Moths

[andnowmoths]

Hi. Has anyone had any experience with moths in their flats/houses?

There was one in my living room today and I found a caterpillar in the bathroom. I can't see that any clothes or carpet has been nibbled but there is a weird stain on the bedroom carpet (as in the photo).

Any advice would be great. Thanks

There’s been an upsurge in the moth population just recently so if you’ve found one and the frass there’s likely a load of them lurking somewhere

If they're moths you usually see the egg cases, like grains of rice, especially under furniture and near the edges of the room. This stuff worked on mine.

It's only certain species of moths, most aren't carpet eaters. Carpet moths are tiny and have a gold sheen, so don't worry too much if you just find a random moth. They usually lay their eggs on carpets, so probably not in the bathroom (unless it's carpeted?), as it's the caterpillars that munch, so they lay the eggs where they will have food. I don't think they cause staining, but I'm not sure.

@coastalimpact I’ve just done half the flat with that spray - thanks for recommending - and am doing the rest today. Going to finish off with a fog which is supposed to be good but didn’t work on it’s own when I did it a month back. I’ve also got traps everywhere but obvious they only work on male moths.

I don’t know whether/how to tackle my clothes as they could be in amongst those too and I want to blitz the whole lot as they’re a nightmare to get rid of. Unfortunately I have no real freezer space and nothing can be washed at 60 so I’ve not figured that element out just yet.

God, it’s such a palaver. I’ll report back if I get anywhere.

A couple of my jumpers were nibbled at the same time as the carpets, so I emptied all the wardrobes, drawers, etc, hoovered them and shook all my clothes outside, and washed things that hadn't been worn for a while.

I've also got some cedarwood things to put among my clothes - rings to go on the hangers and balls for the drawers (I think they were from Lakeland). I think I read mixed reviews about how effective they were, but they are quite cheap and smell nice, so worth a try. You can buy cedarwood essential oil to top up the smell.

We've not had any further problems, but I spray under the furniture once or twice a year, and I am much more diligent now about hoovering out wardrobes every few weeks, and I don't put any clothes back in the wardrobe after wearing, as apparently moths are more attracted to those.

Good luck - hopefully the spray will get rid of them. I vaguely remember doing the spraying twice - I think it's to get them at the right point in their life cycle, but probably it tells you on the instructions.

Thanks, @coastalimpact! Just sprayed the other half of the flat so will tackle the wardrobes later and, weather permitting, fog tomorrow!