I have spent a lot of time in the past few weeks helping a friend whose flat is under attack by clothes moths. The species in question is known as the common clothes moth, the webbing clothes moth, or if you are really posh, as tineola bisselliella.
There have been clothes moths in this property for many years eating the carpets but it is only recently that damage to clothes was spotted. This initiated a massive operation in order to protect the remaining clothes and get rid of the moths. Here are some photos of the chewed up carpets and clothes. The carpets here are wool and they really like them!
If you don’t know what a moth look like here are some images. They are only about a centimetre long but are very destructive. They lay their eggs on cotton or wool clothes and carpets. The clothes moths themselves do not eat the clothes. It is what hatches from the eggs that causes the damage.
The larvae are a bit over a centimetre long. They are white with a brown / red head. When they hatch they start eating your clothes / carpet. Later they turn into moths.
The moths and larvae like dark undisturbed places such as under your bed, desk or in your wardrobe. When I closely inspected the carpets I spotted hundreds of eggs along the edges of the carpet under a desk. The eggs are tiny – much smaller than a pinhead.
When I lifted the carpet there were thousands more along under the skirting board. I tried to vacuum the eggs up but this required a lot of scraping with the hoover as the eggs were well stuck on. Even after a lot of vacuuming I still couldn’t remove all the visible eggs.
We tried getting rid of the eggs, moths and larvae by using moth sprays from Robert Dyas. They do kill the moths and larvae but not the eggs. You can kill all the moths and larvae but then the next day there will be a whole load of fresh larvae to take their place.
In order to protect the clothes we took them all to a laundrette in black bags. We hot-washed them to remove any eggs, threw the black bags away (in case they contained any moth eggs) and then put the clean clothes in new black bags. We then took the clothes to my (non-moth infested) flat to keep them safe until the problem is sorted.
When it became clear that the home sprays weren’t able to get rid of them completely, the landlord was contacted who arranged for a professional to come into the flat. When the pest control guy visited he explained that the eggs are virtually indestructible. He said he would spray the carpet with a chemical that would kill any live moths or larvae. The chemical would remain on the carpet for two weeks (no vacuuming in the mean time) killing any larvae which subsequently hatch. After two weeks the carpets would be sprayed again. He was very confident that this would get rid of the problem. We’ll have to wait and see.
Lessons learned
- Deal with any moth problems right away before they cause real damage.
- Household moth killers may work against small numbers of moths but are unlikely to help if you have an established infestation.
- If you have moths then consider replacing and wool carpets with synthetic ones.
- You can use lavender scented moth repellers in wardrobes to keep the moths away. However they are not fully effective – some moths don’t seem bothered about the scent!
- Vacuum regularly to increase the chances of removing eggs. However even vacuuming won’t get rid of all of them as the eggs are usually stuck to the carpet fibres.
- Try to avoid having dark undisturbed areas in your rooms. e.g. if you have lots of junk under your bed try to move it elsewhere or get rid of it. This will reduce the number of hiding spaces for them.
- If the infestation is established then you may have to get a professional in. This could cost many hundreds of pounds. Try to get a guarantee that if they don’t get rid of the infestation for a certain length of time they will come back for free.
- If you are not going to be wearing certain clothes for a long time – e.g. your winter wardrobe – consider putting them into storage in sealed vacuumed packed bags.
Update – 2nd June 2008
The flat has now been sprayed twice with a two week interval. I have found out that the chemical is called Ficam W. After each spraying moths started re-appearing after 5-6 days. There will be a third spraying in a few days and maybe even a fourth!
Update – 11th August 2008
The first two spraying failed to get rid of the moths so my friend decided to move out. I gather from the remaining flat mates that the moths are still there and the landlord didn’t bother to get a third spraying – even though it wouldn’t have cost him any more!
Unfortunately the problem is not over. It seems that the moths have transferred to my friend’s sister and parents homes! Sometime in the next month or two we’ll probably try out one of those home fumigation kits that you can get at Robert Dyas to see if it will kill the moths at her sisters flat. When we do try out the fumigation kit I’ll write a post about it.
Update – 30th June 2009
We never did try the fumigation kit out. My friend’s sister moved to a new place – not because of the moths though. Occasionally moths are spotted at my friend’s parent’s house but as far as we can tell they haven’t taken hold there – yet.
If you want more information on what other people are doing about their clothes moths problem then I suggest you read the comments to this post. This has now become one of the most popular posts on this blog, and the post with the most comments. Clearly these creatures are causing misery for a lot of people!
Update – 25th July 2009
I’ve uploaded a videos showing a carpet moth larvae, a carpet moth, moth eggs and carpet damage to YouTube – you’ll find it here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mALtFjCLQIE. The quality of the video isn’t very good but it may help you to recognise them.
Reader moth stories
If you want to know more then do read the reader stories in the comment section below. Loads of people have been writing in to share their battles with the common clothes moth. Please feel free to share you own moth stories by adding a comment.
Tags: carpet moth, clothes moth, Ficam W, infestation, insecticide, larvae, moth, moths, pest, pesticide, tineola bisselliella, webbing clothes moth
Desperation is an understatement. We’ve been in our house for 33 years and the webbing close moths became apparent last September. Few flying adults were seen back then. Now In July I either caught or pheromone trapped 60. In August it was 83.
The whole year I’ve spent going over every inch of this 7 room house. Every thing washable has been washed at least twice. Every thing else has been dry cleaned or frozen on the back porch last winter. (It gets cold in Wisconsin)
I’ve used Ortho pyrithrin spray and vacuumed constantly. I even had an exterminator in, but they just send a kid with a tank. I presently have about 10 pheromone traps around.
Here is the mystery. I can’t find the source or any damage. The state entomologist who identified the moths thinks the source might be outside our living quarters possible an animal in the attic or walls.
It might have started that way, but I suspect the part wool berber carpet that we had installed about 10 years ago. Another idea is that, since this is and old house there might have been a low level of moths that were spurred on by getting wool carpet. Big mistake. I’ve seen them flying in every room except the kitchen and bath.
The only two options that I can think of is either have all the carpets in 6 rooms, the hall and stairs steam cleaned or have them all removed and refinish the hardwood floors.
This is getting to be an obsession. Besides it takes a lot of time.
Annie – from what I have read they can live in the mild winters we have the in the UK, particularly as we keep our homes warm.
Bethany – that does not sound like a clothes moth, they are small and beige and you would see several of them around.
Connell – tell you mum to look at this website for advice on how to deal with them.
Rachel – so far most of my clothes have been unscathed – touch wood. In my last flat they ate anything made of wool including my lovely cashmere coat. in the flat they seem to be more interested in our wool carpet.
Some advice for everyone: they can live in wood furniture! I lifted up an old chest of draws and tipped it on it’s side, and there were literally hundreds of eggs living in the cracks of the legs. It is a very old piece of furniture, and the wood was quite cracked. I have thrown it away. There are holes in the carpet where the wood was in contact with the floor, they have eaten the carpet.
I’ve spent ALL my spare time for the last week and a half cleaning and washing. We have wool carpet throughout the flat, and I have found them under every piece of furniture, seen lots of eggs by skirting boards. I’ve spent hours vacuuming, particularly along the floorboards, and laid down moth strips from Robert Dyas which seem to be working as I’ve found dead ones and a dead larvae next to them.
I found loads under the bed, where we stored a lot of boxes. I’ve had a massive declutter so that we have the minimum on the floor. I washed blankets etc that were rarely used.
I have been in tears with the amount of eggs I’ve found, I doubt I have managed to get rid of them all. Haven’t seen any moths today, but it is just a day. If my huge clean up hasn’t worked, then I will bring in pest control.
Hi Rich
Rentokil told me to store items in black bin bags. I did this after washing and lo and behold i noticed a little hole in the bin bag when i was transferring them to plastic box. Ive prob. contaminated all our clothes now by doing this as problem seems much worse. Everything i wear itches (and i havent got that much left). I went to visit a relative the other day and while there i was literally watching my top being eaten i.e. a separate hole appeared to rival the others! This was after washing, ironing and storing – i think im gonna go crazy. I had to leave straight away coz now im worried i will pass them on to everyone else. Rentokil not got back to me yet but it seems i signed the contract for just 3 treatments and i have no guarantee. If they think im paying them, they’ve got another thing coming. My rant over and i hope your latest hit finally sees the moths off. Regards, Lulu
Joanne, i just read your post and i too could hear the same noises comimg from my ‘curtains’. You’ve just made my day, coz i had been on the internet seeking answers to ‘do moths make noise’ and couldnt find anything. So, no i dont think you are mad! Lulu
Emma – We have taken up all our carpets, having inherited moth in our new house. We seem to have more than ever. I have heard that the eggs can live in the cracks in the floorboards, which makes sense as carpet fibres fall through them, and presumably there are all sorts of other possible habitats (birds nest in chimneys, old mouse nests etc) in a 120 year old house.
I have heard of an insecticide dusting powder which can sit undisturbed for several weeks (as it is under the boards it won’t affect humans is the theory), Does anyone know anything about this? Any thoughts on whether it might work? Where might I buy some?
Since the eggs are impervious to attack something that might kill newly hatched larvae before they breed would be ideal, wouldn’t it?
I too am going slowly crazy with this
Sheila, touch wood neither myself or hubby have seen any signs since I last posted on 27th August. I am hoping that I managed to catch it in the early stages and have sorted it, who knows I will keep you updated. We have a click loc floor over the boards now so there really are no holes left to come from. Do you plan to put new floors down or keep the floor boards? May be a good idea to use some sort of sealent if so, may help?
Sorry I haven’t heard of the powders you talk about. I am still keeping my other bedroom door shut that has the last remaining wool carpet but touch wood looks fine in there too, but there are stories about eggs living 6 months etc aren’t there so I don’t suppose you really know for ages. I think it is a good sign not to see the moths flying about though or even find dead ones.
Have people tried the thicker plastic hoover shrink bags, I got these off the internet and I think they’d be much more protective than the thinner dustbin bags. I am hoping if they don’t have anything to feed off they will get lost!
Sheila, I found this when I googled , it may help you, doesn’t mention moths but I would assume it would work in the same way. I sympathise and hope you get sorted soon, horrid aren’t they!
http://www.pestfreehome.co.uk/oa2ki-powder-puffer-pack_details.htm
Thanks, I will check it out at once!.
We had the most awful experience today. My husband discovered last week that his mother had a moth infestation when he thought he spotted one in her carpet and she showed him pheromone traps in her wardrobe covered in trapped moths. She has no idea of the nightmare that awaits her. But husband thought it would be worth trying some of these traps to catch any lingering adults flying around and prevent further breeding. He brought them home today, opened the packet to show me, and instantly a cloud of 30, 40, 50 moths flew up out of nowhere. (We only see at most 5 a day on the walls, but recently have lost two kids coats to moth damage, and as I am expecting a baby v soon I am more stressy than usual . . . hence need for action).
At first we thought he must have brought them from his mother’s flat, and he hurled his clothes and bags out into the yard, but as we leaped gracelessly around our bare floor boarded recently refurbished kitchen killing them, they just kept coming out of nowhere. Likewise upstairs – moths out of nowhere in our carpetless house. Just now I checked the newly laid trap on our bedroom floor to find to my horror perhaps 10. Thankfully there were none in the firmly closed wardrobe which I had just cleaned out and sprayed, and divested of our winter coats which are now in the freezer, shortly to be joined by my beloved pashmina.
This means the moths are definitely in the cracks and crannies in the floors and skirting boards, in the door jambs, the window frames, and in the spaces between the joists. We can’t afford to put down new hardwood flooring – I imagine that well-sealed flooring would help to prevent them breeding or at least escaping, but clearly they are very hard to stop. I am ordering dusting powders as well to try and kill larvae, and we hope that the traps will collect adult moths before they breed – the effect was so instantaneous that I have hope that we can hope for the best.
I don’t trust any of the products really, but what else is there? Cedar,lavender etc are all useless, it seems to me, except in that prevention is better than cure. I do have a lemon sachet in my sweater shelf which i credit with having spared my cashmere so far – that and the plastic bags they are wrapped in.
We live in a big Victorian house with 5 bedrooms an attic and a cellar, long neglected before we moved in, and it takes me days to clean from top to bottom – not a complete spring clean even but just thorough hoovering and dusting and tidying cupboards. So I feel worn out already.
But do you know, it occurs to me that I don’t even mind of no-one ever reads this – it makes me feel a whole lot less lunatic to know that other people need to write about their moths too. Thank you everyone!
I’ll post again after the baby to let you know whether there has been any improvement in case anyone is in fact reading this apart from Emma . . .
Hi Sheila, oh no, that is horrid, I feel so sorry for you, I bet that really freaked you out, it certainly isn’t the kind of stress you need before you are expecting too. I really hope the traps and powders work for you. Good luck with the baby! Emma
Hi Sheilia can totally sympathise, i have 3 children and most of their clothes are moth eaten – they are even attacked when i leave them on the radiators to dry. I have no rugs carpets etc. which is why, i guess, the clothes are their main food, so i agree with you that they must be in all the nooks and crannies. A friend advised me to buy a mastic gun and tubes of decorators caulke and fill every hole possible, if only at least to elimate areas where the main source could be (as no-one can find it, even Rentokil). I was given some traps from my council and whereas before i very rarely saw the moths, since they were put down they seem to be flying everywhere. So obviously the traps do work although im disgusted to see so many of them. Ive got all my kids clothes in plastic boxes and i only take them out in the morning to iron them before school or going out. Its a bloody nightmare and takes over your life. Will let you know how i get on when ive filled in all the holes. Lulu
What a great council Lulu! This has cost us a fortune that we never had! The moth traps do seem to mean that they fly around everywhere and it is vile. But after about 3 weeks of traps they are reducing in numbers. The traps filled up very quickly in the first week – now we only have a couple a day. We have tried everything now, and the traps are the most reliable. I bought the dusting powder and the entire house looked like Pompeii for a week, covered in heaps of brown dust – it did kill some moths but I have no way of knowing the effect on eggs and larvae.. I also have strips of Rentokil insecticide paper which is meant to kill moths larvae and eggs in the wardrobes. But we also decided to try the mini smoke bombs, which we set off in all the bedrooms and finally in the cellar. And though I hesitate to speak too soon, it seems to have swung the balance in our favour. I think ours are mainly in the cellar. We are planning to repeat the bombs this week and possibly again in a fortnight. I don’t know for sure whether they work, but the flutterings have decreased noticeably. Unless it’s the cooler weather. (What I do know is that Protector C spray is useless – a puddle of it will kill a moth, but it’s definitely not residual). So I will update in a month or so to let you know whether the intensive campaign of bombs works. What I haven’t figured out is whether the self-help products arevany different to the so-called professional products – in other words what can Rentokil do that we can’t do cheaper? Sile
Hi..thank god for this blog. We have found an infestation at the weekend in our dinig room. I was hoovering every half hour. We are going to rip the carpet up to try and find the eggs and in the meantime Nippon spray have halted them crawling out and up the walls. Where do I get the smoke bombs and traps from. thanks.
I went out to a concert tonight and was having a great time UNTIL I picked up my coat and found it’d been eaten away! My gorgeous Paul Costello coat that I only bought last year and cost me £200.00. My evening was ruined! At first I thought that maybe it was cigarette burns or someone in the restaurant had spilt something on it, but when I looked closely, there was no residue and it was all very neat and clean! I could hardly wait to get home and I checked on the sofa where my coat has been lying for a couple of months (it’s a winter coat and the sofa’s in the guest bedroom) and low and behold what did I find crawling around!!! I went straight onto the internet (what a blessing) and within minutes found a mugshot. That was 2 hours ago. Since then I’ve been back and forth between my computer and the guest bedroom. I’ve squished 5, but by the sounds of it there could be hundreds of eggs. I can’t see any eggs, but apparently they’re smaller than a pinhead. It’s too late for me to start hoovering (don’t want to annoy the neighbours) and I suppose I feel slightly better having read other people’s horror stories of the many items of clothing they’ve lost. I lost a cashmere sweater once to the blighters but that was years ago and the problem didn’t reoccur. Now I’m starting to panic slightly as the holes in my coat are dreadful. I suppose I should throw it out, but I feel just awful as it cost me so much money and until it had holes in, it was my all time favourite coat! I can’t see any holes in the sofa or any of the other fabrics left on it; some were cotton, others sythentic. The bugs just seem to’ve gone for the coat. Does this mean if I get rid of the coat the problem will go away? Or should I keep the coat and just squish the monsters when I find them???
I’ve learnt my lesson and will NEVER leave clothes lying around on the sofa ever again. But here’s my question…
does this mean we shouldn’t buy woollen carpets? Does this mean we shouldn’t buy woollen or cashmere clothes? I thought in an ideal world we were supposed to go for the ‘natural alternative’ where possible. Help..I’m confused…and under attack!
Georgie I got moth papers, sprays etc from Robert Dyas.
Well we seem to have made a break through, after doing sooo much cleaning under furniture and along skirting boards. We literally moved everything that was in contact with the floor several times over around a month to clean.
Over the last 6 weeks I’ve kept up the regular moving of everything in contact with the floor, but less frequently. 2 weeks went by without seeing any, then saw 3 within a few days. Again around 2 weeks went by and then saw a couple. Around 2 weeks has gone by since then. Now when we move the furniture to clean underneath, we are only finding the odd cocoon or cluster or eggs, rather than lots.
So the secret of our success seems to be not storing things under furniture, e.g. under the bed, which is where we saw the most, and cleaning under furniture and along skirting boards often, and using moth paper and the hanging moth repellant from Robert Dyas.
We have been holding off switching on our heating, as the warmth makes it easier for them to breed. I am concerned that once we do we may see a resurgence. Fingers crossed we don’t.
Hi everyone!
It’s good to hear that you seem to be making a breakthrough Emily. I’ve never seen any eggs so I’m not sure what I should be looking for. My father stripped the covers off the sofa where my coat had been lying and it’s been to the dry cleaners. Sadly my cashmere coat had to go :-(
I put a teddy made from mohair in the freezer for a week. I couldn’t see any damage on him, but he was on the sofa so he had to have a cold spell for a while. I’ve also thrown out a pair of woollen trousers that had holes in.
I killed one moth that appeared, to my horror, in my bedroom, not the room where the damage had been done.
I think Emily you’re absolutely right. The trick is to not store things in dark cosy places that are going to be undisturbed for long periods.
I think I need to take out all my clothes from the wardrobe and cupboard and give everything the once over.
Man does this take over your life!
Apparently the larvae feed on animal products such as wool, cashmere, silk, fur, because they like to eat keratin, a form of protein. Yuk!
Well it had been over a month without seeing any, and for the last couple of weeks I’ve been daring to believe we had got rid of them. But tonight we saw one. I know it is only one, but that means there is still something going on. Frustrating.
It is definitely much better than it was though.
HP in answer to your question about whether we should avoid buying woollen carpets etc – someone was saying on here that they have a moth problem despite having no carpets.
The battle continues. In August I either saw or trapped 90 adults. I’ve been over every inch of this house and came close to having the carpet removed. I still haven’t found a source or any damage. I think it’s taking up my whole life….and mental health.
We’ve pulled back the carpet and put down powdered boric acid and diatomaceous earth between the quarter rounds and tack strips. We found only a rare moth casing, but spooked up a few adults. With 6 carpeted rooms, stairs and a long hall it took some time.
I use pheromone traps from Insects Limited. http://www.insectslimited.com/ Since I have webbing clothes moths I use the traps that sit on the floor. I’ve found that the more adults in the trap, the more they catch so don’t toss out the old ones. The entomologist that I talked to said that they communicate in ways other than pheromones so that when they are trapped and still not dead they attract others.
I can’t imagine where they are coming from, but the other entomologist thinks it might be a dead furry creature in the attic or walls. *tearing my hair out*
Good luck to us all.
Nell
I have also had the pleasure of moths eating my clothes and reading all your comments is a real help! So I’m trying my best to do everything I possibly can to kill them. But I have one question… do I have to throw out my clothes that have holes in them, or can I just get them dry cleaned? Does anyone know?
Thanks!
Amy
Amy I would throw them out but maybe that is over the top. It is better to be safe than sorry. I had a bag that had loads of them in it, and I washed it at a very hot temperature, but after it had dried out more of them emerged.
Well I haven’t seen any since that one over a month ago. Just before Christmas I had another big clean, moved all the furniture and found no evidence except for one dead moth. I think we have finally got rid of them. I would like to think that cleaning lots and lots under the furniture, having a big clear out and keeping as little as possible in contact with the floor (e.g. not storing things under the bed) seems to have done it, plus using anti moth paper. But I suspect that the particularly cold winter has helped. We have made an effort to keep out flat cool during the winter (wearing lots of clothes instead!) to try to keep the moths away.
I wish you all a moth free 2010.
Hi,
we even bought a new washing machine but we still had the problem. We haven’t seen many moths in our house, the annoying thing is they only seem to eat my Husbands designer clothes. I bought him a Hugo Boss T Shirt to start replacing his clothes, it came out of the machine fine. I put it in the bathroom with my ironing ready to to the next day, as I started ironing it I found one hole. He wore it albeit complaining, I washed it again and started to iron it ( today ) only to find at least ten more holes! This is now driving us mad… Has anybody found that they only have the front and back of the bottom of their clothes eaten? We have tried everything, I may even more house, but will I bring them with me? Cie England.
Hi everybody.
I bought a new coat in the sales to replace the one eaten by ‘the enemy’. We’ll see how long it lasts. It was comforting to hear the tale of woe told by the shop assistant in John Lewis. She said that she’s battled against the blighters for years!
I understand that it’s predominantly animal products they go for, cashmere, silk and fur, but what I don’t understand is how fast they work. If you check your clothes every day and shake them out would that work? But man…how time consuming!
The shop assistant in John Lewis said that the only solution she’d found was to store her clothes in those vacuum packed plastic bags; you know the ones you have to use a hoover to suck out all the air. However, this only solves the problem of clothes you’re storing for a long period or season.
Cie, I’d be interested to know what the t-shirt’s made out of. Where was it in between ironing and the next holes appearing?
Amy-if you can either wash your clothes on a really hot wash or put them in the freezer for a while then they should be ok. I threw out my woollen trousers because I didn’t want to wear them with holes in. I’ve kept one of my jumpers. Stupid really because the hole’s in the back near the top in a really obvious place so I can’t wear it anywhere I’ll be taking my coat off!
I’ve just put some horrible chemical hanging things in my wardrobes and balls in plastic that are supposed to smell of lavender but actually smell revolting. However I agree with Emily that the frightfully cold Winter we’re having must surely help to put them off.
Good luck everybody and don’t despair!
HP
Cie-I’ve just been thinking. Are you sure it’s moths and not the washing machine that’s causing the holes? I had a similar problem years ago when a washing machine wrecked an item of clothing, I can’t remember what it was, but it was becasue the spin cycle was too viscious. Worth considering!
HP
my old friend Vera swears by conkers to get rid of these pests. It really really works