a quick google search came up with the following-
Carpet beetles are attracted to loose, easily consumed food sources. Although they can chew through whole fabric, they’re more likely to seek out damaged or torn fabrics. They’re particularly prone to eating lint, dust, hairballs, damaged furniture, and dead insects. Cleaning up the debris that attracts carpet beetles is the single best way to prevent them. Regularly vacuum, sweep, and dust, especially in areas where carpet beetle infestations seem likely (such as your attic). Carpet beetle infestations last longest when larvae have a consistent source of food. Usually, this consistent source will be an old, damaged or dirty rug or other piece of fabric. Stored clothing, old rugs and carpeting, or dirty sheets are all particularly likely infestation sites. Go through your storage looking for old materials that could foster carpet beetle growth. Thoroughly clean and wash all the fabrics you keep in your home on a regular basis. When you’re not using the fabric, store it somewhere airtight to make it harder for beetles to access.
Carpet beetles like to gather in dark, low-traffic places in your home like closets, storage areas, your attic, in air ducts and of course, underneath your carpet. You may also find live beetles in your windows in the spring and summer months. you may already have an infestation you're not aware of in your spare room-if it's like mine it's definatly both low traffic and dark for the majority of the time.
How do you get rid of carpet beetles on stuffed animals?
Treatment with heat or in the freezer will kill the larvae and adult beetles. Keep infested items in the freezer for a period of 2 days or more, or treat with hot water and soap. Dry cleaning can also remove an infestation from clothing and stuffed toys, etc.
this reminds me of when we dealt with an outbreak of lice. we ended up tossing the bulk of the kids stuffed animals, only holding onto the most cherished (and bagging for over a week in the freezer, then running through high heat on the dryer follwed by shop vacuuming them cuz it skeeved me out so much).
