We are trying to stay clothes/pantry moth-free since an infestation in September of last year. We are really scared of finding holes in our clothes again. Is it true that spray starch attracts and nourishes larvae? Can we use spray sizing on our clothes instead? Any cleaning secrets that moth-infestation survivors have to share?
We will not breathe a sigh of relief until we have one pest-free year. So far, so good. Any additional assistance is most appreciated. Also, is it safe to put whole cloves in the pockets of clothes? Is is truly safe to use lavender to repel moths? We've read that moths like herbs, spices and plants, too.
An idea - make an insecticidal bait by mixing flour and borax and leaving it in an open container in the pantry. The moths will go first for the easy to get at stuff, eat it, be poisoned and die. Mark it WELL so that nobody will use it as food by mistake.
Back in the 1960s moths got into my sweater drawer and ruined some of my favorites; i learned this while at a party at college; had to duck into the House Mother's apt to sew up all the holes. Since then, i've made doubly sure clothes are always completely clean b4 storing them in the closet or chest of drawers. They are drawn by the teeniest speck of food.
Moths are repelled by cedar. Get some blocks of cedar to hang up in your closet and place inside your drawers. You can get cedar chips, sold for gerbil bedding, to use inside sachet bags; if you don't sew, use glue. Be creative. My grandmother kept clothing that attracted moths in her cedar chest. Nowadays you can line your entire closet in cedar if you choose.
The moth parts are edible and won't hurt you. Remember that for hundreds of years, generations merely sifted out or picked out the insect parts. The food is edible and is still eaten this way, world-wide. Keeping the dry food stuffs in the referator, or first freeze 24-48 hours, kills most (dormant) eggs.
One way to deter insects from your food stuffs is to place bay leaves inside each container of rice, flour, sugar, etc. This has worked here over 30 yrs.
I don't know if they are the same, but we had a moth infestation in our kitchen awhile back. I had to get rid of all grain foods. What an expense! Anyhow, after that, I now freeze all flours, rice, pasta, grain stuffs, etc.. before opening. I also store most of these foods in heavy duty plastic containers with screw on lids. You have to make sure there is a true seal, so what I do is put a coffee filter on before the lid. If it appears to have any holes, I throw the contents away, wash in hot water, and restock, although it has only happened once. I think these are India Moth's,but whatever they are, the only way I got rid of them was to smash them and watch food storage. Poison and foggers did not work.
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