Moths...Help!

Make your own moth repellent sachets.

It's easy to make your own moth repellent sachets. Buy some canvas drawstring bags from your local craft store. Prepare some dried lavender and cedar chips to which you've added a few drops of lavender and cedar essential oils. Close the drawstring on the bag and drop them in the containers with your clothing. The cedar chips and lavender will be only be effective if placed into a sealed container. You can also add dried rosemary, thyme, and dried cloves which seem to have moth repellent properties. If you're looking for an inexpensive source of cedar chips, ask for hamster bedding at your local pet store.

Hi J.,
My mother-in-law uses those pantry moth traps and says they work well. I have noticed we have a few months so I will be trying them as well. Cedar at least smells better than moth balls!
Sincerely,
L.

Another one I didn't see mentioned here is Eucalyptus. I use cloth diapers and have wool covers, the wool wash I have has eucalyptus in it and according to the package it acts as a moth repellant. I have also heard it is a good flea repellant too.

how about Moth-Away, an herbal moth repellent you can find at the Container Store (probably other places too.)

Bars of Sandlewood soap also works. Leave the soap wrapped in it's paper and put it with your cloths your trying to protect. It's what I use with my wool yarn.

Cedar is the most natural and least harmful. So unless you're allergic to it I would go that way.

Moths go to certain clothing (cashmere, wool) most often when the items have been worn and microscopic bits of food and other items collect on the fabric. You may think it is clean after one short wearing, but it isn't to a moth. It has lots of stuff to eat. Either have the item cleaned and store in a suit bag (put a couple of cedar squares at the bottom) or (like I do with my cashmere and wool sweaters) store in a large plastic bin (hello Target) with some cedar tossed in). Most of these items are worn seasonally but you should protect them year round. Do a search and clean of your closet and go through all the stuff that may have collected these pests. Shake out all your clothes, brush off all wool items (suits), etc. Even a "lost" wool sock can be a breeding ground. Do a thorough cleaning and start fresh.

There is a little trap called "Safer". It is environment safe and it works great at catching moths. What kind of moths do you have? Mine started in the pantry and then moved to the linens. Finding and cleaning out the nests is very important. Linen moths and pantry moths look very similar. Anyway you can get "Safer" at home depot.
Good luck
J.

we keep our wool sweaters in plastic totes (e.g. rubbermaid or sterlite boxes) and suits are zipped into hanging garment bags sort of like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Jumbo-Clothes-Bag-Hanging-Vinyl/dp/...
(we got all our stuff from target)

Try this:
http://www.planetnatural.com/site/moth-away.html

It has Peppermint, Rosemary, Thyme, and Cloves in it and naturally repels months. That or you can get the dried herbs and make your on satchels.

M. *~

Hi J.,

Funny you should ask about this. I just found out the answer myself. About a year ago I was having the same problem. A friend told me to put Bounce Dryer sheets in my closets and drawers. I laughed but did it anyway. It worked too! The moths are gone and my clothes smell pretty good too!

Good luck!
N. :o)

Hi J.,
I learned this trick a while back, and it works! Just cut out all the little paper perfume and cologne samples from magazines and ads, cut a little hole in the top and hang them on the clothes hangers with your clothes or put them inside drawers etc. Moths hate the scent and your clothes will smell heavenly. No more toxic moth balls.
-A.