Moths! Bloody moths!

[Thurlow]

What's the best thing to do? We seem to have loads of the buggers. Not to bad for me, it appears me buying cheap clothing has paid off But DP's jumpers are taking a real bashing.

Any sure fire suggestions?

I bought Moth Stop sachets from Lakeland (they contain transfluthrin) after they got into DHs wardrobe last winter and ate quite a few clothes. Only put them in his wardrobe though and when sorting few my clothes a few weeks ago discovered they'd got into my wardrobe this year but DHs is moth free. Fortunately like you they didn't eat much (I'm too cheap) and only damaged an old coat. My wardrobe now has a few Moth Stop sachets as well.

Oh gosh I really hope we don't have to get the pest control man in...we have two cats!!!

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If you take the carpet up carefully leave it loose while you have the problem and then refix it, how the heck is the landlord ever going to know? I'm not suggesting you tear it to pieces - and I'm assuming it's not actually stuck down?

cozie I'll have a look, I'm totally clueless about anything like this so you may very well be right.

It's a difficult one. You're sort of partly relying on other people to be as throrough as you are - but they're not. All it took in my case was likely some visitors with cases full of mothy sweaters and some inattention on the part of the houses's previous owner (my father) and the house had a major infestation within two years. I soldier on.

I have, among many others, a Victorian Book of Household Management and it seems that every other page is about preventing something or other. I used to laugh about it when I was younger as well.

How do you actually end up with a moth problem? Am i being silly?

AFAIK they are most often brought into the house on second-hand clothes or rugs, or possibly on the fur of animals. The moths do not seem very mobile, but are capable of flying in through the window. You would not be surprised if a wasp got in, so why not a moth?

Once you have a single moth laying eggs in your house, you will build up a substantial infestation unless you destroy them faster than they breed. The vacuum cleaner and the tumble drier are very effective at getting rid of them, but if you don't hoover your woollen carpet frequently under or behind furniture; or if you put used clothes back in the wardrobe, you are providing them with a breeding environment. They like a dark and undisturbed place. They are also attracted to the scent of clothes that have been worn by a woman. If you heap your clothes on a chair or on the floor, they will spread.

Once you have had an infestation, you will take it much more seriously. I now routinely put moth hangers in the wardrobe, which kills any eggs or grubs that might occur. Bedding and out of season clothes go in plastic crates with a moth killer. I once had deal with a bad infestation in my mum's house, in the cupboard under the stairs where coats were kept, and in a woollen carpet under a cabinet. There is a lot more work and expense curing an infestation than there is in preventing one.

We found we had carpet moths last November, they weren't there at Halloween when DS1 got red face paint on the cream sofa and I stripped it to wash and deep cleaned the living room while I was at it, but three weeks later when I went to move the sofa out I found dozens of casings (I thought one of the kids had been doing something with tissues) and realised as I hoovered that a patch of carpet was disappearing before my eyes!!!

We have been using carpet moth killer from Homebase, hoovering religiously every other day, squirting the powder round the carpet edges and under the furniture we can't move easily. I've moved a bookcase so in the corner by the investation I can pull the carpet back to get the powder under the carpet and into the gaps under the skirting and into floorboard gaps too. Kill any moths we see. Empty the Hoover every time it's used.

So far it seems to have done the trick but we won't stop yet in case there are more to hatch/emerge. Thankfully the patch of missing carpet is hidden from sight but it's soul destroying and it made me feel like our house was dirty. It wasn't and talking about it at work made me realise they're quite common as other people had suffered too, either in carpets or wardrobes.