Any advice on getting rid of moths?
August 30, 2024 3:14 PM Subscribe
Been staying at my boyfriends place for a few months and have come back to find a few holes in the carpet, under the bed and in dark undisturbed areas, of which there are a few as there is so much clutter in my room.
This is a houseshare and I want to get this under control.
I've got an exam in a couple of days so will come back to read the comments and advice after. The war begins immediately after my exam. This is what I plan to do:
Declutter. Get rid of clothes and books and have as much of the carpet clear and exposed as possible. Put the stuff under the bed in a sealed bag after cleaning.
Hoover the living crap out of every part of the carpet in my small room which I'm paying extortionate London rent on. Already started hoovering.
I've bought Indorex flea spray as I've read it is highly effective at killing moth larvae.
Washing most of my clothes and bedding at 60 degrees, using lavender detergent.
Spray every moth I see with a kill on contact sprat (already purchased)
Cedar blocks in my wardrobe on the hangers.
Anything else at all that you might suggest? Any other products? I'm panicking, I don't want this to become any worse than it already is and I want to quietly end the infestation and patch up the carpet myself (it's only a few small holes atm)
I've got an exam in a couple of days so will come back to read the comments and advice after. The war begins immediately after my exam. This is what I plan to do:
Declutter. Get rid of clothes and books and have as much of the carpet clear and exposed as possible. Put the stuff under the bed in a sealed bag after cleaning.
Hoover the living crap out of every part of the carpet in my small room which I'm paying extortionate London rent on. Already started hoovering.
I've bought Indorex flea spray as I've read it is highly effective at killing moth larvae.
Washing most of my clothes and bedding at 60 degrees, using lavender detergent.
Spray every moth I see with a kill on contact sprat (already purchased)
Cedar blocks in my wardrobe on the hangers.
Anything else at all that you might suggest? Any other products? I'm panicking, I don't want this to become any worse than it already is and I want to quietly end the infestation and patch up the carpet myself (it's only a few small holes atm)
I don't know that you need to wash everything on super hot as long as you have soap and a clothes dryer. Medium or hot in the dryer will do it.
Do you have diatomaceous earth available where you are? It's very popular for organic gardening, etc and will take care of any cracks or crevices. Works great on ants and fleas too.
You don't have to get rid of all your books unless you want to. You can put them in bags and freeze them for a week and they should be good.
You can freeze clothes too.
posted by fiercekitten at 4:42 PM on August 30
Do you have diatomaceous earth available where you are? It's very popular for organic gardening, etc and will take care of any cracks or crevices. Works great on ants and fleas too.
You don't have to get rid of all your books unless you want to. You can put them in bags and freeze them for a week and they should be good.
You can freeze clothes too.
posted by fiercekitten at 4:42 PM on August 30
Not to be a smarty pants but those moth traps only catch the males. The males are attracted to the pheromone which would normally come from female moths which do not fly around much. The males get around. Anyway, we were told those traps tell you that you HAVE moths. The only solution is to clean everything, wash all your wool and other clothes, bedding, etc let everything dry out completely. Spray closets and drawers with moth killer per instructions. No moisture/humidity. The larvae are what eat the wool, and they will especially go towards wool that's dirty or has drips of food on it, sweat, etc.. Open closets and air everything out. Keep closet doors open as they look for darkness.
Ask me how I know! Once we got rid of them they haven't come back.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:05 PM on August 30 [2 favorites]
Ask me how I know! Once we got rid of them they haven't come back.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:05 PM on August 30 [2 favorites]
For the love of god, empty your vacuum and clean it out once you are done. Because the larva will live in the bag, and eat the dust/fluff/ fibers and then fly out of your vacuum and re-infest you! This is how I ended up moving from one apartment to another... and bringing the moths with me, after being very careful in washing and trashing anything else that could have harbored them.
posted by kimdog at 6:22 PM on August 30 [6 favorites]
posted by kimdog at 6:22 PM on August 30 [6 favorites]
You can also purchase (very, very tiny) predatory wasps that will take care of them.
posted by corey flood at 6:52 PM on August 30
posted by corey flood at 6:52 PM on August 30
Your plan sounds good to me. I would add buying a bunch of vacuum pack bags and moth killing sachets/tablets/whatever is cheapest (I used to get mine from Wilco, RIP, but they are all more or less the same). As stuff comes out of the dryer, package it up in a vacuum pack bag with a sachet. Keep out only what you really need, again with the sachets in all your drawers and so on. That way, you will kill any larvae as they hatch from eggs on the contaminated stuff, and keep anything uncontaminated from getting contaminated.
If you've delicate things that you can't really wash and dry in a machine (like handknits) then they can go in the freezer for a week, come out for two weeks so the eggs hatch and then back into the freezer for a week.
Finally, I simply would not bother with the cedar blocks if you've actively got moths. I think they're OK if you're just trying to deter them, but after three years of clothes moths I went full chemical destruction and regret not doing it earlier.
posted by In Your Shell Like at 5:37 AM on August 31 [2 favorites]
If you've delicate things that you can't really wash and dry in a machine (like handknits) then they can go in the freezer for a week, come out for two weeks so the eggs hatch and then back into the freezer for a week.
Finally, I simply would not bother with the cedar blocks if you've actively got moths. I think they're OK if you're just trying to deter them, but after three years of clothes moths I went full chemical destruction and regret not doing it earlier.
posted by In Your Shell Like at 5:37 AM on August 31 [2 favorites]
What everybody else says above is pretty good. As far as killing the ones you see flying around though, and for some revenge and feeling like you have some agency in the deal, these electric bug zapper tennis racket things are fantastic for vaporizing the little jerks as they're flying around.
posted by bluesky78987 at 8:24 AM on August 31
posted by bluesky78987 at 8:24 AM on August 31
Try not to panic. This is really not a big deal and certainly shouldn't feel like war. Moths are not difficult to get rid of if you're smart about it.
The tiny wasps might be all you need. It sounds a little crazy, I know. But they're cheap, safe, and even used in museums because they're so effective. They cost just 30$ or so, and that's for a full course of (I believe) 8 weeks. You can probably even buy them on Amazon. When I did this, I received a letter in the mail every two weeks. In the letter, there were two sachets with wasps. These wasps are tiny, invisible to us. You might be able to see some specks move, but only if you look hard and for a while.
The wasps find moth eggs once you release them in the most affected parts of your room. They lay their own eggs inside these and thus deactivate the moth eggs. Like spaying for moths. It's really simple, and your plan sounds (while certainly effective) quite strenuous. If you can be patient and let the little guys do their job, that'll solve the problem. You might still want to wash and seal any clothes you care about because you do still have adult moths around. Though in my experience, they're super easy to see and catch because they're very slow. Which makes me think you have just a beginning moth problem, because it sounds like you haven't seen any yet?
Deep breaths. This is nothing like fleas or bedbugs. You'll be fine. When you're reading online, remember that some people get very intense about any sort of bug in the house. That's definitely not necessary for moths.
[You're probably wondering why you'd want to replace your moth problem with an infestation of tiny wasps, but that's not how it works. The wasps need moth eggs to procreate. As soon as there's no more moths, the wasps die or wander away (they cannot fly or sting, no idea why they're called wasps).]
posted by toucan at 11:46 AM on August 31
The tiny wasps might be all you need. It sounds a little crazy, I know. But they're cheap, safe, and even used in museums because they're so effective. They cost just 30$ or so, and that's for a full course of (I believe) 8 weeks. You can probably even buy them on Amazon. When I did this, I received a letter in the mail every two weeks. In the letter, there were two sachets with wasps. These wasps are tiny, invisible to us. You might be able to see some specks move, but only if you look hard and for a while.
The wasps find moth eggs once you release them in the most affected parts of your room. They lay their own eggs inside these and thus deactivate the moth eggs. Like spaying for moths. It's really simple, and your plan sounds (while certainly effective) quite strenuous. If you can be patient and let the little guys do their job, that'll solve the problem. You might still want to wash and seal any clothes you care about because you do still have adult moths around. Though in my experience, they're super easy to see and catch because they're very slow. Which makes me think you have just a beginning moth problem, because it sounds like you haven't seen any yet?
Deep breaths. This is nothing like fleas or bedbugs. You'll be fine. When you're reading online, remember that some people get very intense about any sort of bug in the house. That's definitely not necessary for moths.
[You're probably wondering why you'd want to replace your moth problem with an infestation of tiny wasps, but that's not how it works. The wasps need moth eggs to procreate. As soon as there's no more moths, the wasps die or wander away (they cannot fly or sting, no idea why they're called wasps).]
posted by toucan at 11:46 AM on August 31
Just wanted to add that if you don't see any moths, but you do see some little fuzzy things or small roundish beetles, the holes could be due to varied carpet beetles rather than moths. Plenty of photos of larvae and adults on NatureSpot (NB I'm intentionally directing you to a nature site rather than a pest control one, because if you're already feeling anxious, pest control sites tend not to be very comforting places to visit).
You'd want to do the same things either way - pick things up off the floor, vacuum thoroughly, apply insecticide - but I don't think you can get pheromone traps or predatory wasps for carpet beetles.
Incidentally, irrespective of what's eating the carpets, there's no need to get rid of books unless you have other reasons for wanting to do that. Creatures that feed on natural fibres won't eat or hide in them.
Also, I hope the exam went well!
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:54 AM on September 2
You'd want to do the same things either way - pick things up off the floor, vacuum thoroughly, apply insecticide - but I don't think you can get pheromone traps or predatory wasps for carpet beetles.
Incidentally, irrespective of what's eating the carpets, there's no need to get rid of books unless you have other reasons for wanting to do that. Creatures that feed on natural fibres won't eat or hide in them.
Also, I hope the exam went well!
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:54 AM on September 2
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by Eyelash at 3:39 PM on August 30 [7 favorites]