How to Get Rid of Clothing Moths From Your Home

Today more and more people prefer good-quality clothes made of natural fabrics. Unfortunately, clothing moths have similar taste. They prefer natural materials to synthetic ones like cashmere sweaters, natural fur coats, silk dresses, and woolen carpets. But we usually don’t find out that we have this insect in our homes until it’s too late, when some of our things have already been ruined.

5-Minute Crafts wants to show you several methods that can help you get rid of clothing moths and explain how to prevent the appearance of these insects at home.

The clothing moth is considered a pest. The adult of this species is golden-beige in color with reddish-golden hairs on its head. Its body can reach 7 mm in length. But it’s at the caterpillar stage that they are the most dangerous, because they destroy natural fabrics by feeding on them. You will know that you have them by the small holes that you find in your clothes.

How to get rid of the clothing moth

• Lavender scares these moths off. You can hide a bag with lavender in the closet or put a few drops of lavender essential oil on a cotton ball or a piece of linen fabric and then hang them next to your clothes. Make sure to avoid direct contact between the lavender and the garments, as the oil can leave stains on the fabric.
• Moths don’t like cloves. Fill up a small organza bag with cloves or simply put it in a tissue and place it near your clothes.

• Cedar chips are also good at scaring off these moths. You can put them in small plastic containers and then put them in the closet. Once the cedar chips lose their characteristic smell, replace them with fresh ones.

• Wooden hangers, made of cedar, or anti-moth cedar discs that are placed on top of ordinary hangers can be a good alternative.

• Vacuum all the carpets in your home, paying special attention to the zones located under the furniture, afterward, use an anti-moth agent in all the places where you noticed adult moths.

• Make sure to keep all your clothes organized. Take them all out of the closets. Vacuum the inside, paying special attention to the corners, then wipe all the surfaces with a cloth soaked in a washing agent in order to get rid of the moth’s larvae. Afterward, wash or launder all the clothes and curtains and thoroughly clean the furniture upholstery. Low temperatures kill larvae, so you can also place all of your clothes in a plastic bag and leave them in the freezer for 48 hours.

How to prevent the appearance of moths at home

• Don’t store clothes that have sweat stains on them together with clean clothing in the closet, especially knitwear.

• Make sure to put away winter clothes during the summer months, especially those made of wool. You can store them in Ziploc bags together with special moth-repelling paper or items made of cedar.

• Before you hang a vintage piece of clothing in your closet, launder or dry clean it to get rid of the pests who could be living in it.

• Clean up after your pet well. Wash the places with soap where your 4-legged friend spends most of their time every week.
• Make sure to regularly clean pet hair from your home and your clothing. Since it’s a type of natural fur, it will also attract moths.