Good Question: How to Deal With Silverfish & Moths?

Here's a good question that buglady left on our Bay Leaves in the Pantry post:

I tried sticking bay leaves inside my kitchen cupboard doors to no avail - the mothy weevily critters seemed to love them. When I ran out of room in the fridge I decided to try decanting all my flour, rice, oats etc into juice bottles. I figured that if they were watertight moths couldn't get in. It's a bit fiddly with a funnel, but the results have been worth it ...

Now, silverfish (*#@!!~) & moths in my clothes are another matter. Any suggestions there?

We did post on silverfish once before -- but very few people had any successful tips to share. So, we thought we'd try again?

Has anyone found a good, nontoxic way to deal with silverfish and/or moths?

Comments (7)

Sachets with dried matter and/or essential oils from one or more of the following: lavender, citrus, cedar, tansy, wormwood, rosemary, sage, and/or thyme. Put them *everywhere* and refresh with e/o's often. Good luck!

putting the infested clothing etc in the freezer for a week will kill the bugs and larva

oh god, I hate silverfish. I never knew what they were until I saw one on my bed when I was like 12. I was shaking out the sheets and one flipped right onto the blankets!! O_O Just the thought of them gives me shivers.

Moths on the other hand I've never seen, but my mom always puts moth balls everywhere. What's in a moth ball anyway? is it even green?

I am also dealing with moths right now...in the food pantry, threatening elsewhere.

I plan on getting cedar balls/blocks for the closet, but any greater insight is welcome.

In closets - don't forget the hanging part - whytephoenix is exactly right. A sachet filled with a good, strong variety of lavender only needs to be squeezed occasionally to release more oil though, and should last at least a couple of years. I'll give you a discount on mine, if that's not too super-spammy to offer here.

Watch out for cedar blocks and balls staining clothes.

Mothballs are made of napthalene, a horrible substance, and especially dangerous if you have pets, children, or really elderly people around because they're easily mistaken for candy and napthalene is especially toxic.

fjorlief is absolutely right about freezing. It's the first step to getting rid of the food pantry moths, digger61. Those moths are actually different from the moths that infest clothing, btw. So, freeze anything grain-based for about a week. Take every single thing out of the pantry, thoroughly wash every inch, including the ceiling and around the light fixture. The really essential thing is to get the little space where the shelf meets the wall cleaned out, and if the infestion has been really bad, seal that crack with caulk. After all that is done, put bayleaves everywhere, and tape them to the inside top of the containers holding rice, flour, etc. The thing you really want to avoid is larvae, because you can't see them really, and well, ew.

On the bright side, if you get your house sealed up so bugs can't get in, you'll save on energy. Just make sure to ventilate regularly.

Hope that's helpful, and not too lecture-y. Cheers.

I planted lavender in my tiny flower beds for that very reason to dry and use as a moth repellent. This year I had enough lavender to dry and make hanging sachets for my closets, here's how I made them http://condo-blues.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-to-make-moth-repelling-lavender.html.

Cedar squares also work well at repelling moths. And you can sand them to rerelease the oils when they loose their oomph.

Newspaper is great for repelling moths. You don't have to do anything to it, just place sheets or balled-up newspaper in your closets/drawers and moths stay out. My parents' Ukrainian housekeeper tipped us off on that many years ago and it has always worked beautifully.