by Alice in Furs, fur fashionista | Jan 19, 2017 |
Clothes mothsdon’t kill or bite, and aren’t poisonous, but theyare the little jerks of the insect world and have very expensive taste.They love furs, cashmere, wool, and any other expensive animal fibers you have in your closet. When it comes to fashion, they are bug enemy number one, butthere are ways to keep the little buggers away from your furs,and I’mhere totell you how.
Prevention Is Best
Here are myfavourite tricks toturn your closet into a no-go zone for clothes moths.
Cedarwood oil:Spraycedarwood oil (diluted with distilled water) around your closet, but away from the clothes, or place cedarwood oil-soaked cotton balls in corners of closets and drawers.
Lavender oil: Fresh lavender oil (used in the same way asabove) is another nice-smelling clothes moth deterrent.
Give them space: Don’t over-stuff your closets and give your coats a good shake every now and then. That makes it difficult for clothes mothsto get comfortable in there.
Natural repellents: There are quite a few good natural moth repellants on the market, including ones you can hang in between your coats or stuff into the coat pockets. Iavoid mothballs, though. They smell bad and are terrible for the environment.
Freezing: Note this is of no use on furs as it will destroy the leather, but I will share my trick forkeeping wool and cashmere safe from clothes moths: freeze them for 48 hours in September or October. This kills the eggs, and it is actually the larvae that hatch from the eggs that are responsible for the holes in your clothing, not the clothes moths themselves.
Professional storage: Your best bet for keeping furs safe out of season or when they aren’t being worn isprofessional fur storage. If you are looking for storage near you, askyour local furrier. If they don’t offer storage, they will be able to recommend someone who can.
How to Tell If You Have Clothes Moths
A sign of clothes moths is if the fur is shedding. The hairs come loose from the leather, and fall out. But don’t confuse shedding with breakage. Delicate furs, like rabbit and chinchilla, are prone to breakage with heavy wear so it is normal that they break and shed a little bit. But if the hair is coming outin clumps, then you probably have moths.
… And If You Have
Isolate the infested garment. The bad news is, the moths are probably in your other clothes as well so it’s time for a full closet clear out. Fumigation is one solution, but you can also cleanand/or killthe moths on yourclothes by washing and/or freezing everything, and then cleaning the entire closet like a crazy personfollowed by an overdose of cedarwood or lavender, to keep them away. Warning, this is not a fun way to spend your weekend.
Fur, unlike wool and cashmere, cannot be frozen to kill the eggs as thiswill ruin the leather. The only way to remove clothesmoths is to get a professional fur cleaning. If it is a jacket you bought for $50 from a vintage store, you may want to consider getting rid of it, as it may not be cost-effective to clean, but that is of course your choice.
Aenne on June 1, 2018 at 1:25 pm
We have a reindeer hide rug that we keep on a bed (removed at night) and a wolf pelt from Canada that’s draped over a chair. The little buggers keep landing on these, even though they’re out in daylight. I shake them very day. Will this keep them free from moths, or more importantly, moth eggs? Yuck.
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Susanne Kolb-Wachtel on January 21, 2017 at 2:05 pm
You may keep your furs in a cool but dry place ( under 14 degrees celsius) as that is the temperature that “awakens” the activity of moths. Make sure you have a dry room or use a humidity package. Otherwise the furs will smell humid and mould
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