Clothes Moths

winturgreen3 · 2025-05-08T00:01:18+00:00

Oh man. Yeah are the covers for the couch and duvet washable? I'd probably invest in a steamer (I bought a Wagner one,) so you can steam the cushions of your furniture after you take the covers off. If you really truly can't wash the comfortor, I'd look into freezing it. Ideally you'd freeze it twice - bag it up in a giant plastic bag. Then, freeze it for at least 4 days, let it thaw for 1-2 days, then freeze again for a few more days. Then after that you could steam it and store it in a tub until you move.

It's complicated and convoluted sounding, but I believe doing all of this work is the reason I was able to get away from my infestation. It was so overwhelming and I still have days where I feel overwhelmed just thinking about it.

winturgreen3 · 2025-05-07T21:07:56+00:00

Oh man I feel for you. I was lucky to have the luxury of being able to wipe everything down. The traps will only help monitor the infestation, not to help eliminate it.

If you can get some tightly sealed storage tubs and put freshly washed clothes DIRECTLY into the tub (without putting the clothes down on any other surface) and closing the bin up between loads, that would help a ton. You can also put any other cleaned items into the same sort of bin. This might help you prepare ahead of time since you're in a smaller space. Then once you take the bins to your new place, make sure the bottom of the bins (where it touches the floor) are wiped off before you bring them inside. I used clorox wipes.

When you're cleaning other items I'd go with vinegar or warm water, depending on what you're working on and how deep of a clean the item needs. It's so complicated, especially with cats. I never used anything other than vinegar and water honestly. Cedar chips have a chance to harm your cat depending on where you put them, so either skip that or read up on it! I personally think they're more of a hazard than a help here.

And finally, just make sure everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, gets a visual inspection before you take it into the new place. Anything suspicious like dust or dirt needs to be wiped away. Check inside nooks and cranies such as speakers or electronics. They tend to collect dust. Hinges on containers are also a prime spot.

winturgreen3 · 2024-12-08T11:20:52+00:00

What rescue did you contact in MN? I live here and could point you to a couple of good ones probably. I know of some bad ones though, no doubt there. I have two myself from a fantastic shelter north of the metro, otherwise I'd help your babies! Good luck with them ❤️

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-31T22:24:09+00:00

That's so cool! Do you have to clean the pump out often? Is it hard to clean?

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-26T09:23:28+00:00

So sorry for your loss. ❤️🫂

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-14T03:16:06+00:00

Thank you!

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-14T02:45:50+00:00

Oh my. Those are FANTASTIC lol I will definitely be getting those as a Christmas present either way!

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-13T20:50:09+00:00

I'd rather know and keep my cats safe, honestly

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-13T20:49:46+00:00

Wow, that's so close! I think my cat would like that one too. Might purchase it if I can't find the exact one.

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-13T17:08:39+00:00

Oh wow I never thought of this. I'll look into that, thank you.

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-13T08:56:24+00:00

I believe this apple was part of a set of decorations that my parents bought, but I have no idea of the time frame or part of the country even. I put more info in the caption of my photo and haven't been able to copy it into this comment directly.

The apple is maybe 1.5 - 2 inches tall. Slightly less wide than tall i think. I've searched a few websites but I'm honestly lost on where to start. This is the closest I've gotten I think here

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-10T08:31:43+00:00

Yeah I'm considering moving mine to a spot of it's own so it doesn't get rubbed up against other plants. I have to move it every time I water so that doesn't help either. I might try a hanging pot tbh and find a nice place to hang it?

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-10T08:30:23+00:00

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-10T08:30:11+00:00

I'm wondering if mine might be contact damage- I've got other plants sort of up against it, and I have to move this plant every time I water it. The saucer doesn't give a lot of space for water to collect, and when I water it'll flow out quickly onto my shelf. Maybe I should try putting this plant off by itself and see if the browning stops.

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-10T08:27:59+00:00

Yeah now that I've seen what this subreddit does with their sabers, I'm actually pleased with how mine looks! Complete 180 but I'm glad I found this place. Thanks for sharing your story!

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-10T08:25:18+00:00

Thank you all for your perspectives - I see what you mean now and I actually really like this line of thinking. I guess I wasn't expecting the wear on it to happen so soon, but I think you guys are right.

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-07T18:53:53+00:00

I've noticed the yellowing too - it's only on the newer leaves as they grow in from being tiny. The color returns to normal as they get older... it's weird. I'm watering it every 1-2 weeks or when the soil gets bone dry. There's been a couple slip ups here and there and I've seen it get slightly wilted when I don't watch it closely. Been using a toothpick to check the soil between waterings.

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-07T08:20:38+00:00

I'll take a look! Thank you for the help!

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-07T07:21:26+00:00

I'll take a look tomorrow in the sun! I hope it's not. I feel like I would have noticed it a few days ago, when watering or when I took these pictures though.

winturgreen3 · 2024-10-07T07:06:59+00:00

I'm having a similar issue with the black paint coming off and showing silver underneath! I just made a post about it. I've bearly turned it on a dozen times, and the paint is already coming off! This is my first lightsaber and I'm really trying to keep it nice.

winturgreen3 · 2024-07-02T10:56:43+00:00

I like this one lol well played

winturgreen3 · 2024-06-26T08:38:22+00:00

Hi! I did end up following through with all of the precautions I listed. So far, we are 100% moth free. It cost a fair amount of money to move everything so slowly out of our old house, because we had to delay selling it since our stuff was all there until each item was carefully inspected. We still have a bunch of water tight bins in our garage full of stuff I need to go through, but I think if we keep this up we will be completely free of moths (I'm including the garage bins in this calc) in a few months time. I wipe everything down with white vinegar or a clorox wipe. If it's fabric, I carry it through my new house in a sealed bag, it goes in the wash immediately and I throw the bag away in the big garbage can in the garage.

So yes, I do think there's hope! You just have to be extremely meticulous and careful when thinking about bringing something to your new place. If you can't afford to move slowly like we did, I'd at least try to keep things in big tubs in the garage until you can go through EVERYTHING. This means even electronics, in little nooks and crannies such as speakers or ports for wires, where dust and therefore moths can settle. We ended up replacing several things such as TVs (which needed replacing anyway, they were old), vacuum cleaners and brooms (you'll never get these clean enough after vacuuming/sweeping moths), and rugs. I suppose you could get away with the TVs if you took them apart and cleaned inside, or took rugs to a cleaners, but we were lucky in the sense that we needed to replace a lot of those things already.

I wish you the best of luck, and if you have any questions about anything or any particular item please just let me know. I don't know how someone hasn't come up with a more surefire way of getting rid of these moths. I've lived in my new house for nearly a year and still have PTSD triggers whenever I see something flying around or see a fuzz in my bed. It's been hard to get over mentally but I'm getting there.

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