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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Moths...

8 replies

misspollysdolly · 14/12/2011 19:19

I think we have a bit of a problem with moths. Well, actually I'm pretty certain that we have a problem with moths - I keep finding them in our living room and the bedroom. Anyone dealt with this before? So tell me are moths a significant pest or a minor irritation? To treat or to tolerate?! If treat, are we talking easy dealt with or major undertaking? Will they eventually just die out on their own?? MPD

OP posts:
lucytails · 14/12/2011 19:50

i've never experienced any problems with moths although you do hear horror stories of moths mucnhing away at curtains and jackets and the like. I don't think they are in anyway hazardous to health either...i'm sure someone will prove me wrong though. Personally i tolerate them. I see them as a variety of butterflies so i try to coax them outside when i find one.

2BoysTooLoud · 14/12/2011 21:54

Check your carpets re carpet moth. [Like wool].
Electric shock carpets here now- I am the polyester/ acrylic queen...
Shudder at moth memories...

PigletJohn · 15/12/2011 15:37

left to themselves, they will not die away. Instead they will breed until they have eaten all your woollen carpets, jumpers, suits, sheepskin rug etc.

It sounds to me like you have not yet experienced a bad infestation. You might like to have a look at the back of the wardrobe where you put your best woollen jacket or your winter coat.

Once you have decided your love of insects is smaller than your love of possessions, you will be ready to read this

FrigidHare · 17/12/2011 10:54

Saw how clean is your house the other day and they recommended cedar wood of lebanon, available from hardware stores. Drill a hole and hang about the place, well they put them in the wardrobe. We had them here (carpet moths) and it was a case of hoovering all the crevices, and we did change the carpets as they were here when we moved in. However, we do still have some as they have eaten a woolen rug I had in the loft. Grr

SeasonsGripings · 17/12/2011 16:11

We bagged up all our dry clothes and tumble dried them for 20mins and cleaned the surrounding area. We no longer put away worn clothes everything is washed after wearing and we haven't seen them since.

LePruneDeMaTante · 17/12/2011 16:30

You have to clean EVERYWHERE - really good hoovering with the best nozzle for the job, if you have a bad hoover, borrow a good one.

They live in dark, undisturbed places, the lower the better for them. This means the cracks between skirting and floor, the corners of drawers and wardrobes: clean all these out with the most toxic cleaner you can stand, then wipe them over with a solution of essential oils.

Remove all clothes with signs of munching. You'll see a sort of tiny tube or cylinder, often the same colour as the fabric, because the larvae eat the clothing and make their tube out of the resulting debris. There's also often a gritty sort of stuff, semi-stuck to the edges of a hole or in the ribbing of a sweater. Moth eggs are a dull greyish brown and feel like sand.

If it's something precious and just has one tiny hole and a bit of egginess, it's often enough to freeze/thaw/freeze after cleaning everything off, but keep woollens in vacuum bags in future. Moths are stupid and eat polyester fleece and acrylic as well, bag that up too.

Air the insides of cupboards, drawers and wardrobes really often, clean them far more than you think is necessary, and get some of the prism-shaped cardboard pheromone traps from ebay. Place low down in dark corners and aim to attract all the males to them so that the females have nothing to breed with. The main seasons for breeding are autumn and spring. This autumn we've had hardly any moths after about 3 years of the above, and my traps are empty at the moment (but spring is worse here, the eggs are often dormant over the autumn/winter because my house is cold).

suzikettles · 17/12/2011 22:57

Moths have eaten holes in 2 cashmere sweaters, my wooly hat, a wool jumper. I hate the fuckers Angry

After searching the archives on here I went hunting for their nest and eventually discovered an old duffle coat of ds's at the bottom of a cupboard which was literally in rags and appeared to be where they were mainly gathering. Vile.

I cleaned the place very thoroughly and I've now got some of those anti-moth sachets that you see in department stores and thing "how very Victorian" hanging in the wardrobe and in any drawers where I have woolen things.

I still see moths from time to time so I think I'll get some of those pheromone traps too.

Seriously, I reckon about £300 worth of damage.

PigletJohn · 17/12/2011 23:02

yep, once you've had a bad infestation, you take it much more seriously.

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