Caring for your knits--It's a matter of outsmarting the moths

Last week, a customer in the store asked about wool care and we had a long talk about how to stop the moths that like to eat our precious garments.

There are 2 kinds of moth that eat clothes, and they're both little ones, about 1/4 inch in length. They don't like light, so they hide in the dark places in your closet -- you know, between the folds of your hand-knitted clothes! They tend to flutter where they're nesting, rather than flying all over the house. If they land, they're pretty easy to catch, and if you look at them under a magnifying glass, you'll see little tufts of hair on their little tiny heads.(The bigger ones, about 1/2" long are grain-eating moths, and they don't have the tufts. If you see those dudes flying around, you don't have to worry about your sweaters, but you'd better start checking your boxes of cereal, crackers, cookies, rice, flour and other vulnerable goodies.)

Stopping clothes moths is largely a question of care. Because they don't like light, hanging your garments in the sun once in a while is good. Keeping them clean is also good, because moths are more likely to infest dirty clothes than clean ones. Most woolens don't need to be washed constantly, but once or twice a year is good for something you use. NEVER DRY knitted garments on a hanger OR in the sun.

Clothes moths rely a lot on scent, and they're pretty ecstatic when they smell wool. But really -- look at how small they are, and ask yourself -- how big can their brains be, and how easy would it be to FOOL them??

Turns out, it's not that hard to confuse them so they don't smell the wool. Using a specially formulated woolwash when you do wash will leave a scent that masks the wool. Kookaburra Woolwash leaves a tea-tree scent. Other popluar products use lavendar or eucalyptus to accomplish the same end.

Lavender sachets are also a good deterrent, and we have them in the store. You have to ask for them, though, because I'm one of the people who can't tolerate lavender, so we've got them closed up really well! Cedar chips can work well, too, and I've heard that lemon peels also work, but be careful of the oil.

I don't recommend dry cleaning wool unless it's absolutely necessary. The chemicals are toxic, it's expensive, and it's completely unnecessary -- unless color bleeding is a problem -- because hand washing is easy. Personally, I wouldn't even put dry-cleaned garments on a baby or toddler.

Madame's #1 DON'T DO IT is mothballs. Mothballs are toxic. They are intended to KILL moths and their eggs and larvae, not FOOL them. Problem is, they can also kill people. It's also very difficult to get rid of the smell, and even if you do, you can't be sure the nasty chemicals are gone.

We're knitters -- we don't have to do the typical human thing and kill everything that irritates us. Isn't it more fun to do the OTHER typical human thing -- prove that we're smarter than they are -- by hiding our woolens in plain sight, behind an "invisibility cloak" of scent that doesn't interest the little buggers!

For more information, check UC Davis' excellent web site.