argggh. moths.

crazyone

So I buy increasingly nice things, since I now better recognize quality and love natural materials...and what happens? I find moth holes in *unworn* garments and a suit jacket I only wore once or twice I already threw out two sweaters that were absolutely shredded...in fact they were eaten so badly that I wasn't quite sure if it was moths or something else. They were stored in another closet separated from the one with the dress and suit jacket, but now I'm very sure that I have clothes moths. What do you do about this? And is it really $100-$150 to repair moths holes? Thanks for the advice!

12 years ago

Dressing

23 replies

Latest reply was from April

Word Lily

Veteran

Ooh, moths are bad bad bad. As a knitter, they're one of my huge fears, so I can commiserate! I haven't dealt with them, but I wouldn't be surprised that those prices for repairs are accurate. (Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.)

12 years ago

Greyscale

Veteran

I had a total moth scare last month while I was moving. Ugh. Luckily there was minimal damage but now I'm so paranoid.

You can do imperfect repairs on some knitwear with machine darning (just sewing back and forth over it). My drycleaner/alterations person fixed a few sweaters that way for less than $10 each. But, that's only a good idea on some types of knits where it won't show badly. There's also more careful darning with matching yarn. And fixing holes on woven wool suits can indeed be very expensive. There's a technique called reweaving that is probably not worth the cost (vs getting a new jacket) but for smaller holes, they can do a tiny subtle patch from the reverse side and that's a lot cheaper.

I put every single knit wool item in my freezer (in bags) for a week to kill any remaining moth eggs/larvae. And I got the woven things (suits etc) drycleaned (something I do very rarely, which might have contributed to the moth problem). I don't really have "out of season" clothes here or I would store my sweaters in airtight bags for summer. I threw out the small wool rug that was the most eaten.

12 years ago

unfrumped

Veteran

For off season I store my washed sweaters in sealed containers.. What I worry about more is in- season between washings. I keep them in the main closet so what's to protect them there? And of course I've got wool blend pants& jackets year- round.
I may be wrong but cashmere seems more of a moth magnet than merino.
Also I don't like the trend toward" 5%" cashmere or something. Seems that may give the risk for little benefit.

12 years ago

ironkurtin

Veteran

First, take every wool or cashmere item you own and throw it in the dryer on high for 30 minutes. Then make sure you store your items *tightly* in plastic or cloth bags, with lavender or cedar (or moth balls, if you can stand the smell - I can't). Pillowcases also work so long as they are sealed at the end. And NEVER store anything dirty. Moths like food particles and sweat, even the tiniest specks. The biggest deterrent is to make it impossible for moths to access your things, so tight storage is essential!

I have a large collection of cashmere and this system has worked well for me for 15+ years.

12 years ago

Gail

Veteran

Thanks for the information and tips. I have a really nice wool aran cardigan/jacket that got a couple of small holes in last year. I did nothing and stuck my head in the sand this past summer. Now that winter has arrived in PA I'm afraid of what I will find when I open up my cashmere sweaters and such arrgh!

12 years ago

Windchime

Veteran

During the summer, I store my off season sweaters in an old cedar chest I inherited from my grandparents. They really reek like cedar when I take them out in the fall, so I have to allow time for them to air out before I wear them. No moth holes, so I guess I'll keep using this system. It also makes me feel kind of nostalgic, reminding me of my mother doing the same storage ritual every year.

You have to lightly sand the inside of the chest occasionally or the cedar scent loses its potency.

12 years ago

Glory

Veteran

Oh I am so sorry to read this. Hope you can restore some of your items

12 years ago

Aleta

Active Member

Oh I know how you feel!!! I empty out and vacuum my wardrobe at least twice a year, put up anti moth sachets on the hanging rail and scatter them around on the floor, but the little devils still seem to creep in somewhere.

12 years ago

Anonymous

Ugh, this happened to me once and it's terrible! I'm so sorry. I hope the tips from IK can help you going forward.

12 years ago

jennifer

Veteran

Please avoid using mothballs -they are a neurotoxin that can affect humans too. I read of a lady whose mother-in-law used them heavily in her home so much so that the daughter-in-law was sickened just to enter the house. The mother-in-law seemed to be entering/in dementia other health problems but it turned out to be mothball neurotoxin built up in her body .After she was hospitalized and detoxed she was fine.

12 years ago

elpgal

Veteran

So sorry to read this. I dryclean and store all items in airtight rubbermaid containers after winter.

IK: I am intrigued. The dryer does not damage cashmere?

12 years ago

peacechick

Veteran

I handwash my cashmere and natural wools after 2 or 3 wears, dry flat and then store in plastic ziplock bags. I may or may not freeze them depending. Even then I've had a little hole in two cashmere cardis that I had to mend ( just by criss-cross stitching). I've come to peace with this being the fate of most cashmere eventually. But with this much care required, my collection is constrained to what fits in a plastic storage bin.

12 years ago

flowergirl

(website)

Active Member

Cloves also repel moths. If you put some cloves in a muslin bag and keep this in a drawer with your woollen items, the moths will keep away.

Also if you put:
Dried lavender, rosemary, thyme, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, dried lemon or orange peel, cedar chips in a muslin bag.

12 years ago

ironkurtin

Veteran

@Flowergirl - No, heat doesn't hurt cashmere. I routinely put my cashmere sweaters in the drier, wet or dry. If they are wet, I turn them inside out and put them inside a pillowcase and dry on low. If they are dry, and I am worried about moths, I nuke them. They come out very warm and soft and bug-free.

12 years ago

crazyone

Veteran

thanks everyone, for the commiseration and for the tips. Ironkurtain, I'm nuking a bunch of sweaters in the dryer right now. I found out that the cashmere sweater I was wearing today had some holes in it....grr. But they're small and only three, so I'm guessing the sweater can be darned pretty easily.

But I still don't really have a good solution for the woven wool stuff, like the dress and the suit jacket. I put the matching pencil suit (which didn't seem to have any holes in it) in the freezer and will leave it there for a week. It's just disheartening given that it was a new suit that I expected to last me a while...

Also, to replace some sweaters that I had to throw out, and to replenish my warm clothing, I ordered two cashmere sweaters, one from Inhabit (on IK's recommendation on this forum), the other from JCrew (the cashmere hoodie). The Inhabit one was final sale, so I'm going to keep it--I put it in its own plastic box with a sachet with soap and cloves, but I may just directly return the JCrew hoodie without opening it...it was quite expensive and if it's just going to get holes in it within days of arriving here, there may not be a point It's sad because it looked so beautiful online and I bought it after days of thinking about it.

12 years ago

ironkurtin

Veteran

I honestly have not had moths with my system. Storage is key. I pack everything quite tightly in those small plastic file bins from OfficeMax, with lavender sachets. It does seem to work. In the winter I put things in drawers with more sachets. And before I store anything, I wash it to make sure there are no smells or food bits that moths would like.

TBH I had more holes in my wool stuff, before I discovered cashmere and determined to take care of it.

If you store your JCrew hoodie properly, it should not get holes.

12 years ago

Anonymous

I do several of the steps mentioned. I wash or dryclean before storage, fold and seal in ziplock bags. Put in the freezer for at least a week (sometimes a special piece will stay there all summer), and then pack the items still in their sealed bags, into a tight-lidded Rubbermaid containers with unwrapped bars of potent smelling soap in each corner. In the fall when they are taken out, they get fluffed in the dryer or Dryell and hung. It's solved the hole problem for years.
I read last spring that vulnerable items left in the closet should be taken out frequently and shaken or brushed if they are not being worn, that this is enough to get rid of tiny insect eggs. Also, moths may not be the culprit. Other creepies like silverfish also eat holes in fabric. Mice like the fibers for nesting. I love wool socks and pack them away in the same way.
If you know someone handy with a needle, it is not hard to fix small holes. The more textured the item, the easier to hide your mending.
I hope that you can save at least some of your woollies.

12 years ago

Lisa

Veteran

Some great tips here, thanks for asking! I always use those cedar hangers fitting a few inbetween hanging items. And I'll periodically sand them down to freshen up the cedar. But the dryer tip is a great idea!

12 years ago

Linda

Active Member

I'm really very grateful to the participants in this thread, for all of the tips. I've avoided cashmere and even a lot of merino for a long time, because even when I carefully laundered and cared for a couple items, I found they were victims of insects or some kind of nibblers (we've had mice on occasion, who seem to crawl through the holes for the pipes in the baseboard heating). And I know that living in a house surrounded by more turf than other houses, seems to add to the level of both dust AND bugs. So the freezer tip and the dryer tip are going to be incorporated, for me, into a regular schedule for maintaining fine fabrics as I attempt to add in some of these fibers in my wardrobe again.

11 years ago

JAileen

Veteran

Linda, after a remodel we had a mice problem. They squeezed in the space for a pipe. We packed the space around the pipe with steel wool, and haven't had any problems since (ten years or so).

11 years ago

Linda

Active Member

Good idea, JAileen, thanks! You would think that our cat might "help out" with a problem like that but nooooo (or, at least, not enough to discourage the mouse world, I guess.)

11 years ago

Suzanne (ambergreen)

Veteran

As another knitter, I want to note that the occasional holes that people see in woolens are probably not moths but carpet beetles. Moths tend to completely eat something they like...their damage is far more extensive.

So, you may want to look into control methods for the beetles.

11 years ago

April

Veteran

Argh -- don't get me started.

The previous owner of our New York apartment left behind a moth problem. We couldn't understand how this was possible since the place was completely empty (not one rug or piece of fabric anywhere) for weeks while the floors were being refinished and every wall painted. The fabulous exterminator who finally solved the problem for us helped me to understand the habits and life cycle of moths.

I'm sorry to say there's no simple solution if you already have a problem, but IK is right that the dryer is your friend, and never to put any cashmere or wool away dirty.

11 years ago

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