Inspect everything in your pantry. Although moths tend to infest flours and grains, you should also check dried fruit, candy, pet food, etc. You're looking for adult moths, larvae, and eggs, which may look like webbing or clumps of grains. Discard any infested foods outside, away from the home.
We know from experience that a pantry moth infestation can be most frustrating. At the same time, we are committed to using natural, non-toxic, and mostly no-kill methods to deal with pantry moths. Here are the methods we recommend to get rid of them and effectively prevent further infestation.
What You Need
Ingredients
Warm, soapy water
White vinegar
Essential oil (peppermint, citronella, eucalyptus, or tea tree)
Bay leaves
Tools
Vacuum
Cleaning cloth and/or sponge
Airtight food storage containers
Freezer
Instructions
1. Inspect everything in your pantry. Although moths tend to infest flours and grains, you should also check dried fruit, candy, pet food, etc. You're looking for adult moths, larvae, and eggs, which may look like webbing or clumps of grains. Discard any infested foods outside, away from the home.
2. Thoroughly clean every nook, cranny, corner, and crevice with a vacuum and/or warm, soapy water (dry thoroughly). If there were signs of infestation, discard trash or vacuum bags outside, away from the home.
3. Wipe shelves, food containers, and other surfaces with white vinegar. For added protection, use a few drops of essential oil like peppermint, citronella, eucalyptus, or tea tree.
4. To prevent infestation, store foods in airtight glass, metal, or plastic containers.
5. Bay leaves repel pantry insects. Place the leaves inside canisters and cupboards.
6. When you bring dry goods home from the store, place them in a plastic bag in the freezer for one week to kill any eggs. If you have space, you can use the freezer for long term storage.
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Comments (15)
For what it's worth, pantry moths can get through the seal on a closed Ikea Slom jar, apparently rather easily.
...try opening and eating half a granola bar, then opening the wrapper all the way to find the other half has become a moth larvae nest. AHHHHHHH! So, they can also got into *sealed* packages. I just went through my whole pantry and tossed out everything I hadn't used in the past 6 months or so (not spices, just flours & mixes). Most of my local markets (Sprouts, Mother's, Henry's) sell several flours in bulk, so now I just buy what I need for the baking project. I also keep some white flour in the fridge just in case.
They look like harmless moths, but don't be fooled! We had a horrible problem with them a couple of years ago. They were able to get into some pretty amazing places! We lost the majority of the dry food storage in our pantry. It took a while to get rid of them, but we were diligent about killing them anytime we saw one. One trick we used was setting out small dishes with a little olive oil in them. They were attracted to the oil, but would get stuck when they landed on it.
Moths are such a pain to get rid off!
Anytime you purchase any grain or flour, keep it in the freezer overnight. Then put everything in canisters or glass jars.
mAlice- I have a hard time believing pantry moths can get through glass jars unless the item was already contaminated.
I ended up throwing out pounds and pounds of infected food a couple of months ago. They liked the nuts the most, so check those too.
Plastic bags won't do the trick. And I've found the "freeze your incoming food" idea to be an inaccurate old wives' tale -- and I'm an old wife.
Glass. Jars.
I spent most of my life in So. California where this sort of infestation is very common.
Glass. Jars.
Did I mention -- Glass jars with screw on lids are the only sure thing.
They get inside of nuts and lay eggs. Just a heads up so you don't eat half a handful of nuts only to find out there are eggs inside of them.
I also have been keeping everything I can in sealed glass jars to at least contain the infestation since I find there are already eggs inside new sealed packages of pantry items and not enough room in my freezer.
I used to have so much trouble with pantry moths! I've been 95% effective in keeping them out by storing all my grains, flours and nuts in the fridge. We have also drastically cut back on processed snack foods in our house so there is rarely more than one package of crackers or other grainy products around to attract or hatch new moths. I also store all my pasta in glass jars so I can see and evidence of bugs and get rid of it right away. I just started The Cure from Kitch and after cleaning out my pantry this week was sooo excited not to have found any moth ridden food!
I had pantry moths and also had a hard time getting rid of them until I found the culprit. A bunch of wild sage I picked from a relative's yard on vacation. It was so old it was more like a souvenir than a spice!
I have bay leaves taped to the inside top of my food storage containers as well as to the walls of my pantry. I had a leftover cluster of dried lavender from my yard that I hung up in the pantry because, why not?
I had this same problem - Last winter during the cure I had to throw away hundreds of dollars worth of gluten-free flours because everything was infested. Moths can chew through paper and plastic snack wrappers, but they can't get through hard plastics or glass. I moved everything over to large glass and plastic jars and, and haven't had a problem since. Occasionally you might find some moths in a jar, but that just means they came home from the store already in the flour (yuck!). The jars really help keep the infestation from spreading. A worthwhile investment, IMHO!
I have also found them in sealed glass jars. Including a sealed jar of instant coffee I was keeping in the back of my cupboard for the occasional baking and hadn't opened since well before the infestation. How on Earth they got through into the jar, I will never understand.
They are very attracted to the sticky fly traps that you hang from a ceiling. If you just got a batch of them hatched and they're everywhere, hang a fly trap and most of them will be caught within a few hours.
this has been very upsetting to the whole family! one minute everything is fine, and then all of a sudden there is a major moth infection! they are so discrete, you do not even notice until they are out of control! ive never even heard of this sort of thing! and it is not easy to deal with, it is sooo gross! i pray that this thourough cleaning and disinfecting (using lysol wipes) job we are doing will get rid of them for good! be sure to check all new purchased food boxes and products prior to stocking them and throw out ALL cardboard! they love to hide in there! good luck everyone!! glass containers and bay leaves - we are ordering NOW! LOL (be sure to check spice cabinet too!)
Hi,
I was infested with pantry moths from dog treats in pantry. I was completely consumed with these repulsive pests. I finally know what to tell people to get rid of them.
You have to throw away every single item whether package was open or not. I any housewares are in pantry you must inspect every inch and scrub it. The shelving walls and every crevice has to be spray and wiped down with white vinegar. Last you must place lavender packets (trader joes sells them) on shelving and floor. I for the first time have found them dead on the floor and hopefully after 4 days of being completely consumed and feeling like I was going crazy there is a light at the end of the tunnel. good luck!
Sometimes you can see pantry moths in grocery stores. When I do, I do not both with that grocery store again.
I've even had them in my spices. So sad to toss the whole lot, but even worse to eat what my family calls "high protein food".