Do Carpet Moth Traps Work in Caversham Homes?

The Mechanism

The card carries a synthetic copy of the female's scent. Males follow it and stick.

• Males only. Females carry on laying
• Adults only. The larvae doing the damage are not attracted to anything
• Measures presence and rough intensity, which is the point
• Does not clear an infestation. Adults do not feed, so removing some of them changes little about what is eating the carpet

Placement, Which Is Most of It

The pheromone travels only a short distance, and these are poor fliers. A trap tells you about a small area around itself, not about the house. That is a limitation and it is also exactly what makes a set of them useful.

• Floor level always. On a shelf, a windowsill or a chest of drawers it will catch almost nothing however bad the problem is
• Out of draughts, which disperse the scent
• Out of direct sunlight, which degrades the bait
• Not in a doorway in constant use, where it gets kicked and the air moves
• Against a wall or in a corner, which is where these moths travel

A Three-Floor Layout That Answers the Question

1. Hall, at floor level near the front door but out of the draught
2. Bottom of the stairs, against the string on the first or second tread
3. Half-landing or first-floor landing, against the wall
4. Top landing, near the loft hatch if there is one
5. One per bedroom, at floor level in a corner, if you have the cards

Number them, write the date on each, leave them a fortnight, and write down the counts. Then read the pattern:

• Top landing highest — look up. Loft hatch, roof space, stored textiles
• Hall highest — hall carpet, understairs cupboard, or something coming in at the front door
• Stairs highest — the stair carpet itself, which is the one people never suspect
• One bedroom far above the rest — start there, and check the wardrobe as well as the floor
• All roughly even — established throughout, and a room-by-room approach will not be enough

Reading the Numbers Honestly

• A fortnight minimum before concluding anything
• Replace the card when it is dusty or the bait is spent — check the pack, but expect roughly eight to twelve weeks
• The trend across weeks matters more than any single count
• Ignore the first fortnight after a treatment entirely — numbers are disturbed and rise before they fall
• Zero catches with visible fresh damage means the traps are badly placed, not that the problem has gone

Treatment starts from £220. If you have a fortnight of counts by floor, bring them to the call — it is the most useful thing a householder can hand over.