I have one really nice cashmere sweater, that I bought in Scotland, and thought the small hole in it was from wear and tear. Now gonna move it to the cedar armoire we have, since our basic decor is what my cousin calls "early dead grandmother."
I wish I'd known that you suffer from this horrid situation as this is something we have in common. My house is most certainly a moth convention as well. Not sure how it began. Could have been that wool rug that was professionally cleaned and stored in plastic in the garage. (I did see tiny little pellet like dots that I think is their feces in the bag.) If it was the rug, than I picked up the moths at the rug cleaner. Not impossible. I also had a stunning wool carpet in my bedroom that they were in love with! Overnight i saw a line of those little dots across the bottom of a piece of furniture about 5 or 6 feet wide. They must have gone underneath to hatch or do whatever it is they do. I fucking hate them! They have eaten holes in a Fortuny chandelier, numerous cashmere and wool sweaters, forced me to rip out my carpet, eaten silk clothing, scarves, and Pashmina wraps. Need I say more? I exterminated the whole house for them. Did it work? Of course not! I considered tenting and am glad you told me that even that heat won't deter those horrific varmints. My exterminator did tell me they are near impossible to get rid of. I did a lot of what you did with the sweaters. I took the good ones, had them dry cleaned, and the holes darned. The others I just got rid of. I see moths outside dancing around the lights, but my exterminator tells me they are a different kind of moth. They sure look the same. What I have done, is order (from Amazon) those moth traps that fold into triangles. The inside is sticky and the moths are drawn to them. I can send you a pic of what i get. Don't know how to post it here. They work, however they do NOT eliminate the problem. The exterminator said they are very clever about hiding. He said to look underneath the collars of your clothing and inside the arms if they are folded up. He says only the larvae are harmful. I have discovered the larvae only once. It was gross. But to me, those moths are doing their own damage too. I could talk to you about this for hours. I hope your readers will chime in with some of their own solutions. Those traps (just type in moth traps) are useful, but not the final solution. I didn't know about the freezer, but of course makes sense. I hope they can't thaw out and survive. Growing up in Cleveland we had what we called "the moth ball closet". It smelled that awful smell that i am not interested in having in my home. I suppose it's contents were vulnerable pieces of clothing. I just remember the smell. Yucccchhhhh. Can't wait to hear some new ideas and hope my tips are of use to some.
p.s. also tried the cedar and the real lavender with no success. i bet they are reading this. and by the way, they are in every room in the house!! not just the closet!!
Stop with the dry cleaning! Terrible for your clothes and I swear the moths are attracted to the chemicals left in that Khaite sweater. Wash them by hand yourself in room temperature tepid water, use distilled not tap water and a good laundry soap, not detergent. They will look better and last infinitely longer. Learn to repair most of the destruction yourself. Consider it a meditation and respect for this beloved thing that makes you feel so good. Roll up and put in the freezer, but don’t leave them there. Use cedar or lavender, and pack away in a sealed container at the end of the season. Keep your closet very clean, and examine everything before packing away. All items coming in your home get the freeze treatment. I have many clothes and a vast collection of wool blankets, from the 1940’s onward that have not one hole. I was a vintage dealer.
I use either Mollys Suds delicate liquid handwashing soap available on Amazon or dr bonners regular old Castile soap in lavender, just don’t use too much. I’m sure there are others.
“It’s the fucking moths again.” I mean, this whole piece is fabulous, but that line is just perfect. Also, I love fine wool sweaters, am wearing a 13-year old cashmere cardigan right now that, if eaten by moths, would send me right over the edge 😉
I am with you. I don’t understand how they procreate so quickly. I, too, gave up everything in my life that would be fun so I could have my mountain of sweaters mended one time. Ever since then I have developed a routine. All new, or from dry cleaner, sweaters, shawls or anything that they would like to nibble on, I spray the minute it enters my house with SLA. You can find it anywhere. SLA can save your day…it does save mine. The moth hole repair people told me about it in their thank you note. They were thanking me for the all expenses paid (by profits from the mending business I gave them) trip around the world. They did so well when they returned, they closed their business and went on forever holiday.
SLA is an aerosol spray. The can is orange. I usually buy it at my local small business neighborhood hardware store but I’m sure the chains like Home Depot carry it, too. I just looked Amazon has it. Search for Reefer-Galler SLA. Hope it helps!
I use moth sachets and all of my sweaters are in plastic bins. When I am done wearing them I put return them to the bins. I am usually a casual person but I take protecting my wool sweaters and scarves very seriously.
I just deployed my first adult pack of moth balls (my mother used them) after a coat kept in a sealed bag with lavender sachets and a pheromone trap was covered in moth webbing. My dry cleaner said: ‘moth balls. they work’
Cedar's helpful. Also, while I am sure this is not everyone's taste: I simply mend the holes. Sometimes I darn them, almost invisibly if I'm having a good run, but other times I embroider over them, which is why one merino sweater has a scattering of violets and snowdrops on it in odd places and a shawl has acquired a border of decorative parti-colored orbs.
We had wool wall-to-wall carpeting that developed a moth infestation. Unbelievably horrific. Nightmarish midnight crawls seeking the little bastards. Ultimately had to have all furniture hauled to fumigating chamber and the floors stripped bare, etc.
I feel you… after finding a favourite cardigan full of moth holes I purchased a stack of moth killing sachets, and guess what they haven’t caught ONE moth or any other wool eating bug. They seem to like red, but that cardigan was burnt orange so perhaps it was colour blind? Then to throw a curve ball into the works I pulled out a fine knit woolen top, more like t shirt fabric, I had only worn it once and voila, it had a hole in the back, this one was green, maybe it thought it was an apple. grrr….. oh, I forgot, in my dressing room where I have several jumpers I put branches of Bay Tree on the shelf, (thankfully we have a flourishing one in our garden) that seems to work, go figure.
Did you consider becoming a member of the "society for the prevention of cruelty..." - perhaps they will teach the moths a thing or two. Don't surrender without a fight :)
I just pulled my closet apart, ordered a shit ton of cedar blocks and lavender sachets, put each sweater in an individual plastic zipper bag with the sachets and a block, put the entire wool wardrobe in closed boxes (also full of stinky sachets) and am hoping for the best. Those motherfuckers ate holes in so many gorgeous sweaters this past year that I wanted to torch my apt. Up in flames you bastards. I have 2 cashmere sweaters I can’t bear to part with so those are going to the tailor for repair. I also lost at least $1000 worth of wool yarn. I wonder if I should “plant” a readily available crappy wool sweater somewhere so they can munch on that instead. Like planting a garden just for the goddamned rabbits.
I have one really nice cashmere sweater, that I bought in Scotland, and thought the small hole in it was from wear and tear. Now gonna move it to the cedar armoire we have, since our basic decor is what my cousin calls "early dead grandmother."
Susan!
I wish I'd known that you suffer from this horrid situation as this is something we have in common. My house is most certainly a moth convention as well. Not sure how it began. Could have been that wool rug that was professionally cleaned and stored in plastic in the garage. (I did see tiny little pellet like dots that I think is their feces in the bag.) If it was the rug, than I picked up the moths at the rug cleaner. Not impossible. I also had a stunning wool carpet in my bedroom that they were in love with! Overnight i saw a line of those little dots across the bottom of a piece of furniture about 5 or 6 feet wide. They must have gone underneath to hatch or do whatever it is they do. I fucking hate them! They have eaten holes in a Fortuny chandelier, numerous cashmere and wool sweaters, forced me to rip out my carpet, eaten silk clothing, scarves, and Pashmina wraps. Need I say more? I exterminated the whole house for them. Did it work? Of course not! I considered tenting and am glad you told me that even that heat won't deter those horrific varmints. My exterminator did tell me they are near impossible to get rid of. I did a lot of what you did with the sweaters. I took the good ones, had them dry cleaned, and the holes darned. The others I just got rid of. I see moths outside dancing around the lights, but my exterminator tells me they are a different kind of moth. They sure look the same. What I have done, is order (from Amazon) those moth traps that fold into triangles. The inside is sticky and the moths are drawn to them. I can send you a pic of what i get. Don't know how to post it here. They work, however they do NOT eliminate the problem. The exterminator said they are very clever about hiding. He said to look underneath the collars of your clothing and inside the arms if they are folded up. He says only the larvae are harmful. I have discovered the larvae only once. It was gross. But to me, those moths are doing their own damage too. I could talk to you about this for hours. I hope your readers will chime in with some of their own solutions. Those traps (just type in moth traps) are useful, but not the final solution. I didn't know about the freezer, but of course makes sense. I hope they can't thaw out and survive. Growing up in Cleveland we had what we called "the moth ball closet". It smelled that awful smell that i am not interested in having in my home. I suppose it's contents were vulnerable pieces of clothing. I just remember the smell. Yucccchhhhh. Can't wait to hear some new ideas and hope my tips are of use to some.
p.s. also tried the cedar and the real lavender with no success. i bet they are reading this. and by the way, they are in every room in the house!! not just the closet!!
Stop with the dry cleaning! Terrible for your clothes and I swear the moths are attracted to the chemicals left in that Khaite sweater. Wash them by hand yourself in room temperature tepid water, use distilled not tap water and a good laundry soap, not detergent. They will look better and last infinitely longer. Learn to repair most of the destruction yourself. Consider it a meditation and respect for this beloved thing that makes you feel so good. Roll up and put in the freezer, but don’t leave them there. Use cedar or lavender, and pack away in a sealed container at the end of the season. Keep your closet very clean, and examine everything before packing away. All items coming in your home get the freeze treatment. I have many clothes and a vast collection of wool blankets, from the 1940’s onward that have not one hole. I was a vintage dealer.
My bf who worked with RL for over 20 years said the same. Dry cleaning is horrible! Even baby shampoo is lovely. Will try Molly Suds thank you
Yas!
Testing
What laundry soap???
I use either Mollys Suds delicate liquid handwashing soap available on Amazon or dr bonners regular old Castile soap in lavender, just don’t use too much. I’m sure there are others.
Can you get Savon de Marseille there? The best!
Worms. With wings. Who eat hair. And shop The Row. They really are horrific.
🤣🤣
“It’s the fucking moths again.” I mean, this whole piece is fabulous, but that line is just perfect. Also, I love fine wool sweaters, am wearing a 13-year old cashmere cardigan right now that, if eaten by moths, would send me right over the edge 😉
Oh! There is going to be a memoir? I CANNOT WAIT
I am with you. I don’t understand how they procreate so quickly. I, too, gave up everything in my life that would be fun so I could have my mountain of sweaters mended one time. Ever since then I have developed a routine. All new, or from dry cleaner, sweaters, shawls or anything that they would like to nibble on, I spray the minute it enters my house with SLA. You can find it anywhere. SLA can save your day…it does save mine. The moth hole repair people told me about it in their thank you note. They were thanking me for the all expenses paid (by profits from the mending business I gave them) trip around the world. They did so well when they returned, they closed their business and went on forever holiday.
What is SLA? Where do you get it?
SLA is an aerosol spray. The can is orange. I usually buy it at my local small business neighborhood hardware store but I’m sure the chains like Home Depot carry it, too. I just looked Amazon has it. Search for Reefer-Galler SLA. Hope it helps!
This is so good thank you. I am moth-crazed. I’m not sure if I am ever not thinking about them.
I use moth sachets and all of my sweaters are in plastic bins. When I am done wearing them I put return them to the bins. I am usually a casual person but I take protecting my wool sweaters and scarves very seriously.
I found a huge hole in a cashmere coat I splurged on over 20 years ago. Alice Zotta used to be NYC’s favorite reweaver. Who now?
The only thing that prevents them is moth balls. It requires airing out your clothes before wearing them each morning but will save a fortune.
I just deployed my first adult pack of moth balls (my mother used them) after a coat kept in a sealed bag with lavender sachets and a pheromone trap was covered in moth webbing. My dry cleaner said: ‘moth balls. they work’
I do place mothballs in cups on my closet floors.
Cedar's helpful. Also, while I am sure this is not everyone's taste: I simply mend the holes. Sometimes I darn them, almost invisibly if I'm having a good run, but other times I embroider over them, which is why one merino sweater has a scattering of violets and snowdrops on it in odd places and a shawl has acquired a border of decorative parti-colored orbs.
We had wool wall-to-wall carpeting that developed a moth infestation. Unbelievably horrific. Nightmarish midnight crawls seeking the little bastards. Ultimately had to have all furniture hauled to fumigating chamber and the floors stripped bare, etc.
I really feel for you.
I feel you… after finding a favourite cardigan full of moth holes I purchased a stack of moth killing sachets, and guess what they haven’t caught ONE moth or any other wool eating bug. They seem to like red, but that cardigan was burnt orange so perhaps it was colour blind? Then to throw a curve ball into the works I pulled out a fine knit woolen top, more like t shirt fabric, I had only worn it once and voila, it had a hole in the back, this one was green, maybe it thought it was an apple. grrr….. oh, I forgot, in my dressing room where I have several jumpers I put branches of Bay Tree on the shelf, (thankfully we have a flourishing one in our garden) that seems to work, go figure.
Did you consider becoming a member of the "society for the prevention of cruelty..." - perhaps they will teach the moths a thing or two. Don't surrender without a fight :)
I just pulled my closet apart, ordered a shit ton of cedar blocks and lavender sachets, put each sweater in an individual plastic zipper bag with the sachets and a block, put the entire wool wardrobe in closed boxes (also full of stinky sachets) and am hoping for the best. Those motherfuckers ate holes in so many gorgeous sweaters this past year that I wanted to torch my apt. Up in flames you bastards. I have 2 cashmere sweaters I can’t bear to part with so those are going to the tailor for repair. I also lost at least $1000 worth of wool yarn. I wonder if I should “plant” a readily available crappy wool sweater somewhere so they can munch on that instead. Like planting a garden just for the goddamned rabbits.