Wool Moth Infestation
Wool moths seek out protein fibers such as Oriental carpets but moth infestation happens in other protein fibers such as feathers, Alpaca, and animal skins. These moths lay eggs, and when the eggs hatch, the larvae have a voracious appetite for protein fibers such as wool, and moth infestations can be devastating to the look and value of Oriental rugs.
What Are Wool Moths?
There are two types of wool or clothes moths in North America — the webbing clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella) and the casemaking clothes moth (Tinea pellionella).
-Webbing clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella) Adult webbing clothes moths are a uniform, buff color, with a small tuft of reddish hairs on the top of the head. They make a webbing, seen in the photo to the left, similar to spider webs but thicker.
​
Case-making moths (Tinea pellionella) are similar but have dark specks on the wings. They make a casing similar to a rice hull in size.
Adult moths of both species lay about 40-50 pinhead-sized eggs on protein fibers; when the eggs hatch, they feed on protein fibers.
​
The larval stage of clothes moths is tiny white caterpillars a quarter to half-inch long. Development time from an egg into a moth varies significantly from one month to a year, depending on temperature, food availability, and other factors.
The larvae favor concealment from light, and direct sunlight can kill the larvae, so moths lay their eggs in areas with little light exposure under sofas, beds, and end tables.
As larvae eat, they destroy fibers and leave threadbare areas and sand-like gritty fecal pellets.
Signs of Wool Moths
Wool webbing and casing moths are small, about the size of common pantry moths.
Since they seek out dark, undisturbed areas, Moth infestation and damage can go undetected.
Fresh moth damage (above) shows signs of damage, debris from the moth's eating wool, and a loss of wool pile as shown.
Signs are loss of pile webbing and small casing the size of rice but Flat. Vacuuming monthly and visual inspection in dark areas is the best preventative step
Getting Rid Of Moths
Confine
The infested textile should be removed from the home or confined (wrapped in plastic) to stop the spread of infestation to other textiles and treated as soon as possible.
​
Closing doors to a room with an infested rug or moving to your garage is inadequate for confining the infestation.
​
Treatment
Treatment of the infested rug killing and removal of moth larvae and their eggs by washing is a straightforward process we perform all the time. We cannot do this in your home it takes days to get rid of moth in Carpet.
​
However, removal and treatment of the infested rug/ textiles are often not enough. Typically at the point infestation is detected moths have had access to your home and often laid eggs elsewhere on other protein fibers such as other rugs, wool sweaters, socks, or protein-based fibers. it's a good idea to wash cloths made from wool and other protein fibers to kill any possible eggs
Keeping rugs clean helps limit moth infestations and cleaning new to you vintage rugs before taking them into you home reduces to possibility of moth infestation
​
We strongly recommend contacting a professional pest control company to perform on-location pest control/ mitigation in addition to treating and cleaning viably moth-infested rugs. It's an involved process to get rid of moths in your home. Failure to treat the issue as a whole house infestation often results in reinfestation and additional damage.
​
​
Getting Rid of Carpet Moths Naturally
Do natural remedies for wool moths work?
​
In short, most don't work or are inconsistently effective cedar, lavender, and tobacco; Vinegar are not effective; we have had all manors of textiles treated with natural remedies infested with moths.
​
Natural Remedies that do work
Steam smaller textiles with the steam iron setting front and back effectively kill eggs. Home steaming is hard to do with large, thick rugs, but it's effective
​Freezing If your rug is small enough, you can place it in a freezer for a week. This method kills any moths, larvae, or eggs. Before freezing, put the rug in a plastic bag, squeeze out the air, and seal it. Take it out of the freezer, allow it to come to room temperature for a week, and re-freeze do this several times.​
​
Professional Rug Cleaning Rug cleaning combined with moth treatment is effective at killing moths, larvae, and eggs. Cleaning alone cannot kill moth eggs make sure the cleaner has a moth treatment protocol to kill moth eggs
​
​
Call A Professional Pest Control Company
By the time most peopel discover a moth infestation, eggs have been laid in other areas in upholstery, clothing other rugs. It's gone far beyond just the rug with the visible moth infestation and damage, and reoccurring infestations happen as the eggs hatch in new rugs.
​
We cannot stress enough that a prudent course of action is a professional pest controller who understands how to apply a combination of treatments and monitoring for an extended period to remove wool moth pests from your home.
​
​