Why Carpet Moths Keep Appearing in Bracknell Homes

Treating the Symptom Rather Than the Source

Adults do not eat. They do not damage anything, they live a few weeks and their entire purpose is to lay eggs. Killing the ones you can see changes nothing about the population, which is why a house can be sprayed thoroughly and still be producing moths a month later.

The larvae are the infestation, and they are wherever the animal fibre is. If that is not the carpet, the carpet can be treated perfectly and the cycle carries straight on.

The Sources That Get Missed

• Felt underlay beneath a synthetic carpet — animal fibre, permanent darkness, and nothing visible from above
• Wool rugs, particularly the underside and the floor beneath
• Upholstery — hessian, webbing and natural fillings under a sofa
• Wardrobes — wool coats and jumpers, at the shoulders
• Stored bedding — wool blankets, feather duvets and pillows
• Old carpet in a loft, garage or cupboard, left in place and forgotten
• An integral garage with carpet offcuts or stored textiles in it

The Rooms That Get Missed

Treating only the room where moths were seen is the other common reason for a return. Adults move; larvae stay put. By the time moths are visible in one room, eggs have usually been laid in several.

Rooms that are used less are more likely to be holding the population than the room where you first noticed them — a spare bedroom, a box room, a study, a landing.

The Timing That Looks Like Failure And Is Not

Eggs are not affected by treatment the way larvae are. Some hatching after a treatment is normal, and a few moths appearing in the weeks afterwards does not mean it has not worked.

• Normal: a small, declining number of moths for two or three weeks after treatment
• Not normal: numbers steady or rising after four weeks, or fresh damage and new webbing appearing
• The test: count them. Three this week and one next week is a treatment working. Three every week for six weeks is not

What To Do Differently On the Second Attempt

1. Find the food source before treating anything — lift a carpet corner, turn a sofa over, look in the wardrobe
2. Treat every carpeted room, not only the one where moths were seen
3. Include rugs, upholstery and stored textiles in the scope
4. Check the loft, the garage and any cupboard with old textiles in it
5. Confirm what the moths actually are before spending anything else
6. Keep a rough weekly count so you can tell progress from stalemate

Treatment starts from £220. If a property has been treated before and the problem returned, tell us what was done and what the flooring is — that is usually where the answer is.