Invisible bugs in house eating clothes- jeans and shoes and ! plastic bags

[AkrDaR68]

Help!
Has anyone else been through this or going through it now?
It's a real horror story.
I have had ongoing clothes moths problem and had the house sprayed by a pest control company two years ago who also used heat tents to kill eggs and larvae in clothes and bedding.
HOwever this actually seemed to exacerbate the problem , not solve it. I have unsuccessfully tried to get them to refund my money ( £1300) or resolve the issue. They said they would return to spray but wanted to charge me and someone actually turned up on door step without any appointment so I sent them away.
In any case I don't think chemicals work anymore.
I dont have any wool left in the house except 2 blankets which I keep in vaccum pack bags. Whatever I have not only eats holes in cotton shirts and t shirts, it also knaws and tears away at the bottom of hem of cotton clothes leaving a ragged strip. Weirder stilll, holes appear in plastic bags and the handles are sheared off. It isn;t mice, I have used indicator bait and nothing shows up.
The invisibles as I call them , as even with a field microscope I can't see any wiggling larvae or eggs, feast on my jeans. They love the join by the back pockets and holes appear here first. Large holes develop which means they eat whilst I am wearing them. I wash freqently all my clothes and bedding in 90 degree programmes in washing machine, apart from shrinking clothes it makes no difference to the consumption rate.
My leather shoes have been attached too - a split appeared and the stiched joints to the sole get eate. I have had to throw away numerous pairs of shoes.
Nor does sunlight, spraying with handheld moth killer spray, shaking the clothes out or hoovering seem to work.
ON top of this , the worst horror of all, now it is Autumn I am constantly itching. It is like these horrors are all over my body, transferring from my clothes and back. The itching in my head and on my body is worse after washing my hair and bathing.
I am at a complete loss. All I can think to do is move house but I really dont want to.
Please does anyone have any advice or is anyone else going through same thing ?
It is horrible !!

Can you post some photos of the bits that have been eaten?

If you had clothes moths in the past, I suspect you still have them. We've had them damage both carpets and clothing. I believe they'll eat leather too, although I'd have thought they'd avoid the plastic bags.

We have sticky traps everywhere and I vacuum thoroughly everywhere. I was doing so every day, but have been doing less now there seem to be fewer moths. I also bought an electric zapper which appeared to do nothing for days, but has actually caught quite a few.

I wouldn't be surprised if the itching is unconnected, but you won't know until you find out exactly what you're fighting. Have you tried getting advice from local council pest control, or do they no longer exist?

Could it be carpet beetles? They eat all sorts

Could it be silverfish? They tend to come out when it’s dark

🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

You poor poor thing!

Weevils ? They are sneaky, look like black beetles?

Heat treatment won't prevent reinfestation, unfortunately.

Clothes Moth larvae will preferentially consume protein-based material - silk, wool, fur, feathers. They also like "contaminated" surfaces, so things that have sweat, blood or food on them. Carpet Beetle larvae have similar eating habits. Eating of jeans and shoes is not typical for these particular bugs.

Silverfish like a starch-based diet, so it won't be them.

Have you tried placing traps to see what species you're picking up? If you find out what you're dealing with, treatment can be targeted more effectively.

It's also worth bearing in mind that moth and carpet beetle can live quite happily in ceiling/floor spaces, lofts, chimneys....did your contractor give you any information about where they were likely to be coming from?

It is more likely to be a bacterial or fungal infection than insects/moths
Steam clean everything carpets and sofas
Swab youself with alcohol based mouthwash
Use laundry disinfectant
See a doctor - bacterial infections can be serious - meningitis and necrosis are bacteria

Do you have pets that lie on sofa - and you sit there after - is that maybe why it is affecting your back pockets?

go to old fashioned pet shop, tell them you have unknown infestation
(Check both sides of your mattress & its seems by the way & wash your duvet & pillows & torn over your bed & furniture & vacuum everywhere on all furniture) We had carpet beetle (I found some) when I went to the pet shop they gave me a spray - you will need a good mask not paper one use this - you than shut windows & spray floor & into skirting boards. Go out & leave rooms shut! The chemical is unpleasant but will dissipate - dont spray your bed!
Pet insect sprays (check this says this!) are meant for safe use with pets & children & it will say so.
It worked

turn not torn

Most fabrics won’t cope with regularly being washed at 90°. Are you sure you’re not destroying your own clothes?

We have clothes moths, they are quite big!

Would your itchiness be from the stress of all this? I know when I'm stressed or anxious I get itchy and have to use antihistamines.

Could your local council pest control come out to look at your home? It sounds severe tbh. Might be worth contacting them?

I agree that you need to out what is eating your clothes. The clothing moth is a prime suspect, I would advise getting a pheromone trap from amazon and see if you catch any to confirm it is then.

Once you know what you've got, you can work on eradicating them.

One solution is to freeze infected clothing, but it needs to be frozen for long periods of time in conditions colder than your domestic freezer.

Hmm. I do wonder if perhaps some of the atypical things eg itching and shoes might be anxiety and over monitoring

Shoes quite commonly do split on that area, hems of T shirts fray and jeans wear on the back pocket seam especially when frequently washed at 90 degrees I'd imagine.
All those things happen to my clothes to some degree.

Is it possible there was an infestation and it was cleared but you are so anxious that you are misinterpreting signs?

What do trusted friends and family say? Could you get a second opinion from another company?

I'm not saying it's definitely that but might be worth considering. I have known someone who this happened to and the pest company refused to take his money and sent him to the GP and on retrospect he was extremely grateful. He had got himself believing that specks on the carpet were eggs etc when they weren't.

Is it possible that your
Washing machine is not rinsing properly and bio enzymes are affecting your skin and degrading your clothes? Maybe use only non bio for a while!

Or is your washing machine snagging your clothes?

Huge potential moth issue at home. They collect dust and everything that has keratin. They're ruining everyrhing I own. Including 3 drumsets and even the chrome rims and cymbals. They lay eggs in everything! Brand new drumsets. The chrome rims look like theyve been hit with a salt shooter. Snowboards infected, clithes, fridge, 10 pair jordans ect ect! They leave little white things allover. And they leave some nasty liquid on everything too. There in the wood floors. Im almost positive they are moth larvae or carpet beetle. 6 months every day i deal with this. Oh and they get in your skin. They are case bearers. Traps hardly do anything. They also infect fake tile floors. They are attracted to anything shiny. Im at a loss myself. I zoom my camera in 60times and can see the larvae all intertwined in hair and dander. Good luck! Ive not tented yet but it seems like i may need to. The weather global warming has caused huge uptick in moths.

Help, Ive tried it all. I assume they are moth larvae as there are little white cases everywhere.

We’ve got moths. The first year we lived in our house we went on holiday for a fortnight a month after moving on and when we opened the door on our return it was like a horror film… they were everywhere!! We had to remove some
carpets - they’d eaten them
away under furniture that our sellers had left - and I bought some pheromone traps from Amazon and we haven’t had a problem since. The pheromone traps are species specific so you’ll need to identify what type they are and you’ll need a goood magnifier to do it.

I ripped out my carpets and then had ther floor sprayed by pest control, I placed every item i owned of the cloth type in black bin bags and washed everything, or threw it out. I froze some of my delected in a bag in the freezer. Tyhe one crapet i left i steam cleaned, dns steam cleaned my curtains, several times. I also steam cleaned all mattresses and bed frames etc...Once dried in the onlt room without a carpet I bagged all of my clothes and wore clothes from bags for over a year. I binned any clothes with holes, or that I did not really wear.

It was the most stressful 3 weeks of my life but I did it all at once.