Three Facts About Moths And Your Clothing
As we close out the summer and start to prepare for the fall season it’s time to start packing and unpacking items, rotating your garments from storage into drawers and closets and maybe deciding on what stays or goes. During these seasonal transitions, you may be disappointed to find potential damage to your favorite sweaters, coats and accessories by moths. Moth damage can be difficult to detect in its beginning stages and is not an indicator of overall cleanliness, so we wanted to share some facts to consider when storing away those seasonal items.
What exactly is a Moth?
Moths are similar to carpet beetles, and feed on protein. Although a frequent source of moth infestation is old furniture and clothing, they can also be brought in from the outside through open doors or by sticking to our clothes and shoes.
Three Facts About Moths:
Moths live and breed in dark, quiet places like closets, baseboards, storage bins and behind furniture.
Moths feed off of protein found in fabrics such as wool, furs, feathers, cotton, silk and rayon as well as food stains, perspiration and body oils. This is why it is extremely important to dry clean all clothing and household items before storing them away for the season and promptly after pulling your pieces out for the new season. Temperatures must be over 120℉ in order to fully disinfect and prevent further infestation.
Moths can be difficult to spot as clothing moths lay camouflage webbing to hide and protect their larvae which blends with most fabrics causing the most damage. This means that moth damage may not be detected immediately and can continue to live within your space.
We’ll be sharing more details and information on how to prevent and deal with moth damage if detected soon. But if you’re getting a head start on your seasonal cleaning and want help preventing potential moth damage, drop your seasonal items off at one of our convenient locations today. Or download the app to schedule your dry cleaning pickup this week.
