In summary, we provide five tips for handling summer and winter clothes and avoiding moth infestations while updating, repairing, and cleaning your clothes. Below are five relevant questions and answers:
Last edited May 8, 2024
The changeover of summer and winter clothes, summer and winter shoes, is a good opportunity to update, repair, and clean while making space in the hall and wardrobe.
Important: If you live in a house that has open storage spaces (with, for example, chicken wire in between), this is extra important. Pests such as moths have gained an increasingly strong foothold in Sweden in recent years, and unfortunately, moths spread quickly and easily from household to household. If they can get between the storage rooms, they will. Therefore, it is extra important to do what you can to avoid moths.
Tip 1.
Jackets and other thick winter clothes, especially those made of natural materials such as wool, down, and cotton, are particularly vulnerable to moth infestations. Therefore, be sure to wash your clothes; it is best if they are freshly washed when they are put away.
Tip 2.
Some garments are very difficult to wash, and then you can empty the pockets, brush off any hairs and dust from the garment, spray lightly with linen water, and hang it out to air. When the garment is dry and clean, you put a couple of mothballs in each pocket, leave the pockets open.
If the garment lacks pockets, you can hang a moth ring around the hanger. Both mothballs and moth rings are available completely non-toxic in red cedar. Use natural moth repellents, avoid poisons. Red cedar smells good to humans, but the pests avoid this scent.
Tip 3.
Hang the garment on a hanger and put a plastic sack / large bag over the hanger. Tie the bottom and seal the hole where the hanger has gone through the plastic with tape. Label the bag so that you know what is in it when autumn comes. In the same way, you store thick sweaters, gloves, hats, and thick socks that you do not need during the summer.
Tip 4
Try not to have too crowded wardrobes and storage rooms; it makes it easier to keep an eye on and find any pests early.
Put away (washed) winter clothes during the summer and summer clothes during the winter so that there are not so many textiles in the same place.
Tip 5.
If you cannot get rid of the moths, contact a pest controller, also check with your insurance company what your home insurance covers.
This is what it looks like, the clothes moth – Tineola bisselliella
Clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella) developed moth.
P4 Värmland has done a report on the return of the moth, which you can listen to here.
Clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella) as a developed moth. It is the larva that eats holes in, lives on, and causes damage to textiles.
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Questions and Answers
- Why is it important to wash winter clothes before putting them away for the summer?
Washed clothes are less attractive to moths, especially clothes made of natural materials such as wool, down, and cotton.
- What can you do to handle garments that are difficult to wash?
For garments that are difficult to wash, you can brush them off, spray lightly with linen water, and hang them out to air. Then you can put mothballs in the pockets or hang a moth ring around the hanger to deter moths.
- What tip do we give for storing garments that are not needed during the summer?
To store garments that are not needed during the summer, you can hang them on hangers and put a plastic sack or large bag over the hanger. It is also important to label the bag so that you know what is in it when autumn comes.
- Why is it good to avoid crowded storage space for clothes?
By avoiding crowded storage space, it becomes easier to keep an eye on and find any pests early.
- What should you do if you fail to get rid of the clothes moth?
If you fail to get rid of the clothes moth despite measures such as mothballs and moth rings, you should contact a pest controller. It may also be good to check with your insurance company what your home insurance covers.