Carpet Moth Control for Landlords and Rental Properties in Henley-on-Thames

What a Furnished Let Actually Exposes

• Wool carpet and older felt underlay, the flooring exposure in any let
• Rugs, which in a furnished property are the landlord's and are rarely lifted by a tenant
• Upholstered furniture — hessian, webbing, and natural fillings in older or traditionally reupholstered pieces
• Curtains, particularly wool or wool-lined ones, at the hem where they touch the floor
• Supplied bedding — wool blankets, feather duvets and pillows, in storage between tenancies
• Anything left in situ between lets, which by definition nobody has moved for years

The Inventory, Which Is the Whole Defence

A furnished inventory that lists items without recording their condition underneath is nearly useless for this. What is needed is specific.

1. Photograph the underside of every rug at check-in, not just the face
2. Photograph the carpet under each piece of supplied furniture
3. Photograph the underside of upholstered pieces — the hessian and webbing
4. Record curtain hems
5. Note what is wool and what is not. It decides what is at risk and what is not worth worrying about
6. Date everything, and keep it somewhere it can be found in three years

That set of photographs is what makes a later claim, deduction or defence credible. Without it the argument at the end is about recollection.

Between Tenancies

The only realistic point at which a furnished property can be properly checked, and the cheapest point to treat it.

1. Turn every upholstered item over and look at the underside
2. Lift every rug and look at both faces and the floor beneath
3. Move every piece of supplied furniture and look underneath
4. Check supplied bedding, and do not store it loose
5. Treat the whole property rather than a room, if anything is found
6. Photograph it all again and update the inventory

If There Are Genuinely Valuable Contents

Worth being clear about, because it changes the advice.

• A pest treatment deals with the property and stops the infestation. It does not clean, restore or repair a textile
• Cleaning a valuable rug is a specialist rug cleaner's job; repair is a textile restorer's
• Do not apply household products to an antique or hand-knotted rug — the dye risk is real and irreversible
• Check the policy, but expect most household and landlord policies to exclude both insect damage and gradual damage
• Consider whether items of real value belong in a let at all, which is a commercial question rather than a pest control one

What To Ask of a Tenant

• Report small moths near the floor, or any damage, promptly and in writing
• Do not move supplied rugs or furniture between rooms
• Vacuum regularly, including edges
• Allow access for a periodic check

Expecting a tenant to inspect the underside of the landlord's sofa is not realistic. Doing it yourself between tenancies is.

Treatment starts from £220. For a furnished property, tell us what is supplied and what is wool — the flooring is often the smaller half of the job.