuum your carpets and apply a moth deterrent to ensure that there are no more moths.
Dust Mites
Dust mites don't necessarily damage your carpet, but they are extremely attracted to carpet. As these creatures live in your carpet, they create waste that mixes with dust and air, causing or exacerbating allergies. Unfortunately, dust mites live in every home, but you can reduce their population.
To reduce the dust mite population in your home, keep in mind that these creatures feed on dead skin. Reduce the dead skin in your carpet by vacuuming frequently, especially around beds or furniture. Professional steam cleaning can also be useful at deterring these pests, and make sure that you keep your carpets dry as well, as these creatures thrive on damp carpets.
Carpet Beetles
Like moths, carpet beetles munch the fibers of a natural wool carpet. To remove these creatures, you need to have a professional apply a pesticide that will kill the beetles and their larvae. Unfortunately, repairing the carpet is not that simple.
If the beetles have eaten fibers near a wall, you can draw attention away from the carpet by installing new baseboards, or if the damage is quite close to the walls, you may even be able to cover it with thick base boards. In damaged spots away from your wall, you can try a combination of patches and rugs.
If the damage or dirt is too much, consider professional carpet cleaning.