Rentokil PSC50 carpet moth and beetle killer powder

The moths were plentiful with between five to ten visible at any one time, either flying around or on the walls. Some sticky traps were put down and they would pick up a lot of moths but did not help to diminish the population. I bought two bottles of this and used both bottles to cover the edges of the carpet and particularly putting a lot down on the areas where the moths were eating the carpet, where most of them were coming from. The powder has been left on for several weeks and it seems to have worked. I've only seen one moth in the last couple of weeks. Apparently the larvae eat the carpet so the powder is put down so they eat it instead. I'm leaving the powder down for as long as I can, about three to four weeks at this stage because I'm assuming there are eggs which take time to hatch.The carpet is quite old and worn anyway so I don't know if it would effect or stain a nice carpetAn effective and cheap method.

It works!There are four stages of the moths life cycle; Egg, Larvae, Pupae, Moth. Once the eggs hatch the tiny larvae feed rapidly and grow. This is when damage to carpets occurs. Whilst growing they start to cover themselves in a protective casing made from the fibres of whatever they're munching. The cocoon eventually seals completely for the pupae stage before the adult moth emerges. The adult moths don't actually cause the damage to fabrics.I've purchased foggers + spray + powder to treat my home. It doesn't appear to be a major infestation BUT I have found empty cocoons in other rooms in the house and thought it wise to be very thorough. It's all very well treating one room, when they're setting up camp and continuing the breeding cycle in the next one. Each treatment method offers different advantages!Powder: kills eggs, larvae & moths, but has to come in to direct contact with the creature.Spray: kills larvae but only once ingested by the creature and it takes a few days to kill it offFogger: kills moths but NOT larvae (no matter what the claims of some outlets; it's best to read the manufacturers data sheet)So a combination of all three is wise for initial treatment! What you're trying to achieve is eventually breaking the life-cycle of the moth!NO single application of a single product will do this!I originally purchased foggers - thinking they'd kill moth larvae as well as the adult moth - and wrote an extensive review on the success of these, which may be of use to some if they've not encountered these little blighters before. In short, foggers only treat moths (i.e. the adults), but are still worth using since they permeate the air and do a good job of killing them off (moths don't eat fabric so aren't affected by the spray). Spray treated fabric has to be ingested by the larvae in order to work, so it's worth buying a spray and being thorough with spray, however, spray doesn't kill eggs. Powder kills, eggs, larvae and moths but they must come in to contact with the powder and it's not easy to get the powder everywhere; nor easy to spot eggs; nor ideal if you have young children/pets as powder it will leave a residue after vacuuming. Also, larvae are known to climb up to the ceiling before closing the cocoon in preparation for turning in to a moth and it's a bit difficult to get powder up there!So in addition to the foggers, I purchased the Rentokil carpet moth powder which I've left down now for a few days beneath furniture where it looks like there's a couple of carpet threads attacked - be sure animals/kids cannot reach these areas! Hopefully larvae I've missed, will be confronted with the powder which I'll vacuum up in a few days (I've found the powder doesn't stain the carpet, but you'd be wise to patch test first). It has a single jet when dispensing and it's not easy to 'sprinkle'. I've opted to use this powder in areas inaccessible to pets/kids area so I can leave it down for a little while to 'do it's thing' and act as a preventative. The jet dispensing means it's great for squirting under skirting boards etc. I've dispensed some beneath the carpet in the originally infected area.I've also bought a spray "Carpet moth killer" by Rug Remedy, sold on amazon by Pinks Farm. The rug remedy spray drys in a couple of hours and you must keep away from the product while it's drying (keeps pets and kids away too!) The spray doesn't kill eggs or sterilize them. It slowly kills larvae BUT only once they've started to eat treated fabrics. I've used the spray on rugs (both sides), furniture (underneath and back of the sofa etc) as well as all around the edges of the carpet in every room (I used two bottles and again have just bought more!) The spray from pinks farm is supposed to give protection for a while, so I'm hoping all these precautions/treatments along with the re-fog will eradicate the blighters. A couple of pest control websites I've looked at recommended a 50cm band around the edge of the carpet if you're using a spray. I chose Rug Remedies brand but there are other brands available including one from the manufacturer of the foggers.Be aware sealed cocoons are impervious to EVERYTHING except a pair of tweezers! Regular thorough vacuuming is a must, this will gradually help get rid of the pest too.Do: Be prepared to retreat if necessary (and that's highly likely!)Do: Check walls and ceilings when vacuuming (including behind bookcases etc.) as the silk cocoons/pupae can be found fastened in these places also!! Moths will likely lay close to a food source but in reality moths lay eggs ANYWHERE and the eggs are sticky. If eggs are up high the larvae will simply drop to the carpet and feed when it emerges. Remember this!Do: Steam treat the filter after vacuuming if you're using a bagless vacuum; and immediately throw out the bag if you're using a vacuum with bag.Do: Buy pheromone traps in order to catch the male moths (which helps break the life cycle) and also is a good indicator of future infestation. I bought two of the plastic cage 'traps' where I needed them placed on the carpet in the damaged areas (this was so the cats couldn't walk on them as the strips are unbelievably sticky and you don't want it on paws/fur!). I also bought the refills and used a piece of masking tape to stick these to walls around the house. They recommend putting them down at skirting board level, so I did but taped the strips behind furniture so the cats couldn't reach them.Do: close curtains and check in curtain folds for silk cocoons when vacuuming.Do: Know carpet moths are tiny, silvery and fairly hard to spot! They will fly but usually crawl instead.And Good Luck!

We moved into a rented house that had been left empty for 2+ years and had a major moth problem. I tried aerosols and foggers, but the powder is my preferred method because it was the most practical. You go round the edges of the room puffing it onto the carpet, leave it for as long as possible (2 hours minimum, overnight is best) then vacuum it up. Because it's a powder it stays pretty much where you puff it so you can carry on using the rooms while you're waiting for it to work. The biggest drawback is the powder clogs up vacuum cleaner bags and you have to change them frequently, which is an extra expense and faff.It seems to poison the carpet. After you've vacuumed the powder up, the grubs come up to the surface and you have to vacuum them up again (they are small, but frankly this bit is gross - you will never walk around on carpet with bare feet again...). Then for the next few days, no moths or grubs. Then you start to see them around as grubs hatch from the eggs and moths from the cocoons and you have to do the whole thing again.You're supposed to repeat the process at least 3 times at 5 day intervals to catch them at all stages of their life-cycle - the eggs seem to be pretty impervious to whatever you chuck at them, you've got to zap them at either the grub or moth stage. We've done that, and used the foggers and the aerosols, and vacuumed like mad, and we're nearly clear. But the moths are still around (though I haven't seen a grub for some time). I'm going to go round with the powder one more time and then hopefully that will be that.