How to get rid of Weevils in your car

I am not sure where to even begin when writing about this because I am still reeling at the reality of it. I am usually writing about things to do to make your life prettier and “cuter” but today we are getting down, dirty, and real.

Six weeks ago I injured my back. I was wearing flip flop shoes made of the old school “jellies” material, a hard plastic that has no traction at all. I was coming out of my house down my six stairs that lead to my garage and slipped and fell. I have scoliosis and already have a tender low back and just happened to hit my low back on a stair right above the hip. I tried to get up and move back inside but was having sharp pains going down my leg and barely made it to my couch before I collapsed. My children were terrified because I was crying and that is something they never see. Even Jayne was crawling up on me showing me her toy that comforts her and trying to distract me as I writhed in pain. After trying to do a  “child’s pose” stretch and barely rolling over to stay in the fetal position I called one person I know I can count on. Mom. Thank goodness she has just retired and could come to my aid. I was so ever greatful that she could finish unloading the groceries from my car, get the kids fed, and put down for their naps. The first week I iced it every night and took ibuprofin but within 5 days of going to through my own treatment plan I retweaked it one night while getting the kids in bed and was right back where I started. I knew I need help from someone who knew the steps that needed to be made to make my back healthy again. I went to the chiropractor that had diagnosed my scoliosis ten years ago when I was on the drill team and experiencing extreme pain from daily high kicks. After six weeks of therapy and icing I am feeling almost 100% which is fantastic and something of a miracle when you consider that the body can heal itself and we take so much of that for granted on a day to day basis.

What does this have to do with weevils? Much less weevils in your car?

I am here to tell you.

Deep breath…ahahhahhahha. Okay, so I noticed I had a weevil in my car sometime late Summer. I didn’t think much of it and was grossed out no doubt. When I noticed a few more a few weeks later I decided to do a deep cleanse and cleared out the swim suits, towels, camping gear, snack bags, and other random toys. I thought I had gotten rid of it. A few weeks after that we went to Wyoming over labor day and the car filled up again. And never quite got to its previous clean state. Because I had fallen I took a break from the “extra” cleaning duties….like say, my car. I even left my gym bag in the same position it sat in the day I hurt my back. I typically go to the gym four times a week but because I had hurt my back I was advised to treat my torn muscle as I would a broken bone. I had to stay off it and just let it heal. So there my gym bag sat.

Today I went to the gym for the first time in six weeks and it felt so good. I was getting ready to do a monster shopping trip at Costco and try to fill my empty refrigerator when I remembered I had a very full car from previous soccer trips, day trips, and day to day messes. In my gusto to clean out my car I found my gym bag. I also found a family of weevils living underneath it burrowing their squeamish bodies into a few forgotten fishy crackers. WHAT!?!? I was so grossed out I had to go right home. To my utter disgust as I dug deeper and vacuumed longer I found more weevils than I ever imagined could have possibly existed. They were in the cracks of my leather seat, underneath the kids car seats, and among the crumbs that lived on the floor of my car. I am not the only Mom that lets their kids eat snacks in the car right?

After tearing apart each car seat and vacuuming it as much as I could I decided it was time to go call a professional. again. “You have what in your car?” The first boy I talked to didn’t even know what a weevil was…”How do you not know what a weevil is? You can find them in old cereal,”… “OH, yeah, I remember my grandma fed my cereal and it had weevils in it.” What planet is this guy from? Way confused. Anyway, they told me that I should “BUG BOMB” my car and bring it in tomorrow to have it detailed. My husband laughed at me saying “I detailed cars for three years and they are not going to do more for you than you are already doing yourself.” So for now, I am not quite sure how to get rid of the problem. Even Google, the all knowing source of knowledge, didn’t have an answer for my question…that is why I titled this , “How to get rid of weevils in your car” because apparently I am the first and I am going to figure it out. There was an answer that said you could kill bed bugs at a degree over 140 F by leaving your car in the hot sun…but as we are now mid October I don’t think that is an option.

In the meantime, I have washed the car seats. I have vacuumed, I have “toothpicked” in between the seats. I even had a sweet neighbor let me borrow her power cleaner and help me try to get rid of them. Thank you Emily, you are the best. Tomorrow is a new day and I think my first approach will be to have the carpets proffesionally cleaned now that the bug bomb has done it’s magic (I hope), and attempt to “starve them”. Right, like its possible to not let my kids bring crumb building, life preserving, sustenance into the environment and then I am going to vacuum again.

All I know is that after all of that washing and spraying and cleaning my back is hurting again and I’ve only been back to the gym for one day.

And just in case you might be lucky and not know what a weevil could possibly be…here it is in all its scaly glory. Wish me luck.

24 comments
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  • Kira

    Haha! That is disgustingly hilarious Camille! I would be freaking out too! And of course every mother lets their kids eat in the car. Any mom who says otherwise is lying, just like the moms that say they don’t let their kids eat from McDonalds… liars! I’m so happy to hear your back is feeling better though. And after all those weeks of not working out, you still look super in shape! You lucky woman! it took me 4 weeks of not going to the gym to gain 10 pounds, most of it in my butt I’m sure 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Roxey

    So funny and disgusting at the same time!! I’m so sorry about your back. I can definitely relate, and it’s the worst!ReplyCancel

  • I’m glad I’m not the only one with a weevil problem in my car! But you’re right, there isn’t any info on google about how to get rid of them or people that have had this same awful experience. Just me and you I guess! I’m just curious, did bug bomb, carpet cleaning, etc. work? I was going to take the car to have it detailed but maybe I should call pest control first, then have it detailed? Thanks for your post!ReplyCancel

    • Hi Heather! I am glad I am not alone and sorry you are going through this too! Yes, we bought a “bug bomb” from Home Depot and used it and let the car sit overnight. The next day I vacuumed it thoroughly and was shocked how many there were. I did have the carpets shampooed and had a detailer blow out all of the cracks in the car. Behind the seats, the door, underneath. That was the most shocking! It got rid of them! Wish I could say I haven’t let the kids eat in the car since but we’ve tried to be more careful. Let me know how it goes for you!ReplyCancel

  • Hillary Smith

    oh. my. thanks for writing about this grossness. i have had a weavil infestation in my car and was at a loss of what to do. i googled and there you were. I’m off to buy a bug bomb. thanks a million. those little buggers are going DOWN!ReplyCancel

    • Hillary,

      You have no idea how funny/awesome it is that you found it useful. 🙂 It is kinda gross to share but I figured I couldn’t possibly be the only one who has had this problem! I hope it does that trick, let me know!ReplyCancel

    • Laura L Mills

       so did the bomb work I feel like whatever invaded my car is now also in my home and  I am literally going nuts because whatever it is I guess the stress level is so high I put groceries in the car and they get right into the boxes and then I know for a fact now that i was bringing them into the house so I had to go to the store and buy for a few days at a time a few days ago and walk home with the groceries.  not before I emptied all my cabinets and cupboards and threw bombs in my house.  please let me know the type of bomb that you use that worked I’m really thinking that their bark borer beetles and clearwing moth weevils. Any info would be appreciated Laura 4108 at gmail.comReplyCancel

  • Korin Schippers

    I have a weevil infestation in a used car we just bought about 7 months ago and I am totally disgusted! I spent 3 days detailing the car with a shark handheld steamer,vacuuming, carpet cleaning, cleaning car seats, blankets, diaper bags, and have left it outside in the heat for days. Just a couple days ago I put everything back in with a sigh of relief knowing that the car is now clean and those nasty bugs were gone. This morning our neighbor asked to borrow one of our booster seats so gladly I took one out of the car I just cleaned and realized the car still smelled gross like I never even cleaned it out. Ugh! This “new” car of ours is just not as clean as I would like. So I pulled it out of the garage and rolled down the windows to air it out. I then realized I forgot to put the mats back in the car. I get the mats and open the back door to put them in and low and behold I see more weevils!!!!! I’m am so grossed out and frustrated right now! I just want to be done with this problem! I am worried about doing the whole bug bomb thing because I don’t want the stuff or poison from the bomb in a car with a 7 month old and a 3 year old. That stuff just freaks me out. Has anyone heard of a natural solution to this disgusting problem? I might call a pest control company to find out, but in the meantime I need any advice I can get to get those things out of our car!! Please help!ReplyCancel

    • I did read in my research that if you allow the car to get over a certain degree Fahrenheit it would kill the bugs. Not sure how well this works, but that is a natural way. Maybe 120 degrees? I can’t remember. You could look it up and see. 🙂 I used the big bomb and made sure to air it out a full day and it was fine. No fumey smell at all. Good luck. I know it is so frustrating!ReplyCancel

      • Sara

        I got flour beedles as well, seems to have worked with thr spray i was given, however what you advice with the clothes? Did washing in hot water and drying solve? Or did you just throw away? Help! ReplyCancel

  • Lavonica Carpenter

    Thank you so much. I literally just found out what that was in my car about 10 minutes ago and now thanks to you, I also know how to get rid of them! Thank you! Refreshing to know, im not alone on this journey!ReplyCancel

  • Dionne Butler

    This totally just happened to me! 3 1/2 hours of vacuuming up the little suckers and I thought I was in the clear. I found 3 this morning getting the kids to school and (aside from the weevils obviously) my car has never been cleaner. I laughed out loud at your post as I could have written it myself! I am on my way to invest in a bug bomb. So. Gross.ReplyCancel

    • Dionne, I am glad to hear I am not alone! I have since sold that car and now own a van and am terrified that it will happen again! Ha! They are so hard to get rid of!! I hope you have good results with the bug bomb! 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Samantha

    Yup had them too. We had them in one car, never could get rid of them, ended up getting rid of the car. Then a week ago to my surprise we found them in our other car, we had been so careful not to transfer them. We had actually thought they were red flour beetles until today when the bug guy said they are a type of weevil (which is a kind of beetle and also a pantry pest). Today was our second follow up visit with pest control. After the first visit we found tons of them dead all over the car, had it cleaned and exactly one week later they were back but not nearly as many. The bug guy said it always takes at least two treatments so here is hoping today will do it.

    From my experience doing it yourself does not work. We tried everything except taking it to bug pro the first time, this time getting rid of this car was not an option so we did it right.

    They are gross yes but I guess at least they don’t bite…oh and we have a 4 year old. The pest control is safe once it dries so we just did it on a Friday and let that car sit til Monday. No smell.ReplyCancel

  • Samantha

    Just wanted to update you all, we had to go to pest control twice already and they are still back. The pest control said that it takes more than one spray and as long as they are declining in numbers it is working.

    First time spray: Found them all over the back seats dead, got the car cleaned, one week later they were back.

    Section time spray: Found them dead just on the floor in the back seat, 5 days later they were back.

    Third time spray: pending will keep you posted.

    Very stressed, I want to just sell my car but since this is the 2nd car this has happened to, I am so scared it will happen again. Really this car was so clean!ReplyCancel

  • Patty Holmes

    We just found weevils in our car as well. We tried vacuuming them out but there are so many little nooks and crannies that we just can’t get to them. Is there really nothing to do? Does a detailer have little tiny vacuum pieces to get where I can’t or cold freezing them in the winter work? It is definitely disgusting!ReplyCancel

  • Cindy

    Holy Crap! I’m having the same issue as we type. I, however, spend so much time in the car, I’m practically living in it. If you have any tips…please share!! Those suckers FLY and dive bomb!!!ReplyCancel

  • Laura Mills

    Omg i am going thru this now. It has been 3 months just when I thought it was gone and that control was in my hands. I now notice rashes on my behind and legs. we bought our car used but it’s financed through a bank and I’m starting to think our only option is to get rid of the vehicle as it attracts some type of fungi or it has fungi in it. Possibly been in a flood. I have developed a serious bacterial infection which is now turned into a fungal infection and when I get in my car after all my symptoms are healed it’s just right back to square one any luck will be greatly appreciated if anybody news how to get fungal spores or bacterial spores that cause the Little Fibers consulate always have weevils on the outside of my car. I noticed last night when I did some grocery shopping and got him it looked like whatever it was had eaten through almost every product I have bought. when I pulled the bags out of the box for waffles holes all over the bag. so I decided to open the toaster strudels same thing because I’m at the point now to wear this dress has caused a skin irritation which in my turn I feel like the wheels are eating me and people are telling me that’s not possible anyone has any advice on what to do please email me at Laura 4108 gmail.com thanks so much and did you ever find a solution and my husband told me that I could not put a bomb in the car because it messed my car up is this true?ReplyCancel

    • Hi Laura,

      It sounds like this car is detrimental to your health! I would definitely get rid of it as soon as you can. Spores, rashes, and fungi can be extremely harmful. I wish you the best, this sounds like a nightmare! I am so sorry.ReplyCancel

  • AP

    Hello Ladies, I seriously just googled “How do I get rid of weevils in my rig” and fate brought me here.  I transported an old bag of deer corn.  Big mistake.  Huge.  Now I feel like they are crawling all over me and I’m not even on drugs!  Afraid to go into the house so the garage is where I will spend the rest of my days….according to my better half.ReplyCancel

  • Megan

    I too have found a mountain of weevils this last weekend I normally saw one black bug (whatever they turn into) when driving but usually thought it was the same bug, my grandmother is coming from across country to visit so I pulled my seats out for a deep clean. I am mortified to say the least. They were mainly under the kids seats which made me feel even worse as a mom.  But I deep cleaned like never before but if I find any again I will be bug bombing for sure my grandma comes tomorrow so I don’t currently have enough time to do it:( ReplyCancel

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MyMommyStyle Meet Camille

Hello! I am Camille, a wife, mother of four, Disney obsessed, certified teacher, and reality optimist. Motherhood comes with its ups and downs, and I hope while you're here you'll find something that makes your #momlife easier!

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