Pesky moths

Gosh I ve never had any moths or had anything eaten in my wardrobes,. mind you thinking about it I probably don’t have anything made if real wool
What a horrible shock Is there a modern day equivalent to the awful smelling mothballs.

Nearly everyone I know is plagued by moths. Clothes and carpets get munched.
Vacuum packed bags or man made fibres seem to be the only answers I have heard of.
Friends have had to replace all their good wool carpets.

I had moths for years and used all sorts of things including cedar balls which apparently deters them - not. The only way I could keep on top of them was to steam clean everywhere. I bought a specific steamer as to be effective it needs to be a certain temperature which normal steam cleaners don't reach. Maybe they do work but by then I was at the end of my tether. I would also put all clothing in bin bags in the freezer after washing/drying as this kills the eggs. Luckily I had a big chest freezer so was able to do this. I spent £100's on a chemical moth killer purely as a last resort. It was easy to do because you just put the spray can in the middle of the room, set it off and leave the room closed for a couple of hours and there was no after smell. I would only see the odd moth after that but continued to use the fogger sprays at intervals for piece of mind. To be honest it seemed a constant battle and was very worried that the blighters would move house with me but so far so good. At the very least, I'd recommend, if possible, putting your Woolies in the freezer then storing in vacuumed bags.

And use moth traps.

I have had moths here since 2014, they came out of a big bag of bird seed that was in the kitchen! I have hoovered until I have dropped, hoovered and hoovered ...... It is almost impossible to get rid of moths. I didnt realise that they had got into the living room and couldnt understand where they were coming from. I managed to move the settee which is very heavy and that is where the larvae were, munching away at the pile of my Axminster carpet. You could see the hessian backing and no pile! I just about died when I saw under the settee!! I have had the carpet down since 1993 and decided recently to have a new carpet so I am hoping that will be the back of the moths. I took the carpet up in June as I wanted to be able to hoover all the floorboards and under the skirting boards to ensure that hopefully any trace of moths/larvae/eggs have gone. They should have gone as there is nothing in here for them to eat. Modern day carpets are not made of wool so it wont be appetising to the larvae. I am hopeful that I wont be seeing any more moths. The problem is the cycle of the moth is so long. If you have any garments, you can wrap them in a plastic bag and put them in your freezer for 24 - 48 hours and that will kill any larvae and any eggs that have been laid in your. It has been an absolute nightmare. I did put up those fly catchers, those long twirly sticky things and that helped as the moths were attracted to them and would get stuck on them. Good luck. (sorry to go on).

Apologies but to add - I was told that after hoovering to dispose of the hoover bag so they didn't escape back into the rooms. I agree about it being an absolute nightmare and you have my every sympathy.

Althought I get the occasional moth[a few more this year], I have never had them eat through things.
Dont know why.
Except in the early years of our marriage I put moth balls in the loft. And a wardrobe etc.
Never done anything since.

I put my cashmere jumpers in vacuum bags every year to store over the summer. I then put the bags in a plastic box with a lid. In the box I put moth repellent.
I regularly spray the wardrobes with moth repellent as well.

I researched and researched how to get rid of moths until I was blue in the face! I did purchase Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth, it is like a powder and it said, it does retain its sharp abrasive edges and is the most effective for insect control. But I didnt find it very effective at all. I did contact some Pest Control companies but they said it is a difficult one for them to treat. They said they could treat areas but couldnt guarantee how effective it would be so I didnt bother with Pest Control. If I saw a moth in the house, on a wall for example, I would get a plastic beaker and sit it over the moth, slide a postcard to the entrance of the beaker and trap the moth. If you try to whack them with a fly squatter, 99 times out of a 100, they detect you are coming and they are off. It is so difficult to find them again as they are so tiny, you can hardly see them. Little blighters!!!

Crikey... that's exhausted me! Hope I never get them 🤣

How very annoying!
Bay leaves deter moths if you want a natural solution.
Don't ditch those jumpers.
I've restored mine with tiny beads over the darns.
I also have disguised tears and stains on dresses with this method .

I have lavender bags in all the wardrobes and drawers and moth traps all over the place for the carpets. We still have some bare sections of carpet though.

That is so clever

My hall carpet and my sitting room carpet , both wool ,have been attacked.the latter one mostly under the settee and under a desk in a dark corner of the room.I was told that they prefer darkness which is certainly the case here. I search each morning by the skirting board and usually manage to pick out some of them . I'm afraid I usually squash them straight away.I do use lavender,cedar balls sticky traps etc.

By the time you see a moth it's too late. They'll already have laid eggs and it's their grubs that chew your carpets. The moth traps attract male moths so eggs are not fertilised so eventually they die out. Fingers crossed!

Moths ate through our carpet under the fish tank. When we pulled the carpet up there were thousands of larvae. We had to get rid of the carpet, sprayed all the furniture and keep a look out in case they were in other rooms. We hoover around the edges, and spray from time to time, but I still find clothes with holes in. Apparently, where in the past they would only eat pure wool or cotton, they are now less discerning and will chomp on anything that only has a small percentage of natural fibres.

I have read about devices that you plug in overnight and they clear the room of moths. I think they are used in stately homes. Not sure how effective they are.

Moths have chewed great chunks out of our largely wool carpets, and ruined a few expensive wool, cashmere, and alpaca knits.*
We have tried everything, including twice lighting supposedly moth-lethal ‘candles’ in every room, with wardrobe etc. doors open, before leaving the house for several hours.

*I now keep any such thing in a plastic bag, with a squirt of moth killer spray inside, every time I put them away. So far, it seems to have worked with an expensive pure wool jumper I bought a couple of years ago.

I’m pretty sure the infestation came from some stuff of his parents’, that dh and his brothers had kept in storage for a few years after they died. There was a small woollen rug that was literally in shreds - of course that went straight in the bin but evidently some invaders were successful.

We’re definitely going to have wooden floors next time, which will be fairly soon. I do like carpet, less noisy! but needs must…