I have noticed holes in my son's clothes. Mostly in the thin materials such as his onsies. A friend suggested mothballs. I googled them and it seems that they contain pesticides. What can I do to get rid of the 'moths'? Help me save our clothes!
UPDATE: I have not seen ANY Moths at all... but it does look like something is eating away at the clothes.
Make sure the clothing is totally clean and dry when placed in storage.
Lavender, Cedar and Bay leaves will all help keep buggies away from fabrics.. A friend even gave me a spray bottle o cedar oil..
You can purchase the natural sachets, the cedar planks and the oils at places like the Container Store or Bed Bath and Beyond.. Also some fabric stores carry them also..
it could just be a cheap fabric that is used to make the clothes and after being worn and washed they get holes in them atleast my daughters clothes did and we dont have moths.
Are you sure the holes are from moths? If so, I think cedar is a natural repellant of moths, thus the reason closets and chests are cedar. I believe they sell cedar chips or pieces that can be placed in closets/drawers. Not 100% on that, but I believe I've seen them.
Do you use bleach? Bleach weakens fabrics, and could be causing the lighter weight fabrics to become thread bare sooner than they should.
That's all I've got. :)
You might want to check and see if silverfish are the problem. Good luck.
Okay, some people call them meal worms, others call them bo weebles. I am not sure what the official name is for them but they are little insects that you do not see unless you put the item in boiling water and then they willl float to the top. They normally will get into food like cereal, rice, etc. but have been known to eat clothing as well. Especially if there is food on it. The only way to get rid of them is to wash everything in the house and then spray the entire house with bug spray. If you had moths you would see them somewhere. My Grandma put cedar chips in her drawers and closets. They will keep any insects away and are a natural safe way to do it without using pesticides of any kind. My neighbor just had cedar put in her closets to get rid of insects. Being there is a baby in the house I think I would go and buy some cedar chips and give them a try.
Moths only eat wool so I doubt they are moths. Moths prefer dirty clothes, so only put away wool clothing after it is washed. Preferably in sealed containers (zip locks work well - but of course not wear a baby could get them). Also freezing kills moths and their eggs and larvae. Google for how long you need to freeze the clothing. Also, you usually see moths or their little cocoons.
The other poster was right about it not being moths - they eat only animal sourced fibers like wool and silk. They will not eat cotton or synthetics. Most likely it's just from washing, or perhaps tiny dots of bleach landing on the fibers (if you use a chlorine bleach like Clorox).
Thin fabrics will become threadbare in places more quickly because they are thin to begin with.
