Once more the MN Cleanliness Olympics amazes me. I'm a slut. But a moth-free slut.
I've asked DH. People may be tempted to sneer: 'why are you asking the menz?'
Normally I wouldn't, except that DH is a clothing retailer. Moths are the only things on earth that truly terrify him. What he couldn't tell you about them and those carpet beetles that unlucky83 mentioned isn't worth knowing.
He can also identify a male from a female moth by their flight patterns. Males flutter while females fly strongly. Or is the other way around? Apparently this is really important and he will leap up clapping wildly if he spots a flutterer. I really should pay more attention but flutterers are bad news.
So he says having your washing machine going 24 hours a day and practicing dirty/clean clothes apartheid might make you happy, but it won't help with moths.
Your biggest enemy is dust. Dust - skin particles - is what causes the majority of infestations. He's a demon hooverer, with all the attachments in all the corners and a wiper-downer with a wet cloth. Couple of times of week in the bedroom. Every day in his shop.
Most people don't do that and I understand that, I don't do it either. But it's his livelihood so he does. He also twitches at my habit of stuffing tissues in my pockets and under the pillow. I have a runny nose. He understands that. However, moths and other pests love cellulose.
So using your hoover, moving your clothes regularly and storing them in plastic bags with moth proofers will.
Zensect is good. They are orange balls that turn white as they lose their potency. But DH recently told me with horror that they might be discontinuing them because of some footling cancer risk.
We have lots of cashmere and fur.
Consequently we have a huge stockpile of Zensect which only turn when you open the packets. We're like an episode of National Geographic's Doomsday Preppers: Clothes Moth Armageddon.
People also leave stuff hanging or folded, tightly packed together, for ages. Wear stuff regularly or agitate it if not. Obviously, if you're washing things all the time, that solves that problem.
We put unwashed outer garments back in the wardrobe. And knitwear that's had a light wear gets aired and put back in drawers in plastic bags. Especially the big heavy cashmere stuff.
He'll wash cashmere on the hand setting in the machine and it works - before then I always thought machines were death to knitwear. No, it's not.
Finally, dry-cleaning is bad. Don't do it if you want your clothes to last.
Sorry, that's long.