I’ve been using meal moth traps in my kitchen and they’re catching moths but I can’t find the source. What are they feeding on? I’ve had this problem for 3 years now. I hired different pest control companies and still nothing works. We’ve emptied everything, even stopped keeping any processed food but every spring or summer they come back. Can you help?
You probably don’t have a problem.
So first, YOU DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM.
All Moth traps use powerful pheromones and many traps incorporate different moth species. And once these pheromones are released in your home, their smell will release outside and start attracting moths from miles away. And this can happen with many species including Meal Moths, Clothing Moths, Gypsy Moths and more.
The following “short video” gives a quick summary of why using meal moth traps in your home is a bad idea and how it can create an “illusion” that you have a real problem. In virtually all cases where you “see moths from spring to the fall but not in the winter” are descriptions of homes that are reporting a “false positive”.
In other words, THESE HOMES DO NOT HAVE A PROBLEM! In fact the active moths being trapped are coming in from outside following the scent of the traps. The proof of this is that when it gets cold, no more moths are caught.
SO WHAT IS MOST LIKELY HAPPENING?
Well once you set out these traps – which by the way were never created for use in residential homes – your home will be releasing moth pheromones. Once it start funneling out of your homes air vents and over flow lines, mothes outside will smell them. Once the males smell that female scent, they’ll come in search of a mate.
And when they find your home, they’ll track the scent to air exhaust pipes, attic vents, doors and even windows to get inside. It just takes a little crack or gap and they’ll find their way to living spaces.
And one of the most common entry points? The FLUE OF YOUR CHIMNEY!
The bad news is that once the traps have been in the home for a few months, the pheromones will relocate onto the surrounding walls and floors enabling the smell to linger for many months and sometimes more than a year.
And the same goes for all the exit points like the heating/air vents, attic vents and behind gutters, where the fascia board is over lapped by shingles that direct water to your gutters. This is one of the most common points of entry – especially if you have a gap between the fascia board and the shingles above it.
WANT TO TEST TO CONFIRM THIS IS HAPPENING?
Testing is easy. Remove all your traps and place them outside on a deck or patio. Let them sit out for 2-3 nights when it doesn’t rain. If you find new moths within a few days, that’s a sure sign you have moths active in the neighborhood. And that means they’re entering your home.
SO NOW WHAT DO YOU DO?
GET RID OF ALL THE TRAPS!
Gather them up and place them in a sealed hefty bag and discard them all with the next trash pickup.
And don’t ever use them again!
NEXT TREAT WITH T.O.N.
T.O.N. will essentially deconstruct scent/odor molecules so they cannot take to the air. This means there will be no more moth pheromones being broadcast out to the world anymore. And that means no more moths will be drawn to your home!
Total Odor Neutralizer can be sprayed or wiped on any surface including shelves, countertops and walls. It’s non-toxic so poses no hazard to people or pets; it only works on smells by breaking down the odor molecules so they won’t get “in the air”.
The following “short video” (less than 60 seconds long) summarizes how it works and how to use to “descent” your home.
Add 2-4 oz per gallon of water and plan on getting about 500-750 sq/ft of coverage per mixed gallon.
You can use any standard PUMP SPRAYER to apply the T.O.N. but the best way to use it is with our MINI MISTER.
The following short video (less than 60 seconds) shows how it works.
As you can see in the video, the Mister creates a light aerosol mist you can easily apply to walls, shelves – even ceilings without making a mess. Use it to lightly mist where traps have been installed along with the baseboards and walls is those same rooms.
BE SURE TO TREAT THE OUTSIDE OF YOUR HOME AROUND GUTTERS, SOFFIT VENTS, ATTIC VENTS AND ANY OTHER AIR OR WATER PIPE VENT YOU CAN REACH!
This can be done using the pump sprayer above or if you need to spray up high, get our NO PUMP ULTRA LIGHT. It can reach up over 30 feet making it well suited for treating gutters.
Side note: We receive inquires on this at least once a week from someone who has spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars trying to “fix” a problem that’s not even a “problem”!!
What’s frustrating is that we have no idea how to stop it and we have no idea how or why it’s even happening.
What we do know is that there are countless companies selling pheromone traps to homeowners who keep buying them all the while thinking they have an infestation. Amazon is probably the biggest supplier and yes, the reviews state the truth: they do catch moths! But this does not mean you have an active infestation inside your home!
SO WHY DO THESE COMPANIES KEEP SELLING MOTH TRAPS?
The companies selling the traps either don’t realize what’s really happening OR they do know and don’t feel like educating the public because it would be self defeating. We don’t really know the answer to this but we do know these traps should be taken off the market. We are not able to find one case where using them was helpful. Think about it. If you were not using them and you found moths or something infested, you’d remove the item and see if any new activity develops. But traps are not needed to perform these simple tasks.
In summary, if you’re reading this and have been a victim of the “false positive trap results”, try testing to see if you can catch moths outside. If you can AND your problem goes away when it gets cold? Then it would be safe to say you do not have a problem. At that time it would be smart to remove your traps, treat with T.O.N. to make sure no new moths can find your home and then go back to having a more normal life!
CH says
We discovered pantry moths in our home around the 4th of July, assuming from a bag of dog food. We discarded all our food, vacuumed every nook and crevice and scrubbed with soap, water, and vinegar, and how everything is stored in airtight containers after sitting for a week in the freezer. We’ve had a pest control company come out and spray 3 times. We’ll go days without seeing any and then suddenly we’d have multiple show up in the traps! I have a husband and young kids who are not very diligent about closing the doors behind them so Im sure these little suckers have plenty of time to get Lazer beamed inside. I put 1 trap outside and it was covered in moths within just a couple days. Its currently September which is their prime swarming season so im going to toss the traps and see what happens! Im glad i found this page because I was thinking these companies are feeding off our paranoia from dealing with this issue in the first place!
Tech Support says
Keep us posted! Remember, the T.O.N. will help end the issue for good since trap pheromone is strong so keep that in mind. But for sure, there is no need to spending $ on unnecessary treatments.
G.H. says
Hello!
I just wanted to share an update on my progress since using your products, especially the neutralizing odor solution. I’ve used it all winter, and now that Spring is here and I haven’t seen any pantry moths for the first time. The only one I spotted was right after I had my window open and it flew in.
Dealing with these pests has been a stressful and exhausting. Your company is the only one that has helped me. I can’t thank you enough. On top of that, the neutralizing liquid keeps my home smelling really fresh. I’m officially a lifelong customer. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done to help me through this.
Gina