# Horror of horros! Wool moths! Ack!



## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

I am so lucky... I had put my pretty yarns in a closed Fed Ex Int'l Express box in a closet upstairs. I have not had an incidence of wool moths since moving here. 

Today, I went to look at them, and found 3 nasty moths running around amongst them. I guess I shrieked because Dh thought something real bad had happened and came running. I smooshed the moths, and took the whole boxful and chucked them into the freezer.

I ran around the house checking all my other fleeces and found nothing amiss, no moths, or anything. I have fleeces out in the barn, too, now I'll have to go out and check them, too. :flame:

Here's my questions? Will being frozen kill the moth eggs like I think it will? DH is out to get moth balls, and I'll put them to good use. What do you keep your wool in as far as containers? And what do you do to prevent moths? It's too cold to grow lavender here, so I can't really go herbal. And in CA I had moths chew thru plastic garbage bags to get to the wool. Haven't had it happen here, but it still might yet. 

I would appreciate any suggestions for coping with this. I want to kill these buggars and not have a infestation reoccur.

Thanks.


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

I have a cedar trunk, but with those you have to redo the wood with cedar oil every few years or the wood doesn't do it's job. The oil is expensive and I haven't wanted to spend the money on it, so my trunk has to have moth balls put in it. I did keep some wool in there in CA, and had no moths in it as long as I kept up with the moth balls. 

One sign of moths is them fluttering/crawling around on the wool surface. They are small, kinda tannish-white, the same shade as a white fleece full of grease. They look identical to grain moths. They lay eggs, and the larvae hatch and crawl around on the wool eating it. They will cut the fibers like a sharp knife. The wool is useless after they are done with it, it is all cut up. They leave a kinda slimey poop trail behind them. It will look whitish on a dark fleece.

I think I'm going to invest in moth traps, at the very least I'll price them and think about it. 

I usually keep my wool and fleeces in lawn trash bags, with moth balls inside them if they are inside the house. During the cold Winter I keep them out in the barn, it's way too cold for any trouble, except mice. In CA the moths seemed endless and unrelenting. Could I have brought them with me when I moved?


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## frazzlehead (Aug 23, 2005)

<making mental note to self>

_move fleece bags outside in winter!_

We've had no moths and I thought maybe they didn't live around here, but apparently they do ... so I'll be freezing my wool each winter (Mother Nature makes that VERY easy around here) from now on!


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

If freezing killed the eggs, the northern tier states would be free of wool eating moths. We're not. We have them even were winters are long and brutal.

I use the scented plastic trash can bags and no probs.


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## MTDeb (Feb 20, 2003)

We had Patsy Z here for a workshop last year and she said that putting the wool in the sun will kill the eggs. I guess it couldn't hurt. (Don't leave it in a plastic bag when you put it in the sun though.) 

We don't seem to have a problem with wool moths here in Montana (knock on wood) but we're a lot drier than many places in the north too.


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## IowaLez (Mar 6, 2006)

RiverPines, you are right, I now know. Freezing keeps the moths at bay, but doesn't kill the dormant eggs. I didn't know if we'd have moths in IA or not.

I think this infestation came with me from CA in some old merino wool I had. I threw it out yesterday. I am going to wash all the skeins that were in the box. I'm getting moth balls, too. All my new fleeces are okay, thank goodness. I am just so glad I happened to open the box and look before things got damaged.

Boy, do I hate wool and grain moths...


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## mamajohnson (Nov 27, 2002)

oh my gosh! I need to worry about moths and didn't even know it!!!
I am battling the weevil grain moths now... 
sure don't want to do it with my wool!

I agree WIHH --- looking for the hand wringing smiley!


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Lezlie if you freeze the wool, take it out and then freeze it again a week or two later that should get emerging moths or worms. You may have to do it several times. If you have a cedar chest you should only have to sand the inside lightly to bring out the aromatics of the wood again. If it is not aromatic cedar then you may have to get some essential oils. I use lavender, patchouli, cedar and or pennyroyal (peppermint). I put several drops on a cotton ball and drop it into each bag of wool. I also use the scented plastic bags. A friend swears by Yardley's English Lavender soap.

Personally I wouldn't use mothballs. Not only are they toxic to humans and animals but it's lose to impossible to get the smell out of anything.


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## betty modin (May 15, 2002)

Oh dear! Having lost several alpaca fleeces to moths a few years ago, I'm going to have to open the bags of fleeces upstairs and lay out fleeces in the sunshine to check them all now. I keep my clean fleeces in large, paper recycling bags all rolled up and taped shut...and my carded fleeces in cardboard boxes sealed shut. I can't handle the smell of moth balls, but I do use the cedar balls and sprigs of lavendar as well. I haven't found any moths since I got rid of all of the infected fleeces, but I'd better check again! Better safe than sorry, as my mother would say.
The alpaca fleeces had sat in open plastic bags in a barn for several years, so I know where those moths came from...
I know that everything has its own purpose in life, but really...
ah well, it keeps us from getting lazy and taking things for granted
betty


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

A friend of mine had twenty years of handspun (hand dyed) wool destroyed by mold. Yea, I know, why wasn't she selling or knitting all that yarn. I'm just saying it could be worse.

I have my wool processed as soon as possible. It is returned to me in plastic bags, where it remains until I spin it. You don't need to grow lavender. You can buy it as stems, or just use essential oil in a bottle (www.camdengrey.com) Dab on a piece of cloth and toss in the bag before you tie it closed. Lavender is quite safe, you can put it on wounds and burns, is even edible.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

You can buy cedar chips in large bags for Pet bedding. Put a handfull in some cheeze cloth and tie. Cedar oil is also aval. Many diffrent kinds of Herbs keep away bugs.Besides my cedar lined closet (cedar 4x8 sheets from Home Depto) I also use the plastic bins.


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

Can fleece be stored in pillowcases that are tied securely shut (if adding lavender to the bags as well)? Will moths chew their way through the cloth?

I have a lot of single sheets that I was going to sew up into big duffle bags then roll the opening down and tie the end tightly. I'm hoping I'll be able to do that...


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## Marchwind (May 10, 2002)

Sure, lots of people use pillowcases and sheets to store their fleeces in.


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## PKBoo (Apr 10, 2008)

Phew! Thanks Marchwind!


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