Professional Carpet Moth Control in Biggleswade

Carpet Moth Treatment in Biggleswade

Biggleswade is a Bedfordshire market town on the River Ivel. It is outside Cambridgeshire, but it is within the area we cover, and the price and service are identical to Cambridge. There is no call-out fee, and you get the room count and total before anything is booked.

The full service is described on our carpet moth and carpet beetle control page. This post concentrates on rugs, because they cause more confusion than any other part of the job.

Why Rugs Are Where It Often Starts

Larvae need three things: natural fibre, darkness and to be left alone. A wool rug provides all three on its underside. The top gets walked on and vacuumed; the back, and the floor or carpet beneath it, may not be touched for years.

Rugs also move between homes more than carpets do. They are bought second-hand, handed down, brought back from travels and rolled up for storage, and any of those can carry eggs or larvae in with them.

• Wool and silk rugs, including hand-knotted and older pieces, are food
• Rugs with a wool pile on a cotton backing are still food where it counts
• Jute, sisal and pure synthetic rugs are not food themselves, but larvae will shelter under them if there is wool nearby
• A wool rug laid on a wool carpet doubles the hidden feeding area

How to Check a Rug Properly

Do this in daylight, or with a torch held low.

• Turn the rug over completely, not just a corner. Look for bare lines where the knots show through, silk tubes, small cases and gritty frass.
• Check the fringe and the bound edges, which are often attacked first.
• Look at the floor where the rug was lying. On a hard floor you may find cases and debris in the gaps between boards; on carpet, look for a patch of grazing the same shape as the rug.
• Part the pile on the top side in several places and look at its base, where larvae feed first.
• Check any rug that is rolled up in storage — the inside of the roll is ideal for them.

If what you find is small, clean holes with no silk and a few bristly brown skins, it is more likely to be carpet beetle. Our carpet moth identification guide explains the difference.

What to Do With an Affected Rug

What is possible depends on the rug's size and value.

• Small, washable rugs can go in a hot wash if the label allows.
• Small rugs that cannot be washed can be sealed in a bag and frozen for around two weeks.
• Large or valuable rugs are usually best sent to a specialist rug cleaner, who can deal with larvae without damaging dyes or knots.
• Badly damaged rugs that you do not want to keep should be bagged or wrapped before they are carried through the house.

Vacuum both sides of a rug that is staying, and the floor beneath, slowly. Hanging a rug outside in dry weather and beating it gives larvae the disturbance they avoid.

What We Treat

We treat the room the rug is in: the carpet or floor beneath the rug's footprint, the edges of the room, under furniture and anywhere else larvae are sheltering. If the rug is staying in place, we discuss whether and how it can be treated alongside the floor, and we tell you if we think a specialist clean is the better option for a particular piece.

Before treating, we explain what is being used, where, when the room can be used again and what to do with pets. Please follow those instructions. For pets, your vet is the right person to ask about any concern.

What It Costs in Biggleswade

One room is £220, and each extra room adds £60 — a living room and a bedroom together is £280. Carpet beetle is included at the same price. The carpet moth treatment cost guide explains what is included, and all our prices are on the pest control price list. Every treatment is guaranteed: if the problem comes back within 14 days of treatment, we return and re-treat free of charge.

For what to do yourself before the visit, see how to get rid of carpet moths.