Save your wool rugs get your air ducts cleaned

Now you maybe wondering how getting your air/furnace ducts cleaned will save your wool rugs. It is simple MOTHS!

All spring and summer when you haven't been using the heat, organic dust, hair and allergens have been collecting in the ducts. When you turn on the heat in the fall all of that dust and allergens gets blown in to your rooms along with any moth eggs and larva that may be feeding on the dust.

Clothes Moth Larva eating a wool rug

Not only is breathing in all that dust not healthy, but the moths need to find a new source of food. It will be your wool area rugs. Moths like dark, undisturbed, dirty areas of rugs. When you have furniture on your rugs or have your rug near air/heat vents this makes for a great place for them to eat your rug without you knowing it until it is too late.

In Victoria the clothes moth runs rampant damaging wool area rugs all year round. In the month of July 2011 alone Luv-a-rug received over 20 rugs that had moth damage. That is too many rugs, in my opinion, to have been victims of the clothes moth.

It isn't because of poor cleaning habits by the owners, it is caused by the female moth being sneaky and laying her eggs on the back of the rugs, but mostly because the rugs were not cleaned before they were stored and improper storage.

When I talk about storing a rug I don't mean in a storage locker or garage. When I say storing a rug I mean not using a rug for weeks to years and just having it rolled up or folded and put out of the way. No matter what the reason for you not using your rug, puppy training, renos, moving, too big for your home, you need to get the rug cleaned and wrapped properly so that moths and other pests don't make your rug their home.

Summertime is the best time to get your air/furnace ducts cleaned because it isn't busy right now. Once the colder weather hits everyone will be getting their homes ready for winter. There is nothing wrong with getting things done early.

Luv-A-Rug recommends Sunny Carpet and Air Duct cleaning. In Victoria call 250-384-7951, in Nanaimo 250-755-1128, in Duncan 250-746-1888, in Parksville/Qualicum 250-954-3491.

Here's to clean, moth damage free rugs, RugloverMary,

I am Back with more Moth Prevention

You may have noticed that there hasn't been any blog posts from me in awhile. I was deep under the weather for the last two weeks of January. That is not too bad because last year I was sick the whole month of January. I think I am prone to getting ill in January because of the stress I put myself through in December. It is amazing the effects stress has on the human body. Some day I will learn how to relax.

I turn a year older at the end of this week, not really looking froward to that, but there is nothing I can do about that. I look younger than I really am, so that is one good thing about my birthday... I can fib about my age. At least for a few more years. :)

Since the weather has been a lot milder and not as much rain as usual there hasn't been the rush of flooded area rugs this year. It is, however, the year to get the big area rugs cleaned.

Since most large area rugs (8x10 and larger) aren't always cleaned every year or two they tend to become prime targets for moths.

To make your large area rug less attractive to moths vacuum the entire every few months. Every day your rug is collecting dust, dander, debris from the air. If you have some of the rug covered by furniture and cannot easily vacuum this area that is where the moths will go.

Moths love dark, dry, warm, undisturbed areas. To make your rug less desirable it is best to:
-Vacuuming often
-Clean up spills when they happen
-Regular professional cleaning
-Examine the edges front and back

Moths are sneaky, they can crawl 2-6 inches under the edges of your area rugs. This is what moth damage looks like on the back of an area rug. As you can see it is subtle and can easily be overlooked.

When moths are eating the rug from underneath you will not notice until you vacuum and see missing fibers.

To help prevent moths from hiding under the rug:
-Vacuum around baseboards and under the edges of the rug.
-Rotate your area rug a few time year.

If you do find that your area rug has been eaten by moths not all is lost. Luv-A-Rug can help. Our non-toxic moth treatment kills any remaining eggs and doesn't harm your rug in any way.

Prevention is always the best policy and the vacuum is your best defense. Keeping your area rug clean is the best way to ward off moths.

Here is more information on Moths and moth prevention.

Thanks for reading, RugloverMary

Talk to Impress

Today I would like to write about how powerful sharing knowledge is.
It is no secret to everyone who knows me that when I am passionate about something I will talk about it to Everyone. That is why you don't bring up hockey around me, especially after the Canucks played badly.
I just had a lovely couple drop off their 20+ year old Indu-Persian rug and we got talking about their other rug that is in our care. Their other rug is a Turkish Kilim that was loaned out to a family member and became breakfast, lunch and dinner for clothes moths.
I have been researching clothes moths since October 2007, so I now know a lot about them. I am still working on the article.
I mentioned to the couple about my clothes moth knowledge and they started asking questions. I shared my knowledge on clothes moths and gave them some tips on how to avoid getting them.
Since I am more than happy to share my knowledge, I will give you a snippet of my article today.

"A clothes moth’s life cycle begins as the female moth finds a warm, dark, and undisturbed food source to lay her eggs in. The eggs are a translucent white and are attached to the wool fiber so that they will survive any movement that may occur.
The female clothes moth may lay up to 50 eggs over a couple of weeks, after which she dies. Whereas the male clothes moth will continue to breed for about a month and then he dies.
The eggs will hatch within two weeks, depending on environment temperature. The larvae are white and maggot like. The larvae are what eat away at your rug. As soon as they hatch they start to feed on your wool area rug. The larvae do not drink liquid and therefore prefer wool that is soiled because it contains the essential vitamins and minerals it needs to survive.
The length of the larvae stage greatly depends on the abundance of food and environment temperature; anywhere from 30 days to 18 months. When it is ready to pupate it makes a hard cocoon and depending, again, on environment temperature pupation may last one to four weeks. The adult clothes moth emerges and the life cycle begins anew." Copyright Luv-A-Rug.

One of the most interesting things I discovered was that pregnant female clothes moths does not fly. The down side to researching clothes moths is that it makes you, for lack of a better adjective, grossed out. I wanted to clean every inch of my apartment and did a pretty good job of it. I do not own anything made of wool so there was no need for me to clean everything, but because I am obsessive by nature-I cleaned. T.M.I., I am sorry.
I know that because I care about the work I do and about area rugs, clients will return to get their rugs cleaned by Luv-A-Rug. Working in the Customer Service industry for 15 years I can tell who likes their job, who does just the basics and who would rather be anywhere but where they are. I did not like my last job the last two years I was there, but when I told my regular customers I was leaving they were surprised. I often heard, "Why are you leaving, you seem so happy." No I wasn't happy at all, but I didn't let the people I waited on every day know that. It wasn't their fault that I didn't have the courage to get another job or that every day I wanted to quit.
With the job I have now there are so many different facets that I can always find something to be passionate about.
Just think how much happier we all would be if we found one thing about our jobs to be passionate about. People who own area rugs usually only know that they like their area rug or it fit their need for an area rug. They appreciate any information about their area rugs, even if all you can tell them is that it is a wool tufted area rug or a synthetic area rug. I like to tell my clients as much as I can about their area rugs, if they want to hear it. It makes me and the company be creditable and therefore successful.
Let's all be passionate, successful, happy people.
Until next time, RugloverMary. ( I need a better sign off line.)