Mothing

[edgeinwi]

Hi all;

I am naive on this subject (never had any of my clothing exposed) and a search came up empty.
I recently purchased a coat that has some mothing on it. I am wondering if I need to worry about the rest of my clothing because of this coat. Do moths lay eggs on the garmets that they feast on, thereby allowing the eggs to hatch and infest other garmets in the closet? If so, what can I use in order to kill the eggs? Any help or resources are appreciated. Thanks.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Mothing

How d' ye!

In brief and to over-generalize....

"Clothes Moths" are a pesky historical and modern problem. Well actually moths are harmless, it is the larvae that do the damage.

A while back I bought a (what I thought was) new greatcoat from a well-known maker/vendor that had moth eggs on it I did not see. The coat was left in the bag and stored in a dark storage room for two years. When I went to get it out clothes moths scurried. The larvae had a major portion of several inches of the bottom, as well some extensive holes in the shoulders laced with their abandoned silk pupae cases, silk threads, and fecal pellets..

Clothes moth larvae feed on wool, feathers, fur, hair, leather, lint, dust, paper, and occasionally cotton, linen, silk, and synthetic fibers. They are especially damaging to fabric stained with beverages, urine, oil from hair, and sweat. Most damage is done to articles left undisturbed for a long time, such as old military uniforms and blankets, wool upholstery, feathered hats, antique dolls and toys, natural bristle brushes, weavings, wall hangings, piano felts, old furs, and especially wool carpets under heavy furniture and clothing in storage.

There is something in "used" items that attracts the moths moreso than new! So, "soiled" areas of garments such as necks, underarms, crotches, pockets, or any place that receives more "dirt" or "stink" are tastier. And clothes moths are attracted to dark not light, so items in dark, isolated places are more attractive ot egg-laying moths than lit open spaces.

The old fashioned "moth balls" and "moth flakes" actually do more to stink up clothing than actually repel moths. Paradichlorobenzene balls/flakes or napthalene will not repel clothes moths or prevent them from laying eggs -- however the fumes are lethal to clothes moths when maintained at sufficiently high lethal concentrations in small closed spaces!

Cedar-lined chests and closets are not 100 percent effective. The natural cedar oil is often at a very low level anyways, and evaporates so a fresh treatment of cedar oil should be applied every two years. Be sure that all cloth goods be dry cleaned, washed, pressed with a hot iron, sunned, or brushed prior to storage in an airtight container with an effective moth repellent.

Freezing has been successfully used to control clothes moths. Place items in plastic bags, squeeze all air out to minimize condensation, and deep freeze the materials for three days. Infested antique objects should be either fumigated or deep frozen by an experienced licensed pest control operator. However, insect eggs resist freeezing and this may not work.

Heat is also successful, moreso than freezing. Baking a garment at 275 degrees for an hour kills eggs, larve, and adults. HOWEVER.... a stove is rough on some fabrics and plastic buttons... ;-)

Curt

[John-Owen Kline]

Re: Mothing

Karl, first things first - separate the garment in question from everything else – ASAP!

Is it an historic textile? If it’s relatively new I recommend the large vacuum “space bags” to store it until it can be treated. Can you provide some pictures?

http://www.textilemuseum.org/care/brochures/TM-pest-chart.pdf

[Spinster]

Re: Mothing

Each and every piece of wool that comes into my studio visits the freezer first. For years I had an old chest type deep freezer---now I rely on the 'side by side' portion of my refrigerator.

Obviously, we eat out a lot at my house, :D as there is no room in there for food.

Separate the item immediately, bag it up---if it is historic--follow the links above. If its plain ol' reenactor wear, get it into the freezer for several days.

I also store with cloth strips soaked in oil of pennyroyal---this particular period method does require some caution--do follow product directions.

In the last 20 years, the only thing ever eaten up in our home has been my husband's good black suit--and I really think it came back from the cleaners that way.

[edgeinwi]

Re: Mothing

Thank you to all who replyed. Thank goodness that I kept the garmet with mothing separate from all my other garmets. I am going to do as suggested and place the coat in a space bag and put in the freezer. I think that I am going to store it in the space bag just to be on the safe side. Again, thank you for all your good advice and comments.

[boreguard]

Re: Mothing

You've been given very good advice. I've been in the pest control industry all my working career, so I appluad these who've replied as their advice is "dead on"
Good luck.