Best Moth Killer Products (UK)

Although moths attacking your light bulb can be annoying, what they do to your fabrics can be rather more destructive.

Moths can be particularly devastating on clothes in storage. If you don’t take these clothes out of the wardrobe and inspect them occasionally, they can run the risk of being eaten up by moths and larvae.

Moths don’t just attack your clothes either, they can eat carpets, curtains, fabric sofas and loads more.

Thankfully there are plenty of ways of keeping moth infestations down to a minimum. Of course, one way is to wash your clothes in storage, curtains and carpets every so often.

But there is a much simpler way. Today, we are going to look at this simpler way and five of the best moth killing products on the market right now.

Each of the moth killers below has their own use so, in theory, you could get them all and crack down on all moth activities in your home. Or, just pick the right one for the job that you need it to do.

 

 

How to Stop Moths Eating Your Clothes

Moths have excellent taste in clothes, only they like eating clothes rather than wearing them. Moths can cause hundreds and even thousands of pounds worth of damage to your clothes if you’re not careful, so you need to know how to deal with them.

There are lots of easy and affordable ways to prevent moths from eating your clothes, and you don’t need to go straight to an expensive pest control company.

Dealing with moths requires two steps. First, you want to get rid of any moths in your house by using moth traps and other methods. Second, you should take action to stop moths coming back by using repellents and better storage techniques.

How to know if you have a moth problem

If moths are damaging your clothes, there will be a few clues in your cupboards. Here are some signs to look out for:

• Small holes in jumpers, sweaters and other clothing. You should look in particular at silk, fur and wool clothing.
• Webbing on clothes or in the corners of drawers
• Clothes that look discoloured or have a musty smell
• Small moth eggs on clothes

Common clothing moths (tineola bisselliella) are silvery brown in colour. It’s actually the larvae that eat clothes rather than the moths themselves, so even if you can’t see any moths their larvae could still be eating your clothes.

 

How to get rid of moths

Here are some quick tips for getting rid of moths.

1. Use moth traps

Pheromone moth traps work by attracting moths to them using pheromones, and then trapping them on a sticky surface (poor moths).

2. Wash your clothes to remove eggs

Top stop moths coming back, you need to wash out and kill any moth eggs on your clothes.

Wash them at an appropriate temperature, and dry them on a high heat if the care label says you can do this. If the clothing can’t be dried on a high heat, you can try putting the clothing in the freezer for a couple of days to kill eggs.

You should also wash any second-hand clothes you buy from charity shops or Ebay before putting them in the wardrobe, as they are more likely to contain moth eggs.

3. Clean your wardrobe

While you’re washing your clothes, you can give your wardrobe or cupboard by vacuuming it and then cleaning it with soapy water. This will get rid of any eggs that might still be there.

 

How to stop moths coming back

Once you’ve dealt with the immediate problem of a moth infestation, it’s time to prevent them coming back. Here are some tips for preventing moths from eating your clothes in the future.

1. Use moth balls

Putting moth balls in your wardrobe is a very effective way to kill moths, though they can contain harmful chemicals such as aphthalene and paradichlorobenzene which aren’t very healthy for humans. They also produce unpleasant smells, making moth balls far from an ideal solution. A better option is to use cedar balls (see below).

2. Use cedar in your wardrobe

Cedar naturally repels moths, so it’s a good idea to use cedar hangers or other cedar items such as cedar balls in your wardrobe.

3. Store clothes better

If you have woollen clothing that you won’t be wearing for a while, you can store it in airtight plastic bags to prevent moths from getting to it. It’s a good idea to do this in the spring so your woolly jumpers will be fresh and hole-free once the autumn comes.

4. Reduce humidity

Moths like humid places, so reducing the humidity level in your home can discourage them. The easiest and quickest way to do this is with an electronic dehumidifier, but if you want something cheaper that doesn’t require electricity, you could try the Unibond Aero 360 Moisture Absorber.

5. Don’t hang onto clothes you don’t wear

The fewer clothes you have, the easier it is to keep moths at bay. While it might be tough if you’re a natural hoarder, passing on or selling old clothes you don’t wear is a good idea, as it basically means the moths will have less food.

 

What Causes Moths in the House?

When you wear wool, feather and fur clothing outside, moths can lay eggs on your clothing, which will then hatch once you’re inside. It’s a good idea to brush these kinds of clothes after wearing them outside to remove moth eggs.

Moths are more likely to be attracted to your clothes if they have spills or bits of food in them, so you should wash clothes before putting them in your wardrobe.

 

How Can You Repel Moths Naturally?

You can repel moths naturally by using certain herbs and scents that moths hate. Luckily, many of these scents smell great to us, so there’s the added benefit of making your home smell nice!

Using a scent rather than a harsh chemical spray is also kinder to moths, as it will simply repel them rather than killing them.

Here are some of the best scents for repelling moths.

Cedar

The pheromones in cedar repel moths, so spraying some diluted cedar oil in a great way to repel them. You can make your own spray by diluting cedarwood essential oil, or buy a specially made product such as this Swedish Red Cedar Oil spray.

You can also hang cedar blocks in your wardrobe, or put them among your clothes to repel moths.

 

Lavender

Lavender is another great scent for repelling moths. You can put sachets of dried lavender among your clothes, or spray diluted lavender essential oil in the problem area.

 

Mint

Mint is another scent that moths dislike, so dried peppermint sachets or peppermint oil can be used to repel them.

 

Conclusion

We hope this article has helped you find some great moth killer products. If you’re looking for something to protect clothes in drawers, we’d recommend Acana’s Moth Killer & Freshener Sachets. They’re very easy to use and should protect your clothes for three months before they need replacing.

If you’re dealing with moths on carpets, rugs or upholstery, we’d recommend Rug Remedy Carpet Moth Killer, which is an easy-to-apply spray that should protect your carpets for siz months.