Clothes Protection:

[earthdragon]

What do most people use, to protect against Moths and the like?
At home I have a bunch of those 'Cedar Balls' and being married to an Asian, she keeps putting moth balls in every few months (overcoat pockets and such).
I ask, as I'm travelling and just pulled a brand new Loro Piana Cashmere Sweater out of the Hotel Closet and it has an 1/8" Hole on the Shoulder!
It's been sitting in the closet here (still wrapped) for two weeks and I can't imagine it happened at home. FARK - I'm gutted..

 

[Arethusa406]

I lost an overcoat and two suits to moth damage a couple of years ago. Mothballs don't really work unless you seal the garments into a container with them. The strong odor is awful, for the garments and the surrounding living spaces. I think the best approach is to keep your closets clean and make sure you deal with any organic stains on your garments right away. Food stains especially will attract moths and carpet beetles.

 

[calvinloke]

My tailor recommended CAMPHOR.

 

[blackjack]

Cedar, camphor, and lavender are supposed to be natural alternatives to mothballs as repellents. As disgusting as the mothballs (1,4-dichlorobenzene ) might smell, their fumes actually kill moths and moth larvae. I've found some 'high tech' versions that don't seem to smell as bad as traditional mothballs - they come encased in plastic rectangles designed to hang in the closet. If you're going to put clothes away for the season, it's good idea to have them dry cleaned - or at least steamed - before you put them away.

 

[philosophe]

We send virtually all of our wool clothes to the cleaners in the spring, then store them in closed canvas bags until the cold weather returns. It's expensive, but we never have moth holes. There are a few hard-finished pieces I just brush very carefully, and that seems to work as well.

Moth balls smell horrible.

Lat but not least, you may be able to send the LP sweater to a good re-weaver.

 

[maomao1980]

a butler

 

[TheWraith]

I use lavender and have never had a problem.

 

[Mild Mannered]

This year I am seeing more moths than ever before, and am enjoying hunting them on sight with my portable vacuum cleaner. I kill them on sight (spiders too, for not doing their job)
I won't use mothballs because they stink and the smell of them lingers in the clothes which is a serious turn-off to anyone around. I went to Home Depot and bought several 6 ft length boards of cedar, and had the guy cut them into smaller pieces for me (about 1ft & 2ft lengths). Then I bought some packages of metal screw eyelets, *********** eyelets into the ends of the cedar pieces, and hang them amongst the clothes in the closet.
Seems to be working fine so far. Hey does anyone here have a full cedar wall panelling in their closets or wardrobe rooms?

 

[TheWraith]

Cedar does work a treat, good thinking there.

 

[Nicola]

Originally Posted by maomao1980

a butler

Or for the smaller timers every so often take your clothes out of storage. Give them a shake. Do the hokey pokey. Hang them back up.

 

[stylesmurf]

Originally Posted by Nicola

Or for the smaller timers every so often take your clothes out of storage. Give them a shake. Do the hokey pokey. Hang them back up.

I did alot of search on the interwebs on this subject before so that makes me a defacto expert.

Anyway, I think if you do a combination of what the people said here you will be ok for the most part. In summary:

1) Food/hair/odors attract not just moths, but other insects like varied carpet beetles which lay larvae which will feast on your wools slowly for a very long time.

2) Brush your wool clothing after wear bcause of #1. . Do not mix it with the laundered ones.

3) Disturb your wool clothing once in a while (give it some whacks), don't just let it sit there.

4) Don't use mothballs even though they work cause they are dubious healthwise plus the stink never goes away. Use cedar and lavendar: keeping in mind they are proven to work but only in very strong concentrations so you NEED to use them in a closed container: preferably a canvas zip bag like the ones with the container store (which sadly, are still not fully insect proof due to the zippers. Get cedar blocks and refresh the wood frequently by sanding and spraying them with cedar/lavendar oil sprays (also available from Container Store)

5) There are some natural citrus based sprays you can get from Whole foods that you can spray into the cracks of your closets that will help repel insects. It's not that expensive so worth using once in a whlie as insurance.

6) If moths are your problem, then you can get the hanging moth traps and place some in your closet.

Hope this helps. Personally, I have some plastic containers with cedar blocks refreshed with cedar spray for sweaters and I got a canvas hanging container for the suits. Hope it works.

 

[Stavros]

What is this forum's experience with vacuum bags? I sounds like a straight-forward idea: no air = no oxygen = no insects.

 

[stylesmurf]

Originally Posted by Stavros

What is this forum's experience with vacuum bags? I sounds like a straight-forward idea: no air = no oxygen = no insects.

Supposedly, wool needs to "breathe". (Someone please inject scientific reasoning). That's why they have canvas storage hanger enclosures for them. Plus, I am not sure what happens to the piece of clothing being vacuum compressed like that for long periods of time.

 

[Stavros]

Originally Posted by stylesmurf

Supposedly, wool needs to "breathe". (Someone please inject scientific reasoning). That's why they have canvas storage hanger enclosures for them. Plus, I am not sure what happens to the piece of clothing being vacuum compressed like that for long periods of time.
I have tried storing a couple cashmere sweaters in a vacuum bag for a few months, after hand-washing them. They came out a little wrinkled, but that was easily taken care of by a steamer. No idea about how lack of breathing affects the fabric though--they look and feel fine to me. I store suits and coats in canvas bags, not sure why.

 

[TheWraith]

Originally Posted by stylesmurf

I did alot of search on the interwebs on this subject before so that makes me a defacto expert.

Anyway, I think if you do a combination of what the people said here you will be ok for the most part. In summary:

1) Food/hair/odors attract not just moths, but other insects like varied carpet beetles which lay larvae which will feast on your wools slowly for a very long time.

2) Brush your wool clothing after wear bcause of #1. . Do not mix it with the laundered ones.

3) Disturb your wool clothing once in a while (give it some whacks), don't just let it sit there.

4) Don't use mothballs even though they work cause they are dubious healthwise plus the stink never goes away. Use cedar and lavendar: keeping in mind they are proven to work but only in very strong concentrations so you NEED to use them in a closed container: preferably a canvas zip bag like the ones with the container store (which sadly, are still not fully insect proof due to the zippers. Get cedar blocks and refresh the wood frequently by sanding and spraying them with cedar/lavendar oil sprays (also available from Container Store)

5) There are some natural citrus based sprays you can get from Whole foods that you can spray into the cracks of your closets that will help repel insects. It's not that expensive so worth using once in a whlie as insurance.

6) If moths are your problem, then you can get the hanging moth traps and place some in your closet.

Hope this helps. Personally, I have some plastic containers with cedar blocks refreshed with cedar spray for sweaters and I got a canvas hanging container for the suits. Hope it works.

Another good idea. You can find hanging moth traps that don't stink and therefore don't ruin the clothes due to their smell. I'm using hanging lavender traps simply bought from my local Woolworths supermarket. Works a treat.