How do I get rid of these pesky moths?

[sunshinedays]

Anyone else had an ongoing moth problem in their kitchens?
They are small, pale brown and annoying. I few of my mates have them too (we all have flats ... is it anything to do with this??)

Most importantly HOW DO WE GET RID OF THEM?!

Sounds a bit like clothes moths. They are a nightmare. Cedarwood is a deterrent and you can obv. get stuff like mothballs but really there is no cure.

Are they sort of silvery too and quite fluttery?

Do you have sheepswool insulation around pipes in the kitchen or elsewhere. Wool coat/gloves hanging up near the kitchen?

Hi & thanks for responding.
They seem to have penchant for floury food ... and they love Alpen...(YUK) rather than cloth. I'm having to throw out stuff that's been in the cupboard a while and make sure new stuff is in glass or plastic storeage jars.

They're food moths - I had a nightmare summer with them and have only just managed to get rid of the little b's. Apparently they come into your home on food bought from the shops - they may have been in a packet of cereal or biscuits. And they're a bugger to deal with.

They will get into any cereal, biscuits, flour, pasta, rice, dried food basically and you'll need to find where they're laying their eggs to get rid of them completely. I eventually discovered a packet of pearl barley which was covered with eggs, got rid of that and haven't had them since. It's a pain - you need to totally clear out all your food cupboards, make sure all food is transferred into tightly sealed containers as they can easily get into any packet - even ones you think are closed. Make sure you clean the shelves thoroughly before putting food back in. Check all packets for signs of them - you'll find dead moths and caterpillars - yeuk - and take the offending items out of your flat, not just in your kitchen bin.

Basically you need to find the root of the problem and eradicate that, ie where they're laying their eggs. The eggs are tiny beige coloured 'beads' that all hang together - you'll know when you see them.

I completely sympathise...hope you can shift them soon before it all gets out of control like mine did!

omfg

I have a caterpillar phobia and find clothes moths difficult enough to deal with.

Off to check my cupboards....

Hi Nannyme & WewWillieWinkee
Thnaks for your help ... I've found a pack of Quinoa that ...well... let's just say it hadn't been opened from the outside. BLEURGH.

Fingers crossed this was the source of all evil.

oh my god i have a moth phobia and we have had lots..I think I shall make dp sort the cupboards..I wondered where they were all coming from..I've never known it like this before is it a bad year or something?

ok, food moths are notoriously difficult to get rid of, becasue they can lay their eggs in anythiing. As you've found, they especially like dries foods. You need to go through your kitchen with a fine toothed comb. Any packet of cereal that looks suspect (might have ort of thread, a bit like spider web inside needs to go. They caneven lay eggs behind, and consume the glue of tinned food labels. They're quite common here in Switzerland and you can buy very effective traps . If you can't find any there, and you really need them tbh, then I could post you some. Try and get the traps tho. I only got rid of mine by moving house.

as soon as dp gets up i shall get him on to this

what a nightmare

the waste the waste it's painful..not actually seen any moths in the food cupboard

but i can hardly bear to watch

dp has said it was just a strategy to get him to clean out the cupboards and

i shouldn't believe everything off the internet !

ask him to repeat that when he's chewing on a moggot in his corn flakes