Moth treatment in London

Four species account for nearly all London moth jobs:

• Webbing clothes moth: 6 to 7 mm, pale golden; larvae spin silk over wool, silk, fur and feathers and feed for a month to two years
• Case-bearing clothes moth: grizzled brown with dark spots; the larva drags a portable case across carpets and woollens
• Pantry moth: 8 to 10 mm with copper-brown wing tips; larvae web flour, cereal, rice, dried fruit and pet food
• Brown house moth: larger, buff with dark flecks; eats stored food, fabric and leather in humid spots

Residual insecticide at the larval harbourage is the core method. Whole-room heat at 55°C kills every stage but is priced per room; washing at 49°C or hotter and freezing at minus 18°C for two weeks handle single items; ULV fogging, which is what moth fumigation means in practice, reaches adults but not larvae deep in carpet pile. We use residual treatment with textile preparation, and heat for a badly infested wardrobe, because adults do not feed and killing them alone changes nothing.

Rooms drive the price, because every carpeted room and wardrobe in the affected part of the home is treated. Severity sets the visits: an established clothes moth infestation needs two to four across one to four months, a single pantry moth outbreak often one. Heat is priced per room.

For comparison, Kensington and Chelsea charged £354.40 on its 9 July 2026 price list for four clothes moth visits over about four months covering one or two rooms, plus £89 for two more. Lewisham charges £150 for a single moth visit from 1 April 2026, and Hammersmith and Fulham £156 for one visit and three rooms. Westminster, Richmond, Merton and Kingston offer private residents no service.

We start with a free inspection survey, give a fixed written quote and charge no call-out fee.

Before we arrive:

• Empty affected wardrobes, drawers and cupboards; larvae sit in the undisturbed layers at the back
• Wash what can take it at 49°C or hotter for 20 to 30 minutes
• Bag items that cannot be washed and freeze them at minus 18°C for at least two weeks; a short freeze leaves the eggs alive
• Vacuum carpet edges, under furniture and wardrobe floors, binning the contents outside
• For pantry moths, bin every opened packet with webbing and wipe the shelves

After the visit:

• Keep people and pets out until the treatment is dry, the time we confirm from the label
• Do not vacuum or shampoo treated carpet edges for the period we state from the label
• Expect a few adults for several weeks as eggs already laid hatch; the follow-ups are timed for them
• If larvae reappear after the final visit call 020 3411 2329: we return under the written six-month guarantee, subject to the site survey

Clothes moths damage property rather than health, so in a rented home the question is who pays for the carpet. Shelter's guidance, updated 1 May 2026, puts the landlord on the hook for pests present at move-in or let in by a repair they owe, and the tenant only where their own conduct encouraged them; the check-in inventory decides which.

Under the Housing Act 2004 pests are scored through the Housing Health and Safety Rating System, filed under domestic hygiene since June 2026. Awaab's Law already makes social landlords fix damp and mould to a deadline, is due to reach the remaining hazards, including pests, in 2027, and a GOV.UK consultation open until 18 December 2026 proposes extending it to private tenancies. Food businesses must have adequate procedures to control pests and environmental health officers can serve notices on those without them, so pantry moths in a shop store room fall under our commercial contracts.

English Heritage's Operation Clothes Moth found that warmer southern counties, including London and the South East, had the highest risk, with more moths in flats and in pre-1950 homes, which is our patch. The heaviest clothes moth and carpet moth work is in Victorian and Edwardian conversions with fitted wool carpet and central heating that removes the winter pause: the mansion flats of Kensington, Chelsea and Marylebone, the terraces of Fulham, Battersea and Clapham, and the period houses of Chiswick, Acton and Richmond. Pantry moths follow dry goods, so those calls come from the delis and grocers of Soho and Hammersmith and from family kitchens in Willesden and Cricklewood. Infestations travel between flats through shared floor voids, so in a converted house we ask who else is affected.