I’ve had to close this post for new comments as it is getting too big – but please continue the conversations on the new post :)

Go to: How to get rid of clothes moths!

The first thing I spotted was one or two moths on my one quality coat in the understairs cupboard. I bought the devices you hang in wardrobes which have been impregnated with chemicals and this seems to have protected the coats for the last 4 years or so and kept the daily moth count down.

My house is quite cool and from observation I have concluded that the eggs can last a long time and usually start hatching in spring… They were in the only carpet in the house, the stair carpet. I tried spraying it but even after repeated sprays over the years I still had to do a moth check every day and pinch them off binning the dead body instantly. I finally decided the carpet had to go and ripped it up last week, chucking it straight out, using spray in the gaps between steps and hoovering, taking care to empty the hoover out (outside) immediately to avoid any sucked up eggs hatching or being released. I should have done it sooner, very theraputic and the stairs will look good and be so much easier to clean once I’ve filled the cracks and painted them. Moth GCHQ destroyed…though I’m sure that won’t be the end of it but it will certainly help!

I entirely agree with the other people who have written that it’s important not to be driven crazy and just try to keep moth numbers down and adopt a liveable, damage limitation approach. To me this has been:
- Use the chemically impregnated things in wardrobes and replace regularly.
- Keep clothing such as woollen jumpers etc, tops, scarfs in clear plastic storage containers with fitting lids. Moths hate the light and depending upon how and where you put them they are not much different to drawers.
- Never leave your best quality wool items lying around. Moths love top quality fabrics which I discovered when the larvae destroyed my fav skirt which ironically I’d only left out to repair!
- If you own the place and are debating getting rid of the carpet, do it!
- Keep an eye out for any live moths you see on the walls in the morning or evening. My ceiings are quite high and the sight of squashed moths is not particularly appealing (plus the concern that they may be carrying eggs). The thing I find handy is a self made tool – a long piece of wood with some masking tape wrapped, stcky side out, round the end. Only takes a second and gone with no marks, with the added bonus that you can dispose of the body and any more eggs it may be carrying.
- I hate using chemicals but I do spray occasionally.
- Quarantene – keep all internal doors shut to contain any new outbreaks.

I have often wondered about the smoke fumigation approach but was a bit concerned that it might spark and set fire…probably a daft concern. Have many people used these and has anyone ever seen a spark from one as they retreat?

The antpowder idea sounds good too for particular areas.

Oh and one last thing, I saw a few messages which were asking if anything else could be eating carpets and/or clothing. The answer is yes, the carpet beetle. They are a bit smaller than a ladybird and a similar shape, but are dull black with some v dull slightly orangey spots. Like moths, their larva feed on wool or things with keratin, beetles hatching in the spring/early summer which only live a few weeks. All the more reason to ditch the carpet!

At the end of the day it’s about making it managable. Even if you get rid of every single egg and larvae the world is a living place and it only takes one or two to fly through the window…or arrive with something you bring into the house, so don’t panic!

Insurance policies don’t provide cover for damage caused by pests, hence your landlord’s reluctance to pay for new carpets, CC. But it’s not fair that you should be held responsible for a problem which only becomes visible after significant damage has already been caused. Would your landlord be willing to go into arbitration on this matter? This is a fair process used by those who want to avoid the cost and hassle of the courtroom and an impartial judgement is usually arrived at. I would imagine that the cost of the remedial action (to include the fumigation treatments) would arrive at a fifty-fifty solution.

In the meantime (between last week’s posting and today’s) I advertised my problem on my Facebook page and some nice person is sending me neem oil in the post. Sprayed in diluted form into all hatch-worthy crevices, and used in tandem with a thorough twice-weekly vacuuming and dusting regime, it is claimed to keep the moths under reasonable control. I think that we all should accept that once they decide to live with you, they’ll never, ever, completely go away. All you can hope at best to do is to become their master and not allow them to dominate your environment ever again.

I’ll keep you posted, let you know how the neem oil works.