How to Rid Your Home of Clothing Moths

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

Rate: (15 Ratings)

The wormlike larvae of clothing moths feed on fabrics, clothing, carpets, rugs, furs, blankets, wool products, upholstery, piano felts and brushes - any materials of animal origin.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Mothballs
Tissue Paper
Cedar Chests
Organic Moth Repellent
Vacuums
Window Screens
Airtight Containers

Step1

Keep your house clean. Vacuum under furniture, along baseboards, in corners, in closets and around heater vents and draperies. Get rid of full vacuum cleaner bags promptly, as they may contain eggs, larvae or adult insects.

Step2

Remove empty bird, rodent and insect nests from your home's perimeter, as they can also harbor moths.

Step3

Store out-of-season clothes properly. Dry-clean or wash them in hot water (above 120 degrees F for 20 to 30 minutes) before storing. Brush out any pockets, along the seams and under collars. Store clothes in airtight containers.

Step4

Place mothballs, flakes or crystals in airtight containers, and include a layer of paper to keep clothing from coming in contact with the insecticides. (These products contain naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene, which can fuse plastic, including plastic buttons, into fabric.) Vapors from the insecticides will build up in the container and slowly kill the moths.

Tips & Warnings

Clothing moths are not attracted to light.
Clothing moths flutter close by the area of infestation.
The chemicals in mothballs can cause skin, throat and eye irritation, and are toxic if swallowed or inhaled. Follow directions for use on the package.

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Comments

debdeb47 said

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on 5/30/2008 Can I get rid of clothing moths by putting my clothing in the freezer?

debdeb47 said

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on 5/30/2008 Did I hear that putting your stuff in a freezer will kill clothing moths?

Anonymous said

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on 8/8/2006 1.\tGather all non essential cottons, including dish rags, rags, bed sheets, couch blanket, bed sheets, t-shirts, winter hats and scarves, duvets, wool slippers, EVERYTHING!!!
2.\tWash them and put them in the drier- DO NOT HANG DRY. As soon as they are dry, fold them and put them in sealed garbage bags.
3.\tThose things which you cannot wash due to cost or fabric sensitivity freeze for 6 hours. Use an ice cube tray as a sort of time indicator. Air out these items brielfly to remove any condensation.
4.\tRotate a skeleton inventory of bed sheets and clothing every week.
5.\tRefreeze your Duvets and suspect infestation clothing every week until the moth sightings are done.
6.\tUse bug spray in hard to reach suspicious infest

The idea is to destroy the moth habitat faster than it can repair itself. Hopefully if you can find all infestation spots you can eliminate your problem.

Note: Cedar chips and cedar oil was mostly useless. And I used this stuff everywhere!!!

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 1. Gather all non essential cottons, including dish rags, rags, bed sheets, couch blanket, bed sheets, t-shirts, winter hats and scarves, duvets, wool slippers, EVERYTHING!!!
2. Wash them and put them in the drier- DO NOT HANG DRY. As soon as they are dry, fold them and put them in sealed garbage bags.
3. Those things which you cannot wash due to cost or fabric sensitivity freeze for 6 hours. Use an ice cube tray as a sort of time indicator. Air out these items brielfly to remove any condensation.
4. Rotate a skeleton inventory of bed sheets and clothing every week.
5. Refreeze your Duvets and suspect infestation clothing every week until the moth sightings are done.
6. Use bug spray in hard to reach suspicious infest

The idea is to destroy the moth habitat faster than it can repair itself. Hopefully if you can find all infestation spots you can eliminate your problem.

Note: Cedar chips and cedar oil was mostly useless. And I used this stuff everywhere!!!

Anonymous said

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on 11/22/2005 Three years I battled - finally hung clothes loosely on racks, opened drawers a bit, opened the tops of storage boxes and used indoor insect foggers (active ingredients Pyrethrins 0.050%, Permethrin 0.400%). We have been completely moth-free for 5 years.

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