Wardrobe clear out and how to deal with clothes moths.

The daffodils are blooming here in London and adding a shot of yellow to our city.  Yet most of our  wardrobes are full of winter clothes and woolies.

Now is an ideal time to have a good Spring clean and edit our wardrobes before making those new purchases.

 

As I have very little wardrobe space, every season I have to do a big change around and store all my out of season clothes in suitcases in the garage. This is very energy and time consuming so I decided to have a big audit and clear out unwanted stuff.  I unpacked all my summer clothes and meticulously tried each garment on and if any of the criteria below applied out it went.


Rules of engagement:-

1. If it no longer fits. Out it goes
2. If it is no longer flattering (either colour or style) Out it goes
3. If I have not worn it for the previous 2 years. Out it goes

 

I was left with 3 substantial piles:-

1. To go to the charity shop
2. To sell at the local 2nd hand shop
3. To take to the recycling bins

In the process, horror of horrors, I discovered a couple of sweaters with moth holes in them. I am so careful and always use cedar blocks and moth proof sachets in my draws and wardrobe so this discovery was of great concern. I promptly took the sweaters off to be darned (luckily we have a very good wool shop near us that offers this rare service). However the real emergency is to prevent this from happening again. Apparently modern moths are becoming resistant to all the usual preventatives, like lavender and cedar.  I was told that putting your sweaters in the freezer before packing them away would kill the eggs and larvae, but not sure that this works.

 

 

It is very important to ensure that all clothes are clean before being packed away and according to my very knowledgeable local dry cleaner, cleaning fluid will kill any potential eggs.

I have ordered some moth proofing products that hopefully will rid my wardrobe from these invisible pesky pests!

Moth Kill Products

If you have any helpful advice on how to deal with destructive clothes eating moths I would love to hear from you.