Yet another moth situation

[wee quinnie]

Hi all, I have just noticed (due to increased light flooding my home over the last week - hurrah!), that there is a whacking great hole in the carpet in the darkest part of my hallway. As far as I am aware, my knitwear is intact, and I haven't seen great swarms of moths anywhere, but do you think I really need to mothinate my entire house from top to bottom? I am pretty sure it is moth related - it's in a dark spot, and not in an area of heavy traffic.

If I am honest, I am looking for an easy lazy solution. Does such a thing exist?

[KidKruger]

Get a blue can of Raid from Dulwich DIY, cost about ?2.50, hoover the entire carept area with vigour, the spray the bare patch and areas near it, then go out for a walk for 30 mins if you're worried about fumes.

That should tell you whether you've nailed the moths or not.

[DulwichFox]

Yes I have same prob..

Holes in my Axeminster Carpets under TV Table and other places where Furniture

cannot easily be moved.

Generally as I understand it, it is the Larvae when they hatch that feed on the carpets and clothes.

Not the adult Moths. But don't know if that is correct.

They can do a lot of damage.

Fox.

[Jeremy]

We had a moth problem a few years ago - they chewed a big hole in our new dining room carpet! We thoroughly cleaned all the corners incluing under the furniture, put mothballs down, and used liberal amounts of Raid spray whenever we spotted one of the bastards. Seemed to do the trick.

[wee quinnie]

Thanks all - I knew you'd know.

[Sue]

If you put "moths" into the forum search box, a load of previous threads about moths and various ways of dealing with them will come up.

Sadly it's a very common problem round here (and elsewhere).

If you look closely at your carpet where it's been eaten you may see the larvae (don't do this if you are squeamish :) )

[Saffron]

After you use the pesticide, put pheromone traps in the areas where the damage was, in order to catch future moths when the pesticide is gone.

Empty your vacuum bag frequently. I heard that moth eggs can hatch in your hoover, and the little devils escape through the cracks! You can also place some moth balls in the bottom of the vacuum bag for a two-pronged approach. Hoover frequently and thoroughly to suck any stragglers out of the carpets.

Use some moth balls or moth strips in your clothes storage before a problem starts. If they're in your carpets, they can likely get to your clothes too.

Eliminate anything that's attracting them as much as you can. We had an old cat bed with woolly stuffing. It was practically a moth breeding farm by the time I noticed the problem. I binned it and bought synthetic bedding instead.

Good luck!

[PeckhamRose]

This is useful and indeed we have suffered a lot of holes in our beautiful real wool carpet which was a real treat for us when we got it.

Problem is my lungs react very badly to all sprays and fumes, so Mr PR has been spraying the antimoth sprays when I go away. The phereomone sticky traps are really good, they attract the male moths.

We have noticed however that the moths are happy to fly not just in the dark, but we see them around the living room now and again, and at night may settle on the ceiling. Put a glass full of water against the moth on the ceiling and it drops in.

We have holes in the carpets that are not in dark places, but in light and open spaces. Another problem is that if you have plants they like to be near where it is damp, so when you water the plants they get near there too.

We had a quote from someone through lordship Lane carpets to completely cover the whole carpet with anti moth spray of about ?150. We couldn't afford it and I would have to have been away from home for several days till the fumes subsided. I think our answer will be to get a cheap non-wool carpet. We live in flats and hardwood floors would be inappropriate I think!

[wee quinnie]

Ah NikkiB, I see you're back again, promoting your moth prevention business again. Oh dear.

[Sue]

wee quinnie Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Ah NikkiB, I see you're back again, promoting your

> moth prevention business again. Oh dear.

xxxxxxx

This is a different one, isn't it?

Different from the one who googled moths and then posted on any threads discussing them, supposedly giving advice but actually trying to sell her sticky traps?

[uncleglen]

I have noticed many furniture items for sale from a certain Swedish company on the EDF. I once purchased a largish 'Persian' rug from said store and it was in the bedroom of my teenage son. The corner of the rug under the bed became infested with moth larvae because I think these rugs are not treated and the corner was neglected when he hoovered the rug. (I discovered this when he went to uni as I spotted the bald patch). I have another of these rugs which I have had no problems with but it receives meticulous attention now.

[Sue]

uncleglen Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I have noticed many furniture items for sale from

> a certain Swedish company on the EDF. I once

> purchased a largish 'Persian' rug from said store

> and it was in the bedroom of my teenage son. The

> corner of the rug under the bed became infested

> with moth larvae because I think these rugs are

> not treated and the corner was neglected when he

> hoovered the rug. (I discovered this when he went

> to uni as I spotted the bald patch). I have

> another of these rugs which I have had no problems

> with but it receives meticulous attention now.

xxxxxx

To be fair, if we're talking about Ikea, their rugs are so relatively cheap that it would probably double the cost if they sold them already moth-proofed :)

[wee quinnie]

Sue Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> wee quinnie Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Ah NikkiB, I see you're back again, promoting

> your

> > moth prevention business again. Oh dear.

>

> xxxxxxx

>

> This is a different one, isn't it?

>

> Different from the one who googled moths and then

> posted on any threads discussing them, supposedly

> giving advice but actually trying to sell her

> sticky traps?

I don't know if there are 2 or more, but I definitely remember nikki b., and her "advice" from earlier this year.

[Sue]

wee quinnie Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I don't know if there are 2 or more, but I

> definitely remember nikki b., and her "advice"

> from earlier this year.

xxxxxxx

The one I'm thinking of was very anti-chemicals, even though in my experience (having tried everything) they are the only things which actually work .....