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,

Moths are a popular pest for wool area carpets

Today I was messing round with the settings of my blog and found something very interesting. When you are on the dashboard of your Blogger blog under the title of your blog is the list of settings, design, and stats, click on stats. Here you will find a wealth of information such as:

• How many people looked at your blog today, weekly and monthly
• What blog posts has the most visits
• How people found your blog
• Where your readers are located

I clicked on the "more" tab beside the traffic sources and found out what keywords and phrases people are using when they find my blog. I also found out that people from all over the world are reading my blog not just in the US and Canada, but also in Russia, India and Spain. That is pretty cool for my little rug cleaning blog to be read that far away.

The most reoccurring search terms used are larvae in rugs, carpet moth images, larvae found in carpet or more specifically MOTHS.

I have written many times about moths and for good reason. Next to pet accidents, moths are the most common problem for wool area carpets. A lot of the rugs we get in for moth treatment, the owners didn't know their rug had moths.

Whenever we receive a call from a client who is inquiring about rug cleaning and they mention that their rug is in storage or just sitting in the basement the chances of their rug having moths is high. Any wool rug that has not been cleaned before storing is prime for moth larvae to eat and cause damage.

When a rug is brought to Luv-A-Rug for cleaning we would prefer that you not vacuum the rug before hand. If you vacuum your rug we may miss seeing the evidence of moth larvae activity, and the eggs may still be in your rug. Getting rid of the eggs is very hard because they are attached to the bottom of the wool fibers and vibrating the rug may not loosen them, then your rug is returned home and the eggs hatch and the larva start eating your rug.

Here is more about the life cycle of a clothes moth, prevention and elimination.

Always vacuum your entire rug and get your rugs professionally cleaned at least once a year.

Thanks for reading, RugloverMary, your moth larva specialist.