Washing clothes to kill moths before putting in bags

[MoiraRoseForever]

Hi

i have moths and holes in clothes ! Doing all the stuff to get rid.

i have bought cotton garment bags o protect the clothes, with various preventive things to put in bags with clothes.

i want though to make sure the clothes don’t have moths before putting them in the bags .
I plan to wash all my clothes . I’ve read it needs to be 55 to kill them, so basically 60 on my machine .

i usually only do 60 for towels and bedding.

what would happen with viscose, polyester and cotton t shirts ? Will I ruin them ?

thanks

Could you freeze the clothes if they are unsuitable for high heat?

I thought you were supposed to freeze them? Literally rotate them in bags in the freezer.

I dont have a large freezer , so it would be small clothes .

Is it hygienic with food ?

i have cotton, viscose, polyester , bamboo and modal . It seems to be cotton that’s eaten. But do I need to freeze the other material ?

Following as I have this problem too (and a tiny freezer) 😭

Moths don’t eat any of those fabrics you’ve listed, even cotton is rare. Wool and silk are the main ones, but only natural fibres.
Wash as normal, when dry freezer for a few days is good.
another way to get them hot is when the summer comes put the clothes in a hot car on a sunny day - this gets them above the temp.
And remember that moths are inevitable- one can try to avoid but there is also a level of acceptance required, especially if you live in an urban area

I have holes in my cotton and viscose tops , and sure I’ve seen some .

Cotton should be fine at 60 but I tend to freeze clothes if possible to stop moth. Put clothes in a zip lock bag, squeeze as much air out as possible and put them in the freezer for 48 hrs or longer.

If you put it away damp or a bit sweaty hey might but unlikely. I get little holes around the front of t shirts but worked out it's because belts and button flies rub and it's also the approximate height of the work top. A lot of tops seem significantly thinner now and slubby fabrics seems to be more prone to wearing through as well

You do need to freeze them to kill off the eggs and larvae, even a boil wash will not manage that. As others have said, it's unlikely your synthetic clothes have moth holes.

Where are the holes in your cotton tops?

Moff survivor ... I wouldn't worry about clothes so much. As pp have said, they're after wool. They did chew some of our towels, but they were stored out of bags for months in a cupboard, so it was like a buffet. If you are wearing and washing clothes regularly, they'll be fine. Having the bastardy little things did make me get rid of a lot of fabrics, and I've kept to that. I don't have many of anything. not quite wear one and one in the wash, but I don't have 'spare' towels and bedlinen.

For clothes, I am careful about woollens in the winter, and check them regularly, but everything else is just wash and put away. Once woolen carpets were replaced, we noticed a reduction in sticky traps and flying around when something was disturbed. For over a year, I saw them occasionally - I think they were hiding behind loose skirting boards.

All different places . Not near belts thought . Can’tthink what’s caused it.

No carpets . I don’t wear wool as allergic.
Wear cotton, viscose and mixes of that .