to beg for help with 'pantry moths'

[Happy36]

In my small flat there is an increasing number of pantry moths (small brown moths...not the type that eat clothes). I started noticing a couple 3 weeks ago but my friend said they come inside at night for warmth (warmer in flat than outdoors where we live) which sounded reasonable.

However over the past 4 days they've multiplied and I must have woken up to 12 moths on the ceiling in the kitchen/diner, hall, and bathroom this morning. Have never seen a caterpillar (or egg but I appreciate they are very small).

3 days ago I cleaned out all of the kitchen cupboards, with bleach and then vinegar. Couldn't find any moths, caterpillars, or eggs, or unsealed food. Washed all of the food packaging. To be on the safe side, threw away flour and some herbs in airtight Tupperware boxes (both looked fine).

Cleaned whole kitchen including down the back of and underneath appliances. Again, couldn't find any evidence of where / how the moths could be breeding.

Have also put lavender oil reed diffusers all over the house as apparently moths hate lavender...this doesn't seem to be true.

What can I do to reclaim my home from these gross insects? I'm desperate!

I found some Indian meal moth traps effective when we had a problem a few years ago. I can't remember if they were from ebay or amazon but a couple on top of the cupboard solved the problem and I haven't seen any more for ages now.
Hope they work for you , I remember how paranoid they made me at the time.

Thanks ! The sticky ones ?

They can be a plague.
Buy pantry moth traps. The sticky centre attracts the females (queen?) and the rest stick to the sticky trap.
They get in everything- they go through plastic packages.
I had to throw lots of food away- gravy granules, pasta, biscuits - almost anything powdery but not flour.
I have now decanted stuff into plastic sealed tubs (tupperware type containers).
renew the traps every few months.
Spread bay leaves around your food storage cupboard.
And double check anything foodstuffs from a non-commercial company. Our originated from locally packed foods from a small local shop.

Yes. They were made of card with peel off sticky backing and folded into a triangular tube. They attract them and they get stuck. Grim but satisfying when you check them.!

I’ve had pantry moths in my baking/flour cupboard. I found eggs between my paper bun cases, in the hinges of the sistema containers and in the groove of the head of the screws that were holding the cupboards together!

This was all in a second sweep as the first time I just threw all the dry food away and gave everything a wipe but that didn’t solve the problem.

I feel for you. We had an infestation that took about 3 years to fully get rid of. The traps help a lot but don’t always solve the issue. I just had to keep regularly cleaning my cupboards and keep a lot of stuff in Tupperware. They’d die down in winter but come back in summer. Finally one year they didn’t. But I’m still very vigilant.

I also once had to throw away all the dry contents of my cupboards. the larvae had got in to a sealed tupperware container of muesli - it was visibly moving...!

We found larvae/cocoons in the cracks around the doors & windows, under the kitchen appliance and above all the cupboard. Even on the light fitting. We have to do a massive deep clean and scrape every crack and crevice with a sharp edge as they were so small, many couldn't be seen until very close up.

We didn't replace much of the food until we were sure they were gone. Kept cereal and bread in the fridge for ages as I was so revolted by the thought we have eaten some in the muesli before we noticed.

Thanks. Going to try and buy some traps today.

“We found larvae/cocoons in the cracks around the doors & windows, under the kitchen appliance and above all the cupboard. Even on the light fitting. We have to do a massive deep clean and scrape every crack and crevice with a sharp edge as they were so small, many couldn't be seen until very close up.”

Jesus! 😮😮 Wr have had them and they come back every now and again and I just clean out the pantry. It’s an old house with lots of nooks and crannies so I’m wondering if I’m going to have to take similarly drastic action.

Someone told me to put bay leaves into every container. Flour etc. It feels like pissing in the wind but I still do it.

Indorex from the vet or from Amazon.
It's designed for flea infestations but it wiped out the moths in our utility room in one go (and we had been fighting a losing battle for 5 years).

Have fogged the apartment with Indorex. Was so thorough that I set off the smoke alarm. The packaging says it's good for pantry moths.

Just worried I'll now have to air the place for a week and sleep in the park!

Thanks everyone for your help.

I read the title as "panty moths" . Time for new specs.