If you have ever been surprised by a moth infestation, you will know how difficult it is to combat moths. But even if it’s difficult to get rid of the little beasts, our tricks can help you get rid of the pests again soon! Read on to find out which tips really help with pest control and what you should look out for.
Where do moths actually come from?
Moths enter your home through open windows or old carpets, blankets or used upholstered furniture. But they can also be brought into your home when you go shopping, as food such as flour is often already contaminated with moths.
How do I recognize moths?
The most common types of moths in the home are clothes moths and food moths. The term food moth refers to a whole range of species. For example, the dried fruit moth, the flour moth or the flour moth.
Clothes moths can be recognized by their light yellow to dark brown wings and indirectly, of course, by damage to clothing. The larvae of the moth cause the damage because they feed on keratin, which is found in animal products such as wool, fur, feathers, down and leather. Check your clothes, as well as curtains, carpets and upholstery, for small, irregular holes or bald patches.
Depending on the species, food moths are usually rather grey and often difficult to recognize, as the pests are small and inconspicuous. They prefer dry foods such as flour, rice, pasta, cornflakes, baking powder, cocoa, nuts and animal feed and contaminate them with their excrement and saliva. However, they do not pose a health risk and do not transmit diseases.
Fighting moths
Female moths usually lay between 250 and 300 eggs which, once hatched, eat their way through the contents of your wardrobe, leave droppings behind and continue to reproduce. If you do nothing to prevent this, you will have a moth infestation within a very short time, which will take a lot of effort to get under control.
Therefore, proceed as follows if you have discovered the pests in your home and want to combat the moths:
Wash textiles
If you are dealing with clothes moths, you should machine wash all infested items of clothing at a temperature of at least 50 °C. The insects usually do not survive the high temperatures.
Heat or cold
Delicate items of clothing that cannot be washed in the washing machine should be wrapped in a plastic bag and placed in the freezer for a week. This is because cold can also successfully combat moths.
Large textiles such as curtains, carpets or upholstered furniture fit neither in the washing machine nor in the freezer. In summer, place them in the blazing sun for several hours or blow-dry them on the highest setting to catch all the pests.
Be careful with leather sofas: They do not tolerate heat and can warp when blow-dried.
Remove food
If you are dealing with food moths, you should throw away all infested and adjacent food, as the small pests can easily eat through cardboard, paper, natural fibers and even plastic film.
Clean the cupboard
After you have removed all nests and affected textiles or food from the cupboard, you should first vacuum it out and then clean it thoroughly with vinegar cleaner. Finally, wipe it out again with warm soapy water.
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Clean the entire room
Finally, the room in which the moths have been located should also be cleaned. This includes skirting boards, cracks and crevices between cupboards, cavities, radiators and all areas that are covered by furniture. If not all areas can be reached easily, use a hairdryer again and blow-dry hard-to-reach areas at the highest setting to destroy all moth eggs and larvae.
Prevent further infestation
In order to protect yourself from another moth infestation, there are a few things you should bear in mind:
- Fit windows with fly screens
- Vacuum regularly
- Store unused clothing in plastic bags
- Clean out, rearrange, clean and air wardrobes several times a year
- only hang freshly washed clothes in the wardrobe (the smell of sweat, skin and hair dandruff attract animals)
- Wash curtains, carpets and cushions regularly at 60 °C
- Store flour, rice, pasta and muesli in glass or plastic containers
- Line your closet with scented sachets made from lavender, laurel, cloves or cedar wood
Moth traps
Moth traps can be used for the early detection and monitoring of moth infestations. These are so-called pheromone traps, which attract male moths with their attractants. These then stick to a layer of glue. This makes it easy to determine whether the pantry or closet is infested with moths.
However, the moth traps are not a method of combating moths, but rather a way of observing how severe the infestation already is. If more than 10 moths per week stick to the trap, steps should be taken quickly to combat them.
Ichneumon wasps
Ichneumon wasps are a simple remedy for moths. You can get them easily from DIY stores or online retailers. These are small insects that target the eggs of moths. They lay their eggs in those of the moths and feed on them at the same time. As soon as all the moth eggs have been eaten, the ichneumon wasps also die.
Make your own lavender sachets
You can buy lavender sachets relatively cheaply in shops, but they are also very easy to make yourself. All you need are dried lavender flowers, a cotton cloth, a cord and a pair of scissors. If you have lavender flowers in your garden, pick them between June and August and leave them to dry upside down for about a week. The dried flowers are then stuffed into the cloth and closed with the cord. They can then be placed in the closet where they will remain fragrant for up to two years.
If moths have taken up residence in your home, this is usually very unpleasant, as it involves a lot of work to get rid of them. Because they reproduce quickly, moths can quickly become a plague and cause considerable damage to various materials. Timely action and careful moth control are therefore necessary to get rid of the pests permanently.
Sources: moth-away, schöner-wohnen, otto
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