Have you also got lots of tiny moths in your home?

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Kj539@reddit

Yep, carpet moths. They have just started emerging in the last 2 weeks. They fly around all summer, lay eggs in the carpet, the caterpillars eat your carpet then crawl up the wall and hatch. We had them really badly about 5 years ago and spent ages killing them, deep cleaning all the edges of the rooms and spraying the edges of the carpets and it’s a lot lot better now but there are always a few stragglers which we missed. They’re a pain in the backside.

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No_Camp_7@reddit

Do you have wool in your carpets?

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Anguskerfluffle@reddit

If they are tiny then they are likely baby moths and that probably means that moths have found a food source in some dusty corner of your house for breeding lots of new moths. Could be woollen fabrics or carpet or some sort of organic debris

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CAElite@reddit

Thats a pain, I seem to get a flurry of them every 6 months or so.

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No_Camp_7@reddit

Have you tried blocks of cedar wood or essential oil?

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Slonshal@reddit

If you have any plants, check leaves for any tiny caterpillars. Check for any nibbled leaves or leaves curling in on themselves.

Had same issue last year. I took the coverf of some alcove airvents and put a sheet of fine mesh/netting over it. That might have stopped some getting in.

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donkey-oh-tea@reddit

Could be pantry moths, the larvae smuggle themselves in in grains etc.

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RayaQueen@reddit

That's weevils, they don't fly round the whole house. And they're little beetles which also crawl. Doesn't sound like that here. Though OP could check their flours and pasta.

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rinkydinkmink@reddit

weevils and pantry moths are separate species

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RayaQueen@reddit

Pantry moths aren't a thing in the UK

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anti-sugar_dependant@reddit

They definitely are. I used to work in food manufacturing in the UK and keeping a lid on the moth problem was a constant battle.

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donkey-oh-tea@reddit

We bought our house and found the previous owners had an infestation and let it run wild for years. They were literally living in the gaps in grout behind tiles etc. Was hanging and literally called for a full kitchen remodel.

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anti-sugar_dependant@reddit

Ew! I can imagine though. It was bad enough cleaning them out of the machinery every week.

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donkey-oh-tea@reddit

Yes they are, particularly if you buy imported food/grains (i.e wholesalers, asian supermarkets etc)

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RayaQueen@reddit

I meant more like rarely seen, where clothes moths are pretty normal.

I did mean to edit to clarify but, you know, the internet distracted me!

OPs description suggests more clothes moths tho.

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anti-sugar_dependant@reddit

I use a spray called "Flee", which is really a flea spray but because the way it works is enveloping fleas and eggs in silicone to prevent them moving, laying eggs, or hatching, it works on moths too. And it's pet safe and you don't have to evacuate the building after using it like you do with pesticides.

If the infestation is bad then you should use a pesticide fogger too, it'll help you get on top of the problem, it's not a permanent fix because it won't kill the eggs. Flee spray will sort the eggs, and it's easy to use. It lasts about 6 weeks, so you just have to spray the edges of your carpets every 6 weeks.

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ErinClaymores@reddit

Lakeland have a good range (instore & online) of moth products including carpet sprays to kill larvae and traps to catch flying moths.

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Difficult_Egg_4350@reddit

Came here to say this. The Lakeland stuff is the only thing to have worked for us and our woolen carpets

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fsuk@reddit

You might have carpet moths. They are pain to get rid of. They lay eggs around the edges of carpets and on the back of furniture. They literally eat holes in carpets and fabrics. To get rid of them you basically have to do a deep clean hover and spray some chemicals, and repeat.

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connectfourvsrisk@reddit

In the end we had to get rid of our carpets…it was a losing battle.

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Aced4remakes@reddit

They're the reason we use wooden flooring now too. We settled for using rugs for bedrooms and the sitting room instead of wall to wall carpets.

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composaurus@reddit

Yeah it sounds like carpet moths. We had them at our last place. Absolutely nightmare to get rid of as the eggs can be dormant for a while and they can get in all sorts of nooks and crannys.

We managed to get rid of them by absolutely blasting the carpet with moth spray and hoovering multiple times a day. If we saw them again in a room we just repeated the process. Also washing all clothes and using deterrents in our wardrobe.

Eventually won the battle but they did a number on carpet.

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ProtonHyrax99@reddit

My local council offers pest services for carpet moths. Maybe check if yours does too?

If not, lots of pheromone traps.

If you find them in a piece of clothing, sticking it in the freezer will kill them / any eggs, and potentially save the garment (assuming the damage isn’t too bad / is repairable).

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ARobertNotABob@reddit

Just ordered from Amazon off the back of this thread : https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B011V6QRJY?ref_=pe_112168041_1111392281_i_fed_asin_title

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Thunderoussshart@reddit

I've had a pantry moths infestation for a few months now. I thought I'd found the source (semolina flour) but they just keep coming. I feel your pain.

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NuraThorne@reddit

I had to throw all the flour and grains and anything grain based and open food out. They can have easily laid eggs in other things. My infestation spread to different food sources. Throwing out every food source stopped the infestation for me.

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Thunderoussshart@reddit

Wow ok. I'd already binned everything that was in the same cupboard as the semolina flour but looks like I'm going to have to go a bit further. Urgh moths are such a pain.

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NuraThorne@reddit

Yeah they spread to two cupboards when I had them. They can squeeze through the smallest gap. Flour, raisin, cous cous, desiccated coconut, any and all baking stuff, pasta, cereal, just everything went into the bin.

And I avoid stocking up the cupboards and only bought what I needed until I was sure they were gone.

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Thunderoussshart@reddit

Guess I'll have a little project for the weekend. I just want to get rid of them now. Did you use any special cleaning products? I saw a moths spray online that I might buy to clean the cupboards, just a bit worried because I've got cats and don't want to poison them with the spray!

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NuraThorne@reddit

No special stuff, just regular kitchen cleaning products I had the time and white vinegar. If you have dry cat food, you might want to consider switching to wet cat food temporarily, just in case.

The adults can live about 2 - 3 weeks, so as long as they don’t have a food source in that time, they hopefully won’t have somewhere to lay eggs.

Keep food in hard plastic or glass air tight containers. Apparently, they can chew through plastic and cardboards which I’ve just found out.

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Thunderoussshart@reddit

Thanks for all the info, really appreciate it. Never realised how difficult they are to get rid of!

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Reasonable_Bath_269@reddit

Oh no, you are doomed, good luck with that battle

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

I get the odd one, the spiders eat most and whatever flies around me gets 1500 volts

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SgtBukkakeMan@reddit

They munched a hole in the carpet under my bed last year. Now I understand why people do a spring clean. Move absolutely everything and vacuum behind and under it thoroughly.

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NuraThorne@reddit

When I moved into my current home, we had heaps of them. They were laying eggs in the grains and flour, and we didn’t notice right away, and we had to throw all that out.

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EmuSea4963@reddit

As others have said - maybe carpet moths. I lived in a place years ago which had an old, ugly wool rug in the living room. Decided I didn't like it so shoved it on top of some cupboards and forgot about it. Noticed moths appearing and had quite a few of them during my tenancy.

At the end of the tenancy I went to put the rug back and found it had been munched to pieces by moths. Not only that but It was covered in egg cases (?) and hundreds of these thin little pods that looked like grains of rice.

Once i'd moved the rug into the kitchen to get a better look I realised that many of these 'pods' had started to 'hatch' and there were loads of little white larvae crawling all over the place. Couldnt get it in the bin quick enough.

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Legitimate_State_209@reddit

I'm thinking of getting some fly screens put in

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DeviceWonderful5152@reddit

Bug bombs! Lakeland also sell a product esp for clothes and carpet moths, it’s pricey but it stops the entire cycle of adults, larvae and babies . You need to repeat it a few times. Problem is if you have adults they’re probably already had More babies somewhere so whatever you use , you will probably have to do it a few times.

Bug bombs are good as they get get into books and crannies you might miss. But make sure they can also kill eggs and larvae. If they fly then they’re probably clothes moths if they are mostly seen in the floor but flutter about not getting off the ground very well that would be carpet moths

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Infamous_Army_ofcats@reddit

I used to have them in my old house when I was a teen. Used a whole bottle of Lynx Africa to get rid of them (didn’t have bug spray). To this day I can only think of little moths when I smell Lynx. Disgusting

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fingerwagging_wokie@reddit

Get sticky traps from Manchester Mothmen, work a treat and they give you a free pack if you send them a pic of one of their traps full of moths

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ams3000@reddit

It’s Moth Month apparently. I use KateMoth products as they seem to hate it and stopped eating my jumpers.

Just saw this “In Europe, and the UK, Moth Season usually begins in the second week of April and can extend through August. By the time you've noticed moths in your home there is a good chance that your natural fibre clothing has already been damaged. Adult moths do not eat. Their sole purpose is to mate and lay eggs. It's the larvae that are responsible for damage to your clothes.”

Tips are cedarwood a they hate the smell and avoid it. You can get sachets of this. Washing everything before storing it or hanging it back in wardrobes. And keeping windows shut at night when they are most lively.

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RayaQueen@reddit

They're clothes moths. They eat wool mostly. Check all your drawers and wardrobes/backs of doors (anywhere you have anything woollen) and give everything a good shake/inspection regularly.

They like under/behind furniture anywhere you have a wool carpet/rug for their breeding colony. So move all the furniture and check.

There are lots of sprays on the market which are person/pet safe after 3 hours. Repeat every 3 months if needed. Often works after one go though.

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boredandolden@reddit

I had them in my home a couple of years ago. My daughters bedroom seemed to be the source. We finding them for a few months, maybe 5 or 6 a night. It was driving my wife daft.

Check my post history you'll see me posting pictures and asking on moth forums what type of moths they were.

I bought some fumigation candle things. Lit them in every room. And went out for the day. I bought below after the fumigation and sprayed behind wardrobe and radiator, anywhere dark. That did the trick.

t

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ZeroFrogsHere@reddit

If they are small that means they are young and are breeding in your house.

When I was a kid I used to notice a lot of them in my room, turned out the part of my rug that went under my bed was full of moth eggs.

I'd definitely start looking for the source of the problem.

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fiveofspades94@reddit

Find the source - check behind furniture in carpeted rooms and other corners of the house.

Try natural repellents - lavendar is key. Lavendar bags in nooks and crannies/wardrobes/clothes drawers/between sofa cushions - everywhere. Buy a lavendar repellent spray and spray everywhere.

If this doesn't work and moth numbers are still high, look into more nasty chemical sprays which kill and not just repel.

Source - moth infeststion in my home. The horrors of waking up to little moth larvae on my walls and carpers was too much. After weeks of trying i had to resort to chemical sprays.

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Crochetqueenextra@reddit

Find a crochet queen and get them to whip up some lavender heart hang them in closets and put them in cupboards

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit

Pantry moths and they’re a shit to get rid of

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Sad-Razzmatazz8047@reddit

If you have any bird seed - check!! They can host larvae

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mr-tap@reddit

Agree with other commenters - the moths are there because the larvae are eating something organic (clothes, books, cardboard, flour/grain in pantry, carpet etc). Since you are in a flat, perhaps they could be from a neighbour?

I have previously used a set of 'bug bombs' (one per room) to get rid of a silverfish infestation (don't know if you get them in the UK?).

Not sure if they are still available, but they were very effective. So many more dead bugs than I imagined

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HoundParty3218@reddit

Yes, they appear every year. My front lawn seems to be full of them in the summer.

I use moth balls in the bathroom (they like the toilet paper) and wardrobes to keep numbers down and protect my clothes.

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