Are You Battling with Clothes Moths?

There are worse things your home could be infested with, but there is no doubt clothes moths can be frustrating and expensive too. They can eat through your finest cashmere sweater. You can take your leather jacket out of a wardrobe only to find it has holes in it. In fact, moths seem to prefer expensive garments as opposed to the cheaper ones that would be easier to replace.

However this doesn’t mean other clothes and materials are free from the chance of being damaged. Moths aren’t too bothered about the materials they munch through – if they’re there, they’ll have a go at them.

The first thing you should do when you discover moth damage is to clear out the offending area and vacuum it thoroughly. Put the clothes through the wash while you do so – even if they look fine. Eggs laid by these moths are around half a millimetre long to begin with. Suffice to say they are not too easy to spot.

The fact is, the cleaner you can keep your home the less likely it is to become a victim of moth damage. However you don’t necessarily have to live in a home in need of a clean to be affected. If you have a drawer in which you store some winter clothing, for example, it is unlikely to be looked in or disturbed much during the summer months. As such, clothes moths have a good opportunity to get in there, lay their eggs and happily eat through your clothing in the meantime. They will hardly be disturbed, so who can blame them?

The next step, after cleaning and vacuuming, is to make sure you put moth repellents and deterrents to work for you. You can get scented liners, scented balls and various other options. Whatever you use, remember to replace it as often as you can. Another option you might like to use as well is to install moth traps. These catch the male moths so they are unable to get to the females to breed, thus replicating your problem. The traps also give you an idea of how serious the moth infestation can be.

If you do all this and you are still unsure as to whether you have solved the problem, you can always call in the professionals. This ensures you get the best results and can be rid of moths and their eggs and larvae as well.