How to Avoid Moths in your Knitwear
A great wool or cashmere scarf, sweater or cardigan can last you many years with good care. Since starting my visible mending service, I’ve seen a lot of moth holes and sad looking knitwear, and I often get asked how to avoid wool moths… so here are some tips for storing your knitwear.
Make sure your knitwear is clean when you put it away. Moths lay their eggs in dirt so the larvae have something to eat, so always wash your knitwear before storing it. If you’d like some tips on washing your woollens, you can read more about that here.
Lavender, cedar, rosemary, mint, thyme, and cloves are all natural scents that deter moths in wool clothing. Put dried herbs in sachets to keep in your drawers, and change them every 6 months when the scent fades. Pick the scent you like best.
Why not try making your own lavender or herb bags? If you really keen, you could even grow and dry your own herbs- bees particularly like the flowers of rosemary, mint and thyme, so this could be great for your clothes, bees and for cooking!
Store your clothes somewhere that is sealed. In a box, a sealable bag, a chest, but somewhere moths can’t get to.
If you already have moths in your wool clohting, and you think there might be eggs on your clothes, freeze the garment for 48 hours to kill any active larvae.
Again, moths like dirt, so if you have them, vacuum regularly, and empty the cleaner regularly so no larvae stay in the house.
You can buy odourless moth strips for you wardrobe, and sticky pheromone strips to attract the male moths in your house.
If you have a lot of wool moths, get the professionals in before they eat everything! They normally start with your favourite, most expensive sweater, but once you have lots they’ll eat pretty much anything!
I know I’ve talked about keeping your clothes clean, and this really only applies to storing your woollens (unless you have an infestation, in which case keep anything you value in sealed containers when not wearing it!). If you wash your woollens after every use it will reduce the lifespan of your garment- so if it’s not actually dirty, just remember you can air wool items instead of washing, as wool doesn’t retain odours.
If you’d like to learn how to repair your own moth holes, you can find my mending guides here.