Clothes moths go by the fancy scientific names of tineola bisselliella and tinea pellionella (so two different species of moths, bisselliella being the most common). These 2 species of moths thrive on keratin. What is keratin ? Keratin is “the key structural material making up scales, hair, nails, feathers, horns, claws, hooves, and the outer layer of skin among vertebrates” (Wikipedia). In short : clothes mothes have an unlimited supply of food in your house through your hair and your pet’s hair and…. all your knits made of keratin. Animal fleece is keratin, so all your knitted items made of sheep wool, alpaca, yak, angora, cashmere, etc. are a moths’ paradise! Likewise for your knits made of silk : silk is keratin. Likewise your woollen carpets and any pieces of furniture you or your pets sit on. In short, eradication of clothes mothes is no way in sight. Getting the situation under of control is however achievable.
First measure : buy some clothes moth adhesive-lined cardboard enclosures baited with artificial pheromones. The trap works as the insects are mislead into believing the source of the pheromones is a mating partner. I find it very satisfying to see the glued insects. And it is a necessity too.
Adult moths are sex freaks…primarily concerned in reproducting. The moths traps only attract males, but this isn’t much of an issue as adult moths don’t feed on textiles and what you need is all this reproduction activity to stop ASAP. Because the larvae are the real problem. The plus side of the pheromones trap is that they are not toxic for you, the environment or your pets. Be sure to buy a clothes moth traps, as the ones countaining pheromones targeted for pantry moths won’t work for clothes moths and respectively.
Adult females lay eggs near suitable food sources (your precious knits!), and when the eggs hatch, the larvae emerge and begin to feed on the nearby textiles (your precious knits!).In short, baby moths munch on your knits and you see it because it creates holes. The larvae thrive on all keratin-rich fabrics, but some larvae aren’t lucky and start their short life on fabrics that are not keratin-rich, aka your precious plant-based knits (linen, cotton, viscose, bamboo, …). And….those unfortunate creatures try to munch on them – they’re tiny, travelling to a better suited fabric isn’t an option. So they try to munch on your precious plant-based knits, it doesn’t work as they can’t digest it well, but you get a hole nevertheless! These larvae need to go to, ASAP. And what about my knits that are partly made out of acrylic yarn, you may ask? They aren’t safe either. Because your typical sock yarn made of 75% wool and 25% acrylic still has a high enough keratin-protein content for those pesky larvae to feed on it. And even when your knit is 100% acrylic, the larvae will feed on any sweat or food residue they might have. Your precious 100% wool/silk is their much prefered food, but as we have seen, the fact that clothes moths don’t thrive on other knitted garment is hardly a consolation as all munching actions create holes. These larvae really need to go.
Second measure : deepfreeze your clothes. Keep them there for 24 hours. It will kill all the larvae.
But…not the eggs, that could still turn onto larvae . And munch on your precious knits. I didn’t know that (this blog is learning me stuff, too, as I do some further research for you guys!).
I have been using this deepfreezing methods for more than 10 years now, the first time being after having seen several T-shirts ruined. The way I got rid of them is by following these 2 steps and no other. I couldn’t put all the clothes of my family at once in our freezer so I bought many different plastic boxes used to store clothes, layed all our clothes in them and proceeded to deepfreeze each pile for 12 hours before puting them back in the zipped boxes. These two measures were sufficient. Now, I still deepfreeze my clothes as a preventative measure : my summer clothes in autumn and my winter clothes in spring. Meanwhile, and this is the 3rd anti-moth measure : I store my seasonal knits in the zipped plastic boxes just after I take them out of the freezer. I don’t freeze the clothes I wear all year-round. Washing and heat (120 °F or 49 °C for 30 minutes or more) also gets you rid of the moths. Of course, to be able to wash/freeze all your clothes regularly, you need to have a reasonable amount of clothes. Fast fashion is not your friend!
We are in October and usually it’s at this time of year that I freeze my summer knits. But I’m not. In fact, I’m wearing a cotton summer knit right now. Here in Switzerland, our climate is changing at a tremendous speed. This change is bad news for us and good news for clothes moths : both clothes moths species are more active and reproduce more easily in hot and humid environment. As times goes by, I might have to freeze my clothes more often. I might also have to deal with the effects of an infestation more regurlaly. As moths can’t be eradicated, my guess is that my 4th anti-moth measure will be to learn to repair moth holes. Even in cold Norway, old knitted artefacts display little repairs that were made due to hide moth holes.
Unsolicited Knitting Advice 