Three signs you have carpet beetles – and how to get rid of them with a 2p product hiding in your cupboard

CARPET BEETLES are common among households and can cause severe damage to bedding, clothes and carpets if left unchecked.

The pests may be hard to spot, but here are three signs they're lurking about, and how to get rid of them.

Their name may be deceiving, as they can appear in any home, whether you have carpets, hardwood flooring or tiles.

What's worse, according to Safeguard Pest Control, adult beetles can lay up to 100 eggs at a time, meaning an infestation can take hold quickly.

They can be found even in the cleanest of homes, and while they may be hard to spot if you don't know what you're looking for, one household product can help eradicate them.

Here are three signs to look out for that point to their presence.

The first sign these creepy crawlies are lurking around is seeing if there is damage to fabrics.

These bugs love to hide in cracks and crevices of hardwood flooring, carpets, furniture and other textiles.

Therefore, the bugs larvae will eat the nap of fabric's surface exposing them to the bare threads.

In more drastic cases, they may bore holes right through causing visible and irreversible damage which will only spread if left unchecked.

Another sign of an infestation is seeing a small pile of light brown skin cases in an area.

Safeguard Pest Control told that as the larvae grow they will shed their skins, leaving a pile of light brown skin casings where they were feeding.

The larvae will also produce faecal pellets - about the size of a grain of salt which will be concentrated where the bugs are living.

Adult carpet bugs grow to around 4mm, and can be seen by the naked eye.

As they get older, the beetles will move outside to mate, and you may be able to spot what looks likes small dart dots climbing walls towards windows or dead beetles around window sills.

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So now you know how to spot them, you're probably wondering how do you get rid of them and kill any infestations?

Thankfully, one cheap ingredient can kill them instantly, and you probably already have it in your cupboard.

Baking soda works wonders as it dehydrates the beetles on contact and prevents them coming back.

If you spot you already have an infestation and you don't want it to get worse, then pile baking soda around the feet of your soft furnishings to kill them before they can climb up and infect anywhere else.

You can also make a paste with water and apply it to where you think the bugs are coming in from to stop them in their tracks.

You can also make a liquid solution with water and spray it into cracks and crevices of your furniture and flooring to draw out the bugs.