<p>Ugh. So, looks like I know what my weekend project is, I’ve got moths in my pantry. :eek:</p>
<p>Any tips on how to clean things up to 1) get rid of the ones in there and 2) prevent them from coming back? I’ve already thrown out all the flour-based stuff, etc. I didn’t see “one thing” that was contaminated…</p>
<p>What did you all do? Tips, please!</p>
<p>I will be reading responses but after several years of trying to get rid of mine, I’ve decided on a policy of peaceful coexistence. :(</p>
<p>After going through this a couple of times I keep more and more stuff in my freezer (dried fruit, flours that I don’t use regularly) and I keep my baking staples (wheat flours, corn meal) in a cupboard that is away from my pantry. Bulk grains and beans go in glass jars with snap down lids and most other things are in ziplocs once they’re opened (though I’m not sure if the ziplocs help). I haven’t had an infestation since I started this.</p>
<p>Agree about keeping things in glass containers and zip locks. Thankfully I haven’t had them for years. If I did get them, I would chuck everything and buy new. I don’t want to eat them.</p>
<p>I have had major infestations in the past. Locating the source can be tough. Once I found them in an old box of tea bags. A commercial product that seems to work for me is Pantry Trap by Safer. I ordered a full case online. I just finished cleaning out my corner cupboard yesterday and replaced the trap.</p>
<p>If you have pets- these darn moths LOVE dry pet food. Make sure it is stored in a big tin or something they can’t get to. and only feed the animal what they are going to eat right then.</p>
<p>Freezing works well. I would freeze anything I bought bulk for 48 hrs. The specific problem seems to be grains – so that bird seed is particularly bad. This is something I would know about … as a purveyor of many sorts of seed and other grain based products. If you see the moths <em>inside</em> the packaging – FREEZE.</p>
<p>cnp, does the freezing kill them?</p>
<p>Yes. As I understand it, they are killed by the freezing, but not by the oven, which is why you will sometimes find pantry moths inside shrink wrapped and sealed packages of (dog) cookies. I have a vendor of wonderful custom blended bird food – we freeze his stuff when it comes in and then it can go on the shelf.</p>
<p>Yes. Empty your pantry. Go to the local hardware store (as opposed to a big box store). Get the kit that they sell. Use it. Wait a few days to reload your pantry. Last time, rice seemed to be my culprit.</p>
<p>I called my exterminator after throwing everything out, using the traps, extensive cleaning ( multiple times ) The problem is they lay eggs in tiny crevices of your cabinets or shelves. Good luck.</p>
<p>as lrl says, you need to clean every tiny space. Use a q-tip to get in the holes where shelf brackets to.</p>
<p>I have wooden shelves in there, covered with contact paper. So I can take them out, wash them down, wash the walls & corners of the pantry, etc.</p>
<p>What should I use to clean? A spray cleaner…like clorox spray or something?</p>
<p>I was thinking that “Pantry Moths” would be a good name for a rock band.</p>
<p>@Hunt–I like it.</p>
<p>I’ll also confess that when I first saw the thread, I thought it said “Panty Moths”–perhaps an even better name for a rock band.</p>
<p>Thank goodness! For a sec there I thought you had butterflys in your underwear! We did get the moths once; emptied our cabinets, cleaned everything out, repacked… no more problems. We did find an infested opened package of almonds.</p>
<p>JustaMom5465- I had a small run-in with pantry moths recently. They were in a box of quinoa-look for pale yellow/cream webbing. I threw almost all non-jarred foods out, cleaned the cabinet thoroughly and found 3 eggs waiting to hatch outside the food boxes. They were on the edge of my cabinet shelf and under the edges of the adhesive contact paper which I then completely removed. I put up a trap after cleaning and throwing away food, but have seen no moths or other evidence since. I think any cleaner works, but I am not sure. </p>
<p>I am inexperienced with pantry moths and wondered if you freeze your grains for 48 hours before storing them in tightly sealed containers, are you killing existing eggs in the food, removing the possibility of them developing or something else? Thanks for the info.</p>
<p>I’m with the others who recommended the “traps”. (They are cardboard with sticky stuff that fold into a standing A-frame “house”). I do recommend all the freezing and storage advice, but to REALLY get rid of them once and for all, I would suggest keeping one of these traps in the offending cabinet from here on (so that moths from any eggs you don’t find will get caught).</p>
<p>I got an infestation in a bag of dried anaheim chili peppers. There were in EVERYTHING. Cleaning your cupboards won’t work. You’ll never get all the eggs. </p>
<p>Putting these traps out got rid of them forever:</p>
<p>[The</a> Pantry Pest® Moth Trap In Action - YouTube](<a href=“How to Get Rid of Moths with the Pantry Pest® Trap - YouTube”>How to Get Rid of Moths with the Pantry Pest® Trap - YouTube)
[The</a> Pantry Pest Trap | Pantry Moth Trap | Safer Brand](<a href=“http://www.saferbrand.com/store/insect-control/b05140-2]The”>http://www.saferbrand.com/store/insect-control/b05140-2)</p>
<p>The trap has a scented lure that attracts the male moth. Within a week, the traps will be covered in male moths. By wiping out the males, you break the breeding cycle and the population is wiped out. </p>
<p>I put out three or four of the traps around the kitchen. I just put them on top of the kitchen cupboards, spread around the room. I think i put out some replacements three months later, but, by then, there were no more moths to attract. Works great. You can always leave a trap or to out forever, but after I got rid of them, I never trapped another moth.</p>
<p>I would not bother doing the major clean and replace everything until you’ve had the traps out for a few weeks. Start there, and then start the throw away, clean and replace process.</p>