Do clothes moths have predators?

PS It's reckoned none of them like lavender or bay (Acana is a lavender oil spray) so I shall be putting sprigs in all the dark places!

I had this issue a few years ago, I used lavender, cedar wood balls etc and swatted every one I saw. A pest control man said we would need to have every item of clothing dry cleaned ? then all carpets fumigated after removal of furniture ! We had a 3 storey town house then ! Just impossible to do. I did put double sided adhesive tape all round my skirting boards and that trapped loads, plus put those awful fly papers up all over. Try to find the site of the pupa, ours were under the sofa (dark and dusty places) then you can hoover them up and kill them before they hatch.

They are not particular are they alig99
They prefer wool if available but cotton and I think they eat paper too so books may be a problem.
My best decision was having a small chest freezer, kept cold. 3 days in there, then out for 24 hours so the eggs hatch and then back in to kill the larvae!

There is a persian carpet importer in the city who offer to put your things in their industrial freezer for a fee. Even moth larvae cannot survive at minus 40 degrees c.
I have been told that a tumble drier will kill them as will a microwave and ofcourse drycleaning fluid will work too.

I found the only thing that works is keeping things in strong plastic bags designed for the purpose. They don't seem to touch my cotton though

I had 4 stunning expensive cashmere jumpers i bought ages ago from Marks, when clothing was far superior in quality compared to now, and kept them in plastic bags. One day i decided to take one out to match a pair of slacks i was wearing and was stunned speechless - all covered in holes. I have no idea how they got into bags, and chewed their way through my beautiful tops. They've all been binned now - i was devastated. Good luck - growing up in Oz we always used Moth Balls - which made the whole house smell strangely, but it certainly worked. If it works in the sub-tropics it should work anywhere.

You could make your fortune importing/exporting the mothballs as they can't be bought for love nor money here in UK. As I said before the naphthalene is too poisonous to handle. I know we all survived but there you go. Our generation was made of stronger stuff.
It is horrible when you find your best clothes eaten.
I lost a hand spun, hand knitted cardigan. Boo hoo.
I keep everything vulnerable in plastic ziplock bags and try not to keep anything for "best"
Socks in a plastic box with a lid.

DH ties all went to the compost heap.
I wonder what I would find if I moved the large wardrobe.... and that's a good idea about the double sided tape coconut.
Why am I sitting here you ask!
I may need smelling salts for my constitution before the next tackle begins.

I have cedar wood ‘planks’ with hanger hooks in them. They’re about 6” long, I hang them everrywhere, put rings over hangars in cupboards, and blocks into drawers, trunks, wherever I store clothes. Haven’t seen moths yet, hmm, hope that doesn’t jinx it. I wear only wool, cotton etc! Natural fibers. But the cedar wood works. Get some cedar wood oil, that may make it easier, paint inside drawer or cupboards etc.

I recently helped a client to deal with this problem. He had an infestation of both carpet moths and clothes moths that was spectacularly bad. Fortunately we were in the position of being able to replace every single item that was affected (he had very little of anything and his place is just a one bedroom flat). We threw out all the furniture and carpets, all the bedding and clothing, then re-decorated every room before using industrial grade moth killer. The pheromone trap has captured nine moths since we treated everything. All his new furniture, carpets and clothes are made of synthetic materials and I'm still going in twice a week to continue spraying the rooms. I won't stop spraying until the moth trap hasn't caught one for a month.

More than 50 years ago I bought a couple of highly reduced cashmere sweaters n a Harrod's sale
The clothes moths went through everything else in my cupboard recently ( including much newer cashmere) but didn't touch the old ones.
I wonder if the old ones had been treated with a substance which is not allowed now. Whatever it was, I am still here after wearing them and the jumpers are unscathed

Although we have had and still see the occasional clothes moth, despite spraying, it is strange that we never see then in our second home. Maybe it’s because it has Cedar cladding.

I used to keep wardrobe doors open in day, apparently they hate daylight. I washed/cleaned everything in built in wardrobes. Still saw odd one. Decorated room & decided to have new furniture as well, not seen them since ?

I got powder from amazon - for my holiday home, you have to wear a mask and then leave the room for 48 hrs - I did the whole house, left drawers and wardrobes open and sprinkles it all over the floor. When I returned I hoovered it all up and the problem has gone - it did unfortunately kill all the house spiders too. I can’t remember what it was called but I’m going down to the house on Thursday so I’ll look at it and post the name. It really is best to do it when you are going away for a few days though - just sprinkle the powder all over just before you go out of the door and leave for min 48 hrs - totally works.

We had an infestation of moths just after moving because some of our things had been in storage.

It took a long time to get rid of them, but by following my grandmother's regime I managed.

Everything that could be washed was on the hottest temperature possible.

Clothes and carpets that couldn't be washed were dry-cleaned. Suits, good dresses etc. I keep permanently in dress bags with moth repellent.

I have no idea what you can buy in the UK now of moth repellents, but there must be something.

Shoes were hovered and like you all cupboards, floors and drawers hoovered and washed.

Anything that could neither be washed nor dry cleaned went into the freezer or was hung out on the washing line on a windy day.

I use the moth traps you mention, simply renew them every three months to be on the safe side, as I don't want my beloved childhood teddies being attacked.

It is said that moths detest the smell of peppermint, so I have tried a mixture of dried peppermint leaves and lavender, but I am not sure it does any good. The smell of turpentine is said to deter them as well.

you have reminded me, grandtante, I had to throw out all the soft toys, and all the gorgeous dresses I had saved for a future generation.
My DGC have so much anyway that it's no great loss,
I am trying to be philosophical and accepting that the de cluttering, which badly needed doing is being speeded up by the moth invasion.

.

grannyactivist when you're done there can you come here please. That's a wonderful service you are doing for him. I would need an army of cleaners in this old building. We live on 4 floors.

I did notice, to my amusement that the National Trust property nearest to us is closed at the moment for essential conservation work. They were featured recently on local TV explaining how they had many old tapestries and carpets damaged by moths and were giving away the traps free to visitors!!
www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/newhailes?awc=15472_1563713735_de74504d4ee0097d7755cc1962b56504

Grammaretto it's taken me six weeks (joined at the weekends by my wonderful husband and with a bit of help from friends/colleagues) to complete the project. It had to be fitted in around my other work, but the final pair of curtains was hung on Friday evening and now the job is complete. The new items were all paid for from a back payment of PIP that was awarded at Tribunal to a client with a learning disability.

Now my own house is in need of a thorough clean having been completely neglected for six weeks and I am paranoid that I may have brought some moths back home with me!

For the carpet moths: we spent ages searching out the pupae. They look like grains of rice. There were a lot in the top folds of the curtains so they had to be dry cleaned. Then under the chairs especially where there were tassels and on the castors too. Best hunting device was a skewer between the carpet and the skirting board. You can flick them out and hoover them up. I think we are winning but you have to be ever vigilant!

I had them in a sofa bed which didn't get pulled out very often. They also chewed my wool carpet underneath. Got rid of said sofa bed and had new synthetic carpet and haven't been bothered since. Fingers crossed they're gone.

We had a terrible problem with moths in our previous house. They more or less ate our entire dining room carpet. Clothes however, weren’t touched. It was a new house and we and some neighbours were persuaded to buy cheaper wool carpets from the builders. The carpets were very good quality; however they had not been treated and everyone who bought from the builders had the same problem. When we moved we were very careful to ensure all the furniture was really clean and have not had any further problems after living in our current house for 5 years

Moths don't like cedar wood.

There are several types of moths and the ones you routinely see flying around light bulbs are not the ones which eat materials.

Just had an ad from Lakeland for a spray for doing away with Moths !

Algorithms!
It is quite scary that the computer knows more about you than you know yourself!
I have lifted a carpet and removed about 40 vinyl floor tiles. I'm determined to clean this room thoroughly. Now I'll get the floor sanded and varnished.
No more carpets!!

My friend had a massive infestation and they ate through the whole house. She tried everything, nothing worked. So she got in Rentokil who sorted it and now has a contract for them to come 4 times a year and check. It's worked.

I have looked this up and Acana is not just lavender.
This is from the manufacturer in response to a question on Amazon:

“This product contains harsh chemicals - this is necessary as the product is designed as a Moth Killer. However, these chemicals have been thoroughly tested and are not harmful to adults, children or pets with the exception of aquatic animals.
PLEASE NOTE: We would like to advise that we would not recommend this product to anyone undergoing any strenuous therapy such as chemotherapy - cases such as this should avoid contact with harsh chemicals of any kind.
I hope this helps, please let me know if you would like any further information.
Thank you and kind regards,
Jessica, Caraselle LTD.”