Very true that the moths that develop from mealworms don't eat fabrics. BUT also true that once they get into your house they are EVERYWHERE in your house, and they are particularly fond of making their cocoons in folds of drapery and other cloth (as well as on the back panels and undersides of furniture and all through your grains), and those cocoons are sticky. If they decided to make cocoons in your feathers, I'd say goodbye to the feathers. Keep your birdseed outdoors in galvanized steel garbage cans, keep your foodstuffs in Mason jars or else put the boxes inside big Ziplock bags. You can freeze the flour etc. if you want, but the best defense is to be able to see the moths or grubs BEFORE they get out into your house. Yes, it can take a year (or more) to clear an infestation once you have it. --RA Baumgartner
-----Original Message----- >From: Beteena Paradise <bete...@mostlymedieval.com> >Sent: Feb 27, 2012 11:29 AM >To: Historical Costume <h-cost...@indra.com> >Subject: Re: [h-cost] Cedar chips/moths > >The moths who get into wheat and other foods are a completely different >species from moths who eat wool. I found this out when we bought a bag of bird >seed that had moth eggs inside. We had a huge infestation in our utility room. >It took several months before it was completely gone. I had no idea that there >were even moths that ate food. I had to educate myself on them quick! > >Teena > > >________________________________ >From: cora hendershot <wheatgoddes...@yahoo.com> >To: Historical Costume <h-cost...@indra.com> >Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2012 5:30 PM >Subject: Re: [h-cost] Cedar chips/moths > >I have a similar problem with moths in the wheat. I hate to say it but I have >gone to the dark side on this topic and I put a Hot Shot No Pest strip in >every (airtight) box. I have feathers, too, and this stuff works. Cedar, >moth balls, lavendar, not so much. Freezing has to be pretty close to 0 >degrees F to really work. 150 degrees F for 2 hours works, too, but not >appropriate for feathers. The damn bugs are EVERYWHERE and you can get >reinfested all too easily. > > >From: "seamst...@juno.com" <seamst...@juno.com> >To: h-cost...@indra.com >Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 1:27 PM >Subject: Re: [h-cost] Cedar chips/moths > >I use a couple of tablespoons of whole cloves in those little drawstring >organza wedding favor bags in all my boxes of wool/feathers. It seems to work >pretty well. There's no staining from the cloves and my clothing has a warm >spicey aroma. I'm sure they would work as well for cedar and lavender. Karen > >---------- Original Message ---------- >From: Lynn Downward <lynndownw...@gmail.com> >To: gbacgcostum...@yahoogroups.com, Historical Costume <h-cost...@indra.com> >Subject: [h-cost] Cedar chips/moths >Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:27:40 -0800 > >Hi all, > >We've had an infestation of moths in the house, mostly in my feather >collection. I had them all in a (not airtight) plastic container. Thinking >that they needed some air, I kept all the vintage feathers carefully >wrapped up in tissue. Those feather I didn't care much about were in >zip-lock bags and had no moths in them at all. Of course the damage was to >the vintage feathers. > >When I bring feathers home, I always put them in a zip bag and leave them >in the freezer for a couple of weeks to kill off any bugs that may already >be in them before I add them to my collection. Unfortunately, something >went wrong with my plans. After tossing about a third of my collection, >I've cleaned the rest and put them back into the freezer. I'll be ready to >take them out this weekend. Before I do I want to purchase some cedar chips >or a bit of cedar and put them in with the feathers and in my wool boxes >(the smell of moth balls makes me nauseous so I'm not going there). > >SO my question: I understand the oils in the cedar (or lavendar if I decide >to use that instead) can stain and I wondered how you have avoided this. >Would putting the cedar or lavendar into one layer of muslin keep my >fabrics/feathers from being stained and still keep the moths out? Two >layers? > >Thanks for any information you might have, >Lynn >_______________________________________________ >h-costume mailing list >h-costume@mail.indra.com >http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume >____________________________________________________________ >Groupon™ Official Site >1 ridiculously huge coupon a day. Get 50-90% off your city's best! >http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4f48011d267aa1a6a333st05duc >_______________________________________________ >h-costume mailing list >h-costume@mail.indra.com >http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume >_______________________________________________ >h-costume mailing list >h-costume@mail.indra.com >http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume >_______________________________________________ >h-costume mailing list >h-costume@mail.indra.com >http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
