Cold weather means getting all of your winter clothing out of storage. Finding your winter clothing with holes in them can be odd and sometimes scary for children. The reason behind these holes: clothes moths.

How to Identify Clothes Moths

• If you’ve ever seen moths fluttering around in your closets or storage areas, those holes could be the work of clothes moths.
• If the holes in your clothes look like they were chewed, they could have been made by clothes moths.
• If you look closely at the damage and see a tiny pale worm nibbling on the fabric–yup, it’s clothes moths.
• The reason moth damage can be so mysterious is that adult clothes moths don’t eat fabrics, their offspring do. So, when you find a damaged winter hat that was deep in a box full of hats, scarves, and mittens, you don’t have to wonder if you’re going crazy. That damage wasn’t caused by moths. It was caused by caterpillars.

How to Protect Your Winter Clothing

• Before you store winter clothing, make sure you wash those items. Clothes moth larvae are most attracted to fibers that have decaying skin and the odor of sweat on them.
• Dry clean wool items and other winter items that have natural fabrics.
• Consider storing winter items in a sealable plastic tote.

How to Get Rid of Clothing Moths

Eradicating a clothing moth infestation can be time-consuming, frustrating, and ineffective without an understanding of the biology and behaviors of these invading insects. If you’re finding damage done by clothing moths, reach out to a professional pest control company for assistance. When these pests are not properly treated, they can do damage to more than just the clothing in your home.

If you live in the Windsor-Essex Canada region, let the pest specialists here at Pestward take care of those clothes moths.