Moth Prevention for carpets

Generally speaking, moths are best known for being attracted to light, but oddly you never see one during the day. However, when you’re settling into your bed at night and just as you’re switching on your bedside lamp to read a few chapters of a good book, all of a sudden, a giant moth appears in view and starts erratically fluttering around your bedside table, thus ruining your book and a good night’s sleep.

But a 40 watt light bulb is not the only thing that can attract a moth.

The Tapestry Moth or Carpet Moth (Trichophaga tapetzella), is attracted to those quieter, darker areas of carpet such as next to the skirting board, the corners of the room, under the sofas or other items of furniture. These tend to be the areas that can be missed when cleaning or vacuuming and this is where they will lay their eggs and also where they will start to eat away at the fibres of the carpet.

Once their larvae have hatched, they will then start to feed, and then lay more eggs and so the cycle goes on, and this is when it becomes an infestation.

Bald patches will start to appear in areas of carpet around the room and will get progressively worse over time. Obviously, a pest controller can be called in to deal with infestation but by that point the carpet is now ruined.

So what preventative steps can be taken to avoid these issues?

Preventative measures can start when selecting a new carpet for your home. A new carpet can either be of a natural fibre (usually wool) or a synthetic fibre such as polypropylene.

Whilst synthetic carpets have the advantage of being moth resistant, a wool carpet carries many more benefits of longevity, durability, easy maintenance and fire retardancy.

Many wool carpet suppliers also now offer moth proofing as part of their product offer so moth proof carpets are available on the market place.

However, once it has been installed, it is the maintenance routine that will make the biggest difference. Moths are attracted to darker areas, underneath furniture and next to skirting because there may be more dirt embedded into the fibre as they tend to get missed when vacuuming and cleaning.

A thorough cleaning routine is a great preventative measure.

Also, having your carpet professionally cleaned on a yearly basis will not only maintain the look and feel of your carpet for longer but will also clean away any moths, carpet beetles and larvae that may have invaded the fibres.