Millers/moths in Pantry - Help!

I helped my dad clean out his pantry at his house. The moths even invaded unopened boxes and bags. We tossed everything out. Washed all of the shelves. Knocked down the cocoons that were on the popcorn ceiling. Then put out the sticky moth traps. He had to replace many of these traps. He bought the traps at Orchard Supply Hardware. I found the information to get rid of them by googling pantry moths. We even wiped down the liquor bottles because some were in that cupboard too.
Good luck! Be diligent and patient, it take awhile!

The sell traps for these at Gardens Alive (http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8909). We used them and it really helped. Good luck!

I have had them several times and yes they are a pain in butt to get rid of. Sometimes they come in the packages from the store thats why the big warehouse stores have the huge fans going at the doors. You first have to throw out everything, wipe out all cabinets and drawers then go to Lowes or home depot and buy pantry moth traps and put them in there. The moths turn lay eggs that turn into little worms then dhed their skin and fly away. I have no idea how they get into sealed stuff either but you just have to throw out everything you currently have and start fresh.

HI Laura,
I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard the moths are actually imbedded in the glue from the packaging and that 24 hours in the freezer will take care of the problem. I've gotten so silly that I put many of my boxes in the freezer for 24 hours and then put them in the plastic containers. It seems to have taken care of the problem. I do the same with jello/pudding boxes - just to be on the safe side. It sounds so silly, but I found it to be an easy fix. For my extra flour, I leave in the freezer, too. Hope that helps. - J.

This really is a pain in the butt situation, but not all that uncommon. You should throw out anything that is grain based, open or not. Empty the closet completely, vacuum it out, then wash it out. Freezing the food only temporarily takes care of the moth larvae, they go dormant in the cold and often come back full force once they are room temp again. I worked for many years in a Agway, which is an agricultural store that sells grains, birdseed, pet food, ect. This was a constant problem and we tried freezing them out side and it didn't help. Pantry Pest traps are available at most hardware stores, lowes, and home depots. These can help control the problem but will not work with out getting out the infested food first.

We've done the cleaning, freezing, and trapping, but like others have said, new ones come in when you shop, and I don't have room for everything in my freezer. I have found that the bay leaves DO help, by repelling them out of my kitchen. Yes, I do find them in other parts of my house, unfortunately, but they are easy to swat, and they are not breeding in my food, so I get rid of new outbreaks quickly. Don't forget to treat your pet food area!

You are going to have to throw everythig away and start over, but first you are going to have to clear out everything in your cab's including the lower ones or other ones even where you house the dishes. You will have to first spray them with a pest control Fog spray and if you really have them bad and want to make sure they are gone you could place 1 fogger under some newspaper on the floor in the kitchen and you will not have that problem again. Make sure you open every cabinet and clear out all food products and dishes. It is time consuming but a one time fix and you won't have to worry. You can go out for two hours, come back and open up the windows and turn the fan on(of course leave the kids outside) and come back in another hour!! Good Luck

After all seems better, test it by leaving a stale piece of bread somewhere and change it every week or two.
It will be the easiest food source, so preventing your real food from some late hatcher or new guest.
We did a remodel, had th kitchen gutted, expolsed to a cold winter, put in all new cabnets and a year later...
I think th pet food is the source, so if the animals suddenly don't like it, look at that closely and destroy before you get it in your food.
We are not alone,
js

Throw evrything with any of them out and put everything in the freezer for a week. Also, when you buy any new four, etc. put it in the freezer before in your cupboard.

If you have a separate freezer, try keeping all your grain products in there. Then keep on cleaning out the pantry and doing all you can to get rid of the moths, and their larvae. Grains usually have the tiny beginnings of larvae in them. They aren't a problem as long as the grain doesn't get too warm and let the larvae begin to grow. You don't even know they are there and they don't harm you. Keeping the products in the freezer helps keep them in check, and it doesn't hurt the grains at all. Just allow a small amount more of time when cooking with them, because they start out so cold, but you really won't even notice the difference in cooking time all that much.

OMG... we had them so bad and I even ended up taking them into the office... it was a nightmare. They must have come in with some treats we got for the dogs and it took a long time to get rid of them.

We had to clean out the cupboard completely, get rid of everything and buy new stuff and put them in air-tight containers. I believe we ended up washing out the cupboard several times and just killing them every time we saw them flying around. I think it took about 4-6 months to get rid of them completely. We washed the cupboard out with a disinfectant many times. Every now and again we will find a dead one in there yet.

I do believe there is some item you can get that will take care of them. I did put cedar in there and that seemed to help some. Good luck!

It will take alot of patience. Terminex several times worked for my mother in laws house. We had to empty the pantry and clean it from top to bottom. They will spread. The dog food was in the laundry room and we had to also clean that room top to bottom too and throw away the ironing board. Just because it's a jar don't trust that it's clean. look in the edges of the cap. I would check the pantry every week or so and clean until all are gone. They even got into the dining room seat cushions and we lost those too. As you are eliminating the moths. I would recommend changing stores where you shop. The grocery store where my mother in law shopped was infested with them. They would fly around in the store. Changing stores could prevent future outbreaks.

Don't know about the bay leaves, but they do cocoon, so you have to clean all the cracks and crevices really well, and all the cupboard and shelf surfaces, top and bottom, too. I heard that freezing stuff kills the larvae and eggs, too, in case they are in whatever you bought.

Flour products are bad for you anyway. I would just throw them all out. In lieu of that, you can put used newspapers inside all your jar lids. Bugs don't like it. It looks a little funky but it keeps the bugs away.

We had them a few years ago, (the flour for my bread machine was their breeding ground), I tossed everything in my pantry that wasn't canned/bottled, then I used a very strong bleach cleaner (I think it was Clorox Clean-up) and cleaned my pantry from top to bottom, including wiping/rincing all cans/bottles and then left the pantry doors open and empty for 48 hours. After than, I placed a bay leaf (or 2) on every shelf. I slowly started buying groceries on a weekly basis and put all sugar, flours, cereals in either sealed plastic ziploc freexer bags or containers with a seal I can see. We have had no problems since then. Be sure to check your spice cabinet as well, we had them invade some of the spices as well!

I keep getting them. I haven't gone so far as to throw everything out, since they'll comein again with something else. Throwing out anything that is infested and freezing anything suspicious helps.
I have put all my flours and many flour products in Tupperware or Rubbermaid containers, with a bay leaf in each one, and that does seem to help. The bay leaf is obvious enough that I've never had a problem scooping out the flour. Just leaving them on the shelf didn't seem to be enough.
Good luck!