To get in a professional moth service?

[Rainallnight]

We’ve lost several jumpers to moths and have tried the usual home remedies. Am I right in thinking I need to get some people in?

Has anyone here ever had this done? Do they treat your clothes as well? I’ve been on some websites that say they don’t, but then I don’t see how the moths could be completely gone?

We just have so many ruined clothes, I feel like this has gone beyond us.

Either don't buy wool, silk etc or store in mothproof bags with moth papers.
We've had moths for years, recently I spoke to a pest controller but came to the conclusion that I'm not able to be good enough at cleaning right now to eradicate them as I have two small children.
Pest people will do smoke bombs and spray everywhere but basically they also tell you to clean well, including regular cleaning under furniture, dusting, reducing clutter etc. It only takes one moth egg to survive or one moth to fly back in and your back where you started.

What have you tried?

Moth larvae love dark places.

Thoroughly wash and dry every garment and then stick it in a freezer.

Vacuum and dust every nook and cranny of a room, cupboard, wardrobe and chest of drawers.

Treat with insecticide.

Declutter - throw out anything you haven't worn in a year - moths and their larvae need to be left in peace to do their dirty work, so stop keeping more clothes than you need.

Rotate the clothes regularly - let them see daylight and inspect for moth larvae and damage.

Check everything - after my mother died, my dad was at a loss to understand why there seemed to be a lot of holes in his clothes - his woollen socks were infested and we had to go through his entire bedroom, washing everything and picking the larvae off before drying everything.

He'd been wearing and washing the same few garments, but there were tons of clothes he never wore, never saw the light of day and had become a larvae nursery. It was vile. 🤮 We had to throw a load of clothes away.

Wool, including mohair and cashmere, feathers, fur, leather and silk are all fair game, but they'll have a go at cotton and linen as well.

Don't put clothes back into storage (drawers, cupboards, wardrobes) before cleaning them - sweat and oils from your body are very attractive.

If you have natural fibres in your rugs and carpets, be ruthless there too.

Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum, shifting the furniture as you go.

Don't think that because you can't shift a piece, the larvae can't get under it. I've seen bald patches two feet square after shifting sideboards, chests of drawers and cupboards.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/19/revenge-of-the-clothes-moths-as-numbers-boom-can-they-be-stopped

www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/house-and-home/household-advice/a665191/the-best-pest-advice-clothes-moths/

www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/conservation/clothes-moth-research/understanding-clothes-moths/

www.rentokil.co.uk/moths/diy-products/

www.pestcontroldirect.co.uk/how-to-control-clothes-moths/

I had rentokil in and they told me to freeze my clothes for 48 hours. The bombs plus my cleaning and freezing did get rid of the infestation, but I have seen the odd moth or two. I have kept the cupboard door open and used lavendar and moth spray.

I've no idea it that service even exists but how could you be unreasonable to choose a solution to a problem

I'm sure MNers will come up with all kinds of weird and time consuming methods to get rid of moths but if you can pay someone else to do it and you are happy to that you'd be mad not to surely

Thanks everyone.

@MistySkiesAfterRain How did you manage to freeze your clothes? I barely have room for another bag of frozen peas, let alone a full wardrobe of clothes! I’ve seriously considered hiring freezer space but I don’t know if that’s a thing.

Thank you @Gingernaut. I’ve tried a lot of that but I do have a lot of clothes, many of which don’t get worn so that could be a big part of the problem.

As it turned out @Rainallnight in my horror over the moth infestation I went on ebay and by luck found one second hand for twenty quid which was local. I put it in the boiler cupboard 😂

It has been very useful for food and I wouldn't be without a second one now!

That sounds terrific. I don’t have anywhere at all I could put one in my house, unless I chanced it in my damp cellar

@caughtinanet

I've no idea it that service even exists but how could you be unreasonable to choose a solution to a problem

I'm sure MNers will come up with all kinds of weird and time consuming methods to get rid of moths but if you can pay someone else to do it and you are happy to that you'd be mad not to surely

The thing is, the only way to really avoid having moths is constant vigilance. Pros will come in and treat but it takes a high level of decluttering and cleaning to ensure they don't come back. So paying someone does not entirely solve the problem.

We got this kit . It was excellent
www.mothprevention.com/products/carpet-moth-killer-kit-2-3-rooms

I have mothballs, papers and spray on subscription. We also suffered with carpet beetles. I'm finally back in control but it's been tough.