My spare room and all my clothes are infested and they made the home in the box spring I mean 100 of moths. Landlord will only pay for one bombing of room. I had to pack everything up tonight and it has to be all washed or dry cleaned.
We are moving in with my mom we are clean ppl gotgeous apartment granite heated floors u name it but I'm terrified the will come back.
What are some suggestions??
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Weird. I don't think they have a very long life span. I hope that thought helps!! I wonder how in the world that happened? Any clues?
Posted by jlcd1 (Member # 18138) on :
ewww that sucks. The bombs aren't that much or that hard to set off, it's the cleaning you have to do afterward that sucks. And having to unplug everything and close off food pantries. So sorry
Posted by OtterJ (Member # 30701) on :
look up herbal remedies. I always had lavender outside brought in and made into sachets. My cousin said that they ignored her attempts to herbally treat, so I'm not sure. Ive had the problem in the past. Put your favorite wool coat in a moth proof garment bag and anything else with wool you want to keep. Supposedly they only eat garments that have stains on the fabric. I've had problems with food moths that look like those clothing moths, too. I have not bought a brand of vanilla wafer cookie due to it constantly getting "buggy". It rhymes with UNESCO.
Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
We used to hang fresh wormwood in the closets to keep moths out.
No, they eat almost any fiber, not just stained fabric.
We had moths eating a wool rug...anything on top of the rug, they'd crawl underneath and lay eggs...the hatchlings would eat the rug as food until they were mature enough to fly away...
I've also heard cedarwood smell repels moths. I have a chunk of cedar I keep in my sweater drawer, and I try to sand it once in a while to keep the cedar smell fresh.
I've also read Patchouli repels moths, but haven't tried it myself.
Posted by Dogsandcats (Member # 28544) on :
"Use food-grade diatomaceous earth. This stuff is a great non-toxic, kid-and-pet friendly alternative to insecticides. Because it's food grade, it can safely be used around clothes and food. Sprinkle an extra-fine layer of this stuff around infested areas and inside cracks and crevices. To you it will feel like talcum powder, but to moths and larvae, it is jagged glass. They move over it, start leaking, despair, and die."
"Use natural moth repellents, not mothballs. Traditional mothballs, which either contain naphthalene or PDB (paradichlorobenzene), are toxic to both moth and man alike. Instead of impregnating your clothes with these nasty chemicals, try a natural repellent or fumigant. Cedar chips, blocks, and cedar oil sachets (fumigants) are great for long-term storage of sensitive fabrics. My natural repellent (also fumigant) of choice is camphor, which comes in flake, ball, or cake form. For pantry moths, try placing cloves, eucalyptus, bay leaves, or dried lemon peels near pantry foods."
This article talks about chemicals but also had a few non chemical ideas too.
Another article warned about cedar that it can drip oil, to make sure you protect clothes.
Sorry you have to deal with this.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
The DE should really help! Be careful not to breathe it in.
I guess I've never had a moth problem because I have very little in here that is wool. (?)
Posted by sillia (Member # 23994) on :
I second the cedar--the blocks are good as somebody said above, you can sand them to keep their scent fresh. I have these inside the bags where I store winter clothes.
You can also buy cedar shavings which you can use to make sachets (little cheesecloth bags). Once in a while you can crush these a bit to release more of the scent.
Finally, you can buy cedar oil spray--I use this on my skin as an insect repellent and it's pretty effective. You can spray this on areas where they might be living, though of course you wouldn't spray clothing with the oil.
In fact, they claim this cedar oil spray can repel ticks, so I use it on my skin when I go outdoors. See CedarCide, http://www.cedarcide.com/. They make these little metal spray bottles that you can refill. I have these sitting right by the front door!
I can't say for sure if the cedar oil is repelling ticks (my garden clothing is treated with permethrin), however it definitely prevents chigger bites so that makes it worth it for me!
Posted by ukcarry (Member # 18147) on :
I have bought chunks of cedarwood, some on a hanger to distribute easily amongst hanging clothes. The instructions advise you to shave the surface every so often to keep the fresh smell going.
Posted by Catgirl (Member # 31149) on :
I feel for you. I got some flowering twigs and had them in two rooms in our house for 2 days. Ever since, I get moths in those two rooms. The eggs are invisible to me. They also come in the front door at night though (from the light). I guess the eggs can come on the twigs in a bouquet of flowers too (spring).
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
That's scary about the twigs on flowers!! We have moths that fly in when we open the front door at night. None have ever stayed, but now I will work harder at killing them just in case.