Persistent clothes moth unusual ideas welcome

[House2025]

We have really persistent clothes moths which we first noticed in spring 2024 in most rooms of our new to us Victorian house, and I've tried EVERYTHING to get rid of them!

I'm looking for any slightly less heard of solutions or new ideas from people please.

So far we have done the following.

In 2024
-removed all carpets in the whole house (currently have had bare floorboards for 18months)
-tried parasitic wasps
-moth pheramone traps
-fumigation bombs
-lots of cleaning and hoovering

After more natural treatments failed in
2025
-did a full diy chemical spray (march)
-called in professional pest control and had a full heat treatment and chemical spray of whole house and loft (done twice as first failed)
-used various fumigation bombs
Washed all clothes at 60 degrees twice
-thrown out anything wool/natural even if no damage (not had any damaged clothes, only damaged carpets which we removed).
-clean and hoover the house regularly

• did a full search and emptied every cupboard etc and there is no obvious source left. The carpets were the only sources we found last year and they are long gone, but the moths aren't!

-this weekend we are removing all the loft insulation or recommendation of the pst company, just in case. It's not wool, but we have no other ideas where the are coming from.

Has anyone tried so much and still failed like us? Has anyone dealt with them in the walls or under the floorboards? I feel like these are the only places left after we rip out the loft insulation.

Our numbers have massively reduced since last year, but I still find 1 or 2 every day and so many more will no doubt be around. I want them gone so much and short of moving and taking nothing with us, I have no ideas

Our is detached. But I know my neighbour has had them at various points, but not bad like ours was. Do you think they could travel between houses (only 2 meters apart)?

Oh its just hell isn't it?

I had them in my favourite house and it took two years and getting rid of all the wool carpet to get rid of them. I used moths sticky things which were really effective. I had them the second year because they were in the floorboards so I got more sticky things and put powder down between the floorboards. Mine migrated to the bathroom as well. Eventually they went.

You will get rid of them it just takes time.

Yes they travel. We never had any until the last two years and a change of neighbour but I think they also fly in windows. I dotted the sticky things on window sills just in case any males came in and they did!

I moved house in Jan (new build) and suddenly I saw two and having had then before went into eradicate mode!

I use the zero moth balls and hanging sachets and moth proof plastic sealable bags for cashmere / woollens. I spray the carpets and if I buy any vintage/second hand it goes straight into the freezer for a week.

So far I seem to be ok, sounds like you have done everything, have you sprayed the floorboards? I know they can live in the tiny cracks and lay eggs.

Is it possible to spray zero clothes moth aerosol spray into a room (wear a mask and do a long continuous spray of about 10 seconds) and then close the door, go through each room.

Keep pets and children away obviously .

Meant to add that by spraying and treating yourself everyday for a period of time might be better, as if even one is missed by professionals if it lays eggs then you will never get rid.

It really is hell. I hope we do get rid of them. Just seen one fly past as I type this 😞
Do you remember what powder you used? I thought about doing that too, but wasn't sure if I should because then you can never hoover it out if it toxic. Feels like one of the most likely hiding spots though

It's difficult for us to do everyday as I have a 2 year old. Each time we've had a professional chemical spray I stay away with her to minimise exposure. If we sprayed everyday ourselves I'd not want my daughter in the house. Its worth considering though as like you say, it only takes 1 to lay eggs and you are back to the beginning so maybe this is the only way.
I've not tried the aerosols, did you find them effective? We've used sprays and bombs

@House2025 ahh yes totally understandable, it is strong stuff.

do you have pets? the moths can eat pet hair, so any stray fur balls in dark quiet corners can harbour them.

rather than trying to eliminate every moth, focus on protecting your woollens - seal EVERYTHING edible in plastic bags (ideally clean first, and bin anything with holes / cocoons) unless it is being used and cleaned frequently. Freezer bags work well for this, one item per bag.

If you are storing anything for a long time e.g. coats, pillows, blankets, and are unsure of the filling or fabric, or if it might have pet hair or wool lint on it, seal it in a bin liner.

Someone recommended to us keeping a cat flea collar in your hoover bag so that larvae that was hoovered up wouldn’t survive in your hoover and get distributed around the house. Not sure if it works.
Maintain sticky traps everywhere.
Recarpeted the house with manmade fibre carpet - didn’t really want to but had no choice.
Good luck.

Anyone reading this thread and thinking about getting rid of carpets to get rid of moths - make sure you get rid of the carpet grippers too. I'm renovating a house at the moment that had moth eaten carpets. We found the most egg casings under the carpet grippers. Piles of them! Makes me wonder if they are in the skirting boards too... Grim....

You need a professional a pest controller.

Had a problem a few years ago - source was a feather cushion

so get rid of anything with feathers, and also wicker

Do you have wool insulation in the walls?

once you get rid of the source, it should be quite controllable

I used Pest Expert formula c (spray. Smoke bombs & aerosols) and this got it under control

I can't remember the name of the powder but it was probably by Rentokil although that might be problematic with little ones. Keep up the work with the sticky things, they will reduce them.

I also had a great moth spray to go around base boards and ceilings.

Even if you eliminate them in your house, I honestly wouldn't risk getting wool carpets again. They will probably be endemic in the local area and I think you will end up in the same position at some point. Good quality synthetic carpet is the way to go IMO.

I will never have wool carpets again after this. I have heard that the moths can even eat synthetic carpets if they get dirty, although much less likely. Have you had any issues with synthetic carpets? I'm tempted to just put solid floors down even though it's not my preference upstairs. I'd prefer synthetic carpets

My understanding is that even if they lay eggs in a synthetic carpet, they won't eat it, just the hair/dirt etc in it.

Our synthetic carpet has only been down a year and we still have a lot of infested wool carpets (part way through a renovation and tbh they don't bother me enough to live with bare floorboards unless I have to). So far the synthetic carpet has been fine and we rarely see any moths in those rooms. Those we do see are on the ceilings, so assume they've come from another room.

Indorex will do it but will make your home toxic to all insects including harmless spiders etc. I had to treat a flea problem some years ago and was gutted to realise everything would die.

I have used boric acid (comes as a powder) for moths in the past, sprinkled between floorboards, behind furniture, in drawers etc, and that was quite successful too. But might be hard to get hold of.

That's really good to know. Thanks for sharing

this sounds so awful and must have been so upsetting. We had fleas in the house for lesss than a month and that was terrible … but you’ve experienced so much worse. As mentioned above, Indorex is extremely effective (it’s designed for fleas though) but you should def try it.

to stop insects re-entering the house we use Flat Cats screens. This stops mosquito and moths coming in through open windows, they are great.

good luck with the battle.

I replaced my wool carpets with synthetic ones and they didn't eat it. But even after all that work to get rid of them I kept the sticky things around just in case. I can spot a moth anywhere now!