How to win the battle over wool with moths?

[Adsibob]

Apart from one small rug, the only wool in our house is in my wardrobe: suits and merino jumpers, merino base layer and woollen socks.

 

Almost half the year we have to ventilate the place with open windows. Lights at night attract moths. Is there a way to co-exist with them without sacrificing my clothes?

I keep my merino in plastic bags and try to keep my suits in plastic suit bags, but it’s not always possible. A family member had his wardrobe built out of cedar wood but it’s too late for us, we went with Ikea. We’re have little balls of CEdar wood in our wardrobes, and try to top them up with cedar wood oil every 4 months or so, but it’s not full proof.

 

 Anyone got any good tricks to deal with these (expletive deleted)ers?

 

[ProDave]

We never have open windows with a light on after dark.  If we need ventilation at night, we open the windows as we go to bed and turn the lights off.

[JohnMo]

Good old - moth balls.

[patp]

Moth traps.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clothes-Moth-Pheromone-traps-pack/dp/B00757S4Z4. We have used these with quite a bit of success in that we trapped a lot of moths. The pheromone is supposed to just attract the clothes moths. They will, if you ask, identify the moth that you trap and send to them. We just put the traps all over the house in dark places. We have wool loft insulation, wool carpets, wool duvets................ you get the drift that I am a big fan of wool

[patp]

Some say that the flea control house spray that you use for cat and dog fleas works too.

[Adsibob]

  On 13/09/2023 at 09:48, patp said:

Moth traps.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clothes-Moth-Pheromone-traps-pack/dp/B00757S4Z4. We have used these with quite a bit of success in that we trapped a lot of moths. The pheromone is supposed to just attract the clothes moths. They will, if you ask, identify the moth that you trap and send to them. We just put the traps all over the house in dark places. We have wool loft insulation, wool carpets, wool duvets................ you get the drift that I am a big fan of wool

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Thanks @patp. The product you’ve  linked appears to be a consumable for some other product. Is that right, or have I misunderstood how these traps work?

[MikeSharp01]

  On 13/09/2023 at 17:35, Adsibob said:

Thanks @patp. The product you’ve  linked appears to be a consumable for some other product. Is that right, or have I misunderstood how these traps work?

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They are, they fit in a smart looking, but still plastic, cage you can use them without the cage. Just so everybody knows you need to be aware that these traps only catch the male moths. So, if you understand the basic repro process you will understand that while you may catch many moths just one male surviving can fertilize many females while also having a whale of a time because the competition is all stuck up to your traps.

[bassanclan]

Spanish style window nets?

[patp]

Do they fly in from outside though? It was my impression that they are imported in to the house in clothing and/or textiles.

[Jilly]

I think you can get special jumper nets to let things ventilate. Also freezing clothes regularly kills the eggs but needs to be for 2 weeks at a time (not 2 days as some sites say).  Kirsty Allsop has a dedicated freezer space to rotate her woolies. 

[patp]

I had heard the tip about freezing them but had not known how long for so thanks for that @Jilly