The winter here rarely gets cold enough to use it. I would like to keep it hanging rather than store it in a container. I'm allergic to mothballs. Any suggestion to keep moths out while it hangs?

Well.. do you even live in an area where wool eatin' moths live?

I don't... so I can't help with the actual question.

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
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Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
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Eureka, CA

Oh, yeah. They tore up a good wool sweater.

Cut off their balls!








(isn't that where those come from? They're used as a warning to other moths... right?)

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Paul F.
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A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca c. 5 BC - 65 AD
----
Good is the enemy of Excellent. Talent is not necessary for Excellence.
Persistence is necessary for Excellence. And Persistence is a Decision.
--

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Eureka, CA

moth balls, and cedar wood, or cedar oil.

This is what I have heard. You might want to do some research because I can't promise you this is true.

It's not the moths, it is their larvae that do the chewing. And I have heard that moth larvae like to eat clothing that is dirty: sweat stains, food stains, stuff like that. So you want to get the coat cleaned so as to make it less desirable.

Cedar supposedly keeps moths away. Not because it repels them, but because it masks the odor of the wool, so to speak, and they can't figure out that the wool is there. I don't think there is any proof of this, but that doesn't mean it couldn't help. Some people swear by cedar.

My own two cents is that if you don't hang the coat in a closet, and therefore it won't be in the dark, that that should discourage them from laying eggs there as well.

This is exactly why I don't own a wool coat.

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Cedar.

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It is what it is.

Oh, cedar repels and even kills moths and other insects. The terpenes interfere with development of larvae as well as the reproductive cycle, and many insects are hardwired to avoid it.

Cedar wood itself is quite insect-resistant, and the oil is a great human-friendly insecticide. Of course, as the wood dries out, it loses effectiveness, but you can always renew it with some cedar oil.

Anyhow, me, I'd probably clean the sweater in case there were any eggs on it, and then put it in a Ziploc big bag. Those things are great. You could also do one of those Space Bags with the little valve for using your vacuum to suck out all the air, but my own experience with them is that they develop leaks.

Spacebag. Seriously. $18 at Home Depot. Maybe put in a plank of cedear paneling before you vacuum it closed.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map

All my closets are cedar lined. Tongue and groove plank.
I have wool suits and overcoats.
Sweaters I just keep in a drawer.
I also have wool socks.

They make little cedar bars and balls, the size of a bar of soap to throw in a drawer.


I do take all my wool stuff and hang out on the clothes line once or twice during a dry spell in the Summer for air freshening and to help keep them from smelling like they've been stored forever.

I have no evidence of ever having wool moths, so all my extra effort may be a waste of my time.
It can be humid here, so precautions are probably warranted.

I have lived in Chicago my entire life and have always owned wool sweaters, coats, pants etc. Kind of a necessity here...

I have never had a problem with moths in any of my apartments or houses but many people I know have cedar closets built in their homes. My parents had one in the house we lived in when I was a kid.

I think getting the coat cleaned and putting it into one of those spacebags should do the trick nicely.

DM