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O/T - Carpet moths



W

West Hoathly Seagull

Honorary Ruffian
Aug 26, 2003
3,540
Sharpthorne/SW11
Now that all the election aftermath has settled, and the speculation about who we might sign and then lose out to Middlesbrough or Burnley hasn't really started, can I ask for some advice from NSCers who know about pest control? The folks are suffering from an infestation of carpet moths. I suffered from the little blighters in my flat and took the step of replacing nearly all my carpets with vinyl. This has solved my problem, but it isn't really an option for my parents, as their carpets are only a few years old. We have tried a number of things, from hoovering the house from top to bottom to get rid of the eggs, to a couple of borax-based solutions (though we're worried about using such stuff as we've got a couple of cats). Are there any NSCers who have had this problem, or who work in pest control, who could give me advice on how to get rid of them?
 




M

macky

Well-known member
Dec 28, 2004
1,652
before any treatment is applied hoover like never before that's the secret of trying to get rid of them a good hovering first
a good hoover like a sebo or Kirby help with this process if you pm me i may be able to point you in the direction of a good commercial product to use
 


K

knocky1

Well-known member
Jan 20, 2010
12,968
Motlock Moth Boxes from Amazon did it for us. About £7 a go. They trap the females on a sticky pheromone paper. Last a long time depending on infestation. Only seen 2 moths this year and haven't used the boxes. Also used to spend 5 minutes every morning crushing them in their daytime resting position. I miss them, really.

I take it They can be seen above carpet level. Good luck.
 


W

West Hoathly Seagull

Honorary Ruffian
Aug 26, 2003
3,540
Sharpthorne/SW11
Thanks guys. Thought I'd get some advice on here. Yes, you see them fly from time to time. The tell-tale signs are these horrible little white things about a centimetre long (not sure if it's their eggs or turds) and chewed carpets at the edge.
 


K

knocky1

Well-known member
Jan 20, 2010
12,968
West Hoathly Seagull said:
Thanks guys. Thought I'd get some advice on here. Yes, you see them fly from time to time. The tell-tale signs are these horrible little white things about a centimetre long (not sure if it's their eggs or turds) and chewed carpets at the edge.
Click to expand...

Never had that. I did a little search this morning and got 4 of the blighters.
 




wehatepalace

wehatepalace

Limbs
Apr 27, 2004
7,292
Pease Pottage
We had them a few years back ended up replacing all the good quality wool based carpets for cheap man made carpet, it's the only way to get rid of them as they live on natural fibre, we even had pest control in to spray everywhere.

I still see the odd one or two, but no where near as bad, when we ripped the carpets up to replace them there were hundreds of them living underneath.

Horrible little things, the white bits are the eggs I believe.

Good luck, but I'd recommend a pest controller to spray as the first course of action.
 


Biscuit Barrel

Biscuit Barrel

Well-known member
Jan 28, 2014
2,432
Southwick
You have a pest called the Case Baring Clothes Moth (Tinea Pellionella). They are a textile pest. They have a complete metamorphose. Egg, larvae, pupa and adult. The white husks that you can see are the silken cocoon created by the larvae, hence the name Case Baring.

It is the larvae that does all the damage. They are after a protein called Keratin. Keratin is found in all natural fibres. If your carpets have a wool content then the larvae will eat them. The larvae will eat anything that contains natural fires. Your clothes, rugs soft furnishings are also at risk.

Many people will say that removing your wool carpets and replacing them with man made ones is the way too go. This is incorrect. All you are doing is removing one of the potential food sources from the house. The moth will still remain and will simply find an alternative food source. You need to eradicate the pest from your house, not their food.

Like all insects, their breeding cycle is governed by temperature. Things are starting to warm up now and so their breeding cycle is getting faster, and you will see more larvae and adult moths.

My recommendation is to treat all carpeted rooms in your house with a high residual insecticide. You will need to carry out two treatments. This is because the insecticides that can be used safely in your house will kill all stages of the life cycle of the moth, but it will not penetrate the eggs. The eggs can take up to about 2 weeks to hatch, so a new layer of insecticide will nee to be applied after 2 weeks to eradicate any new larvae and break the breeding cycle.

You will need to employee a registered pest controller, as they will be able to use the required insecticide.

One of the main breeding site's for this moth is birds nests. I advise you to check your loft for nests (both old and current nests) and remove them.

Hope this helps.
 


K

knocky1

Well-known member
Jan 20, 2010
12,968
Good report [MENTION=28899]Biscuit Barrel[/MENTION]. Is mine the common clothes moth? Tineola bisselliella.
 




Biscuit Barrel

Biscuit Barrel

Well-known member
Jan 28, 2014
2,432
Southwick
knocky1 said:
Good report [MENTION=28899]Biscuit Barrel[/MENTION]. Is mine the common clothes moth? Tineola bisselliella.
Click to expand...

Could well be. The main difference is that you wont find the white husks around the edges of the room if you have the common clothes moth, as you do with the Case Baring. The Common Clothes moth is lighter in colour. It is a consistent sandy colour. A part from that, the moths are very similar and the treatment is the same.

The Common Clothes Moth will often bypass the carpets and will attack clothing. Clothing can not be treated with insecticides. If your clothes are infested, you will either need to have the property treated with an insecticide and treat the cloths with heat. Or treat the property with an insecticide and throw your clothes containing natural fibres away.

A heat treatment of clothing is expensive, so you will have to way up the cost of heating your clothes or buying new ones.
 


K

knocky1

Well-known member
Jan 20, 2010
12,968
Cheers. [MENTION=28899]Biscuit Barrel[/MENTION]. Maybe I should spend my latter days in Lycra! Last Summer we took everything out the wardrobe and hung it in the sun on a hot summer day. Only 4 yesterday is a good sign but, growing Asparagus and spending 2 months every summer squeezing asparagus larvae and beetles, I know how quickly they bugs can take hold.
 


E

ErikaDeanda

New member
May 31, 2019
1
Getting rid of moths on the carpet is not difficult. If you are concerned about using chemicals, you can choose to use a carpet cleaner. This carpet cleaner can be used to remove any moth completely from the carpet. You can choose a natural formula to achieve better results.
 




Lush

Lush

Mods' Pet
Jul 5, 2003
13,409
Wherever I lay my hat, that's my hat.
We had them a couple of summers ago. They particularly enjoyed my teenager's bedroom with its clothes all over the floor and a minimal approach to cleaning.

We sprayed the carpets with moth spray. Put lavender sachets and tablets in all the drawers. Hung up the sticky moth trap stuff. Hoovered up the eggs - and emptied the bag. Were armed and ready with a spray whenever one flew past while we were watching TV.

It was a major campaign, but we've had nothing since. Probably helped by last teenager going to uni.
 


symyjym

symyjym

Banned
Nov 2, 2009
13,138
Brighton / Hove actually
I hate moths especially the larger clumsy ones that play with their shadows, fly around your head and land in your food leaving flakes of their bodies behind. My Henry vacuum cleaner loves them though.
 






R

razer

Well-known member
Mar 10, 2019
762
Ormskirk, Lancashire
Biscuit Barrel said:
Could well be. The main difference is that you wont find the white husks around the edges of the room if you have the common clothes moth, as you do with the Case Baring. The Common Clothes moth is lighter in colour. It is a consistent sandy colour. A part from that, the moths are very similar and the treatment is the same.

The Common Clothes Moth will often bypass the carpets and will attack clothing. Clothing can not be treated with insecticides. If your clothes are infested, you will either need to have the property treated with an insecticide and treat the cloths with heat. Or treat the property with an insecticide and throw your clothes containing natural fibres away.

A heat treatment of clothing is expensive, so you will have to way up the cost of heating your clothes or buying new ones.
Click to expand...

My son had an infestation of them in the wardrobe in his flat when he was at university. He put his clothes in the freezer for a couple of days (apart from the ones he was wearing of course). Seemed to cure the problem.
 




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