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De-Moth Your Closet (Naturally)

By Morgan Saylor

Being a fan of natural fibers often means your closet doubles as a pantry for moths. If you’ve never pulled your favorite cashmere sweater out to find a smattering of holes – consider yourself lucky. Stephanie Booth with realtor.com writes of steps to take so not just your sweaters, but your furniture and bedding are protected from future attacks from these pests.

Examine for attacks – Closet moths, Booth explains, are not like pantry moths, don’t like attention so you won’t see them until after they’ve eaten holes all in your favorite Christmas sweater. Cleaning has nothing to do with it – they ride into town via open windows or on a piece of cloth. Look beneath collars and cuffs, which is where they like to hide.

Start over – Purge your closet and drawers, vacuum, wash very surface with white vinegar. Tend to ceiling and floor boards or anywhere hair and dust can gather.

Clean clothes – Wash what you can and dry clean your delicate clothing items. If dry cleaning is too expensive, Booth writes you can put those in a sealed back and freeze them for three days.

Prevention – Store what you can in plastic, sealed containers. Drops of lavender, cedar, or rosemary essential oils on a cotton ball will keep moths away, as they hate the smell.

For more on dealing with this pesty situation, see here.

Source: http://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/how-to-get-rid-of-closet-moths/?iid=rdc_news_hp_carousel_theLatest

Tags: closet, eco, pests, bugs, prevention, moth, moths