Clothes moths driving me insane - experts needed please!

[Wiifitmama]

We recently discovered a clothes moth infestation in ds3 bedroom. For background, we live in a ground floor flat (one flat above) and have no carpets or rugs anywhere in the entire flat with the exception of ds3 room where there was a synthetic rug. I am quite aware of clothes moths as my mother has persian rugs everywhere and it is always an issue for her in her flat.

We were seeing quite a few moths in ds3 room (one per day, sometimes two) and tracked them down to the rug. I had thought as it was synthetic, it was not a risk but it turns out that they can lay eggs in synthetic fibres so long as there is another food source - in this case dust. The back edge of the rug was along the back edge of his wall under his bunkbed and there was a build up of dust that was not getting hoovered.

As soon as we discovered this, the rug was disposed of out of the house, and his entire rooms was dealt with - hoovered to within an inch of its life including moving all furniture, all clothes went onto 60 degree wash, all stuffed toys went into freezer, curtains and chair were sprayed with moth killer stuff. We have not seen anymore in his room. This was about 9-10 days ago.

However, since then we are still seeing moths elsewhere in the flat. At a rate of about one per day. In random places. Kitchen sometimes, lounge, ds1 room, hallway. As I know that the adults live only 2-3 days, these must be hatching from larvae that are still somewhere.

I have pheromone traps literally all over the flat and in cupboards and they have not trapped a single moth. I have pulled out the couch, examined it closely for damage, even turning it over, and there is nothing. I have examined all of our curtains - nothing. I have put all door mats (all synthetic) through a 60 degree wash. I have sprayed the hallway bench which has a fabric cover with the moth killer spray. I have been into drawers of clothes and looked at them for signs of being eaten - nothing.

Short of removing every item of clothing from every single cupboard and drawer and washing it at 60 - which a lot of them won't take - I have no idea what to do next.

It is making me absolutely crazy!! Please help!!

Hopeful bump

evening bump!

Call the pest control officer at your local council for advice.

How about the tiny wasps that eat the moths?

I am not putting wasps in my house!!!

I didn't know councils had pest control anymore unless you are council housing?

You’ve won one battle, now you have to win the war. Once you’ve had an infestation you just have to keep hoovering and putting killer sachets around. I believe the can get under floorboards so that probably where yours are coming from. We use these. It’s annoying as I hate the smell and chemicals but they do keep them at bay. Moths are the bane of my life!

www.amazon.co.uk/Acana-Freshener-Sachets-Lavender-Fragrance/dp/B008BG6JFK/ref=asc_df_B008BG6JFK/?hvlocphy=1006578&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=218065512873&hvpone&hvlocint&hvpos=1o1&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-386733854611&hvrand=1413783554408255030

Our local council has a pest control officer; not just concerned with social housing.

I successfully eradicated clothes moths from our house a couple of years ago...
Every fabric was washed at 60 degrees or sprayed, every surface hoovered and disinfected, traps hung up and lavender scented things put in every drawer and wardrobe along with cedar hangings in the wardrobes. It took me a couple of days to do the cleaning and a further few days to gradually get everything away. I then vacuum packed any clothes or bedding that wasn’t in regular use to further minimise reinfestation!
We saw them in different rooms like you describe for a good while after. Kill every one you see, and leave the traps up. Hopefully you’ll notice some will eventually migrate to the traps (I think the traps only catch either the male or female moths so won’t catch them all anyway, and will just catch them when they are looking to mate.) unfortunately it takes a good few months to know if you’ve got rid of the problem as eggs that haven’t been hatched/laid need tocome into circulation..
It is a total pest. I think in a flat it’s harder to be totally rid as they could be coming to you from another flat (that’s what pest control told my sister in law!) but if you are absolutely thorough and patient you should hopefully be rid of them soon 🙃

Thank you. I don't think they are under floorboards as we have very tight fitting engineered wood that slots together. There are no gaps. Also tiled floors. No flat below us. There is only one above.

I think you are correct that we will have to literally go through every single cupboard and drawer. I am dreading it. Not everything can be washed at 60 degrees though. What do you do then? I am loathe to spray the clothes with chemicals that will then be on our skin. The spray stinks as well.

If you are getting none at all in the traps then I wonder if they are clothes moths or something else ? In my experience they literally flutter towards the trap as soon as it is peeled open.
Can you get a picture ?
We have the tiny wasps btw...nature is amazing.

Well I have asked myself the same question! Why aren't they in the traps? At one point, as we saw a few in the kitchen, I thought they must be pantry moths. I even got pheromone traps for those and put them in the cupboards. But I think what was happening was in the evening when the kids were in bed and the lights were off, they were being attracted to the strip lights under the cupboards in the kitchen as that is where I saw a couple. We have not caught any in the traps for pantry moths either.

I have examined a few dead ones after I caught them and looked at pictures online and they really do seem to be clothes moths. And given we definitely had the infestation in ds3 rug, it seems to fit.

Bag anything that can’t be washed or tumbled dried and put in the freezer, defrost then freeze again.

We did the freezer thing with ds3's stuffed toys. Our freezer is not massive though! Took ages in rotation. Can't imagine doing that for all the clothes. We are a family of 5!

It should only be necessary for some clothes, which can be done in rotation (bagged immediately when they come back out.) we were a family of 4 at the time, with DS being 6mo, and very tight on space too so I do appreciate the load (mentally and physically) is huge! But there’s no quick fix 😩
We did have to wait a while to see moths dead in the traps. If you’ve done every surface and fabric, sprayed every room/cupboard/drawer, and are culling the numbers as you see them plus hanging traps/lavender scented things in drawers/cedar in wardrobes.. you should do it 😩

So here is a question that I cannot find the answer to on google.....

I learned that the larvae will feed on dust (as it is made up in part of human skin cells) so they can lay eggs in synthetic carpets and then eat the dust if it is dark dusty area. However, I can't find out information if the moths lay eggs in a dusty area that has no fabric. So tiled floor but dusty. Or high up shelf that is dusty. etc.

Does anyone know?

I am reading this with interest because I have been battling the same problem.
I have vaccuum packed everything possible with moth balls in the bags.
Sprayed all rooms every few weeks.
Hoovered everywhere and sprayed the carpets and furniture.
Put moth repellent in every cupboard and wardrobe.
Wiped inside all drawers and wardrobes with moth killing spray.
I am still seeing moths in random places.
They have eaten holes in several items of clothing and made holes in the carpet.
I feel your pain OP.

@OP I’m not sure, but I didn’t let anything get dusty enough for long enough to find out. I’d imagine you just need to keep on top of the dust enough to hoover up eggs/larvae to prevent further cycles.

@endoftheline - they’re horrid things. I hope you see the end of them soon

Clothes moths are not attracted to light.
I am skeptical as to the “infested” rug, the only time I have had an infested rug, was when I had left a large wool rug rolled up in a room. When I unrolled it I realised why I had such a lot of moths ! If your rug is synthetic then the small amount of dust in the section you describe is unlikely to sustain them. Did you see grubs or casings ?
I am not an ardent duster, and I have never had moths feed on dust, although I have had them in-between floorboards that are under cupboards so not hoovered. The gaps in the boards collect fluff and dust, which in our house contains dog hair, so that is what they feed on.
There are moths around this time of year, yours are more likely to be coming from the upper flat, than from your small section of dusty synthetic rug. Are you sure you have no woolly things packed away somewhere dark and undisturbed ?
The traps though - honestly if I put the wrapper from the sticky board in the bin, then I will have a moth or two fluttering around the bin. The pheromone attracts them instantly. So either the traps are not near enough to the moths to attract them ( unlikely) , or you have another species.
Do you have any signs of moth damage at all ? Because doing all this and coating everything in toxic insecticides is very extreme if you don’t have an infestation.

Oh god, I have been battling these for years and every time I think we have seen the back of them they pop up again a few months later. I found that catching the caterpillars helped to get the numbers down more quickly than just using pheromone traps and sprays. I put worn socks (lovely I know) under pieces of furniture and each day could harvest a few caterpillars from each sock (when the infestation was at it’s peak).

Speaking to the local pest control man he advised steam cleaning carpets would kill the eggs and caterpillars so that is my next job. If that doesn’t work we are going to remove all the carpet and underlay, leave it like that for two months, spraying every two weeks and see what happens. I think we are going to put hard flooring down in most of the downstairs too.

I believe the infestation came from my DMs suitcase when she visited as it started in the guest room ( and Because when I told DM I had moths she said she had them too) so I am worried that even if we replace everything that DM could reintroduce them again!

Google carpet moths and treatment. You can get mini fumigating pots that you burn in the room and kill everything with the fumes. You obviously can't be in the room when you do this and I think you need to air it properly afterwards.

You have carpet moths. not clothes moths.

I forgot to add that you need to empty the Hoover thoroughly after each go, otherwise the eggs can hatch out in the hoover and reinvest the house.

Noughtpercent I’m not sure what the practical difference is, the moths we have had are equally happy eating a hole in the carpet or in our clothes!

Thank you. When I say about dust, my flat is actually really not very dusty. But I was just wondering if there is an area on a high shelf or something if that might be an issue.

I am sure the rug was infested. We saw live moths in it and damage when we pulled it out. There wasn’t just a little bit of dust along the edge but rather quite thick dust and debris clinging to it. Hard to explain but it was tucked against a wall under a bunk bed and hard to reach so I guess that edge never got hoovered properly.

I have google moth treatment extensively. I am doing as much of the guidelines as I can.

As to the flat above, it is a possibility i guess. Very old man lives there. Not clean. Carpeted. Etc. But how are they getting into us? And why now after 9 years here?

What other species could it be? The only traps sold are for clothes or pantry moths and I bought both!

We have very limited wool in this household. I used to crochet and have some scarves. I have a pheromone trap with them and nothing. There are also some woolly hats from winter in a cupboard. I will have to get all those items out and check more thoroughly. We have seen no clothes damage at all so far anywhere.

When you say you saw live moths in the rug, do you mean the caterpillars ? They are very tiny, white, with a dark head. The adult moths don’t eat, only lay eggs, but if you saw casings (a white cocoon tube) then you might have moths hatching there that you have seen. Moths can’t eat synthetics, so I am confused about the damage - could your rug actually be something not synthetic ?

The only thing I can recommend are Lakeland moth traps- you don’t even need the trap cage thingy just get the sticky refil sheets put them on the floor where you described and dot them around. We tried lots and these were the best. Also fly spray - a recent discovery here- you just have to kill as you see them. We have tjemcome in through open windows the whole area here gets them. They are a pain. Check your shoes etc they love leather.

Also- just for cause- both times we have had damage to carpet it’s been under or near the kids beds- not long after they have had sickness bugs and ended up being sick on the carpet. Even though the carpets were cleaned right away really well and disinfected and shampooed the next day. Just a thought if your noticing near bed damage.