Carpet Moths

September 11, 2018 5:31 PM

How to get rid of carpet moths?

We moved in June and discovered that our large rug was infested with carpet moths. We never brought it into the new place, and just happened to get rid of the couch that was on the rug as well. We didn't get rid of other blankets/throws that lived on and off the couch and bed in that same studio.

Over the last few weeks we've noticed a number of carpet moths around the house, including in the cat bed, which is synthetic but had some wool toys. We got rid of that. We plan on going through everything this weekend.

What's the best approach? Do we have to go through books and records or just rugs and blankets? Empty the whole closet? Thanks!

posted by kittensofthenight to Home & Garden (2 answers total)

I dealt with this awhile back. Definitely getting rid of the rug and cleaning anything non-synthetic helped. I also bought traps on Amazon and used a cedar oil spray (also from Amazon). If the infestation is resistant to this, I found that trichogramma moths helped a LOT. You should probably get them shipped soon if you're going to do this, because the eggs are vulnerable to the weather during shipping, you can't get them once it gets cold. But a couple of squares of the eggs worked to clear the moths from my 500 square foot apartment when the traps and cedar oil didn't work as well the second time around. Bonus--they're pretty cheap and no-fuss. Once their food source (the moths) dies out, they die out too, and they're so small that you don't see them much at all.
posted by Fuego at 9:10 PM on September 11, 2018 [4 favorites]

Did you by chance use your vacuum on the infested rug? If so, and it uses a bag... you might have a little colony living in there. I am 99% sure that's how I brought moths from one apartment to another. I had been super careful, but then noticed moths in a closet week later. I just happened to see one fly out the end of the hose. I had sucked up both moth larva and lots of carpet lint when I was cleaning my old apartment, so they were totally happy living in there and then eventually finding their way out in our new place. Blech.
posted by kimdog at 7:32 AM on September 12, 2018