Does everyone get moths/mice?

[berryfull]

Gah! Just spent a winter dealing with mice and moths. Just spent an afternoon realising I need to throw away a few bin bags full of stored clothes because of the mothy bastards. How common is it to always be having to deal with these things? Am I particularly minging?

Is it so unusual that no one is replying because they don’t have them? Or do people not like to talk about it?

We get mice despite our best efforts but we do back into countryside and it's a case of laying poison. I can't stand them shitting everywhere

Could you somehow turn the mice against the moths or vice versa? If you could, for example, get the mice to drive out the moths then you would only be left with one problem?

I second this. Liberally coat the moths in peanut butter. They will fly away, mice will follow and problem solved.

You are welcome.

Moths are something that happens with warm weather...where do you live?
Anyway, you need to wash all of your wools, the ones you cannot you need to treat them with very hot steam. Once done, they go in closed plastic bags. Ikea has good ones

Moths have eaten my carpet in one room. The door is now constantly shut as I haven't actually caught sight of the culprits yet- suppose they will hatch soon

We have had moths for the last couple of years, but not before, they have destroyed one carpet and eaten holes in clothes. I tried moth traps but they seem to do nothing. Mice (or at least small furry animals, not all actually mice) generally stay in the garden now, we used to have cats who liked to bring them in! All the cats are gone now RIP, I keep thinking of getting more though, cats not mice.

I don't know about moths, but dealing with mice is a breeze if you can adopt a cat or two.

Growing up we must have been super lucky as never had mice, mildew or moths. I discovered the joys when we first started renting. Then we moved to country so mice are just a war of attrition, that currently we are winning but swings and round abouts. Didn't sleep for 6 months when first discovered furry f××kers

Greentree Cross posted 😆
OK, sometimes the cats do introduce rodents to the house, but they're usually in bits. Apart from about one vole in ten. And the perfectly unharmed baby bunny- now that was an interesting evening!

I have a cat who is an incredible hunter, so no mice anywhere near here.

My friend had moths- I told her she was being melodramatic about getting rid of them - then a week later I found they'd eaten a corner of my carpet! I replaced it with a synthetic one.

I keep moth sheet thingies in my wardrobe, just incase. Bastards.

I've never had moths, I've always had mice.

Live in a damp old Victorian place in the countryside. Maybe it's not warm enough for moths?

I should perhaps be grateful.

I had to get someone in to properly close off all entry points for mice into my house after we moved in (1930s house). Not seen another one since in 4 years.

Moths I used to get when I lived with ex husband but none now we don’t live with the man sweat.

For moths I second the advice to keep all woollen clothes in zip-up bags when you’re not wearing them. Mice are looking for food and warmth so make sure everything is store in metal or plastic boxes and floors and surfaces are clean. If necessary get a pest control company in to check for entry routes, block holes etc.

I've had both and rats courtesy of next door.

Moths - get some parasitic wasps. Job done!

Mice - get pest control out. Job done!

We rarely get moths, and never persistently. I don't know why not. Apparently moths dislike clothes/stuff kept in light or that's completely dry. But I'm a slattern, really, so I can't be doing anything right.

I think they are a pain to get rid of either once they find a way in or get established. We have a cat who brings the odd mouse in but our house is fairly modern and lacking in holes for them to enter through. Also not had any moth issues but our neigh ours did for ages, had to gut all the carpets.

We did have a huge issue with ants and cluster flies but have managed after many years to eradicate them inside the house.

We only seem to get mice in the winter - mainly in the loft, so there are always a few traps up there.
Moths weren't a problem for years until the EU banned napthalene mothballs. I haven't tried the parasitic wasps, but other alternatives I have tried are useless.

Never had either (so far). Sounds horrible.

Smoke bombs for clothes moths. On Amazon. Hoover everywhere in the rooms (underneath furniture, along the edge of the carpet) and then smoke bomb the bastards.
Freeze clothes for 48 hours to kill moth eggs and larvae. It works but is a pain.

I had moths and I'm a bit of a clean freak. Wool carpets are your enemy.

I got rid of them with chemical spray and lots of those moths sticker things. But it took two years because they get in the floorboards.

I threw out so much stuff and kept on top of it.

Mice a regular visitors to my house do I have to be vigilant with traps and poison sadly so they don't take hold. Had moths once in a lift room which is underused. Didn't want you to feel alone in fighting the wildlife OP. If it helps, I also get kitchen slugs and bathroom woodlice sometimes.

In the nicest possible way do you think that if you have bin bags full of clothes it might be time for a clear out? I understand storing seasonal stuff away but moths and mice can be indicative of a cluttered house.
Have a massive clear out, clean the place from top to bottom, fumigate as per pp advice, poison under the floorboards and start again.
Bin all the damaged stuff though. Just write it off.

Never had either thank god! That sounds like bad luck

We've had moths and mice at various points in previous houses, not sure we've ever had them both at the same time though.

At our last house which was in the middle of a city we had mice running all over the house. Now we are in the countryside they like to live in the walls which I don't really mind so long as they stay there!