MOTHs!!!

I found a little tiny creature today on the bedroom carpet. As small as a pinhead but it moved very fast. I pinched it and white gunk came out. Flushed it down the loo. Think it may be a carpet moth. It wasn’t a flea, I used to sometimes see those on my dogs. This slithered away v fast.

I bought some cedar oil to protect my wardrobes, nice smell. I also finished protecting woollen/cashmere/silk items and recommend the new packmate bags which have been upgraded, much easier to take the air out and they get even flatter. I am done for this year, I combined that moth protection with winter-summer changeover. I don`t have to worry about carpets

If you have a steamer that can be used on carpets (and carpets that can be steamed) that should kill any larvae.

Definitely wool moth Callistemon, must have come in through the small vent I left via the window. Shiny white tiled wall

Wardrobe is now bottomed and was surprisingly fluff-free, quickstep in there too. Glad I checked

karmalady

They are small and silvery and look like shiny sardine scales. They don`t move fast and are soft when squished. Horrors, I just squished another one, sitting on tiles in my en suite. Obviously now is the time they are looking for safe breeding spaces, with available food

I vacuum every week but am now going to move all the heavy furniture too, although there is no carpet for them to munch. May to october are their active months. Winter is safe

Carpet moths like wool.
It's not likely that they would be in a bathroom on a tiled floor.

The larvae look like grains of rice.
I squished three or four again today, Aveline
Their life span is surprisingly long..

As I have asthma, rather than harsh chemicals I’ve been spraying edges of carpet with ,after a thorough clean, a mixture of half water half white vinegar.
Seemed to shift them last year ….but they are back!

The ones I saw looked like this but whiter as daylight was shining through one and white through another

www.totalwardrobecare.co.uk/blog/are-clothes-moths-on-the-rise-in-the-uk/

silverfish, a very different insect which does not fly

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish

I have a big bag of lavender in a chest. I think I will make some cloth bags with hanging tapes

Aveline

Is that not silverfish karmalady?

no not at all Aveline

I'll try bay leaves, thanks Charleygirl

I also ordered a lavender and cedarwood spray, yet to try it

I find pheromone sticky traps placed in wardrobes and near woollen carpets to be very effective. We collected hundreds of males on traps last year and we sprayed carpets to kill the eggs and grubs. The trap papers are a bit expensive but I cut them in half to make them go further - it doesn't seem to reduce their effectiveness.

Is that not silverfish karmalady?

They are small and silvery and look like shiny sardine scales. They don`t move fast and are soft when squished. Horrors, I just squished another one, sitting on tiles in my en suite. Obviously now is the time they are looking for safe breeding spaces, with available food

I vacuum every week but am now going to move all the heavy furniture too, although there is no carpet for them to munch. May to october are their active months. Winter is safe

Our flat reeks of lavender! I'll try bay leaves too in addition to the chemical warfare ongoing.

Everything I read says regular vacuuming is the best thing you can do. I now vac our bedrooms every week even though they look clean and use a nozzle to go all round the skirting boards. I have little bunches of fresh lavender hanging in the wardrobe.

Apparently they loathe the small of bay leaves so I would put a few in your wardrobe and/or some in drawers. As for your carpet, I would leave bay leaves in their container with the lid off and hopefully the cats will not be interested.

At least that is a cheap and easy method to try. I have just discovered it so bay leaves are on my shopping list.

Aveline

I spray and hoover and use moth traps yet still they come. I'm getting neurotic about them now ☹️

What do you spray carpets with- isn't toxic to cats?

there are moths - and moths... different types, different solutions.

I sanded a cedar hanger yesterday and actually found my bag of cedar things plus sanding paper, in my linen cupboard

We had the little blighters last year, I hung lavender bags and cedar wood blocks everywhere. The moths disappeared and so far they're not back. DH has sanded the cedar blocks as advised so I'm thinking maybe these work.

Aveline

I spray and hoover and use moth traps yet still they come. I'm getting neurotic about them now ☹️

This is probably beyond any house owner- as said, get specialists in. But you might have to move out for a few days with the cats.

You can buy smoke bombs, these work well and are inexpensive.

I’ve only seen one so far this year but I guess it’s early days. It’s the larvae of course that do the damage and I dread to think what holes there might be in the carpets under furniture. It’s the white cases left after they emerge that are the giveaway that they’re around and it amazes me how fast the moths can run, let alone fly, if you miss when you try to squash them. They’re crafty creatures.

I had my cashmere sweaters in bags, with sachets and somehow the little blighters got to them. I am devasted!!! 😡

exactly that bluebelle, if there is no attraction for them, they will not appear

I have just ordered more zip lock bags from lakeland, free postage this weekend. I will be getting my lovely handknits ready for summer storage next week