Moth season=bad day for wool rugs

Moths are having a grand time on people's rugs this year. We have a few rugs in lately that got moth damage in the last few months. This is my third blog about Moth's. I will remind every rug owner to vacuum the entire rug. The part of the rug that is under furniture is prime real estate for moth larvae to feed on. A yearly professional cleaning and a monthly vacuum is the best defense against wool's number one enemy.
Plus check underneath the rug at least six inches. This picture shows moth damage on the back of the rug. The moth larvae can feed there undetected until one day you vacuum the rug and a bunch of the fibers are sucked up. The damage on this rug was caught in time that no repairs had to be done and there was no visible damage to the top of the rug. This shows how slight the damage can be and also how sneaky the moths can be. They do not care where their food source is, just that they have one so they can survive. Another reason the spring and autumn cleaning are so important. Out of sight does not equal peace of mind. Yes it is a pain and a hassle, but it can save your furniture and precious area rugs.







When this rug came in to the shop I was sad and excited. Sad because this rug could not be saved the damage was too severe. The rug was rolled up in a basement for awhile unprotected and the moth's had a new home. I was excited because this rug didn't just have moth larvae casings it has live larvae. Some were newly hatched because they were still clear and the older ones were the colour of the wool they had been eating. By the time I took pictures the larvae had disappeared into the fibers, they are shy and don't like their pictures taken.:) All the blue sand like particles is the larva's excrement and the flat rice looking pieces are the empty moth larvae casings (where they hatched from). This is only a few inches of the rug, the moth larva were all over it in different clumps of sections. Sometimes if the damage is only in one area we can repair it by trimming it off, yes some of the rug is lost but it would of still been usable. This is done after we do our moth treatment and do a thorough cleaning. Click to read more about moths and their life cycle and how to prevent them and what to do if you find that you have an infestation.
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary