Are Bugs Eating Holes in Your Clothes? Clothes Moths Are Probably at Work

Ever taken a pair of nice wool slacks out of storage only to find they have holes in them that you know were not there before you packed them away? Tiny bugs known as clothes moths are probably the culprits. Clothes moths larvae feast on woolens and any other animal-based fibers, including feathers and furs. Sometimes synthetic fabrics will suffer clothes moth damage too, if the fabric is a wool blend.

There are two species of clothes moth, but they are similar enough in what they do to clothing that I won’t take the time to distinguish between them for the purpose of this article. Suffice it to say that the females of both species lay as many as 50 eggs and then die. The eggs, or larvae, attach to the fabric and feast their way into adulthood; from there, the cycle repeats itself.

Not every home is infected with clothes moths. They generally breed outdoors and are brought indoors, or into your home from another source, by accident. If they are fortunate enough to find fabrics to feed on, they will reproduce.

It used to be that packing clothes and wool blankets away in cedar chests or using moth balls in storage areas were the way to prevent clothes moths and protect clothing. But moth balls are not only toxic to children and pets, they smell bad. Cedar chests are less offensive in terms of an unpleasant odor, but they are not very effective in killing anything but very small larvae. For some reason, large larvae don’t seem to be adversely affected by the aromatic red cedar. Today, therefore, neither moth balls nor cedar chests are considered the best way to protect your clothing from clothes moths.

Prevention, of course, is best. Keep closets and storage areas clean and free of dust, lint and hair. Clothing should be washed or drycleaned before being packed away for storage because clothes moths seem to be attracted to dirty clothes, particularly those soiled with urine or sweat. In other words, packing away dirty clothes is asking for trouble.

If you’ve done what you can to prevent clothes moths, but find evidence that some little critter is feasting on your clothes, the most effective way to get rid of them is to put your affected clothing in a plastic bag and put it in your freezer for 48 to 72 hours. Freezing kills both the adult clothes moth and its larvae. Then thoroughly clean and vacuum the storage area and be sure to use tight, clean containers in the future.