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Housekeeping

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Where can I buy something illegal and toxic to kill clothes moths?

61 replies

latrucha · 12/12/2011 10:05

As I only have about four tops left without holes.

Bugger bugger bugger.

What do I do?

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EldonAve · 12/12/2011 15:56

get rentokil in

starfishmummy · 12/12/2011 16:03

Buy acrylic tops........

VivaLeBeaver · 12/12/2011 16:09

Have you found the main sourse - there will be a nest type thing of horror film proportions in your house. In our house it was in the cupboard under the stairs - it'll be somewhere dark where you don't go often. Think where you're finding most of the moths - most of ours were downstairs in the hall and dining room.

Empty wardrobes, check under the bed, under the sofa, etc. You'll know when you find it as there will be lots of moth larvae - they look like maggots. Its the maggots rather than the moths that make the holes I think, so maybe start searching your wardrobe thoroughly. I saw loads of moths but never actually had any clothes destroyed, they had eaten a few fabric bags and the carpet underr the stairs.

I got some pheremone traps from Amazon and the moths were attracted to them and got stuck. I ripped the carpet out from under the stairs and got some moth spray also from Amazon. Touch wood but its sorted it.

PersevareDiabolicum · 12/12/2011 16:43

I have put cedar balls in my wardrobes, which I regularly refresh by sanding them down. This seems to keep moths at bay.

Dirty or soiled clothing is also attractive to moths. If you currently put away worn clothes back into your wardrobes, you probably should stop doing this, in order to contain the problem.

Good luck!

latrucha · 12/12/2011 17:26

Ugh. The idea of the nest is eulsive. I have emptied the main wardrobe, am washing all the clothes and freezing those that have been attacked. I have put in some of that Rentokill moth stuff. I have found no evidence of moths except for holes so I guess I haven't found the source.

I'll work on the other cupboards as the washing pile decreases.

Is there any hope?

Most clothes seem untouched so far. Most of which I can't wear post dcs. Only the ones I'm currently wearing have been munched Hmm

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latrucha · 12/12/2011 17:41

repulsive not eulisive

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NewBikeForChristmas · 12/12/2011 17:50

LaTrucha - many sympathies, I got out my winter woolies after they were packed up when I was pg last winter, and I have thrown them all away bar two due to moth holes. The other are now full of darn holes. I put cedar wood blocks in the wardrobe last winter, and they seem to have been totally ineffective. The little blighters havn't touched DH's silk ties mind.

I am allergic to acrylic!

Luminescence · 12/12/2011 17:58

The reason the ones you are currently wearing are munched is that they like the smells and sweat you leave when you've finished wearing them.

latrucha · 12/12/2011 18:09

nice.

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Luminescence · 12/12/2011 18:23

Sorry but its true. Not that you are particularly sweaty or smelly, but if you are going to wear it again after one day you need to keep it somewhere where the moths can't get in

VivaLeBeaver · 12/12/2011 18:24

They breed like rabbits so you need to get on top of it ASAP as the number will be multiplying daily. Have you seen moths?

latrucha · 12/12/2011 19:37

no. none. I've cleaned out the whole cupboard and not seen anything.

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VivaLeBeaver · 12/12/2011 19:47

That's odd, just from my experience I'd have thought you'd have seen moths. I was killing about eight a day for two weeks prior to finding the source.

latrucha · 12/12/2011 19:49

There is another cupboard, and the top of the wardrobe that I haven't looked at yet. I don't think the chewed clothes have been in there though.

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PigletJohn · 12/12/2011 22:59

sorry I said this before, but:

...never mind these ecologically friendly scents. I reckon what you need is a good moth poison to kill them all. Once you have got an infestation you have to really make a lot of effort to get rid of them, then afterwards, you can cut back to a maintenance regime.

The modern mothproofers will kill the moths, the grubs and the eggs, which I think is just the ticket. You can get a hang-up plastic device the size of a matchbox, you put one in each wardrope per half-cubic-metre of space in there (usually - check the instructions). Or one per drawer. If particularly anxious, you can put one in the pocket of each garment and put it in an air-tight dry-cleaners bag or similar. I get mine at Robert Dyas, they have various brands including Bouchard, Zensect, Zero-in and Rentokil, but they all contain the same chemical, Transfluthrin which is especially good for killing moths. The packs release a tiny amount of it over a long period, usually 3 or 6 months, which will wipe out an entire life-cycle. you have to remember to put new ones in at the end of their life. The vapour builds up inside the wardobe provided the doors are shut, but when you are wearing the garment it is lost into the air.

If the moths are in the carpet, then frequent thorough vacuuming, especially under furniture and next to the skirting, will help control them. An upright with a beater is better than a cylinder for that. You can also get an aerosol spray like Insectrol which works out quite expensive.

If you know you have got an infestation, buy a lot of large clear plastic bags (the ones sold for recycling are good). Wash and hot-tumble dry everything you can, and immediately place it in a sealed bag. Things which are not washable, just tumble. The heat of the tumbler will kill eggs as well as grubs. Anything that can't be washed, or tumbled, or dry-cleaned, wrap in a plastic bag and put in the freezer for a few days.

Empty all your wardrobes and drawers, vacuum and wash them inside and out, and spray with a persistent inscticide, either the moth one, or one of the more common ant and crawling insect ones which dry to a film which kills insects that walk on it.

There may be a lot of them living under or behind the wardrobe, so pull out, vacuum and spray there. Spray the carpet round the edges, as they crawl through the gap by the skirting and live undereneath.

Put hanging mothproofers (not just useless scented cedar) in all the drawers and wardobes before you start putting your stuff away again.

Clothes that you are not going to use for some months (e.g. summer/winter/sports) wash and put away in one of those plastic storage boxes with a sealed lid, and put a mothkiller in each box. As it will kill the eggs and grubs they will be safe until you open the box next year. It is very important not to put anything away that has still got live eggs or grubs on it, otherwise when you open the packet, hundreds of well-fed moths will fly out.

Usually, once you have cleared the infestation, it is enough to leave the hanging units in wardrobes and drawers, or even just the pheromone traps. However if anyone in your household is in the habit of bringing mothy things into the house, you had better treat their carpet amd wardobes thoroughly and frequently, and hoover a lot, which will pick up some of the eggs, and perhaps put a Zensect ball in a pocket of any coat that might get close to theirs when hanging up.

latrucha · 13/12/2011 20:15

PigletJohn - I am now using that as my bible. I haven't sprayed the cupboard but I've done everything else. I'm only worried that I can only do One wardrobe at a time and we have two next to each other.

Massive amounts of washing are being done. My cashmere jumper is going ot smell of fish fingers.

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latrucha · 13/12/2011 20:15

I meant thanks too Blush

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latrucha · 19/12/2011 12:17

Well (coughs in the hope of reviving the thread)..

I have cleaned out and washed everything I can find.

I have not found any source. I have not seen a single moth, egg or maggot.

What does this mean? [hopeful that I caught it in time emoticon] (or maybe there is a heaving mass of moths somewhere I haven't found).

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PigletJohn · 19/12/2011 12:26

they might be in the edges of the carpet by the skirting board

latrucha · 19/12/2011 12:28

sigh... off to hunt

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latrucha · 19/12/2011 12:28

thanks

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latrucha · 19/12/2011 19:16

I cannot find a single blooming trace. Where are they?

Is it going to be gross when I find them?

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homeaway · 19/12/2011 19:20

Under a rug ? I found my source there, I had to throw the carpet away. :(

HappyCamel · 19/12/2011 19:30

Check the carpets, especially along the skirting, under beds behind furniture etc. The house we bought had them. You'll see what look like tiny twists of paper and they have larvae in. We sprayed all the carpets with Raid one room at a time then sealed the room off for a day then ventilated well before letting DD back in.

Our source was the dining room carpet so don't just assume they are in bedrooms. You'll often find the tiny newborn moths on the Walls near the source. Their wings fold into triangles, they are quite distinctive.

latrucha · 19/12/2011 19:33

Ah. I was just going to ask if they might be in a different room.

The only eaten things have been in the bedroom. I do have a couple more places to look but they're not in hte wardobes, under the beds or round the skirting board.

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