Getting rid of moths

[Marion]

I wasn't sure where to post this but it has to do with dealing with stuff after all...

My small studio appartment is infested with moths :( !!! I had two small Persian carpets under my bed + various fabrics I have collected when travelling in Asia and Africa. Well, they seem to enjoy the rolled carpets quite a bit :(. I have sprayed them with a special product, put them in sealed plastic bags in my basement.

My problem is that I can't use these products in my home : it is very small (30m2), and I have two cats. It has to be a green/ecologic/ healthy solution.

I have started washing everything I can (some fabrics are embroidered or too fragile) and cleaning every dusty, hidden corner of my cluttered space.

Anyone been successful getting of them ?

[CathyA]

I've discovered that if you have food (especially pet food) that the moths can get into, you'll have them all the time. They can get into really small spaces. So I would start by checking how you store the cat food, and make it air tight. (And if you feed the birds, make sure the birdfood is completely closed). Make sure all your food is really airtight too.......especially stuff like cornmeal, flour, crackers, etc.

[awakenedsoul]

Yeah, they usually start in the flour containers. I would go through your pantry and get rid of anything there that has them. I keep bay leaves in my flour to prevent them. As a knitter, I make sure to keep the house free of moths, they can ruin a hand knit sweater! I've also heard that it's important to wash your wool sweaters. They are attracted to sweat.

[Float On]

Birdfood is how I got little tiny moths years ago. I had the birdfood under the kitchen sink leaning against the dishwasher wall. The heat from the dishwasher warmed up moth eggs or whatever moths are in. My kitchen was swarming - seriously, I came around the corner and thought I was walking into a horror movie set. I had to get rid of all boxed food and even some spices. Lots of vacuuming and I did have the house treated (took the indoor pets to work with me that day). I keep birdfood outside in a metal trash can now (with a locking lid to keep bears and coons out).

[Marion]

Birdfood is how I got little tiny moths years ago. I had the birdfood under the kitchen sink leaning against the dishwasher wall. The heat from the dishwasher warmed up moth eggs or whatever moths are in. My kitchen was swarming - seriously, I came around the corner and thought I was walking into a horror movie set. I had to get rid of all boxed food and even some spices. Lots of vacuuming and I did have the house treated (took the indoor pets to work with me that day). I keep birdfood outside in a metal trash can now (with a locking lid to keep bears and coons out).
These moths seem to be fabric moths, they don't seem to get into the food.
Has anyone tried a hand held steam device to clean hard to get to place where they seem to lay their eggs?

[mira]

We had textile/clothes moths in our last apartment and somehow managed to bring them with us into our new one! Such a nightmare.

We put some sticky pheromone-based traps (these could be put out of reach of pets; I don't think they're toxic anyway - the moths die after becoming stuck, not from chemicals) in the cupboard they seemed to be coming from and managed to catch a lot. This kind of trap attracts the male moths so eventually there will be none left to mate with females (it's a slow process, but it's effective). We then discovered that they'd been breeding in our VACUUM CLEANER after we'd sucked a bunch of them up in our last apartment... do not vacuum up moths unless you empty the bag immediately! There was no saving the vacuum since it was bagless and was completely overrun with eggs, so we got rid of it and it seems like the combination of getting rid of their main breeding place and putting up sticky traps finally eliminated them.

You could definitely try steam cleaning but the eggs and larvae may also be in places that it won't reach.

I feel your frustration! Good luck :)

[Marion]

Thank you Mira !

I have heard of these pheromone traps but several people have told me they actually seem to attract moths to their homes so I am a bit reluctant to use them :o)
Are the sticky traps the same as the pheromone ones ? I would be interested in buying them online if you know a good source, if they worked for you.

[Marion]

Thank you for all the advice about food moths, by the way, I just remembered getting them a long time ago, it was awful !

I had worms falling from my kitchen ceiling, it was sooo disgusting and I couldn't figure out where they came from.
They actually came from walnuts which were stored on a shelf near the ceiling :/... These walnuts were given to me by my mother, she has a tree in front of her house and she had never sprayed it with pesticides : I guess this is the downside of organic food ;)

So I now store everything I can in the fridge...

[mira]

You're welcome, Marion.

We used these ones: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Procter-Pest-Stop-Clothes-Moth-Trap/dp/B000LNGS1G They are sticky and use pheromones. They didn't seem to attract any new moths, but maybe that's because we had them in a small, enclosed space.

Definitely try and kill them at the source, if you can.

[Marion]

Thanks for the link, I am definitely giving it a try.

[Marion]

I just ordered some, both for my basement and the appartment, and I will report back... Crossing my fingers !

[Mrs. Hermit]

Another process that will get rid moths that is ok for fragile textiles is to seal the textile in a plastic ziploc, freeze it for at least 3 days (a week is better), let it thaw for 3 days (still in the bag), and then freeze it for at least 3 days. The freezing kills any live larve or moths, then thawing it invites the eggs to hatch. The larve are killed in the next freeze. After doing this, vacuum everything well, and dispose of the vacuum bag. Works best on textiles with no metal like spangles.

[Marion]

Thanks Mrs Hermit, I am doing this with the small pieces of fabric (my freezer has three small drawers only).
I am a bit discouraged because I noticed yesterday that these moths also seem to get in/around books :(... and I have hundreds of them.

[Mrs. Hermit]

Oh, that is hard! Freezing might not work for the books because of the glues used in the bindings. The traps might offer some help. Cornell University has a lot of information about bug control, as do many state extension services. They might have some information that could help.

[Marion]

Thanks for the tip, I am going to check out their website.