Bug(s) Eating My Carpet! Help!

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   SomewayOuttaHereposted 13 years ago

   I have a nice old persian carpet.  Recently I discovered something has been eating it????  I placed it outdoors for now - I guess I'm hoping the cool air makes the critter(s) want to leave and find somewhere else to nest.  I have no idea how long this bug has been eating it and of course I'm not happy.  I put it outside because I don't know what to do with it and do not want the critter to move in/move on to another one of my tasty carpets.  I unrolled the carpet (because I moved) and a bug fell out onto the floor and I squished it quickly - I should have really looked at it was...it was crawling away - It didn't look like a moth.
   
   So...does anyone have a solution for me? to ensure the critter is gone - so I can use my nice carpet again.
   
   I'll check back later tonight.
   
   Thanks!

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      Home Girlposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Do you actually see holes in your carpet? You have to check. Old carpets should be taken outside in summer  under direct sun for couple of hours to kill bacteria and remove dust. You flip it, beat it with a stick or special carpet cleaner brush, may be spray it with vinegar-water solution, will be as good as new. Repeat the same in winter(if you have one), frosty day is perfect. You can throw it into the snow and then hang somewhere and leave it for an hour. People used to have carpets long before vacuum cleaners were invented. Carpets do not like dust, dark places, humidity. They like "attention".
      Personally I do not like old carpets or furniture.I think they all harbinders of bacteria. I prefer new and cheap. You soiled it , threw away, bought something else for a change! Life is too short to spend it on things that live longer than you.

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      Pearldiverposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      This is really bad Someway...
      But I believe it is Far Worse if you shake your Booty and they fall out and try to crawl away!
      For Dignity's Sake.... Please tell us that you weren't shaking when you unrolled your rug!
      
      Was it one of these?
      
      
      
      
      

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         SomewayOuttaHereposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         ...alright then.........another wiseguy!....that's bad....yor bad!....no no no...no wrong critter!

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   Greek Oneposted 13 years ago

   Carpet munchers are very common
   
   Just have a class of wine and enjoy it

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      SomewayOuttaHereposted 13 years agoin reply to this

        ....whateverrrrr!
      
      I'm serious!...later.........
      
      someone else?

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   Eaglekiwiposted 13 years ago

   Im with Home Girl on this one.
   
   I would be more worried about eggs/critters still inside!
   
   If you really really want to save the rug, call Pest control and ask what chemicals they would suggest...then repeat the process in 3mths...Good luck..

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      Home Girlposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Chemicals on a persian rug??????????????????????????????? 
      NO WAY! Only natural stuff like baking soda, vinegar, etc. what you granny used to clean things. Critters do not like sun and air, we live in warm, stuffed buildings with lots of old dusty things, people, pets and closed windows/doors, that's why some people have bugs!
      Declutter, clean, open windows, throw away old things, paint what needs to be painted, do not buy second hand soft furniture if you can help it - there will be no bugs.

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         Eaglekiwiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Baking soda and vinegar will not frighten the bugs lol some have been around for over 40,000 years home made remedies wont work (IMO)
         
         My granny never owned a Persian rug
         
         
         This site has some practical steps for all kinds of rug cleaning including critters
         
         http://www.jacobsenrugs.com/care.htm

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            Home Girlposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            We are not talking about bugs but about carpet eaters - they are different. Bugs that suck blood from humans are indeed hard to get rid of. Carpet eaters - not that hard. And home made remedies do work if you apply them properly. Do you think my granny lived covered with bugs just because she did not have chemicals around? Well, she never owned persian rugs either but "cleaniness next to godliness' concept she understood too well. I was 24 years old when I first saw a bug crolling on the wall of my room in an old communal apartment in Leningrad, Russia where I moved with my husband. I asked him, "What is this?" I was horrified.
            We could not completely move out the bugs that probably had been living there since Russian revolution in 1917, eventually bugs moved us out. We went to live to entirely different place. I heard bugs are a big problem in Toronto, Canada right now. I was lucky so far.

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            SomewayOuttaHereposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            thanks - I think it was a moth now that I looked at the site you indicated.  The carpet was in a room that was not entered very often except to dust from to time and I guess I must not (not me anyway ) have used the vac on it enough maybe.

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               SomewayOuttaHereposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               thanks for the comments Homegirl...i've been gentle with these rugs for a reason...this one just happens to be old and quite beautiful - and yep it is older than me! 
               
               no holes - just ate the wool but not the backing or whatever it is called - so must be a moth.
               
               So..until I try a few remedies recommended - it's staying outside for now just in case.  A  moth could have been having a good meal for a few years I figure - not too much damage but enough to peeve me off.

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   Rafiniposted 13 years ago

   I would call a specialist for advice - beginning with the nearest Persian Rug Retailer.

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   SomewayOuttaHereposted 13 years ago

   ..thanks for the advice all....

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      Hubman007posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Are you sure it wasnt mice?
      
      If you have dropped food and on the rug recently it might still smell of it and if mice get in they will eat away at it untill they realise it isnt food.
      
      Depends how bad the damage is?

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