MOTH INVASION!

On a recent cold morning I reached into the sweater basket in the back of my dark closet. YIKES! Clothes moths had munched their way through every single sweater and three of my wool coats!In early April I received a suitcase of clothes for a commission I was working on. At that time I noticed a moth fly out of the suitcase. I should have taken action immediately but instead I chose to live in denial. Now I'm paying the price.

I spent hours searching the internet for information on moth infestations. The first rule of thumb - if you see a single moth remove the infested materials from your home IMMEDIATELY. The best way to deal with moths is to never get them. PREVENTION!

Be wary of used clothing and furniture. Inspect carefully and clean or discard.Get rid of unused clothing.Clean all clothes before storing. Do not store clothes if stained!Store clean clothes in tightly sealed containers.Periodically shake, brush, and expose clothes to sunlight.Vacuum often. Clean closets and behind baseboards and cracks in floors.Move furniture around from time to time.Use moth traps in closets. Replace when needed.Avoid using moth chemicals.

Too late for prevention, I had to pull out EVERYTHING from the closet. SCRUB the floors and baseboards. KILL the moth eggs.  Send the coats to the dry cleaners. WASH every sweater. MEND all the holes. Find new STORAGE solutions and HOPE for the best.

I've spent weeks ridding myself of these destructive wool eating, clothes munching pests... at least for now.  I hope you will never have to go through this but I will be sharing my discoveries and solutions. It's at least a three post series. So stay tuned for more on my battle with the moths...