Urgent - Clothes MOTHS: Help!!!

[OldLace]

Aaargh.

I have lots of clothes hanging 3 deep on outside of wardrobe (lack of space) in unheated but used nightly bedroom over winter. Bad idea!

Now have chance to pack them away in plastic tubs and just discovered live adult clothes moths amongst them - ugh!

I bought a hanging clothes moth trap and lavender sachets (just arrived this am)

Do I hang the clothes out in the sun? (will that just hatch eggs? ugh)
Do I pack them in with the lavender etc?
Do i not mix them with other clothes in storage until sorted?

I cannot afford to replace them (work suits etc) & feel upset with self

Anyone else tackled this (I'm not normally 'dirty' btw :(

No don’t mix them with other clothes until sorted out. But thee most important thing is to wash, dry and iron them first or dryclean them if they can’t be washed. Then store them. I have always used cedar wood blocks which seem to have been quite successful as a deterrent.

It’s not dirty, it’s bad luck. I’d start by hanging everything outside in the sun. Work out what you can hot wash.
They can’t eat artificial thread,so anything like that get washed & put away.
Strip the room and vacuum. Has it got carpet?

Out your clothes in plastic bag and freeze for at least four days. It will kill them and their eggs.

Freeze clothing to kill eggs - it's the hatching larvae that eat things not adults

A quick and dirty solution (in addition to pp's advice above) Use household flea killer spray for soft furnishings. I lost quite a few of my beloved kilims /cushion covers but read this tip online
Ventilate as much as possible. Spray generously and vacuum regularly especially if you have any floor mats that you tread on after being outdoors.

Thank you everyone!

Cant get to a dry cleaner / afford to clean (about 20 suits and 10 coats)

Cant put them in my old unreliable washing machine either

for other fabrics - as hot a wash as possible?

What i can do today is get every thing hanging outside in sun

if I freeze stuff - do suits have to be laid flat or the arms will break off etc? or do i roll them up in a plastic bag? 4 days then defrost and air in sunshine?

I rolled things up into plastic bags & it was fine. I have been told that domestic freezers don’t get things cold enough but it seemed to help? Plus spray round all the bottoms of skirtings, check under carpet edges & spray.

Iron things with as hot an iron as the fabric will take to kill the eggs. Bad luck - it loads of things are ruined maybe try claiming on household insurance?

I saw 3 more adults today, so it is defo what is in the room :(
Everything out and aired outside in sun, plus moth traps set.
Am going to start freezing things as soon as I can, but might not be for 2 weeks. Wonder what the life cycle / 'season' is (goes to Google)
I bought a few things from a charity shop so maybe that's where they came from, or maybe bad luck (plus I rent on the edge of a sheep farm, so loads of flying things about)

The adults won't harm clothes only the larvae. Freezing is the only sure-fire way to kill larvae/eggs without damaging affected fabrics (which will be wool or silk)

Agree freeze in plastic bags and then keep stored in sealed bags too.

How did you get on with tackling this?