How to Prevent Carpet Moths Returning After Treatment in Cookham

The Scope Question, Which Is the Whole Thing

• Flooring, including edges and under furniture
• Underlay, where it is the source
• Rugs, and the floor beneath them
• Upholstery — undersides, decks, crevices
• Curtains, particularly wool or wool-lined ones
• Stored textiles — wardrobes, airing cupboard, loft
• Anything of value, which usually goes to a specialist instead

The First Eight Weeks

1. Some moths for two to three weeks is normal — remaining eggs hatching
2. Keep a weekly count. Date, room, number
3. Falling by week four is what you want; steady or rising is not
4. Mark and photograph any damaged patch with the date
5. Do not vacuum until the specified period has passed
6. Do not sit on treated upholstery before the exclusion period is up
7. Ring back at week six rather than waiting, if numbers have not fallen

Putting Things Back In the Right Order

This is where houses undo their own treatment, and it is easily avoided.

1. Do not put untreated cushions, throws or blankets back onto treated furniture
2. Do not rehang curtains that were not dealt with into a treated room
3. Wash what can be washed, hot, before it goes back
4. Do not bring boxes down from the loft into a treated room
5. Do not put a rug back over a floor that was not treated under it
6. Deal with anything that was out of scope before it rejoins the room

The Ongoing Routine

• Monthly: vacuum carpet edges as well as the middle, and empty the vacuum outside
• Every few months: turn one piece of upholstery over and look at the hessian
• Every few months: run the curtain hems through your hands and check the lining side
• Every few months: move one heavy item and look at the floor, rotating which
• Twice a year: check wardrobes, the airing cupboard and any stored textiles
• Late winter: the annual look, before the spring wave

Traps, Because Furniture Gives No Other Signal

In a house where the population may be inside upholstery, there is no damage to watch. Traps measure adults, which every food source produces regardless of what it is.

• One per affected room, at floor level, in a corner, out of draughts and sunlight
• Numbered, with the date on the card
• Counts written down — the trend is the information
• Any catch in a treated room after week six is worth acting on

What Actually Brings It Back

1. Soft furnishings left out of scope
2. A room not treated because nothing had been seen in it
3. Stored textiles in a loft, cupboard or garage
4. Old felt underlay left down under a treated carpet
5. Untreated items put back into a treated room
6. Something new brought in

Treatment starts from £220. If this is a second occurrence, tell us what was in scope last time — in a house with a lot of soft furnishing that is nearly always where the answer is.