Moths

[Leaflitter]

We've got moths eating our aged but lovely oriental rug. I also saw one flying into the piano...

I've done a smoke bomb in the room with the rug and put cedar scented sachets around, plus cedar things in the wardrobes. But this doesn't seem enough.

What to do? I don't want moths to eat all our stuff obvs but am anxious about getting professional zappers in because of the DCs breathing in the poison too.

Any advice?

PS House is very clean thanks to ultra-efficient cleaner (who discovered the problem when hoovering under the rug...)

Bump

Hoover every other day, everywhere esp round edges and under furniture. Empty the Hoover outside, don't leave it full as they can fly out. Kill any moth you find. You can buy powder in homebase, use it liberally. Keep on.......we found them in Dec and still get the odd moth flying around.

Oh, my youngest has asthma and the stuff from homebase hasn't been a problem, I just make sure the room is well aired.

Get a pheromone trap - they are like sticky pads that have something on only the moths can smell and are attracted to. You can buy them on line and from memory they weren't too expensive. The hoover regularly to get rid of all the eggs and the pheromone catcher will catch the adults as they hatch. I used to work in a big fashion store and we had clothes moth infestation this was the only way to control them.

Hoover, steam clean carpets, put down moth powder from homebase, hoover it up, spray with lavender moth spray from lakeland. Not sure which works but this is how we deal with them - however they will find untreated areas and move to there so you have to do it all and pull out all furniture. I hate them!

Oh and lakeland also sell the pads to shove behind furniture.

It will take a year or two to get on top of them, I fear, but don't worry - you can do it. Do you have floorboards under the rugs? (Moths love to lay eggs in the cracks between the floorboards - as I know from experience. )

Thx all.

Cedar is wonderful, it makes your holey woollens smell nice when you throw them in the bin. However it does not kill moths.

You need a vapour-releasing chemical called Transfluthrin in your drawers and cupboards (or for a rug, there are sprays and powders)

Frequent and thorough vacuuming, especially under and behind furniture, and in the crack by the skirting, is vital. An upright has the advantage that it beats the eggs out.

Yes, I did wonder about the efficacy of these pleasant smells Piglet.

I will seek out the killer chemical.

Do you mean upright Hoover or upright piano?! We've got a Henry and a baby grand with lots of nooks for moths to nestle in...

The big question is how on earth do you order the spray from Lakeland without adding goodness knows what other delights to the shopping basket???

I would put several of the sachets containing transfluthrin inside the piano. A friend's baby grand needed extensive repairs after moths ate all of the felt pads inside it!

If the moths are living inside the rug I'd put it in a large, sealed plastic box with several more sachets to kill the moths inside it.

Good luck. Once they get established they can be really difficult to get rid of.