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Dealing with moths

8 replies

Feelingoptimistic · 02/12/2009 21:04

The other day I noticed that a cashmere jumper I have has a hole in it, and I suspect moths. Nothing else affected yet, fingers crossed...

But I think I need to do something... A few times I have bought these sachet things that you put between your clothes, that I think contain something fairly natural. But I am not sure if they work. When I was younger I remember my mum always buying camphor balls, but they don't seem to sell them anywhere anymore, do they?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

thanks

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Size6Feet · 02/12/2009 22:29

You can still get those camphor moth balls. I got some but they are SO smelly!
Moths also dislike lavender so use the real thing in sachets and hang on a hanger in the wardrobe or get hold of lavendar oil, put it on a cloth and place where it cant touch the clothes.
Also cedar wood is a natural moth repellant. They just dont like it. (In olden days storage chests were made out of it.)
I bought a box of 20 cedar wood balls. The instructions were to give the ball a little sanding to refresh it after about 3 months. Thats a bit time consuming (and I'm a bit lazy) so I went to my local wood yard and was given a sample of cedarwood skirting. I just cut bits off and place them wherever I have clothes and cloth.
Let me know if you want the names off the packets I mentioned above. Good luck.

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AngelinaJolly · 02/12/2009 23:06

John Lewis do a range of cedar wood things- hanging blocks, rings to put on hangers, small and large blocks, as well as sachets that contain lavender and some other herb.

But a bottle of cedar oil from Neal's Yard and replenish the wooden blocks with a few drops every few months. It smells lovely unlike the old moth balls.

Moths are attracted to the dirt and sweat from everyday wear- so always wash garments before storing away. Lakeland have knitwear bags. Store woolies and cashmere clean in plastic bags and make sure that wardrobes and rooms are well ventilated and lit. Moths prefer dark undisturbed corners.

I've researched this well- no way I'm sharing my cashmere bits and pieces with insects!

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LetThemEatCake · 02/12/2009 23:09

dedicated specialists to the cause

LUXE01 at checkout for free delivery

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Feelingoptimistic · 02/12/2009 23:17

Great, thanks very much !! Will pay a visit to Neal's Yard.

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heartofgold · 02/12/2009 23:19

if you do have moths you can recognise them cos they're small and look drunk, they kind of stumble around [bleurgh]. in which case you need to freeze everything that's been in the drawer. seriously. will look out some links.

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heartofgold · 02/12/2009 23:22

here

i think repeated freezing/airing (to allow eggs to hatch) is the only non-chemical way of getting rid of them.

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nearlybeans · 02/12/2009 23:33

I bought some pheromone traps that seemed to help (German, I think, called Mottbox? - came from Wholefoods,) and rotate things through the spare freezer when I see a moth or a hole. I believe 24 hours is enough to kill the eggs.

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MadBadandCoveredinTinsel · 02/12/2009 23:47

The sticky pheromone traps are good, as they actually kill the moths before they can lay eggs in your clothes and re-infest them. The cedar things smell lovely but still leave you with a house full of moths looking for somewhere to settle.

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