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Get rid of clothes Moths
How to Get Rid of Clothes Moths
As moth extermination experts, it’s no surprise that “How do you get rid of clothes moths?” is the most common question people ask us. But they’re asking the wrong question: what they should really be asking is, “How do I get rid of clothes moth larvae?”
You see, it’s the larvae that do all the damage to your wardrobe. Adult clothes moths – the ones that you see bouncing off walls or scurrying along skirting boards – don’t even have mouths. Their sole purpose is to breed, and they do so at an alarming rate, with females laying up to 700 eggs in the month that they live. All it takes is a single mating pair to turn a moth-free house into a thriving clothes moth colony.
The bad news: there’s no effective DIY solution
Killing adult clothes moths is pretty simple. Moth pheromone traps and pesticide sprays will do the trick, but this will do almost nothing to help if your home is already infested. Clothes moths are elusive creatures that seek out dark, forgotten parts of your home and – unlike most moths – they often live their whole lives without ever flying.
This means that if you’re seeing moths flying or crawling around your home, there’s likely to be many more that you’re not seeing, which will continue to breed and breed. By the time a clothes moth has become an adult, it’s already lived through the very hungry caterpillar stage of its life – so, while killing them might satisfy your need for revenge, it won’t undo the damage to your clothes.
Unfortunately, if clothes moth larvae have infested your home, there’s no effective DIY solution. Clothes moth eggs and larvae are near-microscopic, propagate rapidly and even camouflage themselves in a fibre-woven casing to make themselves even harder to spot. Brushing clothes and dry cleaning both help, but it’s nearly impossible to eliminate infestation entirely through such methods.
Around 95% of our clients have tried DIY methods before coming to us. Plenty of products are sold as moth killers – which may technically be true – but are bought under the false expectation that they will eliminate infestation. This causes immense frustration and prolongs damage that could have been solved rapidly with professional treatment.
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The good news: professional clothes moth extermination is easier than you think
If you’ve reached a point where you need professional clothes moth extermination, you may be concerned about the disruption caused and the safety of the treatment. As moth control experts, we know every concern that clients have about clothes moth extermination and tailored our treatments to be sympathetic to every one.
Let’s start with convenience. If we begin in the morning, one complete round of our typical treatment can be completed and your house safe to enter again by the time you get back from work. As long as children and pets are kept away during this time, you can get back to life as normal straight away.
As for the safety of our treatments, all chemicals are approved by the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs – who perform years of rigorous testing and research, and the same chemicals are used in kitchens, shops and other public spaces every day. To be on the safe side, we also significantly over-estimate the periods that a house must be vacated, just to make sure that we and our clients have peace of mind.
The only things to make an extra effort for are pets, aquariums and materials that may be damaged by the treatments, such as oil paintings. Any complications will be identified during our free, no obligation site survey and all treatments and procedures will be preceded by a COSHH statements that explains what we’re going to do and the chemicals we’re going to use.
If you are going to use professional clothes moth exterminators, make sure that the treatment plan includes at least three complete treatments spread two weeks apart. This will ensure that the clothes moths are targeted at every stage of their lifecycle, otherwise there’s a high risk of infestation recurring.
How to get rid of moths
- Killing adult moths is easy with sprays and traps, but it’s their larvae that cause the damage.
- Store clothes in vacuum sealed bags, dispose of old fabrics such as rolls of carpet and hoover regularly or thoroughly.
- Because their eggs are microscopic and their larvae tiny, severe clothes moth infestations require professional treatment.
- Avoid cowboy exterminators who promise results in one treatment, you need to have at least three treatments spaced two weeks apart.
Need help or advice?
If you have any questions about clothes moths or want to book your free, no obligation site survey, then
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Here are some other helpful articles about Moths
How Do Moths Get in Your House?
Carpet moths cause devastating damage if they find their way inside your home.
Why Do I Have Moths in My Carpet?
Despite their name, clothes moths are more likely to be found in your carpets.
How to Prevent a Moth Infestation
It’s much better to prevent a clothes moth infestation than have to treat one.
Do Moth Traps Work?
Moth traps are very good at killing moths, but that doesn’t help as much as you might think.
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