How do you protect your fine wool items?

[fashionista-ta]

Rolling them outside sounds dangerous to me

Remember it's not only moths that eat clothes ... other bugs (including the type that will survive nuclear winter) and indeed small mammals will happily eat or otherwise "deconstruct" them too ... clothes make great nesting material.

 

[tott]

^ Well, if you're several stories above ground and it's winter...

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Well, if you're several stories above ground and it's winter...

I'm talking about things that can fly & climb brick tho ...

 

[softgrey]

...

 

[softgrey]

nyc isn't nearly as scary as all that...

yes we have those things...but not out in the open...
i think that it's ok...
i had a jacket hanging out there for two weeks to get rid of the 'vintage' smell...
and it was untouched...

but it won't get that cold for awhile yet...

 

[fashionista-ta]

nyc isn't nearly as scary as all that...

Well, it's that scary here ... I live close to a river ... and two miles from downtown. I've got all of that & more ... we had a coyote not long ago, it had at least one neighborhood cat for dinner. And occasionally something will escape from the zoo (e.g., wild turkey) ... it was raining and the sucker was sitting on my garage roof ... I peeked out at it thru the laundry room curtains, and I've never seen anything look so miserable in my life. Looked me right in the eye ... luckily the wild ones are lots smarter than the domestic ones ... (turkeys on a farm often drown in the rain by looking up at it ...)

 

[tinuvielberen]

Clean clothes are less likely to get chewed. I dry clean or wash all my clothes at the end of the season and put them away. Our closet is also lined in cedar, which helps.

I hate mothballs too. It's impossible to get the stench out.

 

[softgrey]

omg ta-ta...
it's like living in the wilderness......
next thing you are going to tell me you have lions, and tigers and bears...
......

good advice tinuviel....
i have also been reading about this online...
apparently it's not the MOTHS that eat your fine woolens...but their larvae......
and cleaning EVERYTHING is recommended...
so i am beginning the HUGE project of sanitizing my space...

and i MEAN sanitizing from top to bottom......
i am going to wash EVERYTHING!!!...including the furniture...

 

[Hebden]

I can recommend SLA Spray from The Container Store. It's the nuclear weapon in the moth war. You definitely want to spray and leave...and not spray on your clothes but on a cushion or some other fabric item that you place in your closet. One whiff and the moths are out of their mind...they fly around in circles and then drop dead in the air.

For maintenance, strew Moth-Away® Herbal Moth Repellent sachets around.

 

[fashionista-ta]

omg ta-ta...
it's like living in the wilderness......
next thing you are going to tell me you have lions, and tigers and bears...
......

Not wandering the streets But my neighbors across the street can hear the lions at the zoo roar when they sit on their front porch. Can't hear them at my house ...

Oh, I also had a very interesting snake once. It was bright yellow and black, looked like that woven rope, and it was by my front door when I walked up. It went behind my front door surround and was completely hidden ... you know I loved that.

See what you're missing in the big city

Good luck with the moth search & destroy project ... And lemme know if you find a nice source for lavender sachets ...

 

[tott]

Yeah, cleaning is the best way to get rid of/prevent bugs... But you can get bugs even if you keep everything immaculate, there's no guarantee. Unfortunately.

I wash all my wool/cashmere once or twice a year, even if I haven't worn it. More often if I've worn it and it needs it, of course.

Heat or cold is/was my lazy solution...

softie, good luck with your project! Try not to stress too much though... It's obviously better the sooner you fix everything, but if stuff has been "compromised" for weeks or even months, one or a few extra days won't make much of a difference. Really. Especially as you've had cedar everywhere; it sounds like you don't have a major situation on your hands!

 

[yourbestfriend]

Not wandering the streets But my neighbors across the street can hear the lions at the zoo roar when they sit on their front porch. Can't hear them at my house ...

Oh, I also had a very interesting snake once. It was bright yellow and black, looked like that woven rope, and it was by my front door when I walked up. It went behind my front door surround and was completely hidden ... you know I loved that.

See what you're missing in the big city

Good luck with the moth search & destroy project ... And lemme know if you find a nice source for lavender sachets ...

hmm if coyotes , i have the occasional bear in my yard, and deer eating our flowers..my house too backs onto a creek.

Are the larvae all that common to be worried about them eating the wool? how quickly do they create the holes?

 

[softgrey]

thanks for the tips hebden and thank you tott and ta-ta for the support...
i feel better now...it's going to be a process...
but i don't think the situation is too dire...
i tried to be clever and hide away all my good woolens/cashmere...
and left some old wool sweaters that i don't care about completely exposed on a top shelf so that any moths would head in that direction...

this strategy seems to have worked so far....

 

[yourbestfriend]

good luck softy

 

[softgrey]

thx ybf......

found another moth yesterday...
but no larvae...hmmmm....

 

[EdK]

softie are these moths an issue in new york? =E i have yet to see any of those large cockroaches in my apt yet

 

[softgrey]

moths are an issue in general...
not specific to nyc...

 

[eugenius]

On a similar note..

How do you store your wool items? Like, your favorite sweaters w/ thicker cables? Do you just fold them up and store it neatly, or, is it safe to hang it up, if you have the right kind of hanger, like a thick wooden hanger? Im afraid that if I hang it up, I might run the risk of contorting the shape of the shoulder & neckline portion...Any advice???

Thanks-me.

 

[softgrey]

never hang sweaters....period...

 

[EdK]

yea hanging sweaters totally ruins it. its sad to see all these thick sweaters or knits on hangers at barneys.

never hang sweaters....period...