The Eco-Expert Helps You Eliminate Moths, Naturally

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Controlling Clothes Moths

Please tell me how long clothes moth eggs are viable and suggest natural ways to keep moths at bay.

—Helen Purdum
Via e-mail

The most common fabric-attacking moth in the United States is the webbing clothes moth, which eats natural fibers in the larval stage. Each adult female lives ten to twenty-eight days and lays up to two hundred eggs, which generally hatch in three to twenty-one days—but depending on conditions, eggs can hatch for up to four years. Larvae can live from thirty-five days to two-and-a-half years, munching on your clothes. Here are some suggestions for controlling clothes moths naturally.

• Clean fabrics thoroughly before storing them. Moths are attracted to the stains of food, sweat, and urine in woolens and other materials, not to the wool itself.

• Shake, brush, and air. Because moth larvae are very fragile, regular moving and use of garments can dislodge and destroy them.

• To kill moth eggs before they hatch, place clothes in the sun, run them through a hot clothes dryer, put them in the freezer, or wash them. Do this right after you purchase clothing and at periodic intervals thereafter.

• Store clean, infestation-free items in airtight containers and seal edges carefully with paper tape.

• Vacuum cracks and crevices of clothes storage areas to eliminate lint, human and pet hair, and other organic debris that is food for clothes moths.

•Herbal repellents smell nice but are not as effective as these other methods.

Steam Cleaning

What do you know about steam cleaners?

—Janet Aiello
Wheaton, IL 

I’m aware of two such machines and just purchased one of them—the Steam Buggy, which is available on the Internet at www.infomercialindex.com/products/ 100/steam_buggy/steam_buggy.html for about $150 plus shipping and handling. A larger rolling model, The DeLonghi Steam It Clean, is available at www.gaiam.com for about $400. Both models have several attachments such as a floor brush and a window squeegee, and both produce high-pressure steam, which loosens grime and sanitizes the surface.