Carpet Moth Control in Hungerford

What Actually Carries Them

• Rugs and runners, especially wool and hand-knotted ones
• Upholstered furniture — the underside, the webbing, and any horsehair or feather filling
• Wool clothing and coats, including vintage
• Blankets, throws and eiderdowns
• Taxidermy, sheepskins, hides and feather items, which are pure keratin and among the highest risk of anything
• Tapestries, samplers and framed textiles
• Felt in unexpected places — under piano keys, in old instrument cases, in hat boxes
• Old boxes and packing material that came with the item

The Five-Minute Inspection Before You Buy

1. Turn it over. Damage shows on the underside of a rug long before the pile looks thin. If a dealer will not let you, that tells you something too
2. Look at the parts that were covered — where furniture stood, the middle of a rolled rug, under the cushions of a chair
3. Check fringes, selvedges and hems, which go first
4. Look for fine webbing, small cream larvae, and shed larval cases, which look like tiny grains of the material itself
5. Look for a fine sandy debris in the folds or where the item has been standing — that is frass, and it is a live signal
6. On upholstery, look underneath at the webbing and hessian, which is where it usually starts

Bringing It Home Safely

If you buy something and you are not certain, the containment is simple and it costs nothing.

1. Do not take it straight into a carpeted room
2. A garage, a conservatory, a shed or even a hallway with a hard floor is a better first stop
3. Bag or wrap it for the journey rather than laying it on the back seat and then the sitting room floor
4. Inspect it properly in daylight before it goes anywhere near a wool carpet
5. Have it professionally cleaned before it comes in, which for a rug of any value is worth doing anyway
6. If in doubt, ask us before it comes indoors rather than after

For Dealers and Trade Premises

Stock that arrives from house clearances and auctions arrives with whatever was in it, and a shop or unit full of textiles is a considerable amount of food in one place with very little disturbance.

We take commercial enquiries from businesses and managed premises across Hungerford. Where stock is affected, the practical concerns are usually containment, treating the premises rather than only the item, and doing it in a way that does not damage saleable goods — and those are worth discussing before rather than after.

If It Is Already In the House

• Small moths close to the floor, running rather than flying
• Irregular thinning or bald patches in wool carpet
• Damage along carpet edges and beneath furniture
• Fine webbing, larvae or shed cases
• Damage to the new item, and to whatever it has been standing on
• Check the floor beneath the item — it is often worse than the item

Timing is the clue. If moths appeared within a couple of months of something arriving, that is where to look first.

The Larvae Do the Damage

Adults do not feed; they lay eggs. So an item can look completely clear of moths and be carrying eggs and larvae, which is exactly why an inspection looks for webbing, cases and debris rather than for flying insects.

Professional Treatment From £220

1. Confirming carpet moths rather than another household moth
2. Establishing whether the source is an acquired item or the property
3. Checking edges, beneath furniture, cupboards, rugs and storage
4. Preparing the affected areas as required
5. Applying the appropriate professional treatment
6. Advice on cleaning, quarantining and prevention
7. Follow-up where the extent of activity warrants it

Tell us if something was recently brought into the house, and when. It is frequently the whole explanation and it saves a good deal of searching.

Landlords, Agents and Commercial Premises

We take enquiries from landlords, tenants, letting agents and property managers across Hungerford, and from businesses and managed premises containing carpets, rugs or stored textiles.