I thought it was time to tell you all about the fibre
artist’s worst nightmare; the clothes moth.
Clothes moth is a not entirely accurate name; this moth isn’t interested
in all clothes, just those made from protein fibres. Your cotton, linen and other cellulose
fibres are fairly safe, as are the man-made fibres.
The moth I normally come across is the Case Making Clothes
Moth, so called as it makes a little case for itself before it becomes a moth;
this is what you’ll normally find in your stash, along with dead adults and
frass (or moth poo). Now before you
start worrying about every moth you see, keep in mind these guys are usually
not seen. They hate the light, so the
ones fluttering around your porch light are safe. If you ever see an adult clothes moth it’ll
be fluttering or scurrying away from the light as fast as it possibly can. They’re small too, only about 6 to 8mm in
length and a light buff colour. They’re
often a little tatty looking too. The
actual damage isn’t done by the moth, it’s the larvae which eats the stash,
they’re also the ones that make all that peppery looking poo (frass is the
correct term) that you find in the bottom of the box or bag.
The first step with these guys is to not get them in your
stash in the first place. They like
fibres that are contaminated with food over clean fibre and from what I’ve seen
they love raw alpaca and absolutely adore raw possum! I’ve found them in sheep and goats fleece
as well though, so they’re not that picky.
If possible wash fleeces to reduce the odour that attracts them, store
with strong smelling things like cedar (best option) or lavender or even soap
will help. Make sure these things don’t
have direct contact with the stash, put them in a cloth bag so their oils don’t
contaminate your stash. Now these
things won’t kill the moth, but they will make it harder for it to find your
stash. Also store in plastic bins, clear
is best as it lets in the light which will discourage them. Zip loc bags can be helpful, but moths can
chew through them to get to something that smells nicer to them.
In addition to the above, go through your stash at least
once a year. The moth doesn’t like
being disturbed, and if it is in there you’ll likely find it before the damage
gets too great.
If the worst should happen (as it has to me on a few
occasions), don’t panic, swearing doesn’t really help I’m afraid, keep calm and
start to sort out the problem. Often
the moth will come into your stash from something you buy, at the time you buy
it there won’t be any sign you can see.
You could quarantine it, but would need to do this for quite some time
and we don’t all have the room or time for this; not to mention most purchases
are fine and not carrying any nasties.
The first thing to do is to take out the box that’s got the
infestation (or bag), take it outside and start going through it. I also check boxes within a few feet of the
original to be certain that they’re ok as well. The source of the infestation is normally
binned straight away; it’s usually obvious which one that is as there will be
dead moths, casings and lots of frass in there. Don’t try to save it, it’s not worth
it. Check for signs in the rest of
that box, if everything looks ok then it’s time to treat it to make sure it’s
ok and stays that way.
Empty the box and give it a good vacuum, if you wish you
could also wash it in hot soapy water.
If the fibre is a greasy fleece now’s the time to wash it in water
that’s at least 50 degrees and you want to keep it at that temperature for 30
minutes at minimum. If the fibre is
natural that you’re intending to dye, get to it as the temperatures in dyeing
will kill all stages of the pest.
If you can’t wash it or if it’s already dyed you have two
options.
1.
This was the option I normally used until
recently. You need a deep freeze, a
proper chest freezer, not the one attached to your fridge. Freeze everything for at least four days; I
normally go for a week. Take it out and
keep it in the warm for another four days.
Put it back in the freezer for a week and repeat. I would do the freeze and warm cycle three
times. The cold kills the larvae and
the adults, but not the eggs; the warmth persuades them to hatch and then the
freezer kills them. I’ve not had any
problems with anything I’ve used this method with.
2.
This is the option I tried with the current
infestation. No signs of moth anywhere
except in one bag, but the bag had been eaten through and some frass had got
out so I wasn’t leaving anything to chance.
My freezer was full, so I did a little research and found that heat also
kills them and it kills all parts of the lifecycle. 50 deg centigrade for 30 minutes minimum is
what you need and I figure that since all my dyed fibre has hit that temperature
in being dyed it’ll survive perfectly well if I did it again. So, I used my largest roasting dish on the
bottom shelf of the oven and heated it at 50 for 40 minutes. The fibre came out of the oven without any
damage (this was all Merino or Merino/Silk); I had a couple that I stuck in the
freezer still but they included bamboo as part of the blend and I wasn’t sure
how that would be in heat.
After treating your stash then put it back in the cleaned
container and keep a close eye on it for a while. I also contact the place I got the
infestation from to let them know; most people appreciate knowing and it
reduces the chances of it happening again.
I hope those of you who do get this in your stash can use this to help; I really hope no-one needs it, but unfortunately I know some will.
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