Moths

[red_tom]

Along with overly enthusiastic nasal hair, are moths one of those problems that only appear later in life? I've lost a couple of hats and a jumper to the buggers recently but have never had a problem with them before.

I've got pheremone traps up and have put the remaining items that I think might be affected into the freezer for a few days. Any other top tips for getting rid of them?

 

[mr Mag00]

its not moths its caterpillars, are you sure you have the larvae? they are quite rare these days and there is only one species that does the damage.

 

[numbnuts]

balls

 

[red_tom]

its not moths its caterpillars, are you sure you have the larvae? they are quite rare these days and there is only one species that does the damage.

You're right that it's the larvae that do the damage but it's definitely them. An ex girfriend gave them to me as a parting gift (she'd lost lots of things to them).

 

[wafflycat]

Carpet beetle larvae?

 

[Jane Smart]

Don't go down the "mothball" route, as I was out last week, with some elderly friends, lovely people, but the smell of mothballs was overwhelming

Just a thought, but my mum ( bless her ) used to swear by putting bars of soap in the drawers, she reckoned that they kept them away so I do the same, never had moths and my clothes smell nice

 

[WeeE]

One of the oldest-ever remedies - cedar wood. You can buy wee disc-shaped bits of cedar that you pop over the top of your coathangers - give them a quick rub with sandpaper now and then for a fresh burst of lovely-smellingness.

Don't know if they get RID of moths, but they certainly discourage them. You can get them in places like lakeland, John Lewis etc. And one reason old ladies (used to, anyway) smell of lavender is that it too was put in wardrobes to discourage the buggers. (Trust me, cedar's much nicer and not too girly.) These sorts of things are nature's own insect-repellant.

Another possibility is that you actually have carpet-beetle, which is getting very common these days. (I think these are actually woodland beetles; they're just small black beetles. The larvae are horribly wriggly!)

With these, the larvae eat all sorts of stuff, but the beetles will also bore into soft wood - they love books. While it's easy to tread in eggs on your shoes, carpet-beetle isn't very hard to get rid of.

 

[Twenty Inch]

Keep your clothes very clean. We always wash woolens before putting away for the summer.

You could take a leaf from the Middle Ages' book (or a sheet of vellum) and hang your clothes in the lavatory. The smell of ammonia will keep moths out.

 

[ArDee]

Keep your clothes very clean. We always wash woolens before putting away for the summer.

You could take a leaf from the Middle Ages' book (or a sheet of vellum) and hang your clothes in the lavatory. The smell of ammonia will keep moths out.

The smell of ammonia might well keep your friends away as well though!

 

[darkstar]

Just don't kill them! Stunning creatures with so many species, we must take care of them

 

[solmisation]

As I get older I find that the moths just fly by, we're now in November!

 

[vernon]

Just don't kill them! Stunning creatures with so many species, we must take care of them

Not the clothes moth. It's boring and damaging.

I have a Peruvian hand knit pullover that has succumbed to a visit from the clothes moth. It now has a mild distressed look that attracted lots of attention and offers of cash at a couple of festivals this year as everyone else was wearing Peruvian knitwear which is so last year