How to Get Rid of Bugs That Eat Clothes?
There are bugs that eat and destroy clothes. If any of them find their way to your clothes, then be assured you won’t wear the clothes again because they will destroy eat to the point that it won’t be pleasing to the eyes again. So at all cost, you must make sure you get rid of these bugs that feast on clothes. They don’t only destroy clothes, they also attack wool, fur, and hair fibers. Examples of these bugs are moths, termites, cockroaches, silverfish, beetles, crickets, and so on. The bugs are really after the food remains that are left in our clothes through body fluids, stains, and body soil. They find their ways into heirlooms that are in storage. Absolute care must be taken in order to prevent these bugs from attacking our clothes.
There are different ways you get rid of these bugs, and you must be careful to know it because you may definitely find yourself in the same situation. There are chemical insecticides that can also help to control these infestations but if you don’t like these chemicals, there are other organic, natural methods we can use to control it also. This organic control method is much safer around children and pets, it’s very effective when used with careful sanitation and repeated treatments.
1. Control of Carpet Beetles
To control this type of beetle, you must thoroughly clean the baseboard, corners, and edges of carpeting where debris accumulates, and the beetles use it as their food. If the bugs are detected, the clothing storage area should be emptied immediately and completely to stop the further attack and to ensure proper cleaning.
Go to different directions on the floor and carpet, vacuum thoroughly in order to remove eggs, adults, and larvae. There should be immediate and proper disposal of the vacuum bag outside the home. Other areas should be checked in the home for attacks or infestation especially food storage areas, anything that is infested should be discarded immediately. You could also freeze small items for at least 48 hours or heat them above the temperature of 120F for several hours to kill the beetles. All infested clothes should be properly washed before returning them to the wardrobe or bag.
2. Control of Cockroaches
Controlling cockroaches with non-chemical methods must be an ongoing process of sanitation, good arrangement methods, and home repair. Cockroaches enter through a very tiny hole; they could force themselves in if the bag or closet is not properly closed. Openings, where electrical lines pass through floors and walls, should be immediately sealed in order to avoid further passage of these bugs.
Leakage in plumbing should be fixed and other moisture sources indoors. Food crumbs and particles should be removed and cleaned everything in the home, and dirty clothes should be washed immediately. In case you prefer to use chemicals to eliminate cockroaches, this chemical 20 Mule Team Borax can be used as a relatively safe roach control, the way it works is that it dehydrates the bug’s exoskeleton. One of its disadvantages is that it’s not human friendly, small children and pets shouldn’t be allowed near its application because borax is toxic if ingested. The borax powder should be sprinkled mixed with a bit of sugar in the bug-infested area, it is slow in acting, so it can take up to a week to be fully effective. It should be reapplied so the bugs could consume the mixture, so infestation could be under control.
3. Control of Clothes Moths
Clothe-eating can be naturally repelled in different ways, with essential lavender, with dried lavender, or with cedar blocks. For this to be effective, the natural products must be fresh and the storage area must be tightly sealed. Cedar this is more than three years is no longer effective. Cedar chest used for pest control must be sanded and the oil must be refreshed.
To avoid stains from the natural oil, no fabric should touch the cedar directly. The cedar chips should be placed in a cotton bag, hang where the bag will not be touching other fabrics. Folded items should be wrapped in a cedar chest in acid-free tissue paper before storing. In case you suspect an infestation, the clothes should be frozen for 72hours to kill the moth eggs and larvae. High temperatures in woolen materials can also kill insects. The temperature should be up to 120F and it should be maintained for 30minutes or more.
4. Control of Crickets
Control of Crickets begins with removing sources of moisture and food. Dirty clothes should be washed promptly, outdoor openings that may bring them inside should be sealed immediately. Using a glue-based bait trap is the best way to control crickets indoors without the use of pesticides.
5. Control of Termites
If you have a termite infestation in your home, that means it is widespread throughout your home. The situation can be improved by cleaning your closet and washing dirty clothes promptly. Outdoor debris and firewood should be removed around the foundation of your home, moisture level reduction will also go a long way. Most importantly, commercial pest control will be needed to get rid of termites in your home.
6. Control of Silverfish and Firebrats
These insects crave a certain food, to naturally control them, you must first remove the moisture and food they eat and crave. A thorough cleaning should be done, and the vacuum container should be emptied outside into a sealed container. Disposable vacuum bags should be discarded immediately. Moisture in the area should be absorbed, so it’s advisable you apply a desiccant like silica powder to absorb the moisture, the temperature should also be lowered to below 60 F to slow reproduction. Sticky insect papers should be used to capture the insect.
What attracts bugs to your closets?
Here are the things that could possibly attract bugs to your clothes. We have to have in mind what could attract these bugs before we could think of how we can get rid of them. So the source of attraction should be eliminated. The things that attract these bugs to your clothes are as follows:
- Dirt – You know clothing like Jean doesn’t have to be washed anytime you wear them. You may think it doesn’t really matter to wash your clothes after you must have worn it for some time even when it is not really dirty, but always remember that these clothe-eating bugs may find their way in the dirty clothes because it attracts them.
Termites are known for eating wood but they don’t turn down easy sources of dirt like dirty clothes, cockroaches and carpet beetles will do same also. Like carpet beetles, you may think they are only interested on your rugs, but they also feast on baseboards and the debris that sheds from them. Carpet Beetles hides in your carpet edges, they may be bottom feeders but you are unknowingly giving them food through your dirty clothes.
- Food – You could stash some candy bars at the back drawer of your closet, but food could make its way into your closet in several ways. If you don’t wash stained and dirty clothes after wearing them but instead putting them back in the bag or closet, lots of pest will descend on your garments. If there are silverfish, firebrats, crickets, termites or cockroaches, there is every indication it’s because of cleanliness problem in your closet.
- Clothes: If there are insects or bugs only in your bedroom closet and not your hall closet, then it’s because of the clothes. Clothes-eating moths can make holes through your sweaters, pants and shorts if you leave them unclean and unchecked.
- Moisture: This is another factor that could attract bugs to our closet thereafter to our clothes. You have to know how warm and damp is your closet, some of these bugs have certain temperature that are conducive for them, that is when the temperature is available, they feel comfortable in it. Like the silverfish prefer temperature of at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit and firebrats up to 90 degrees. Termites and crickets like moisture.
- Darkness: There should always be one light source in each of your closet, because some of the bugs prefer to operate in dark areas, from there, they could find their way to your clothes. If there is no light then the chances of the bugs getting in will be on the increase. Like carpet beetles choose dark locations even though they prefer living among fabrics. Webbing clothes moths and silverfish are also likely to propagate in places with dim or no light.
Tips for removing bugs from your closet
You must learn how to remove these bugs from your closet before it gets into your clothes because they must pass through your closet before it gets to your clothes. Your closet must be clean always, it must not be attractive to these bugs. Here are the tips:
- Always keep your closets clean: Folding your clothes or sliding them onto a hanger can rustle the dirt or loose food debris that remains on your dirty clothes. This debris then falls to the floor where bottom-feeding bugs finally get a chance to strike. As you worry about keeping your clothes clean, your closet should also be inline. Try to vacuum your carpets even to the areas that are difficult to get to, this will drive out carpet beetles.
Go through all the shelf and drawer in your closet, remove all what is there, dust and clean it. If any of your drawer is line with fabrics, vacuum or wash those fabrics as bugs can certainly fit inside the drawer. Cleaning your closet thoroughly should be a continuous process, it should be done continually in order to totally eliminate these bugs.
- Only put clean clothes in your closet: Clean clothes should only be seen in your closet, anything short of that is an invitation of bugs. You should always wash your clothes once you wear them. You may have sweat on it, or you may spilled a drop of juice on it, you just have to wash it, when you take it back to your closet without washing it, then bugs will definitely come for it because it’s attracted to them. Don’t be surprise that you may pull up your favorite sweater and you find out that it has a huge hole in it. When you wash your clothes more often, this will hardly happen.
- Organize your closet so bugs will have nowhere to hide: If your closet is a little messy, then to the bugs, it’s indeed a good and habitable environment for them to live. If you clean and organize your closet, then those bugs can’t find their way in there. If pest ever decide to invade your space again, then you will spot the bug the moment they fly across your closet, it’s then easy to locate them and use some bug removal method on them.
- Reduce Closet Moisture: Your closet shouldn’t be moist for the sake if everything in there. Moisture can cause the wood to expand and contract depending on how humid your closet is. Moisture is not good for your clothing and shoes, which will in turn attract these bugs.
- Use a natural bug deterrent like cedar and lavender: You could be proactive in pest removal but in a humane way, Cedar chips are one such options. Put the cedar in your closet, away from clothing or any other items in your closet that can be stained. The oil that is released from cedar could wreck your ward rope if you are not careful.
Cedar is beneficial for your closet in several ways, it can prevent the development of mold and mildew, sparing the content of your closet. Cedar also gives your closet a fresh smell, it deodorizes your closet. Dried lavender will keep away flies, beetles, fleas, and moths. With all these factors, you could be able to eliminate bugs from your clothes.
