Moths! Getting rid of them

[Whataretheodds]

I've discovered carpet moths have been nibbling away on an area that hasn't been hoovered enough. I've seen a couple of adult moths and pulled larvae off a pair of velvet trousers that were in a plastic bag under the bed.

How do i get rid of them and avoid having to throw away all my woollen clothes?

You never will, they get absolutely everywhere. They even eat dust under furniture and under floorboards.

The best way at least manage them is get this moth spray. Almost a full can per room and then run out and don't return for several hours. Do that in every room. Corners of carpets, cupboards wardrobes, all soft furnishing. Do it every 6 months and you should keep on top of them.

You need a specific spray for carpet moths, I found one on Amazon. The clothes moth spray didn’t cut it for me. You do need to do it every 6 months or so or they come back. I had to move all the furniture they get into the darkest corners.

Vacuum everything thoroughly and make sure to hit rid of the bag. For the clothes, the best way to destroy any moths is to freeze them for a week in well-sealed bags. I've done this with a carpet as well (at the advice of a friend who's a certified carpet cleaner and expert in antique rugs) but I was lucky enough to have a giant old chest freezer at the time. Also make sure everything is washed properly so there are no lingering smells from wearing.

I'm dubious about sprays, but there is highly effective biological moth control these days. You can order shipments of tiny tiny parasitic wasps that live on moth eggs and larvae. They're so small you can't see them and they'll disappear once they've demolished the moths. For best effect, you'll need a couple of repeat treatments a month apart. Haven't tried this with clothes moths myself but used a related species to great success against grain weevils.

https://andermattgarden.co.uk/blogs/pests/clothes-moth-how-to-identify-and-treat-2022

Amazing thank you

Lakeland do something called Moth Stop - comes as tiny boxes of the solid with a perforated transparent plastic cover.

Do be careful with pets though - I'd put one of these under each end of my wool hall carpet runner. My dog died last October, but I recently looked after a friend's dog when she went to a funeral. I was in the kitchen when I heard her scratching at something - she'd uncovered both of the boxes, luckily not tried to chew them.

Trichogramma wasps! The National Trust use them. They're the only thing that got rid of my clothes moths.

You can get them from amazon or ebay.

This. I found out about these parasitic wasps via another mumsnet thread. Can't be seen, tiny, not harmful to pets or humans. Sounds like something out of a Sci Fi film but really effective apparently.

https://www.dragonfli.co.uk/collections/clothes-moths/products/clothes-moth-egg-sachets?src=GAds&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjOvliJ2i_gIVjcLtCh2H5QYIEAAYASAAEgIPRfD_BwE

Tha parasitic moths are the only thing that's worked for us. They are quite pricy to get enough of them though

I had moths two years on the trot and I got rid of them! But it cost a fortune in chemicals and new carpets.

I used moth spray, moth sticky things and ripped out my carpets upstairs. My problem started in my DSs room as it was dark. I went into every corner, baseboard and crack. They lay eggs everywhere.

The sticky things are great for keeping down the population. The moth spray killed them dead. I threw out anything damaged.

They came back the following year (they can get in any small crack) so I sprayed like mad. It wasn't so bad though.

Since then I've never had wool carpets.

I feel for you. My skin was crawling.

Clothes moths and carpet moths are different though. I'm not sure the parasites work on case bearing carpet moths.

The carpet moth spray from Amazon works if you apply it to the carpet liberally and often alongside thorough vacuuming. I called Rentokil and, when they came 10 days later, there were no live moths or larvae left.

Mine originated from an area behind a heavy piece of furniture and spread around the room.

But they hadn't ventured beyond the carpet so can't offer any advice about that.

No pets or children in the house.

The company I spoke to who do spraying want me to bag all clothes and wash at 60 deg C/dry clean.
They said they use the same treatment for carpet and clothes moths.

I sympathize with you. I discovered them after seeing a couple of random moths in the lounge and when I went behind the sofa I realised the carpet had been nibbled. I spotted a couple of empty larvae cases and some larvae.
I completely lost the plot because I’m terrified of maggots and anything that wriggles like them.

DH came home from work to find the carpet ripped out and on the front lawn.

I replaced the flooring with laminate and will never have a wool carpet again. We moved house recently and need to replace carpet in master bedroom and stair cases and I’ve chosen a 100% polypropylene carpet which pains me greatly being the daughter of someone that worked in carpet manufacturing for decades but the larvae love the wool!!!

you can get rid of them but the larvae are tiny and hard to spot and are usually found in dark areas such as behind sofas and underneath heavy furniture.

hadn’t heard of the wasps as a remedy for them which is interesting - good luck and hope you manage to clear them all

Is steam not supposed to work? Because last night I came home with a steam cleaner to try to kill our moths and I'm wondering why no one's mentioning steam.

The wasps are fascinating but I can't help fearing some kind of terrible karmic retribution.

I am fucking boggled at the concept of dealing with moths by introducing parasitic wasps!

I started a thread about moths last night and someone suggested these. I did think it sounded a bit like the little old lady who swallowed a spider to catch the fly. But apparently it does work.

I did get rid of clothes moths (which also ate carpet) with relentless vacuuming, spraying, Zero moth killer papers and, crucially, pheromone traps.

Are you sure they are moths not carpet beetle larvae?

The parasitic wasps aren't like normal moths. They are tiny. Practically invisible.

Are these the small golden / silver coloured ones? If you don't want to use harsh chemicals then diatomaceous earth which is crushed up seashells and / or borax can be sprinkled on the areas and then hoovered up a day or two later. These are so safe for humans you can literally eat them. Also supercheap.

Get rid of the carpet. Only thing that worked here. I had someone out to professionally nuke it and that did bugger all.

I hear you, but the parasitic wasps do work, despite sounding like a Sci Fi horror situation that could go badly wrong 😂They just die off once they've dealt with the moths, so no need to then introduce special toads to deal with the wasps and so on...

• Use moth traps with pheromones to attract and trap male moths.
• Consider using insecticides labeled for moths, following instructions carefully.
• Kill moth larvae by freezing infested items in a plastic bag for a few days, or by placing them in a hot dryer for at least 30 minutes.
• Vacuum regularly in areas where moths are likely to be found.
• Prevent infestations by keeping your home clean and free of food debris, storing clothing and textiles in airtight containers, and regularly inspecting items for signs of infestation.

Try this https://amzn.to/3KUu8dN

@SilentHedges sitting here pissing myself at special toads 🤣

The sprayer has been - he didn't think it was too bad and seemed optimistic about hia ability to kills them off. Will see how it goes. The main inconvenience is having to live out of bin bags and wash the entire contents of the wardrobe at 60deg c.

If it happens to you I highly recommend packing a small suitcase as though you're going on a minibreak so you don't find yourself facing 83 black bags and no pants.

Also: labels and sharpie.

Will hoover the dark quiet corners more often in future.

Definitely moths @EyesOnThePies
Ooh let us know how steaming goes @bloodyfootprint . Will it work for suits?