You want to preserve the life of your beautiful Oriental Rug. It has many enemies and one of the most devastating is damage from moths. Learn how to recognize and treat moth infestations in Oriental Rugs.

For rug moth protection, we recommend moth-proofing your wool Oriental and Persian Rugs.

What should I look for?

• Missing wool, especially on the back of the carpet or under furniture.
• Black sand-like grit on the floor. Rice sized larval casings in the wool and where the wool has disappeared.
• Some casings may have small white larvae in them.
• The larvae eat the wool, leaving holes like the holes in your wool clothes.
• Don’t expect to see the moths.

What should I do?

• First remove the infected rug from your residence.
• Check any other rugs and woolens for infestation.
• Be sure to check under furniture and the backside of carpets. Wool moths like quiet, dark, undisturbed places.
• After the rug is out of the house , contact us for professional rug hand-washing. Most rug cleaners only shampoo rugs. Beating and washing in water does the best job of removing the embedded larvae and eggs. However, no washing can totally guarantee that it will get out all the eggs.
• Insecticides don’t work either. They may kill moths and larvae, but they won’t kill the eggs. We don’t recommend mothproofing a carpet. (chemicals not safe for kids and pets)
• If you can’t find someone who actually still washes carpets, we do. Customers ship us rugs for washing from all over the US.

How do I deter or prevent moths?

• As moths like quiet, dark places, the best deterrent is regular vacuuming (a little dirt adds to their enjoyment).
• You need to disturb their environment.
• Do the face of the carpet monthly and the back at least once a year.
• Remember to get the entire carpet, especially those hard to get places under the couch, under the bed, chests of drawers, and that pedestal-based, dining room table.
• If you have someone cleaning your home, be sure to check that they are doing a thorough job. The worst infestation I ever saw was in a house being cleaned by a “professional.”