Wow. Now I feel lucky that we didn't get the food moths. I didn't lose any of my wool - this time - only feathers. Lots of vintage feathers in unique examples of what can be done with them. I had yards of feather trim I just tossed and a broken bit of peach colored feather I wanted to reproduce. A flower of bright blue feathers with leaves of green feathers. Some wonderfully paddedand curled feathers. I'm glad it was only in the feathers and it has reminded me that vigilance is not only when the items come into the house but every six months or so from now on...
Thanks to everyone for some wonderful suggestions. I have purchased six cedar blocks and will use them immediately in the feather and wool tubs. I'll also be adding lavender and cloves, just because they smell so good. I know they won't kill anything but my hope is that the moths won't enter something that smells of the herbs and spices. LynnD On Mon, Feb 27, 2012 at 10:30 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Oh god, I had forgotten those parades of maggots up the walls. An unholy > mess. Yes, we were taken by surprise too. Now we are VIGILANT! > Best wishes-- > Ruth Anne > > > -----Original Message----- > >From: Beteena Paradise <[email protected]> > >Sent: Feb 27, 2012 1:23 PM > >To: Historical Costume <[email protected]> > >Subject: Re: [h-cost] Cedar chips/moths > > > >Ruthanne, you are so right. And they were disgusting! I walked into the > utility room one morning and saw maggots going up the wall. And let me tell > you maggots from moths are no less gross than maggots from flies. You could > have knocked me over with a feather! Luckily, it was the utility room and > not the kitchen, but we still kept a lot of staples in there. We didn't > bother trying to save anything. Everything went into the trash. And then we > washed every surface of that room. Even though we cleared out every > moth/larvae we found, there were some behind cupboards and such. I bought > some strips that have a pheramone designed to lure that specific species of > moth. It took at least 6 months or more before the strips stayed clean. I > think I was lucky that I noticed them right away and they didn't get into > other areas of the house. But I see how easily they could. And in my case, > the kitched was the next room over. > > > >You really have to be careful with what you buy. After that experience, I > know exactly what their eggs look like. We bought a box of dog treats a > year or so later and I immediately identified moth eggs inside. Into the > garbage they went! I was thankful I saw them because that would have been > right in the pantry. What a nightmare! > > > >Teena > > > >________________________________ > >From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > >To: Historical Costume <[email protected]> > >Sent: Monday, February 27, 2012 11:54 AM > >Subject: Re: [h-cost] Cedar chips/moths > > > >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 <[email protected]> > >>Sent: Feb 27, 2012 11:29 AM > >>To: Historical Costume <[email protected]> > >>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 <[email protected]> > >>To: Historical Costume <[email protected]> > >>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: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > >>To: [email protected] > >>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 <[email protected]> > >>To: [email protected], Historical Costume < > [email protected]> > >>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 > >>[email protected] > >>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 > >>[email protected] > >>http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > >>_______________________________________________ > >>h-costume mailing list > >>[email protected] > >>http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > >>_______________________________________________ > >>h-costume mailing list > >>[email protected] > >>http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > >h-costume mailing list > >[email protected] > >http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > >_______________________________________________ > >h-costume mailing list > >[email protected] > >http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
