What Causes Carpet Moth Infestations in Slough?

The Three Conditions

Every infestation needs all three, and removing any one of them ends it.

1. Food. Keratin — wool, silk, feather, fur, hair, felt. Wool carpet, felt underlay, rugs, the hessian and webbing under upholstery, stored woollens
2. Darkness and stillness. Under furniture, along skirting, inside cupboards, in voids
3. An arrival. Something has to bring the first eggs or adults in

The first two are properties of the building. The third is an event, and it is the one people ask about.

Causes Inside Your Own Flat

• Belongings from a previous address — rugs, bedding, boxed clothing
• Second-hand furniture, particularly upholstered items and rugs
• Items out of storage, which have been dark and undisturbed for months
• Things left by a previous occupant, especially in a furnished let
• Old felt underlay that was already there when you moved in

Causes That Are Not In Your Flat At All

The list that gets left out, and the reason a well-treated flat sometimes does not stay clear.

• Communal carpet in the hall, stairs and landing — old, never lifted, and running past every door
• Floor and ceiling voids that are continuous between flats in a converted house
• A neighbouring flat with the same problem, untreated
• A bin store, bike store or basement where old carpet and furniture is dumped
• Riser and service cupboards on the landing
• Birds nesting in the roof or eaves of the building, feeding a population in the top-floor ceiling void

What Does Not Cause Them

Worth saying, because people tend to arrive at this assuming they have done something wrong.

• Not cleanliness. They need stillness, not dirt. A meticulous flat with a wool carpet and heavy furniture is a good habitat
• Not food waste or bins — that is a different moth entirely, found near kitchen cupboards
• Not damp, though damp often goes with the same still, undisturbed corners
• Not pets, though shed hair in undisturbed corners is genuinely food, so the corners matter

Removing the Conditions You Control

1. Disturb the still places — move one heavy item every couple of months
2. Vacuum the carpet edges rather than only the middle, and empty the vacuum outside
3. Check anything wool coming into the flat before it goes down
4. Store woollens clean and sealed rather than loose
5. Seal the gap under your front door
6. Report communal carpet in writing if you find anything in it

Treatment starts from £220. Tell us whether the common parts are carpeted and whether anybody else in the building has seen them — those two answers shape the whole job.