Carpet moth - looking for professional treatment

Oh dear!
How horrible.
I have wool carpets and do worry about them...

I hope you find someone. 🤞

I had a minor infestation in my only carpet on the stairs. I used moth spray which helped but I also used ant powder which I sprinkled on and left for a while. I haven’t seen a moth for about a year now.
Sadly the carpet will have to be replaced but it is 20 years old and has seen better days.

No, sorry, only the downstairs carpets in two rooms and I dealt with it myself. It wasn't too bad but they kept reappearing for a couple of years. I still keep a watchful eye.
Can you afford to employ a cleaner? The moths lay eggs around the edges and in dark areas and the larvae look like grains of rice, easy to vacuum up or pick up and flush down the loo!

They are on the increase, I think.

I don't like the sound of harsh chemicals. Steam does apparently work but you have to keep on top of the problem.

I had carpet moths and it was ages before I realised what they were. On recommendation, I bought Lakeland's carpet moth spray - used as directed and never saw another one.

Of course yours may be way more "infested" but for the sake of about £15 maybe worth a try?

I used a vacuum cleaner with a nozzle attachment around the edges, vacuum all the rest, then empty the cleaner promptly or throw away the bag if it has one. .

Thank you for your answers. I did use a spray when I first noticed the moths but there are too many now.
I may well have to get a cleaner Allira - I've been holding out but in the current situation I don't think I can keep up.

Carpet moths have infested a beautiful old silk Chinese carpet - and I realised that they must have come from a second hand mobility chair
I didn't know what they were at first .
I used ordinary moth sprays .
Then -
I bought carpet moth spray and powder from Robert Dyas and it iis working -but the carpet is ruined around the area of the chair .

What are carpet moths? We get those carpet beetles, I think because we had the cavity wall exposed whilst work was going on, I think they are attracted to that rock wool insulation.
I have a hand held clothes steamer, what I did was to pull out my bedside cabinet & go over first with strong sticky tape, then a good hoover, finally I steam around that area. Heat will kill anything.
I have seen them in other houses, where I know they buy a lot of flowers.
I haven’t mentioned that have seen them though. Should I ?

Thoro

Thank you for your answers. I did use a spray when I first noticed the moths but there are too many now.
I may well have to get a cleaner Allira - I've been holding out but in the current situation I don't think I can keep up.

I would buy one of those hand held steamer & go over the area. The heat will penetrate deep down & kill anything that’s living.

Just had a look, no we don’t have any of those.

I was told they are "designed" to live in old feathers in birds nests and can often enter homes via chimneys initially!

MT62

Thoro

Thank you for your answers. I did use a spray when I first noticed the moths but there are too many now.
I may well have to get a cleaner Allira - I've been holding out but in the current situation I don't think I can keep up.

I would buy one of those hand held steamer & go over the area. The heat will penetrate deep down & kill anything that’s living.

I have got a steamer, however, never thought of that, MT62 and have only used it on hard floors.

Apparently it’s the larvae which chomp away our carpets.
I spent a fortune in Robert Dyas (struggling at the moment apparently).
My neighbour advised distilled white vinegar around the skirting board where the carpet ends, as this is where the
little blighters nestle.

I bought many small plastic bottles of this vinegar,
35p from Tesco and had fun squirting.
The occasional moth is easily squashed.

We had a leather armchair which we realised too late, harboured a colony, generations of voracious gluttons,
when we tipped it on its back looking for the hamster.
Webbing underneath the chair was loose, a safe hidden
haven from where they attacked, a Trojan horse.
so out that went
We are constantly on the alert

I hooked a couple of plastic cages with sticky strips
on the curtain poles, behind the curtains.
By morning one of them held 11 papery tiny moths,
flown in looking to feast, died trying.

Now is the time carpet beetles are coming in houses. We had them last year and hoped we had got rid of them. We steamed all round the edges of carpets, sprayed, left lavender bags around and vacuumed like mad. I had all the beds out, took them apart, hoovered mattresses etc.

A few days ago we found the first tiny ones on bedroom window sills. Found 3 again today and destroyed them. I will post a pic of one next time I catch one.

I was advised to use ant powder. I did this three times over the summer and vacuumed the entire carpet after a few days, I think. It killed the white larvae although the expensive rug was damaged.

Just a brain wave Allira.
Bought it to steam my new curtains.
Actually I have a big shark & thought about running that over my whole carpet with out the cloth attachment.

Primrose53

Now is the time carpet beetles are coming in houses. We had them last year and hoped we had got rid of them. We steamed all round the edges of carpets, sprayed, left lavender bags around and vacuumed like mad. I had all the beds out, took them apart, hoovered mattresses etc.

A few days ago we found the first tiny ones on bedroom window sills. Found 3 again today and destroyed them. I will post a pic of one next time I catch one.

I was speaking with a pest controller about these carpet beetles. He said he gets them in his house & thinks they come in via his dogs coats
You are right Primrose, it’s about this time when I’ve seen any.
Also, they are attracted to white surfaces.
I changed out my Jacaranda carpets for wood flooring upstairs. Our bedroom is the room that I have seen one, or two crawling ever so slowly up the wall, we have carpet in this room.
It’s just a matter of hoovering regularly.

NotSpaghetti

I was told they are "designed" to live in old feathers in birds nests and can often enter homes via chimneys initially!

What carpet beetles?
That would make sense, as we had a bird flying around our loft & it was full of that rockwool insulation. Now boarded so not exposed.

Sorry, MT62, I was actually referring to moths - but it could make sense for carpet beetles too - as naturally there won't be carpets outside (and they obviously have a strategy and a "home" in the wild)!

I have just looked this up MT62 and yes, bird and animal nests are the primary "nursery" for the little blighters in nature...
The larvae live in bird nests, squirrel dreys, rodent burrows, or wasp nests etc where they eat leftover feathers, fur, skin flakes, animal hair and feathers, carapace and dried remains.

Yum!

Love your description of war on moths SORES. I am paranoid about getting any clothes or carpet moths since DS brought a jacket back from university with a city of moths hiding in it.
He went travelling and one day months later I opened his wardrobe to find a skeleton of the jacket completely infested. I dumped it in a bin bag and fumigated the fitted wardrobe. I threw everything at it, pest destroying spray, washed it out with bleach and repainted the inside!
I now hang moth repellent in every wardrobe and if I see one, very rarely, immediately spray the wardrobes.

My mum got rid of them by thoroughly spraying the carpets with a lavender oil solution. They hate it, it seems.
Lots of info online.

You have my sympathy. The trouble with any treatment is they get in everywhere. They say carpet moths but they are not fussy. The odd one seems to flutter out of everywhere
Am I correct that you are the lady who previously had a discected aorta If so get back to me as I found something on the net that might interest you concerning your problem but can’t find it now. Relating to your current issue

Took this this morning at my friends house, next to it was the most beautiful bouquet of flowers.
They definitely come in via the flowers as they are classed as pollen eaters.