Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Clothes & Carpet Moths
Does anyone know if these moths eat cotton and linen? I have heard they do. I am trying to reduce the food sources in the house to deal with the problem so its less wool, fur and silk with more Lycra clothes !
For anyone with a similar problem, I have found pheromone traps and cedar mothballs are ineffective and seem to attract them.
After moths noshed my best trousers and too much carpet, I have used Pro-Active C and Acana Moth products, we now have had an MFZ (Moth Free Zone) for two weeks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mr Wodjacallim on
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That will explain my partner's fur boots getting eaten.
I have started to use Acana Lavender Sachets which seem to work quite well. They do use chemicals, Transfluthrin which breaks down over a few months which means it is not a big long lasting pollutant. Chemicals have to be safe because they are heavily regulated now.
Apparently the problem can be traced back to the Dept of Agriculture which banned insecticide put in carpets when they were manufactured. The Dept of Agriculture has had to call in pest controllers three times to eradicate moths in their offices.
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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They have eaten an acrylic sweater of mine. Nothing is safe. The only answer is wooden floors and going naked. And get lots of spiders.
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That is surprising, it is a man made fibre which I would have thought was safe.
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a friend swears by this:
http://totalwardrobecare.co.uk/natural-anti-moth-linen-spray-with-n...
apparently it has saved her antique oriental rugs which were being chomped at.
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I'd want to bring me breakfast every morning for £21!!
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Permalink Reply by Bethany Burrow Atherton on
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They will try to eat anything, but a lot of synthetics will kill them trying (so you might get holes, but they'll only do it once. Each.) You also have to remember that it's the larvae that do the munching, not the adult moths, and that the eggs can lie dormant for a very long (months at least) time. I've found that the vacuum cleaner is my best friend with moths. We're not totally moth free, but vacuuming up the eggs and larvae and then making sure the cleaner is clean helps a lot. We would also never buy a wool carpet again...
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We used an electric flying insect trap - like this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/ELECTRIC-FLYING-INSECT-KILLER-CATCHER/dp/B0...
It fixed the problem after about 2 weeks and we've not had a problem since. We found it much more effective than the chemical solutions we tried.
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Permalink Reply by Lauren on
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That will only rid the moths, not the larvae that munch your clothes. I had a very nasty problem with them for over 2 years and the ONLY thing that worked was talking to the Rentokil man at work about them and the following day he dropped off a canister with a pull-off thing on the top and told me to open all my cupboards and drawers and internal doors and let it off before getting the hell out of the house and staying out for hours. I have no idea what it was but it worked and I would recommend it after having tried everything. Neem and sandalwood oil on cotton balls in drawers etc seemed to minimise them for a while but makes everything you own smell horrible and nobody will sit next to you on the bus.
Another thing he told me is that they lay their eggs round the edge of fitted carpets under radiators and in the corner of wardrobes and drawers so you need to Hoover these as often as possible and wipe with bleach inside furniture.
Woollies should be hung outside on the line and aired in sunlight every few months even if not worn and don't put woollen things you have worn and not washed in your wardrobe.
Don't buy anything woollen from a charity shop, or those cotton rag-mats that come from Asia (and Ikea).
If you have anything infested with moths throw it away and cut your losses. I tried keeping a cardigan that cost £200 and had it dry cleaned and still ended up throwing it away after someone at work freaked out because there were live maggots in it while I was wearing it. Not nice.
Hope this helps.
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I have heard the larvae can be frozen @ -20C for three days or cooked in the Microwave. After eating my jacket, they deserve to suffer !!!
I am now in week three and after using the Liquid C, some fumigant and Acana Lavender pouches, I have not seen a moth for three weeks.
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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OMG. That is an amazing story Lauren. Yuck.
We have moths, in that we have the those sticky traps in our wardrobes and they fill up quickly, but I have never found anything they have eaten, which is just bizarre (though obviously better than Lauren's experience). I am waiting for the day that a long forgotten cardi riddled with moth holes falls out from its hiding place. Until then we are making do with the pheromone traps and regularly hoovering inside the wardrobes. But this is a useful post and I will certainly give the bleach a go - I'd also heard about freezing things but had thought that killed everything.
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Yes I heard that about the freezer but my friend who works in theatre costume said it's nonsense they go dormant but don't die. Also you need to get rid of everything including the eggs because they can be dormant for months so you think you've got rid of them but you haven't. According to the Rentokil man the other side of the railway tracks towards Croudmch End, Hampstead and most of Stoke Newington are particularly bad hotspots for infestation in London.
Also it's not the big brown moths but the teeny tiny silvery white ones.
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Its definitely the teeny weeny silvery ones here...and no sign of them for three weeks now. ;o)
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