Bugs and Rugs

Bugs and Rugs

Wool rugs when properly cared for can last a century, or two. But one danger it cannot withstand is moth and carpet beetle damage.

Wool-eating bugs like to make a meal in places that are dark and still. They do not like a lot of air flow, sunlight, or activity.

They make their meals under furniture, behind drapes, under the rug (they love eating away the back of the rug), and in rugs rolled in storage.

Especially if you have investment rugs made of high quality wool, you want to protect them from a moth or beetle who decides to lay eggs and have the larvae eat its way out of your rug. You stop the damage by making your rug a place that they do not want to settle in. Here are some tips to do just that.

• Vacuum regularly, and once a quarter flip over the corners of the rugs to make sure bugs are not making a home under your rug.

• Use vacuum attachments to “disturb” under furniture that you cannot move easily. Bugs will make a meal under furniture, they do not need much space to make a meal.

• Place smaller rugs out in the sunlight afew times a year (both sides) for a few hours. Bugs do not like direct sunlight.

• Use a good quality pad under the rug. By lessening the air pockets under the rug, this makes it less attractive for moths and beetles.

• Wash wool rugs every other year if under regular use. The best way to ensure bugs are not making a meal of your rug is to fully give them a bath.

• You can have the rug rinsed in a moth repellent solution that makes them “not tasty” to bugs to add protection if the rug is going into storage. NEVER store a rug without washing, this is where the worst damage occurs.

• For full infestations bugs must be killed by a pest control specialist before being washed by a rug specialist. Eggs can be inside the middle of the rug. Sometimes subzero deep freezing is the only guarantee of all eggs being destroyed.