How to deter moths from your linens
Your linens should be kept in good repair, and it is important to do what you can to deter moths from the linens. The following are some ways to deter moths from your linens:
Vacuum closets regularly. By regularly this means weekly, or even bi-weekly if you need to depending on the level of build up your house gets and the location of your linen closets. Vacuuming your closets regularly means having less lint, dust, hair, etc. to attract moths, so you can enjoy your linens in good repair longer. When you vacuum out the closets you store your linens in, you will want to make sure that you use a suction tool, especially along the edges. You should do this so that you can remove lint, hair, and dust from cracks, baseboards, air ducts, carpets, upholstery, etc.
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Before you pack wool and other linens for storage you will want to wash or dry clean them well. Even with dry cleaning, you will want to clean them well with a brush too and make sure that they are dust free, store them clean and dry. Storing them clean and dry means nothing for moths to feed on. It means that moths will not be attracted because there is nothing for them to be attracted to.
Pack different linens separately so that something that may attract moths will not attract them to all of your linens. If you are packing your linens away do not store like materials together. Pack a few wool items with a few silk items, etc. You just want to ensure that you do not attract moths to everything you have.
If you are storing your linens short-term you will want to use re-closable plastic bags or plastic boxes. Plastic is a good way to deter moths. They can not get through the bags easily. And if the boxes are air tight, they can't get through them at all.
If you are going to store your linens long term, you will want to avoid plastic as it will not allow ventilation, and plastic can degrade fabrics over time. If you want to deter moths when storing long term, ventilate them manually, but be sure to do so. You will also want to make sure that especially for long term storage that they are very clean.
If you have a lot of valuable linens, or old linens, you will want to do more to store them well and to preserve them without moths ruining it. You will probably want to consider using a professional preservationist. They use special things to preserve and also to ensure that moths will not eat your linens.
Make sure your closets have tight fitting doors so that moths do not get in. this is something simple you can do to deter moths. In life, sometimes the easiest things are the most effective. It is little things like locking your door that deter most thieves, so why can't having tight fitting closet doors be a good deterrent for moths? It can, so get them fitted.
Keeping your linens nice and moth free can be as simple as the above steps, so be sure that you apply these so that when you pull out your grandmother's lace cloths for Thanksgiving dinner, only to find that there are holes and you are embarrassed because of moths.
