Can you help? Moths in my staircarpet 😭😭

[EdDaveysStuntDouble]

Nice wool carpet fitted about five or six years ago - and its suddenly developed a bald patch with tiny white eggs stuck to the stubble 🤢🤢.

I obviously need to treat the whole staircase, and presumably with something that soaks in rather than just treating the surface. Is there anything anyone has found effective that won't require us (and the cat) to wear hazmat suits till this time next year??? 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

You can get smoke bombs that can be good. Ultimately we've had to replace all our carpets with synthetic as they were everywhere and we couldn't get rid of them. Depends how far they have spread. It's awful, I'm sorry

Thank you! Smoke bomb won't really work as the staricase has no doors - but we can spray and poweder thoroughly, once I have secured the right product. It's the only carpet in the house, luckily, though of course we do also have clothes and soft furnishings. So I'm hoping if we treat then get a lot more religious about hoovering, we might only have to live with the one bald patch..... fingers crossed

At least the weather is warm so I can launder if I need to.

Oh and in my panic I failed to search Mumsnet for previous advice. There is a lot! So I'm busy opening links to moth killing products and seeing which get the most recommendations!

I would be just before the weekend my family are coming to stay - no tiny babies luckily, just robust young adults....

Go on the historyonics website and buy Constrain spray - it can't harm mammals.

I’d get rid, honestly. We’ve been treating our carpet for three years. It’s going in a few weeks. I cannot wait.

Definitely just get rid of the carpet.

They will be everywhere, sorry. It will be a constant job to keep on top of them.

I spayed my carpets and then 3 weeks later removed them and replaced with non wool. I kept my wool living room carpet. We sprayed twice and steam cleaned it several
times. We popped moth traps down and hoovered weekly under beds, furniture and at edges for months! I washed all my clothes, towels etc and threw out loads of stuff I did not need. They have 🤞not returned but I check all the time!

We have a plague of moths at the moment. I am killing 3 or 4 per day. I don't know where they are coming from. It's driving me mad.

You'll need from replace the carpet in my experience, I'd never get wool again always a mix.

You won’t win this war. Have you checked underneath furniture for dark places they have also feasted on. We got rid of all the wool carpets and I have steadily done battle with the bastards for many years. My cashmere collection is a mass of mended holes and I have all the killers on speed dial. It’s controlled but never gone completely.

My only options are to burn the house down or move.

Yeah, hate the little blighters. Even worse when you find the grubs😱
A friend of mine uses a steam contraption to target the edges. Should test first though in case the carpet shrinks.
We have wool carpets across all

We had them in a wool carpet. We got rid of the wool carpet and switched to hard floor and synthetic carpets. The eggs etc vanished for a year, then came back. We get the tiny moths flying around every summer but varying amounts, no idea where the eggs are now! They are a bugger to get rid of.

I live in a block of flats where it's a big problem. I had a look in a neighbour's flat after they moved out and their carpets were bald. My hall carpet is now developing bald patches. I hoover constantly but I can't seem to get on top of them. They're in the communal hallways and get in under my front door.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do is I live in shared ownership and want to move in the next year or two, so replacing the carpet will just be a financial loss for me.

Chap ant powder has the same ingredients as moth powder. And much cheaper. Put it round all the skirting boards where there is carpet as they like to lay their eggs in tight crevasses. And sprinkle it everywhere and leave for a few days before hoovering but keep the powder next to skirting but don't hoover.

Cheap not chap!

Indorex flea spray around the edges of every carpet in the property. It worked for me when every moth product failed. Got rid of them with one application. Wish I had heard of it earlier instead of a year of wasted time and money and damage.
You need to exclude pets as per instructions on the can and air the rooms before use.

We got rid of them with some powder from B&Q or Homebase. Sprinkled it all over the carpet and lifted the edges to put it slightly under as well. They were only in our lounge/ diner, they didn't bother with the hall/ stairs/ landing or our bedroom - maybe because there were more dark places to hide behind furniture.

It has slightly put me off having wool again though.

Look underneath furniture where it is dark.

I can't use any insecticides because of my cat. Are moth traps any good? I used to keep a sticky clothes roller by the door to de-fur myself before I went out. One day I couldn't find it then realised it had fallen down the back of a cabinet. When I retrieved it, it was covered in little moth larvae

Wow lots of help here, thanks everyone. I am mentally prepared for the nuclear option but will follow the advice in increasing degrees of severity up to amd and including a new plastic stair carpet - whatever it takes!

@Elsvieta have you had success with this? Seems like a good place to start.

I must say the idea of a steamer also appeals, it might be useful for other dim corners too. I should probably get back on the Mumsnet search and look for a recommended model!

Sorry i was thanking everyone although @brieandbacon 's tip looks useful especially given the limited range of shops in easy reach of me

Oh yes, it works - assuming, if course, that moths or other insect pests are actually the problem. Moths aren't actually common on carpets that are exposed to the light - they usually pick a dark spot such as carpet that's under furniture or wool jumpers in a drawer. Have you seen larvae / adults?

It could also be carpet beetles but Constrain works on them too.

My advice is to go nuclear. Strip the room. Bin the carpets and soft furnishings. Then bleach and spray and repeatedly hoover. Get those sticky traps that catch any remaining adult moths to break the life cycle.

When I had moths I threw out about £4K worth of stuff. King size bed, mattress, duvet, carpet, everything. It worked. If you keep anything that might contain eggs you’ll never get rid.

I got rid of a major infestation using this stuff. You need a proper filtering mask, and your cat will need to go to the cattery. Powder first, then hoover up and spray. Thoroughly. You need to move all the furniture. Yes, all of it. One of my infestations was under where the wood of an incredibly heavy wardrobe met the floor. No idea how they got under there. Then let it all dry completely before you move the furniture back. We had to do half a room at a time due to moving furniture. www.mothkiller.co.uk/carpet-moths-2-c.asp

If it's carpet beetles we have just had these little bastards and we steam cleaned the entire house including mattresses and headboards. They are absolute dicks.
No wool carpets and everything is synthetic too. We are replacing our bedroom carpet anyway as they were in our room to start.
The only place we didn't do was the back of the loo and they also hatched there, so that has now been steam cleaned and carpet Bertie spray (we have a baby so reluctant to go nuclear).
White wine vinegar also useful.
I'd get a pest control person to come round. We had our house and roof checked for £65.
Bugs with any kind of larvae give me the ick.