I am under attack!

[Ricardo]

Hi All,

 

Please, which is the best techniques to attack moths in the uniforms?

 

I am under attack!

 

Thanks!!

 

Best regards,

 

Ricardo.

[disneydave]

Mothballs, but they'll stink everything up.

 

I've also heard that a closet lined with cedar wood does the trick too, as moths apparently don't like the smell of cedar.

[Jeeper704]

Apparently pieces of soap or tobacco would help too.

And regularly ventilating the room.

 

Erwin

[Peace]

Put every suspect item you have in the freezer. 24hrs in, let it thaw, another 24hrs in.

 

Brush off, and take the other above advice!

 

Every new item that goes into the collection should undergo this procedure.

 

Hope there is not too much damage :s

 

Regards

 

Stijn

[Baker502]

You can also get the items dry cleaned they kill the moths and the eggs. Also use a bug fogger in the relics room, and I have cedar in my room all over the place. Good luck on that one thats a bad situation. Paul

[kklinejr]

Ah, the uniform collector's worst enemy...the moth! The advice given here is very good. With around 500 uniforms in my collection now, moths are my worst concern. I go a little over the top in preventing them, but I haven't seen one in two years. Here's what I do.

 

Step 1- Quarantine- No item goes into the collection room without being put in the freezer for 24 hours or being steam cleaned by yours truly. If using the freezer method, be sure to really secure the bag or container you are putting the item in.

 

Step 2- Cleaning - I use a hand held steam cleaner that is one of the best inventions on the market. It cleans the garment well and gets rid of wrinkles. Unless you are preserving a "battle look;" dirt, sweat and food stains attract moths- clean the garment before putting it in the collection.

 

Step 3- "Cedar" the item. Every uniform gets put on a cedar clotheshanger with a few cedar balls placed in the pockets.

 

Step 4: Room care: my collection room always has two small fans circulating the air in front and behind the uniforms. Moths enjoy calm air... circulation makes them want to make home elsewhere. In areas that don't get much of the circulation I keep pieces of fresh cut cedar - the wives' tale is true, moths hate cedar.

 

Step 5: Perform periodic checks of the items. Moths go where they will not be disturbed (e.g. the coat in the closet that hasn't been touched for eight years). Take the items off the rack every once in awhile, not only to enjoy them, but to make sure the little guys aren't making a home.

 

If you find evidence of moths, get the items out of the storage area and begin step one. If moths are already in the room (exterminators say that seeing one means "infestation"), after all of the wool items are out, think about a quick fumigation or spray application in the doorways and crevices around floors..the places moths love to settle. If you don't present an environment conducive to feeding and breeding, the moths will skeedaddle.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Ken

[ETN]

Also, every once in awhile, put a bug zapper in your collections room for an evening. Not only will it help to draw and kill moths, but it will also help to catch other potentialy harmful pests as well.

[QED4]

Apparently pieces of soap or tobacco would help too.

And regularly ventilating the room.

 

Erwin

 

Both of these are a bad idea, first it is debatable if either work and I don't believe they do. Second soap will leave residue on the cloth that is a pain to get out and there are so many additives in soap now (perfume, moisturizers, etc) you never know what is in it and what it will do the the cloth. Tobacco is a plant and basically bug food, while moths may not care for it other bugs do and will chew through the cloth to get to it. Tobacco is the reason you see holes along the bottoms of pockets so often. Stick to moth balls and cedar but read the label on the moth balls and make sure they kill adults, larva, and eggs not just adults the larva is what dose the damage.

[Jeeper704]

That's why I said "apparently".

 

I use only cedar and moth balls and some old soap (my grandmother adviced putting small chunks of old soap - Sunlight - in the pockets).

 

Erwin

[Ricardo]

Hi Fellows,

 

Thank you!!!

 

I was very sad per some days later that I discovered this:

 

 

 

PS. At least I killed the insect.

 

opening the windows of the war room it will not harm for the variation of the temperature of the environment? One of the problems for we collectors of uniforms is the mildew.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Ricardo.

[Nkomo]

Since I collect post World War II items, moths are not to much of a concern for me. However, mildew is a problem that has plagued me for years. Flucuations in temperatures are ideal for moisture to form. Moisture is where mildew starts. Where I live, humidity is a killer. That is why I run a dehumidifer constantly in the summer. It is not unheard of for my dehumidifier to collect a gallon of water or more a day in the summertime. A dehumidifer is a must have for all collectors to keep in their rooms to stop moisture and mildew growth. I have heard that the ideal humidity for a room where a person stores his/her items is 30-40%. Go to Wal-Mart or the equivelant and invest in a cheap humidity/temperature gauge. They run somewhere between $5 and $10 dollars. The dehumidifiers run from $125 on up. Not exactly cheap but well worth it in my opinion.

Arch

[hhbooker2]

MOTHPROOFING: Soak half the garment in gasoline and set it afire, when the moths rush to the other side, stab them with an ice-pick!

[CNY Militaria]

MOTHPROOFING: Soak half the garment in gasoline and set it afire, when the moths rush to the other side, stab them with an ice-pick!

 

Hmmm, I will certainly try that method!

[88thcollector]

[Are you sure that is a moth? Was the ribbon silk?

Looks like silverfish possibly.

 

Steve

[88thcollector]

Cedar. The use of cedar to repel or kill moths is pretty much a myth. It does not actually work very well or at all. Cedar does not repel or kill moths. It will supposedly mask the odor of the woolens so the moths will not be able to zero in on the smell and attack them. Most tests have shown that cedar only works under the most ideal conditions with a tightly sealed room or container and a very heavy concentration of aroma. It is hard to achieve this in real world conditions.

It does not kill larvae. (Eastern Red Cedar, actually a variety of juniper, will kill larvae if it is very heavily concentrated but the cedar products you find do not.)

 

Moth balls work in very high concentration and enclosed containers but the trade offs with odor, tarnishing and health concerns are great.

 

It is most important to eliminate infestation in other parts of the house first. Be sure you don't have old clothes in the basement, closets or attic that are breeding moths. Or old wool carpets, blankets, etc in storage. Silverfish love boxes of old magazines and paper.

 

If the uniforms are OK to be dry cleaned, that is a huge step. Moths always see to go for the armpits and other sweated on areas but after 60 years, that is probably not an issue for WW2 stuff but it is for newer pieces. It is always good to vacuum new acqusitions well before you bring them in. If you buy stuff that has been stored in old corrugated cardboard boxes, toss the boxes out immediately. All sorts of critters hide in the corrugations.

 

I don't collect uniforms anymore but when I did I brushed and cleaned every new find very well, Carefully vacummed it but you have to be careful of the linings. Then I would perforate a ziplock baggy all over with a fork and put a cloth in it that was sprayed wet with a Raid or other commercial flying insect / moth killer. I put the uniform in a gerbage bag and stuck in the baggie, making sure it did not touch the fabric. Sealed tightly and got it out whenever I thought about it again in a few days. Never had any insect damage but I can't guarantee this method as I made it up. It ain't scientific, just simple and cheap.

[ccmax]

Check this, it might help:

 

http://www.uos.harvard.edu/ehs/pes_silverfish.shtml

[pconrad02]

All,

 

Yep that looks like silverfish.. find a good dry cleaner, someone who does the work at their shop and talk to them about the process. I get most of my stuff dry-cleaned, even WWI. I have never had a problem, and the uniforms look 100% better!! And it kills everything!

 

Paul

[Ricardo]

Thank you Cesar!!!

 

My problem is Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina)!!!!

 

Best regards,

 

Ricardo.

[HBT]

Excellent subject. I have also read from numerous sources that cedar and mothballs are not effective. In fact, cedar oil is highly acidic and can damage fabrics. I have also read that the temperature of most household freezers is not cold enough to kill moth eggs.

 

I am curious to research the "moving air" theory about how moths do not like to be disturbed by air circulation.

 

I have read that female moths (the egg layers) cannot fly and must climb/crawl to get to their destinations. Keeping busts and mannequins away from the walls may help protect your garments.

 

In my new display room, I recently discovered an insect that everyone has always told me was a "silver fish". I read about how destructive this insect is and went into panic mode. Fortunately, the link from Harvard on this thread about pest insect types revealed that my pest insect is in fact a centipede.

 

Here is a pic of the beast.

 

 

----Chris

[Jeeper704]

Cedar, soap might be ineffective according to some people here, but I did not have any moth eaten clothing (yet).

I do not cover up uniforms or put them in a bag.

What I do is: see that there is air circulation, I brush the uniforms regularly, yes I put small chunks of old soap in the pockets, I leave the door open at all times and the sun out (so it doesn't heat up too much).

And I check for bugs regularly as well (even the smallest mosquito has to pay the ultimate price ).

 

Remember that the climate in Belgium is or can be very different from other parts in the world. So what goes for me, can be ineffective for others here.

 

As for tobacco, several years ago, I purchased a 4-pocket tunic from an Army Surplus store and this one had tobacco in its pockets; apart from one tiny moth hole, it was still in very good condition. It could be coincidence.

 

Erwin

[HBT]

Cedar, soap might be ineffective according to some people here, but I did not have any moth eaten clothing (yet).

I do not cover up uniforms or put them in a bag.

What I do is: see that there is air circulation, I brush the uniforms regularly, yes I put small chunks of old soap in the pockets, I leave the door open at all times and the sun out (so it doesn't heat up too much).

And I check for bugs regularly as well (even the smallest mosquito has to pay the ultimate price ).

 

Remember that the climate in Belgium is or can be very different from other parts in the world. So what goes for me, can be ineffective for others here.

 

As for tobacco, several years ago, I purchased a 4-pocket tunic from an Army Surplus store and this one had tobacco in its pockets; apart from one tiny moth hole, it was still in very good condition. It could be coincidence.

 

Erwin

 

I have handled many WWI and WWII US and German uniform shirts and jackets that were very clean all over with the exception of serious moth holes at the bottom of the breast pockets. Upon examination, I would find loose tobacco that settled into the pockets and deduced that the tobacco is what the moths or other insects were drawn to. I always shake or vacum out the pockets of tunics when I get them for this exact reason.

 

---Chris

[88thcollector]

here are some more wool and cotton eaters:

 

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/...ing/DK1005.html

 

drycleaning is the real key to get rid of oils and sweat.

 

As for soap in pockets do be certain that you don't have, or plan to get, mice. Mice love soap and will chew through anything, especially the pockets of rare uniforms, to get soap. Soap is full of fragrances and flavors bugs and vermin love, it seems like a bait to me. I think if you are using soap as a defence, you have just been lucky.

[Sbas]

Be aware that mothballs contain a dangerous chemical substance...that can cause cancer. And they smell so bad...your whole room smells like them (or even your whole house.) I had them upstairs for one day and could smell them downstairs After that I trew them in the chemical waste box!

 

I now use mothpaper...its almost the same, but without the dangerous chemicals and with almost no smell. I put a pieche of it in each pocket and under the folds in the neck.

 

Sebas

[HBT]

Be aware that mothballs contain a dangerous chemical substance...that can cause cancer. And they smell so bad...your whole room smells like them (or even your whole house.) I had them upstairs for one day and could smell them downstairs After that I trew them in the chemical waste box!

 

I now use mothpaper...its almost the same, but without the dangerous chemicals and with almost no smell. I put a pieche of it in eache pocket and under the folds in the neck.

 

Sebas

 

 

Sebas,

What is "moth paper"???

 

---Chris

[Sbas]

The same as the moth balls but then in paper form...and less the smell

 

Check this out:

http://www.baygon.com/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=412

 

Owh ps: I also use these things http://www.inpromo.nl/pix/product/10306.jpg

 

Sebas