Advice please! Carpet moths!

[worriedmamaabouttoddler]

So I live in an old house with a lot of trees and grass. My garden is full of trees, bushes and grass and massive and a nightmare to keep on top of

Anyway carpet/ clothes moths are a problem near me. I decided to change my living-room round yesterday, I moved this corner chair ( IKEA Vallentuna chair) which I've only had 3 years. And on the sides and back were moths just settled there camouflaged and a lot of them! Even their larvae was there. I vacuumed then up but then panicked and just threw the chair outside and got rid! Yes probably too hasty but washing the covers might not have got rid of them!

Anyway today I decided to then pull everything else out to make sure nothing else was there but low and behind my two sofa bed chairs where covered in moths and their larvae. I've only had one of them less then two years and the other less then 1 year. So they are not old. And I normally vac all these regular so it's a shock they are there. I'm not prepared to throw these out as they cost me £520 altogether from IKEA and I'll have nothing to sit on! My mum usually stays over and sleeps in them and even slept on them last weekend and we didnt notice them! So I stripped the covers slowly whilst vacuuming all moths and larvae as they appear. I then wash the covers on a 60.
I've left the chairs stripped to air. Are these safe to keep once I've vacuumed and cleaned?
I thought moths didn't eat things unless they were wool or animal Fibres and these items are cotton or other synthetic items! So why attack them?

I do not have carpets so there's no carpets attracting them ( I can't have carpets due high level of moths in this area) I have no rugs either.

I can't afford a professional and have kids and baby so can't use loads of chemicals

I've not even got started in my main sofa yet! That's 100% cotton it says but they still attack cotton!

Should I just throw these out and make money and have nothing because I can't replace them? And even if I void the cycle will start again next summer !

It's making me feel like crap constantly having to deal with this. It actually seems like the end of the world because it constant !

I had a v bad infestation, the source was feather cushions on a sofa

You did well to get rid of the chair

You can only: get rid, or use lots of chemicals on the sofa. I’d try pest control expert formula c spray & Folgers

I’ve written lots of other threads about moths: getting rid will not be a small job

Good luck

We've been struggling with moths - I'm surprised that you found moths and larvae before you found damage. When I moved furniture, I found the carpets eaten - that was before I'd seen more than the odd moth! Anyway, I have found holes in clothes. As you say, they like cotton.

I wouldn't throw anything away if you can wash it. You can also put cotton items in the freezer, I believe. The only way we've managed to stop the damage (not get rid of them - every time we think they may be gone ...) is regular vacuuming and that meant moving furniture every couple of days for weeks. Don't have to do it so often now, but we have less furniture that can't be vacuumed under.

Lastly, I have decluttered. Could do better, but the only vulnerable fabric items are cushion covers etc and clothes. Any clothes that aren't worn (and therefore washed) regularly are in zip up bags, as are spare towels etc. Spare duvet and pillows with linen in vacuum pack bags.

We rented a flat that had clothes moths. Everyone is London seems to have them. They scoffed every inch of wool carpet that was underneath furniture and ate at entire corduroy coat that was at the back of our coat cupboard.

We got them to manageable levels by endless hoovering in every crevice of the carpet and all furniture and then spraying everything. I mean everything in moth spray every spring. We used 6 cans for a two bed flat! Basically you need to use a whole can in a room, all cupboards and then shut the door and leave for the day. Works a treat as it kills the larvae which is what eats fabric not the moth.

Vile things but this worked.

I also discovered the bastards even breed and eat dust! We found a load in an inaccessible dusty side bit of a kitchen cabinet. They eat anything not just natural fibres.

This. And moth traps and moth papers under furniture and in cupboards.

www.amazon.co.uk/Transparent-Treatment-Clothing-Household-Protects/dp/B00B2KP7U0

I am afraid it may be difficult to avoid chemicals if you want to get rid of them for good. You can get moth bombs which eradicate moths from a whole room at a time. If you were able to use one of them and then leave the house for the day the effect of the chemicals may not be too bad.

Right so I've sprayed all skirting boards in living room ( it's where I'm seeing most of the moths) and I've vacuumed them then I've sealed the gap better the skirting and floor as there was a gap so I filled with some sealant. It is only temporary and I know I'll need a better fix soon. As I sprayed the spray some moths flew out and some larvae, I vacuumed them up. I still kept finding larvae under sofa which I vacuumed. Then I pulled the fire place out and vacuumed and cleaned behind it ( there were no moths or larvae there) but I'm still seeing 3 adult moths ( small) a day In my living room and I can't think of where they are coming from?? I've used 3 canisters of spray! I do not have any wool, cashmere or anything in there. No carpets and no rugs! It's depressing me, I can't get rid of my sofas we will have no where to sit! But I can't see any visible ones on there now I've washed the covers, just ones crawling the floor! It's getting me down!

I know - it feels like a war you can't win. Keep vacuuming - I've not used sprays, but I do set those sticky traps, so I can see the numbers going down when I have a vacuuming campaign. I honestly wouldn't get rid of stuff because as you've found out, they'll just move on to something else. Bastards. I hate them.

I get them too, even though my house has just been redecorated, cleaned and decluttered. I am in a terrace house and I actually suspect some of them might be coming from my next door neighbour as his house is an Alladins cave of upholstery and other soft furnishings.

I absolutely HATE using chemicals but will give in when needs must. Was at that point with the bastardy little fuckers, but them read so many accounts of people spending £££ to be rid of them for a year before they returned. Vacuuming hasn't eliminated them, but they're not causing any damage.

@worriedmamaabouttoddler: do you think you might have wool insulation?