Moth help!

Today I took out a shawl which a daughter knitted for me some years ago from her own spun Hebridean black wool from the two Heb ewe lambs I gave her. She'd chosen the stitch 'candlelight' because I made beeswax candles.

It had huge holes in it and it's unsalvageable.

Does anyone know of any home moth-proofing system?

Obviously it will be for future items but we'd hate it to happen again. We're both very unhappy (Spouse and I - I haven't told daughter yet).

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher
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It seems that lavender is a natural moth repellent Mary. One link you may find helpful is at

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they give a "recipe" for making the mixture. PS My mother always just made lavender bags or used dry bay leaves andthat seemed to work).

Reply to
Bernadette

I don't even mind using mothballs but they're not allowed to be sold here any more :-(

Right. A son has a lavender hedge. He and I have bay trees.

Thanks, I'm so unhappy, of all things it would have to be this precious shawl :-(

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

I know, it is sickening when that happens.

Your garden (and son's) sounds like mine. I have lavender, sage, thyme, rosemary, parsley, lovage, bay leaves, tarragon and nasturtiums (so far) and I'm always open to suggestions for other herbs if I'm likely to use them. :-)

Reply to
Bernadette

Have you ever tried cedar chips or balls?

Hesira

Reply to
hesira

My Rubbermaid containers keep moths out. I also have a cedar chest in which I keep very SPECIAL things. I am so sorry you lost the shawl. It must have been VERY special to you. Maybe if you cry softly when you tell your daughter, she will make you another one??? I must have a look for that stitch.

Higs, Katherine

Reply to
Katherine

IMO the best way is to keep things out and aired. For instance, with a beautiful shawl I would tend to drape it over a piece of furniture or the like, or at least wear it regularly so that the moths do not have the chance to burrow in there.

I have one beautiful shawl (among several others) which I inherited from dh's aunt, and I make sure I wear it at least once every couple of months.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

Reply to
Olwyn Mary

First take OUT ALLLLLLLLL your woolens , and Clean the Closet with some Good disinfection stuff you have . Than put in a cloth bag with some Hard smelling Soaps Rosemarin , Lavender + a bag with Laurel ,,, All woolen things should be WASHED and checked for any creature ,,, mirjam

Reply to
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen

crikey, that's awful!! I'd be using napthalene- smelly and toxic but it does work... and the smell does air out. If you can't/won't use napthalene, cedar might work. I have read that all the herbal things like lavender only mask the smell of the fibre, they don't actually repel moths, just hide your wool from their little mothy noses. Cedar may be an exception to this.

Oh, and light, moths hate light. So store your most precious things out of the darkness.

Taueret

Reply to
Taueret

Do you have a microwave oven and a freezer? If you want to be sure something is insect-free, first microwave it for 1 minute, then freeze it for a day or so, warm it (in a sealed container) to let eggs hatch, and then microwave it again.

The advice others have given will help too, but the best solution I've found is Ziploc[TM] bags or the equivalent in self-seal plastic. Tupperware{TM} is ideal because their plastic formula doesn't emit chemicals that plasticize the contents, and the seal keeps out moisture. It keeps out most bugs (but flour weevils can chew right through it if they're already in the flour). Some other companies licensed the Tupperware systems. Beware of containers that only seem to seal but have airholes hidden under the handles; they're no help against moths and carpet beetles.

=Tamar

Reply to
Richard Eney

I can't grow tarragon, no room for lovage. Son began growing vegetables this year - what a rotten year to start! But last night he said that they were gonig to enjoy his first cauliflower - which I gave him - and the curds on mine are all blackened by rain :-(

Don't yu have marjoram? Mint? Calendula? Trying to think of what else herb-wise is in our garden ...

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Naphtaline is a Poison that accumulates in your body ,, it does smell bad anf harms you ,,, mirjam mirjam

Reply to
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen

No - does it work?

What I was really thinking of was a treatment for yarn rather than just in storage.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

She has a sick husband, a two year old and a farm now, she only had the farm when she did it and her husband helped with it. I couldn't expect her to make another.

But I might make her a pi shawl when I get the book :-)

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

Thanks, the shawl was in the dark.

I still haven't told her ...

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

No microwave but I have put fleeces and skins in the freezer as well as yarn, just never thought about clothes :-(

I know :-) I keep woolen blankets and period clothing in such bags, just never thought about other things. I can see that I'm going to have to have a blitz on my clothes, such a shame but it must happen.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

You're right.

I just don't have that kind of life ... I wore it when we visited them and then it was forgotten about.

Mea culpa.

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

The type of moth which attacks fiber is attracted by smell. Anything which masks the "wool smell" will deter them. Cedar or lavender are traditional repellents, cloves or cinnamon work equally as well. Boric acid powder sprinkled on the fiber will kill the larva. Sorry to hear such a priceless gift was ruined. DA

Reply to
DA

Whaddya mean, you don't have that kind of life? USE your pretties, don't be like those old folk who considered everything "too nice to use" I have a shawl on the back of my favorite tv watching chair, and if there is a slight draft I just reach back and pull it round my shoulders. I have a bunch more of which I take one practically everywhere, whether I am going to church or a restaurant or wherever - so much easier to slip on and off than fighting my way into a cardigan.

On the same line, I inherited a bunch of embroidered pillowcases from my mother and grandmother. Guess what? They are all in the linen closet and get used in rotation. Likewise, when our daughter was 17 and our son 20, I decided we were going to use the hand-embroidered and/or lace table linens every day, not just Sundays, and enjoy them. So what if they fall apart eventually? They were OUR wedding presents, made for us with love by various female relatives. I know that neither my daughter nor my daughter in law will ever iron them, so I will enjoy them while I have them. We also use the good silver cutlery everyday, in fact the only thing still saved for Sundays is the antique bone china and that is because dh, after a lifetime of drawing plans, has some arthritis in his fingers and does not trust himself not to drop it. I am running a home here, not curating a museum.

I reiterate. USE your "good stuff".

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.

Reply to
Olwyn Mary

Oh it's not that, I'm just usually too busy doing things which don't lend themselves to pretty clothes :-)

don't have a tv ...

Don't have draughts (sorry for English spelling), in fact this is such a warm house because of insulation that we rarely wear anything over our shirts.

Don't wear cardigans either :-) A pretty shawl doesn't lend itself to wearing on a scooter pillion when we go out ...

Oh I'd use those! I bought some fine linen ones with beautiful edgings from a charity stall and love them, they're very thin in parts now so I'll have to make the best parts into handkerchiefs. I love linen. The woman who sold me them was delighted, she said they'd been her auntie's and the old lady would love to know they were appreciated. Pity the niece didn't want them, she thought they were too much trouble!

We do that too, I'm still using linen tablecloths I embroidered as a teenager for my bottom drawer, recently I finished embroidering one which last saw the light when I was in labour with our fifth and last child. He was 38 this year ...

They're made into hankies!

I wonder why that is? I love ironing linen, making it not just crease-free by so smooth and shiny ...

We don't have silver cutlery not antique china - the china we have left is more than 60 years old. The plates are used daily, the cups and saucers (only three left) on Sunday mornings.

Our house is like a museum - every time we go to museums I see things which we not only have but use frequently.

I do. Just not clothes. When Ann gave me the shawl I wondered what chance I'd have to wear it. I live in jeans and men's shirts, I'm very uncomfortable in skirts except the floor length ones I wear for period occasions, the shawl was unsuitable for those times.

I've been looking at it again today with a view to photographing it to show folk here but I'm just too ashamed. I can't even pull it out.

So I've begun a vigorous throw-out session, necessitated by someone coming to stay with us this weekend (an American woman who I've never met). The spare room does tend to be used as a dump.

But no more! It's squeaky clean now and the rug (a gift from another American woman who stayed here years ago) is in the bath having a good soak, then the colours will glow again. It's not a dirty room because it isn't used but a dull film does seem to engulf anything which isn't used regularly. And no, the shawl wasn't in that room but in our bedroom :-(

Mary

Reply to
Mary Fisher

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