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How to Get Rid of Moths

Here are Lucy’s tips on preventing moths from getting into your yarn (with minimal chemical smell).

If you suspect you have moths, take everything out of your drawers, shelves, closets or anywhere else they may be; vacuum all cracks and crevices; then spray any kind of spray cleaner in all the cracks and crevices.

Before you put your sweaters or yarn back, wash them. Lay them out to dry in the sun if you can.

If you are worried that moths have laid eggs that might hatch, put your sweaters in the freezer for a week, take them out for a week, then put them back in for a week. That tends to break the lifecycle.

To be really sure you got them, do the vacuum-spray cleaner thing for a couple of months in a row. That will really break the cycle. I try to do this to the shop a couple of times a year just to make sure. The spray cleaner doesn't even have to be toxic, just soapy. I use Seventh Generation.

Cleaning should be enough to keep moths at bay, but if the infestation is bad, sometimes chemical warfare is called for. In that case, use mothballs. Putting the mothballs in a plastic zip bag seems to give enough smell to kill the moths, but not so much that a few minutes of airing won't clear out your garments.

The only foolproof way to store woolens other than with mothballs is to leave them in the freezer. One knitter I know of has a chest freezer in her basement for all her really prized yarn.

Download a flier with this information (32K Microsoft Word document).

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