Moths!

[edd_jedi]

I have been wary of moths since having a carpet destroyed by them about ten years ago. Since then I have tried hard to keep them at bay, and store anything they could ruin (old clothes, cardboard etc) in boxes so they can't get to them. I have been keeping my 'non display' collection in plastic Really Useful boxes, thinking they would be pretty moth-proof. However I just opened one, which has been closed for a good six months, and there was a bloody huge moth in there

I couldn't see any immediate damage, but I know these things eat cardboard, and the box had several boxed vehicles in it. I don't understand how a moth managed to get inside a closed plastic box, I don't see any holes in it, but it's obviously not air tight so must have squeezed through a small gap.

Is there anything you guys can recommend to keep these little b****rds from ruining my collection!? I have used moth bombs before, but they are more for open spaces, I can't exactly set them off inside plastic boxes is there anything I can put insude the plastic boxes to keep them away?

 

[lejackal]

For a second I thought you'd opened your wallet to buy a round

 

[Snaketibe]

If the moth was dead upon opening the box, I would say it's likely a pupa was somehow in the box when you packed it. If the moth was alive when you opened it, then I must assume the box wasn't airtight or at least wasn't moth-proof.

As for keeping them at bay in future, moth balls do work, but they will make your collection stink and possibly damage it. As an alternative, cedar is the best natural moth repellent, followed by lavender, so you could try placing sachets of those inside the boxes? Again though, they are likely to make the contents smell, although far less likely to damage them, I would have thought.

Good luck.

 

[UKS]

Moth balls! But they do make stuff smell.

 

[Michael Sith]

As said above

ignore the spraying bit below but diffusers with cedar are a good idea and makes your house smell nice as well

1. Fill your home with cedar. You can also use cedar oilin a spray bottle diluted with water or in a diffuser that can spread the scent of cedar. Moths and other insects are repelled by the pheromones in cedar.
2. Combine dried, crushed, and powdered herbs. Combine the following in a bag that you can hang anywhere you keep clothes or food: lavender, bay leaves, cloves, rosemary, and thyme. Moths also hate the odors of these herbs. You can also dilute the essential oils of these herbs and spray them on your clothes and belongings or use a diffuser with one or more combinations of these oils.

 

[TheJabbaWookie]

Feel for you Edd. We had a massive infestation of clothes moths 3 years ago and they destroyed our carpets mostly. Took ages to get rid of them all

 

[_Lee_]

Was it a deflector dc Bix Edd?

 

[edd_jedi]

Was it a deflector dc Bix Edd?

I have the MOCs in DC cases inside the Really Useful boxes so hopefully double plastic is safe from the moths, but not so sure now!