<p>I just discovered a patch of a wool rug in my D’s room all eaten by moths. I am assuming this isn’t the only place they hang out. I treated and wrapped all the rugs in plastic and took all winter coats to the cleaners. Do they eat down coats, too? What else shoudl I do? We lived in this house over 20 years and never had the issue. </p>
<p>Hi - I’m a knitter. Nothing strikes fear in the heart of a knitter more than moths. If you live in a place that’s cold, put the rugs on your porch and let the freezing temps take over - that helps a lot. I don’t think they’d eat down coats but certainly anything with wool is at risk. Lavendar sachets apparently help and smell a little nicer than moth balls. Also cedar. Amazon sells moth traps - I haven’t used them but apparently they work too. Were it me, I’d do the traps along with cedar or lavendar with sweaters. </p>
<p>My daughter is a knitter, too. I saw a moth or two in her yarns. I wrapped them up in plastic as well. It is not very cold at the moment around freezing. How long does it take to kill them in the cold? </p>
<p>I’d think a day or so in a good, hard freeze. I have friends who have stored their yarn in the freezer when they’ve seen moths. I found this article that might help also: <a href=“Moths on the munch? Put your woollies in the freezer and other tips to get rid of the pests | Daily Mail Online”>Moths on the munch? Put your woollies in the freezer and other tips to get rid of the pests | Daily Mail Online;
<p>I would go right to the moth traps for whatever breed of moths you are dealing with – wool moths and pantry moths are different. I’ve used the pantry moths traps and they wiped out the population. If I recall, they trap the males so there’s no more breeding or something like that. </p>
<p>Here’s a major brand for clothes moths:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.saferbrand.com/store/insect-control/b07270-3?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&CAWELAID=1929244264&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CNXrvp3k57wCFfNxOgodYScA7Q”>http://www.saferbrand.com/store/insect-control/b07270-3?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cse&CAWELAID=1929244264&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CNXrvp3k57wCFfNxOgodYScA7Q</a></p>
<p>I would go full bore and put several traps in each closet/room. In my experience, you don’t want to go piecemeal trying to get rid of moths. Bring in the heavy artillery and bring in enough of it to get the job done. I wasted a year of pantry moths eating me out of house and home with useless tips like cleaning all the cupboards with bleach, etc. You’ll never get rid of the larvae unless you stop them from breeding for a generation and wipe out the population.</p>
<p>Thank you both for the links. I took all winter coats to the cleaner’s and now the temperature is falling. If the weather satys cold overnight, I could put things out. I ordered the traps.</p>
<p>I guess the benefit to living in northern New England is there are plenty of opportunities to put things out that will freeze! And I agree about doing everything at once. Ugh, no fun. </p>
<p>Me too!!! Moths I mean. We can’t take our woolens outside to freeze. It was in the high 70s yesterday. I grabbed everything out of my closets (which has those lavender things and I shoved everything in the cedar closet. How long do I keep them there? Spray? Pray? </p>
<p>Have you tried the traps? Amazon has them. We had pantry moths at one point (not related to clothes moths apparently) and the traps worked wonders. </p>
<p>I got some traps from a local hardware store. Moths are not flocking to the trap. What’s wrong with them? Do i need to spray viagra?</p>
<p>Hmmm, moth viagra I know not! When we had pantry moths, they swarmed to it initially - it was pretty gross. </p>
<p>I went to our local hardware store. Got some stuff…expensive btw. Purchased 12 for all closets. Opened 2…strongish smell…ten minutes later I was…very unlike me…vomiting and a bad headache. Going back tomorrow.</p>
<p>Did you get Safer? I didn’t smell anything. It has a small pheromone patch that’s supposed to attract male moths. So far, I don’t see any moth attracted to it.</p>
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<p>Give it a few days. I don’t know the life cycle of the moth. It’s possible that you are in a cycle when they are not flying around. And, it probably takes a while for the scent of the lure to be picked up.</p>
<p>@interesteddad (or anyone else who has used the Safer product on wool moths)….would you place traps in every room of the house or only in the closets where the moths have eaten through my sweaters? I hadn’t even considered rug damage until I read comments on the Safer site. </p>
<p>Does anyone know where moths come from? We have lived in this house for nearly twenty years and this is our first moth experience. I am shocked that they have not eaten through every sweater I own, but I want to prevent more damage. </p>
<p>Thanks for any advice offered….and thank you for the link, interesteddad. </p>
<p>I also had this issue after many years in my home. The pantry moths can come from anywhere, they can be in bags or things from the store, doesn’t take much to start. A “pest control” guy I met said a couple of eggs in the flap of a cereal box or paper bag can be it. Watch dog food, things like that also.
The traps work the best, I’ve tried about 3, the darker brown or brown/blk color ones worked the best…have to double check on the brand. Safer was one that was good. Lowes sold them also in the pest dept with the ant sprays, etc.
I used them in the closets also, since they do fly to other places. They can be in a small crack in the wall or under a shelf…so getting rid of them works better than just cleaning the pantry or area…that alone rarely works. </p>
<p>One bit of advice, that might be on package, don’t place them too close together and change them after a week or so when they get filled…and even when they seem like they are gone, leave them out longer. I made the mistake of thinking they were all gone and they just hadn’t hatched yet. It can be weeks. Finally, I haven’t seen them again in quite a while but the advice of going full force is good. Better to cover all rooms and places than to see them longer than you have too.
The traps shouldn’t have any smell and are pretty convenient to set up and change.</p>
<p>I’ve had both kinds of moths: those in my flour and those that very inconveniently ate some new, expensive cashmere sweaters. We’ve tried everything over the years. Cedar, lavendar sachets, crystals. Some wools, like my camal hair coat, seems safe, but anything I’ve ever put in one particular chest of drawers is asking for problems. Guess I should try those traps, but we’d need so many. Ugh!</p>
<p>I’ve only used the traps in the kitchen for pantry moths. But, if I had a wool moth infestation, I’d put a trap in every closet and bed room and any room with a wool rug or blankets.</p>
<p>I believe that my pantry moths came in a bag of dried chili peppers from a market in Los Angeles. They ended up in EVERYTHING before I got the traps and wiped them out.</p>