I’m only seeing adult beetles which tells me my larvae are somewhere in the walls, attic, basement, or vents. Nothing I can do about that. I’ve already paid Orkin for nothing; not paying anybody else another dime.

Melissa, don’t worry too much about not finding time to caulk. Let us not forget the size of these pests. If mice can get into the average home, then what hope have we?

WE’ve all done MONTHS of research and most of us have talked to and paid “professionals” yet nobody has come up with anything new and improved. I, too, stil live with out of season items stored in the large ziplocs and placed within plastic bins. For anyone worried about the “moving” look – just make them pretty colors in your closets. WE bought the rolling shelves (like what can be found in restaurants) to house them. Pulling them out to vacuum is much easier now. I keep all my closets, cabinets and the pantry free of any unnecessary items and check them routinely for those little specks Eileen mentioned. I continue to only see mine on the floors, or the occasinal windowsill. I pray that will be the extent of it. And I have 3 spare rooms (doors always closed) where I never see any signs so that makes me feel good.

I have not found anyone outside my support group that has these pests but, to be honest, I’m not making a public announcement . I’m too embarassed to tell anyone. Only 3 friends know of this problem but I try not to talk it about it too much, lest I give them the heebie-jeebies, too. I’m hoping one day I will leave this house and these special creatures here. O.k. it could happen!

Anyhow, Toph, welcome to our little group. The good news is we charge nothing to meet you here. And there is no risk of us sharing your secret. WE all come here for ONE reason and one reason only – praying for an answer (and staying sane while we wait).

Have a great rest of the week everyone.

If you are spreading enough borax or boric acid around to coat the larvae and kill them mechanically, then diatomaceous earth would work similarly. The downside is that if you use either of these, you’ll have to put down enough to leave a noticeable layer of white dust. Otherwise, it won’t coat them and it won’t work. This might be OK in a closet, under the bed, or other protected space where the dust won’t get tracked all over the place.

Some vacuum cleaners have a little flap just before the bag, that closes when the vacuum is turned off. This would help keep insects that you suck up from crawling back out. For canister-type vacuums, you could probably just put a plastic bag over the end of the hose and hold it on with a rubber band to make sure nothing crawls back up the hose.

I’d like to buy shares if you open a plastic bin company, as I’ve spent a fortune on them too … along with those Ziploc bags.
Yes I tried the borax last year. Borax is supposed to have boric acid in it, but hard to tell because there is no list of ingredients on the box. When I had it put down the only thing I noticed is that the area that I spirinkled it over did not have as much larvae rooming around. From what I have read the bugs pick it up and bring it to the nest, which gets the other bugs too. It is supposed to be a slow killing. I just figure if it works on those cockroaches it should work on these bugs too.
Tim or anyone else have you found out anymore on this?

OK, you have a different kind of carpet beetle than I had … I had the black kind, and they luved all my rugs (most were made from wool). I tossed the one in the bathroom even, and yes it is really hard to get out of the shower/tub with nothing on the floor, so now I just throw a towel down.
I don’t use a bag in the shop vac, I just dump it after I use it. Are we supposed to use a bag in there?
The other vacuum I have I just take the bag out of the vacuum now, and stick it into a Ziploc bag and put the bag outside, instead of putting the whole thig outside. I would not put in any other building in case the bugs got out and then infested that too.
I’d be interested in what Tim and anyone else thinks.

I feel very sorry for you. I feel your frustration and disappointment. Maybe though the beetles you found did not lay eggs yet. I always think that when I get one, I have just prevented 100 new ones from growing.

I know that you don’t want to spray and I haven’t been convinced it completely solved my situation. It did however, bring my numbers way down and I don’t see them much anymore-for now that is. Anyway, my exterminator used a chemical called Gentrol. It is a growth inhibitor. That means it makes the bugs sterile so they can not reproduce. It won’t kill them, but it will help to prevent future bugs. Maybe you would want to just spray that chemical where you are seeing them, like the laundry room. Maybe that would be a place the children are not around a lot.

Barbara,
Good to hear from you again. Glad your computer is up and running. Thanks for your response and understanding. I think I should buy a plastic bin company since I have spent so much money on bins!

Regarding the boric acid, I put it under all of my area rugs about a year ago. It is still there and I don’t think it made a difference. I used to see larva and beetles near my rugs even after I placed it under the rugs. I have heard that that it works beter in pantries like for roaches and ants. You can try it because it is harmnles, but I don’t know how much it will help you. If you are like me and your beetles are in the wall voids, then the boric acid really won’t get to many of the bugs. Let me know what you decide to do. Good luck!

Thanks for your understanding. My exterminator said I should caulk and fill in any crevices on the outside of my home. In the spring, I am going to have someone fill in crevices outside around the windows of my home. Maybe this will help. I understand what you mean with young children. I have three small kids and I can’t really clean the way I know I need to with the carpet beetles. I just try to do the best that I can.

About the larva you are seeing, could they be under the washing machine or dryer? I know you probably vacuumed under there already, but maybe they are hiding under there. Also, are they under your sink in your bathroom cabinets? Maybe that’s is the reason they are in the bathroom. I hope you can find the food source.

After I bleached everything (including taking a bleach bath, with sexy candles), spraying my apartment so much that we walk around the apartment looking like a scene from Outbreak, hiring 2 maids to come in and clean for 2 hours, caulking anything in my walls and baseboards that remotely looked like cracks (oh, and I did remove everything from my cabinets and, of course, bleached it) … I’ve had some luck.

Some. Not much

Sorry I forgot to mention, I live in San Francisco, so I don’t have vents, either. Pretty much there’s no reason I should have these suckas at this point. I even took apart my fridge and oven and bleached the insides. If you see a story about how a dude in SF died because of bleach poison, or because his wife went crazy and killed him because of beetles… it’s me.

Yesterday morning we found 3 dead… and we didn’t see any till this morning when we found 2 (1 alive, 1 dead) in our sink.
I know what you’re thinking, “Pshaw… you’re not even close to getting rid of them.” But I am… I just know it!

Here’s what we’re doing next/tonight…
- Bleaching the kitchen floors and walls again (Oh, no, I don’t know why I keep bleaching. I just keep doing it for some reason.)
- Sweeping and mopping the floors
- Vacuuming both sides of the rugs
- Shaking out all of our clothes again to see if there are beetles there (we’ve found no holes, or beetles in our clothes/closets)
- Getting fitted for Straitjackets

Guess I’ll keep updating here… I feel like we all share the worst bond in the world.

If the little grey ones with black spots resemble any of these, then those are your basic carpet beetles. These are the ones that will lay eggs in your house and cause trouble.

I agree with eveything you just wrote. I recently had the exterminator again to my home (the 6th time). He told me that all homes have black carpet beetles, usually one or two. He said that I would never be able to completely get rid of them and would have to learn to live with them. However, a worker from the exterminating company told me on the phone that it would take 6-8 months to fully get rid of them. In addition, the company first told me that I could get rid of them completely. So I first thought that I could rid my home of them, then thought I would see them once in a while for few months while the population died down. Now, this recent technician from the exterminating company told me what no exterminator would admit to me. (By the way, this is the 2nd exterminating company I have used. I wrote about this in postings in October and February. Melissa, you responded to my postings each time-thank you). He said now that I don’t have a severe infestion, I am like every other house. However, I don’t believe it. I know they are lurking in my walls and are still in my home. I saw three recently (one beetle and two larve). At the last spraying, the exterminator used a chemical that was not previously used in my home. It is used for crevices so he sprayed my closets and one area of the house that I kept seeing them in.

I am done with spraying. I feel so frustrated to have spent thousands of dollars with two companies and expose my family to so much spraying. Between this current company and the previous one, I have bombed twice, had all outlets and baseboards dusted, and sprayed a dozen times. My husband thinks I am crazy. We have three small kids. I started this spraying last May when I found out I had an infestation.

I payed for a one year maintence program with the exterminator after the 90 day warranty expired. They set up glue traps around my home and they will come every three months. The exterminator who was just at my house recommended that the outside of the home be sprayed by the bushes to help prevent the beetles from entering my home. He informed me that the carpet beetles fly. I was not aware of this because I never saw them fly inside my home. However, apparently they do and that is how they get into houses so easily. I won’t spray inside anymore even though the company said I need to do this every three months to prevent another infestation. I payed for the service and I will just have them treat the outside near my windows in the spring.

This battle against the black carpet beetles is so hard for us. People who are not going this have no idea how stressful this is to experience. I don’t know anyone (except for the people on this website) who have had this problem. I still have clothes packed up in bins and we look as though we are packing up to move. It is a crazy way to live. I guess the bottom line is we will always have them, but we want to keep the numbers down so they can’t infest our homes again. Once you go through something like this, you are never quite the same. You look at every little speck you see in your home and inspect it to make sure it is not a black carpet beetle.

Here’s the difference, I have hardwood floors, I have a couple of small rugs, a 1,000sqft apartment, and really, I can bleach my entire apartment in 1 weekend (as seen last weekend).
However, these effin’ beetles live!!! HOW?!?!?!!? HOOOOOWWW?!?!?!?

Basically, no one has found a way to kill these things? How is this remotely possible?
I don’t get it… How is it we cannot find a way to get rid of these beetles? We are not idiots. The beetles are not smarter than us. We must find a cure!!!

Mine are primarily in the kitchen. Rarely do I find a beetle outside the kitchen. I’ve really only seen the little black things, and maybe 1 or 2 spotted ones. I haven’t seen larvae, either.
I took out every kitchen appliance, and bleached the floors. I bleached the back of the appliances, then I sprayed some JT Eaton stuff along the baseboards. Not only did I vacuum the rugs, but I turned them over and vacuumed the other side. Last night, I sacrificed a goat to the god’s, and burned some candles.

This morning… I found 7 effin’ beetles.

Entomologists will offer advice on household cleaning and then will ultimately suggest “professional pest control”. All will meet with unfavorable results unless the source is found, hence the ongoing struggle and the reason museums and libraries struggle with the problem, too. Since “professionals” are usually of no more help than us in locating the source, “minimize” is a good goal. But it’s truly frustrating, time consuming and expensive. I have completely dismantled my home. It no longer has the “homey” feel it once did. We are now doing minimalism. Certainly makes housekeeping a cinch. It’s the silver lining, if you will. That said – this whole experience is the thing Hitchcock movies are made of – “She went crazy slowly, day by day, as she searched for the tiny pests. Moment by moment her sanity left her. She is now locked away. The beetles joined forces with neighboring roaches and lived happily ever after in their mansion.” THE END

Michelle,
I have not seen the larva either. But the larva on the type I have don’t last long. On the Black Carpet Beetle, the larval stage lasts for 6 to 12 months, and for the Varied Carpet Beetle, the larval stage lasts 8 to 21 months! I found the cast off skins under the collars of a few clothes. They prefer to feed in the dark. The pupae are the only ones that eat the natural fibers, pet hair, leather, dead insects, and even pet food. The adults are attracted to light and try to find a window to fly outside and gather nectar and pollen. Outdoors they can lose their color variations and become a solid brown or black. We might not notice them on the cut flowers we bring in from the garden. Outdoor targets for their eggs are normally spider webs, and bee, wasp and bird nests, where the larvae can eat dead insects and other organic debri. Since you’re seeing cast off skins in your filter, you may have a lint or mold buildup in you home’s ductwork that is breeding larvae. Or maybe the eggs are just being laid directly on the filter.
They say to wash your natural fiber clothes in hot water on a very long cycle and even use a hot water pre-soak. Or take your clothes to the dry cleaner (I assume you need to tell the dry cleaner about the problem). Both dry cleaning and very hot water will kill all stages of the insect. Place your cleaned, stored clothes in sealed plastic to keep the bugs out if you won’t be wearing them for a while. Perspiration and food on clothes will attract the bugs also.

Tim the same error message in a big box that comes on when working on a web site popped up, before closing the page. Don’t recall the numbers.

Picked up the borrowed digital camera this past week, trying to figure out how it works but snapping away. I’m hoping to be able to upload to her computer before the weekend.
I will email you Tim with what I have. … I’m not sure how those pictures will turn out

One of the 3 people I have told about the situation suggested putting mothballs into the vacuum. Which I did do. Not going to recommend that to anyone, as that stinks like heck.

Murphy’s law is, since I have done all the extra cleaning, and I now have a camera to document things I have not found too much of all the black and white items. Not too sure why, as it was not dirty to begin with.

I did find something when I lifted an old bamboo serving tray, that was sitting on a cupboard. Not sure how the pictures will look of that.

Melissa, I’ve thought about doing the controlled environment business but don’t know how to set that up. … and on the other hand all of this takes up way too much of my time, energy and money already.

We’ll look into it. At the moment, I don’t know where the problem might be, please let me know if it happens again so we can narrow down the possibilities. Thanks!

And Barbara, I would be interested to see pics of those black and white things your are talking about. And I think it would be way cool if there was a way to have a controlled environment and wait to see what the carpet beetles eggs look like. I would trap one but I am sure they have already laid their eggs in my house because I found them on the windows trying to get out…. that means they have already taken care of business…. bummer!

Barbara, do you have a magnifying glass to get a better look at your black and white “things”? Without further information, I’d expect the white things to be eggs or pupae, and the black irregular things to be droppings of some sort, but it would be nice to get a closer look at them before sticking my neck out further. Incidentally, are your clothes that show the snags-that-are-n0t-snags a particular type of fabric (cotton, or wool, or silk, or . . .), or is it happening to all of them regardless of the type of fabric?

I laughed when I read your posting about flushing the bugs down the toilet. I do the same thing when I find one! The exterminator came today and set up a monitoring system throughout the house. He will come back in a few weeks to see if there are bugs on them. Hopefully, they will be empty!

Good luck! And hang in there. Worst case, we all MINIMIZE our numbers with our efforts. Most of us have seen that. It’s better than what we started with. They may be behind the walls laughing at us, doing a little jig all the while. But I do a dance myself when I catch one and flush it down the toilet.

Thank you for your responses. Barbara, I live on Long Island in New York.

Robin, I have been very concerned about the amount of chemicals in my home. I have 3 small children (18 months, 3 and 6). We leave the house each time for a few hours when the exterminator comes and we wait until the chemicals dry. I am torn about using the chemicals, but I feel that I have to do this to get rid of the carpet beetles. I only have one room in my home with carpeting (the basement). Even with vacumming, they managed to get throughout my entire house.

Unfortunately, I have sprayed so much because the first exterminators just kept spraying. They did not know how to solve my problem. The spraying lowered the number of bugs, but they were not completely gone. By inserting dust throughout my walls and outlets, I am hoping to get to where they are living (my walls). Also the chemical, Gentrol, which makes the beetles sterile, will help to prevent them from reproducing. The previous exterminator did not use this chemical.

I think when you have a severe investation like I did, it is hard to get rid of these bugs by yourself. I think it is very important to find an exterminator who really knows how to get a handle on carpet beetles. The owner of the current company I am using is an entomologist. He and his staff are very knowledgable about carpet beetles. I learned from my experience that not all exterminators really know what they are doing when it comes to these bugs. Although I don’t want to spend the money and expose my family to chemicals, I feel that I don’t have any other choice.

Thank you for your input and support.

Eileen, I’m worrying about the amount of pesticides going into your home. Are you sure you want to go that route? I would encourage you to check with your local cooperative extension agency. They are an UNbiased source of entomologists – experts on bugs.
Most of us here have gone through this extensive cleaning and discarding you spoke of. While I feel confident I can say I no longer have an infestation in my living space, I can’t be positive there is not a huge family reunion going on in my walls. And, as explained by the extension agency, since the beetles come in from outdoors, we’re as likely to have them come back in much like we might find the unwelcomed gnat, mosquito, ant, etc. That’s where the vacuuming comes in to play.

Here’s a blurb I found on the site of an extension agency:
“Carpet beetle larvae resemble small hairy caterpillars but the adult stage is a beetle. These insects are scavengers that feed on a range of materials, particularly natural fibers – cotton, wool, processed grains, and animal matter, such as leather, feathers, and hair. Sanitation is the main way to deal with them but it is difficult to remove all items on which they can feed. Small amounts of crumbs in carpet and dead insects in wall voids are examples of out-of the way development sites. Thorough vacuuming and cleaning is the best way to deal with them.”

It is our frustration after great effort that has been in vain, that brings a few of us here time after time to our little support group, as I’ve named it, to encourage one another. That, and the hope one of us will come up with something new. So far, that’s not happened. We just keep spinning our wheels. At the end of the day, there is not enough CALGON to “take us away” from this.

As for colicky babies – luckily little ones do grow up. Hang in there, Melissa. Our firstborn had it and it went away after about 3 months of it. Not much longer now. Hope you can get some rest.

Thank you for replying to me months ago. I am sorry that I did not respond, but I did not check this website again until recently. I appreciate your comments and suggestions. Also, congratulations on your new baby! (I read the postings from the past few months).

Since I posted my problem, I actually hired a new exterminator. I did this at the end of October. My husband was not happy to spend $1300, plus the $700 we already spent on the previous exterminator. Also, I have thrown out clothes, toys and rugs in my home. In addition, like many of you, I have done countless loads of laundry. All in all, I figure that I am out several thousand dollars from carpet beetles.

The new exterminators took a different approach. Of course, I had to wash everything in every dresser and closet. I had to repeat what I had done starting in April (with the previous exterminator) and pack up the whole house again to prepare for the spraying. The exterminators gave me a prep sheet about what to do. It is actually the same preparation that people do for bed bugs (washing everything in every closet and dresser and placing all throw pillows in a dryer for 25 minutes. This includes bagging all clothes after they are washed.) The new company explained that the beetles had gotten into my wall voids and that is why they went through my entire home (basement all the way up into my actic). They had to drill small holes in my home to put in chemicals in order to get to the carpet beetles in my walls. They also took off the outlet covers and placed dust in them. Chemicals were also dusted in open cracks everywhere in the house. They used a “cocktail” of chemicals including one that makes the beetles sterile so they can not reproduce. The company explained that bombing a home for these bugs is not effective. The previous company I had used bombed my house twice. This current service includes a 90 day warranty. The company has been very nice and knowledgeable. They were the only exterminators that would help me after I called several about my problem and explained that I had used a previous exterminator. No company wanted to touch my case after I told them I bombed twice and then sprayed my home 7 times. The new company said that many exterminators don’t like to take carpet beetles cases because they are very hard to get rid of. The new exterminators seem to have more experience with carpet beetles. They removed panels from my drop ceiling in my basement and saw a trail through dust. This means that the beetles were eating dust in the ceiling as well as in my walls. The previous company had only dealt with several carpet beetle cases in the past 10 years. I realize now that they did not know enough about carpet beetles even though the owner had 50 years experience. He kept telling me how rare it was to have them and that my infestation was the worse that he had seen in his career. The new company said that my case is not unusual and they have seen beetles throughout homes like mine. So far the new exterminators have come 4 times (the 5th will be on Monday). I call whenever I see one alive and the come back and spray (the dusting was only involved in the first treatment). Now my 90 days will end soon with the copmpany and I am not convinced that they are completely gone from the house. Although I have seen a big decreasse and I feel this new company has a handle on the problem and seems to know what they are doing. So I signed up for a one year treatment program. For $95 every three months, the company will come back to spray my home (including closets so I will have to empty the closets every three months). They will also return anytime to spray when I see the bugs. The exterminators will set up a monitoring system in the home to track where the bugs are mostly being seen.

The exterminator told me several things. Since it is cold now and heat is on and the walls can be cold and hot, carpet beetles move around alot in walls during this time of year. He said they sometimnes can be in insulation in homes especially, old ones where horse hair used to be used to make insulation. (This is not my case, although I have an 80 year old home, I had my house gutted several years ago and redid the entire home with new insulation). He also said to cover up as many openings around my home as possible in order to prevent them from coming in. He said that it is possible to completely get rid of carpet beetles, but it takes time(around 6-8 months with an exterminator) because you have to break down the reproductive cycle. My situation has been going on for longer because I originally used a company with little experience with these bugs. The new company explained that you have to find the food source, so once you locate it, the problem should be better. In my case, I threw out everything they were found on and/or had them dry cleaned and washed at home. It was frustrating because I kept seeing them and I couldn’t figure out what the food source was after I removed everything I found them eating. Now I know that they are eating dust and dirt in my walls, so they still have a food source. I signed on for the yearly service because they said that with carpet beetles you really have to do this in order to keep on top of them and eventually get rid of them.

Thank you for reading this long posting. I just wanted to share with everyone some things that have helped me. I feel confident that I may get rid of these bugs eventually, but it will take some time. It is nice to know that I am not the only person with this problem. I don’t know anyone who has this problem and none of my family or friends have ever heard of carpet beetles. I didn’t until I was told by an exterimator last year that I had them. I wish everyone luck on their quest to rid their homes of carpet beetles.

Ladybugs cause NO harm whatsoever in a home. No need to fear them at all for any reason. And no reason to worry about how to get rid of them. They will die shortly after entering your home all on their own. You’ll see them here and there, often belly-up. The only possible connection between the two is that carpet beetles will eat any protein based item – hence the reason they gravitate to certain things. Clear up your dead ladybugs so as not to offer a HUGE meal for your greedy carpet beetles.

Wow, lots of posts over the last few days!
I’ve been looking at using heat to get rid of these bugs for a while. Here is a really good temperature chart, on how high the temp needs to be to kill: http://www.thermapureheat.com/pdf/heat_chart.pdf
From this web site: http://www.thermapureheat.com
Article on beetles: http://www.thermapureheat.com/wood-boring-beetles.php
I found this company when I was doing research, they are a US company with lots of businesses using their technology. They even have some in Canada
One of the things holding me back is the expense. I’m not in a single family dwelling, so it would be silly to get my place done, and the neighbours still have them.
But once I find a place to move to, I think I’ll do this and then run like he+double hockey sticks!
… and just so there is no confusion I’m not associated / affiliated with any business to do with extermination etc.

Melissa and Robin, you say your carpet beetles look like ‘lady bugs’? I’m going to have another look at what the ones that live here look like. The health inspector and the exterminator told me that is what they were, but then I never took my glasses out to really look at them. Without glasses they were black last year. Last I read, those would be Larder Beetles, still part of the dermestid beetle family … and probably not treated any different than carpet beetles. But I’m not an expert on any of this.
… they have a post page here too I see, but not anywhere as good as this one!
From what I heard, carpet beetles and such like to get out in the spring, I don’t know b/c of where you live (Texas) if ducting the windows is such a good idea … it would be a way out. But from what I remember about living in Arizona, there is other stuff that could come in too.
Robin, I’m a Virgo too … I thought the OCD stuff was just me, thanks for sharing! I’m going to get out my shop vac and do all 3 floors again with that, they are due and by what I’m reading it’s going to be an early spring with some problems.
Tim or anyone, I’d like to know what the eggs look like?
please!
Thanks,
Barbara
PS colicky babies … slippery elm bark as a fine powder works very well, found at your local health food store or herbal shop

I’d like to also replace our carpeting but can’t afford to do so. But now that I’ve minimized these pests and rarely see the larvae, I find the beetles most often in the crack of the hardwood floors in our open foyer. Now that you and I are being more careful, I think they have fewer places to call home. WE still continue to find ways to better store things in our closets to prevent another infestation.

Melissa, hoping His peace will keep you and the little ones.

But in all honesty, even though these bugs do not bite, they are the worst bugs to get rid of. I am a clean freak, but as I started to have more and more kids, I found myself having less time to do the deep cleaning… you know… the move the fridge, washer and dryer, and get in all the nooks and crannies. But I found my house the cleanest it has ever been right before I delivered my final baby. When I found out I had these bugs in my house, I did not sleep for days… and I went on a rampage tearing everything out of every closet, dresser, bookshelf, and drawer in the house…. from the bathroom to the kitchen. My kids had never watched so much TV in their lives!! They went through withdrawls when I made them cold turkey!! LOL I found larvae in every room. I probably went over board, but I vacuumed every corner of my 1600 square foot home every day for over a month. I had every piece of furniture moved in my house every single day. My poor husband was so at his witts ends with me! There I was 8 months pregnant and carrying that vacuum up and down the stairs every day. And I vacuumed the stairs too! That was such a pain, but I kept fininding them in the hall way and the stairs. If I could afford it, I would rip out every inch of carpeting in my house and have wood floors put in. But that ain’t going to happen anytime soon. I told my husband now that my almost 3 month old is starting to settle in to a routine that I would have to start up with the vacuuming before I found any live beetles in my house…. you should have seen the look he gave me… like oh no… not again! LOL

Funny, but it looks like we’ve all seen signs of these things lately. We’ve shared we’re in NoVa, Texas and Canada. How about you? I think the temps impact them and that it doesn’t take much warming to “awaken” these things. So wonderful your precious girl is not bothered by the vacuum. Good you got her used to the idea of it.

I think we’ll all probably continue to deal with these but I’m really going to hope God holds these pests at bay for you. With 4 little ones, you have your hands full. Thanks for sharing your good news. Well wishes.

I think you are so right. They will go anywhere.

I had to check my kitchen out, after I read the posts here and didn’t find anything new there. But it got a good scrub down anyway.
Curiosity got the better of me and I looked at what Shay was selling.
Intruder HPX Contains: 0.10% Cyfluthrin, 0.05% Pyrethrins
Microcare contains: Pyrethrins 0.3%, Piperonyl Butoxide 2.2%, N-Octyl Bicycloheptene Dicarboximide 0.336%
Borid Turbo contains: ORTHOBORIC ACID (BORIC ACID) 20.000%, SILICON DIOXIDE 5%, ETHANE, 1,1-DIFLUORO- 35-45%, C8-C9 ISOPARAFFINIC HYDROCARBONS 35-45%
BorActin Insecticide Powder contains: Orthoboric Acid…99%
… so nothing new there unfortunately!
Shay, whoever sprayed your place should have set up at least one glue-board in every room. They are cheap, cost less than a dollar. Having said that:
Glue boards, I have found really don’t work. I had found adults in various traps (in the summer), and went back the next day and the trap was empty! I thought I had stayed in the spray too long , but it happened again, sooo I put the next trap I found with an adult in it, in a plastic bag. When I went back, the thing had managed to crawl out of the glue board, but was still in the bag.
re: emery boards Robin was it a new one?
if it had been used it would be the dead nails tissue it likes
If not maybe Tim knows more on that!