How Do You Get Rid of Carpet Moths in a Kenton Home?

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Step 1: Move the Furniture

The first and most productive thing you can do, and it costs nothing but a bad back.

• Move the sofa — properly, right out from the wall
• Move armchairs, sideboards and anything that has not moved in a year
• Lift every rug and look under it
• Pull out under-bed storage and look beneath
• Open the corner behind a permanently open door
• Look along the skirting edges all the way round

In most cases the damage is found within ten minutes of doing this, and people are surprised by how much of it there is.

Step 2: Identify What You Have Found

• Smooth cream larvae, up to about 10mm — carpet moth
• Silk webbing or small silk tubes across the pile — carpet moth
• Brown bristly larvae with shed skins — carpet beetle instead
• Bare patches with the pile grazed to the backing — either
• Small pale moths that scuttle rather than fly — carpet moth adults

Not the same as clothes moths in a wardrobe, though the two often occur together and the treatment covers both situations in a treated room.

Read nextSigns of Carpet Moths in a Kenton Home – What Should You Look For? →

Step 3: Vacuum Properly

• Crevice tool along every skirting, slowly
• Under furniture, not around it
• Both sides of every rug, and the floor beneath
• The sides of stair treads and under the gripper line
• Under beds and inside wardrobe bases
• Repeat every few days for several weeks
• Empty into a sealed bag and put it outside every single time

Step 4: Deal With Stored Wool

Frequently the actual source, and the step people skip because the damage they noticed was in the carpet.

• Empty the wardrobes of wool, cashmere and silk and inspect every item
• Check the base and corners of wardrobes for larvae and casings
• Check suitcases, under-bed boxes and the airing cupboard
• Hot wash anything washable
• Freeze what cannot be washed — sealed bag, domestic freezer, a couple of weeks
• Dry clean valuable items that take neither
• Store clean and sealed afterwards — soiled wool is far more attractive than clean

Step 5: Treatment

Treatment reaches the base of the pile, carpet edges and under-furniture areas where the larvae actually are, and remains active as further eggs hatch.

What Does Not Work

• Killing the adults. They do not feed and do not damage carpet
• Mothballs. Unreliable against an established infestation, and unpleasant in a family home
• Cedar blocks. Popular, largely ineffective once larvae are established
• Shampooing or steam-cleaning the carpet. Cleans it, does not clear the larvae
• Supermarket sprays alone. Surface-level; larvae are at the pile base
• Pheromone traps as treatment. They catch male adults and are useful for monitoring only
• Treating the carpet while ignoring the wardrobe

Children, Pets and Re-Entry

• Tell us who is in the house at the enquiry stage
• Toys, play mats and floor storage cleared before we arrive
• We will tell you how long to stay out of the treated rooms
• Fish tanks covered and pumps off
• Smaller pets out of treated rooms
• Do not vacuum for the period we specify afterwards
• Mothballs are worth avoiding in a house with small children regardless of effectiveness

Afterwards

• Resume frequent vacuuming, edges and under furniture especially
• Move furniture periodically rather than leaving it static for years
• Store wool clean and sealed
• Consider pheromone traps as a monitor — they give early warning
• Check under rugs occasionally

Related Questions

How long does it take?

Activity reduces within a couple of weeks. Treatment stays active as further eggs hatch.

Do I need to lift the carpet?

No.

Will the damaged patches recover?

No. Wool that has been eaten does not grow back — which is the argument for dealing with it early.