Moths in the house: Expert tips for getting rid of them.
Moths are present at the kitchen , in the rooms , and in the cupboards, they enter our dressing room . They laid eggs and laid their eggs in the cabinets , between the clothes , there are larvae present in food , there is holes in clothes . In fact, these are the little ones larvae which are the most harmful , they are the ones who do holes in woolens , and which devour your food . In this article, Jean-François, a pharmacist for over 30 years, answers all your questions about how to treat clothing and food moth infestations yourself.
I show you how to identify and recognize the clothes moths , food moths , and their larvae which are not at all the same. I give you the right method to treat these insects without poisoning yourself. Grandma's remedies Are they effective against moths? Between traditional methods and insecticide products , you have to find the right treatment who will protect the linen , the clothes , the foodstuffs and so that they never come back again .
Their reproductive cycle is disrupted by global warming. If the invasions and infestations are still more frequent in fine weather, they reproduce now in all seasons. It seems like they are attracted to our most beautiful cashmere sweaters , and our best chocolate bars , they come from outside, we will eliminate them .
Our grandmothers had their "women's tricks". This can help, but it is not enough. We can use as natural repellents, lavender, cedar wood , cloves , thyme, bay leaf, soap, tobacco, lavender essential oils . Unfortunately, these are just repellents that are not enough kill moths, their larvae, and their eggs.
Summary
How to Get Rid of Food Moths- A moth infestation in the kitchen
- The products you need in video
- Empty, clean and vacuum cupboards.
- Kitchen treatment
- For food moths never come back
- It is necessary to do 2 treatments per year
- A nest of moths in the vacuum cleaner
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Learn more
- Identifying moths clothes and the food moths
- Find the nests of moths
- Where do they come from?
- The reproductive cycle moths
How to Get Rid of Clothes Moths
Video treatment of a wardrobe
A complete KIT to treat 2 cabinets
You will find all treatment products In This complete anti-moth KIT can treat 2 wardrobes.
Expert cabinet treatment
- The furniture must be completely emptied and vacuumed down to every nook and cranny.
- Then, spray the inside walls of the furniture with a dry moth repellent based on pyrethroids . I recommend Kapo moths in a 400 ml aerosol or KO-CIDE lacquer .
- Clothes should be shaken, and after a visual inspection, treated with a spray of the same moth repellent, then folded and stored in the wardrobe. Be careful, the larvae of textile moths are difficult to see , they are very small and gray.
Perfect, you have successfully completed the moth treatment of your wardrobe. You have killed all the moths , their larvae and their eggs . Be careful, this treatment is a one-off, and its effectiveness will only last a few weeks.
To protect your clothes for 6 months
Without waiting , you should place the Kapo mothproof cassettes and the Kapo mothproof sheets in the wardrobe.
• Kapo mothproof cassettes to protect the volume of the furniture for 6 months . They are hung on the rod at a rate of one per door. There are two cassettes per box, so one box for a two-door wardrobe.
Kapo moth repellent sheets to be placed directly in contact with woolens , between sweaters, in drawers , in garment bags . No stains to fear or persistent odor . This is essential to prevent the larvae from re-establishing themselves for 6 months.
To complete this treatment, and to capture moths that come from outside, place 1 to 2 PROTECTA pheromone traps for textile moths on the furniture, there are 4 in a box. Without any chemical product, they attract moths that will stick to them before they have had time to lay eggs in your clothes. Replace every 2 to 3 months.
Treat a dressing room
As the volume is larger, you will have to proceed in the same way, but adapting the quantity of cassettes and sheets. I recommend using covers for the most fragile clothes.
Treat carpets and upholstery
Carpets should be vacuumed and treated on both sides with a spray of BSI STOP Insects . This very powerful insecticide is more wetting, it will penetrate the fabric fibers for 8 weeks of protection . To increase the duration of protection, you can place a few Kapo moth sheets under the carpets.
Upholstery fabrics , armchair upholstery, curtains must be treated in the same way: vacuuming and spraying with BSI STOP Insects.
So that clothes moths never come back
Don't forget, moths are wild butterflies that enter our homes throughout the summer season.
Maintenance treatment is necessary every 6 months.
Do a quick visual inspection to make sure there are no larvae or damage to the clothes. If there are any, you should repeat the full treatment as indicated above. Otherwise, simply replace the mothproof cassettes and sheets and, without emptying the furniture, repeat a superficial spray of 400 ml Kapo mothproof between the clothes. If this treatment is done regularly, in spring and autumn, it will only take a few minutes and your clothes will be fully protected all year round.
How to Get Rid of Food Moths
Moth infestation in the kitchen
When food moths have organized their breeding cycle in cereals, rice, flour, biscuits , when we find small white worms in food , dry foods, chocolate, flour and in all the corners of cupboards , we must eliminate them .
We see brown moths larger than those of the clothes moth. There are also white worms 15 to 20 millimeters long in food , along walls and on the ceiling. These moth worms are the pests that feed on your food.
This complete KIT is for treating a 20 m² kitchen.
The products you need in video
Empty, clean and vacuum the cupboards .
Once everything is clean, you need to spray the inside of the cupboards with a product based on pyrethroids . I recommend BSI STOP INSECTS or K.pro Choc . Let it dry and above all do not rinse. The surfaces treated in this way will remain active for several months without any odor .
Before putting food back in the cupboards, check it and throw away anything that looks suspicious . Be careful, the eggs are so small that they are almost undetectable . When moths lay their eggs, they attach their eggs in clusters on a kind of spider web that can be found, for example, in a bag of flaked almonds. They can also make flour and organic natural bulk foods stored in airtight jars look a little lumpy. If the food has been contaminated by moths before being placed in the jars, even if they are protected by an airtight lid , the moths will naturally develop there. If in doubt, it is better to throw it away.
And there you have it, the food that hasn't been contaminated by this infestation sits proudly on well-ordered and treated shelves .
The treatment of the kitchen
Treat the outside of your furniture, worktops, walls, and kitchen floor with a spray of BSI STOP INSECTES or K.pro. All these surfaces will be death traps for moths that would land there, and the same goes for all other insects. These insecticides remain active for 8 to 12 weeks .
Food moths particularly like dried flower bouquets to nest in, they also need to be treated. They also dig holes in nutshells, like woodworms, and settle inside. Remember to check them, if there is a hole it means there is a moth inside.
So that food moths never come back
Moths come mainly from outside , they are attracted by lights and good smells . The ATOXA trap diffuses moth pheromones , it is a natural attractant without any chemicals or pesticides . It is very effective , one trap is enough for a kitchen. It is placed in the kitchen outside the cupboards, on the refrigerator for example. It will remain active for two to three months . Whoever rubs against it sticks to it.
I also advise you to spray BSI STOP INSECTS or K.pro Choc every 4 to 6 weeks during hot periods.
You need to do 2 treatments per year
One treatment in spring and one treatment in early fall.
When the days get colder, the moths of textile and food moths come into our homes to lay their eggs , nice and warm, in our cupboards and food . Then, after having discreetly ensured the survival of their species, they die. So, at this time of year, we hardly see any moths flying, and we don't suspect anything. However, their eggs are as many gluttonous larvae that you will discover in the spring.
The autumn treatment will be significantly faster than the spring treatment. A visual check, a spray of BSI STOP INSECTES or K.pro Choc and the replacement of the Atoxa trap.
And this is how you effectively treat your kitchen to eliminate moths and moths of all kinds.
A moth nest in the vacuum cleaner
If you vacuum up moth eggs , they will be concentrated in the vacuum cleaner hose, and in the dust bag. To prevent your vacuum cleaner from turning into a moth nursery, watch this one-minute video.
Learn more
Identifying Clothes Moths and Food Moths
• Clothes moths : the larvae are small, grayish insects with a shell of +/- 1 millimeter. These are the larvae that make holes in your sweaters . The adults are silvery gray moths , smaller and more slender than food moths.
• Food moths : the larvae are white maggots of 1.5 to 2 centimeters . They are found on walls and ceilings, and of course in dry foods . The adults are brown butterflies , or with brown wing tips, and larger than clothes moths.
Finding Moth Nests
It is not always obvious. Rather than nests, these are scattered laying sites . As soon as the place is calm and dark, there may be laying.
It is not always thought that fabric moths can lodge in the upholstery of an armchair, a mattress or in the carpet under a sofa. Also, a simple wallpaper that is slightly peeled off or a space between a piece of furniture and the wall will be perfect for them.
Food moths adopt the same behavior by preferring a bouquet of dried flowers or a tray of nuts to fabrics as mentioned above in the article.
Where do they come from?
Originally, they are small butterflies that live in the wild in trees and especially in lime trees . Also called moths , there are multiple species, but those that enter our homes belong to two very distinct families, food and textile. These critters love us: a half-open window, a space under a door and presto, they arrive from outside and invite themselves into our home. Guided by their sense of smell , food moths will head towards the kitchen while clothes moths will prefer to lodge in our carpets , in the folds of our curtains and of course in our wardrobes and dressing rooms . There are moths in the countryside , but also in big cities . For example, there are a lot of moths in Paris .
The voracity of their larvae is impressive, and the damage can be very costly. It is not uncommon for a moth larva, well sheltered at the bottom of the chest of drawers, to vertically perforate a pile of wool, making 6 to 8 holes in each sweater . Food moths have the bad habit of laying eggs in bags of flour , dried vegetables , chocolate bars, pasta . A few weeks later, these foods will be teeming with little white worms.
The reproductive cycle of moths
Adult moths are attracted by their pheromones , and reproduce . Females lay their eggs in the most discreet, hidden and inaccessible places (in wardrobes, between sweaters, in cupboards, food bags and sideboards, the pantry, but also in electrical outlets, behind skirting boards, in shutter boxes, under carpets, in mattresses and armchair padding). The eggs give birth to maggots for the food moth , and to small larvae with shells for the clothes moth . In both cases, these larvae are very discreet and very greedy . It is these maggots and larvae that cause the damage. When they have eaten enough, they will build a cocoon from which an adult moth will emerge that does not eat, but reproduces.
