BALLS - moth, for the killing of,alternatives.

Never had much luck with moth balls, they are generally too small to see even with varifocals. Boom, boom
You could try cedar balls in the drawer or wardrobe, or, I believe putting the garments in the freezer kills them off. But are you sure it's moth, or just <cheap> cotton wearing out in the washing machine? Maybe a milder detergent, like Woolwash and water softener tabs?

Rosemary is supposed to deter clothes moths (it's their larvae that do the actual damage), and would certainly smell better than mothballs!

Moths usually go,for the expensive clothes like merino wool and cashmere. I had moths and had to empty entire wardrobe, wash everything, then roll each garment up and place in freezer for 24 hours., Hoover and wash out out wardrobe, then hang those sticky strips up which catch the blighters, and various little lavender smelly things. Rehang garments in plastic covers, ( and I have 3 wardrobes) Still caught a few moths on the strips, and I still put the strips up where the occasional one gets caught but clothes seem ok thank goodness. So make sure you have moths before you start the above.

Cedarwood.

cedar wood - there are some square ones with holes in the centre that you loop over the coat hangers and they seem to work

Thank you all!

Unfortunately it is pretty certain that moths are the culprits, I haven't dared look at my wool stuff yet, which apart from jumpers includes a rather nice Italian wool suit, with both skirt and trousers to match the jacket, and a few real "vintage" pieces from Jaeger, 1950's.

I am paranoid about moths and in the past had some due to an infected wool jacket brought into the house by DS returning from Uni.

I didn't often go into his fitted wardrobe, but when I did! The whole front was eaten!!

I did as Suzied did as far as removing the blighters! Now in all the wardrobes I put scented moth repellents and spray with Zero moth killer, from most supermarkets and they small perfumy. I do this all year round and keep cashmere in plastic boxes with lids.

I understand there is a plague of them at the moment.

x

A few years back I noticed DH's T shirts had a few small holes in them. At first I thought it might have been a sharp bit of the drum in the washing machine, felt it all round, found nothing. I wasn't that bothered as they were cheap work T shirts from Primark.

However the stuff showing holes now includes some of my favourite long tops that I bought quite recently.

Can's face checking the wool stuff, as I'm off to work, but have a day off tomorrow and will steel myself!

If its that knitted cotton fabric I wonder if it's not manufacturing faults.
I do have those moth repellents on hangars but I can't stand the smell of them. Rosemary sprigs might well be a better bet.

Cedar wood works very well, you can get balls, squares and rings to hang over hangers. They seem to last a long time too, and I quite like the smell of cedar.

Various herbs are reputed to deter clothes moths. The one I remember is artemisia abrotanum - southernwood - which I hung in the wardrobe inside an old pop sock. However, the scent of rosemary is much nicer. I keep all my woolies and cashmeres or combinations of the two in zip-up bags. Never had any problems with cottons - so far.

I can't recall moths causing any problems but this thread reminded me of the other one we had recently about killing insects. Moths are pleasant little things, not like slugs

Not a question of killing 'pleasant little' moths. Unfortunately clothes moths can cause damage to natural fibres but principally to wool and cashmere. Iam, there are plenty of other far more attractive moths that don't cause this kind of damage so don't let the fate of these pests prey on your conscience!

Yes, they seem to go for shirts more than anything, anything all cotton or natural fibre anyway.

I wonder if they avoid the grey, rainy weather in this part of the north west

I've just had a quick look at some of the 100% wool clothes (inc. the vintage Jaeger) and I can't see any damage!

The cotton stuff seems to be preferred for some reason

www.mothprevention.com/products/zero-in-demi-diamond-clothes-moth-trap?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlepla&variant=369481563&gclid=CIXDgpDGqMYCFYoIwwodhTIAmA

Buy some sticky strips like the above. You will soon know if you have moths as you will find a load of them stuck in the trap.