Folk remedies for moths are numerous and known to most people better than more effective modern drugs. When inconspicuous butterflies are found in the closet, and unaesthetic bald spots are found on clothes, it is some kind of folk remedy for moths - lavender, orange peels or geraniums - the first thing that comes to mind to the owner of the wardrobe.
Only later, in the market or in the store, does he learn that high-tech achievements of the chemical industry are more often used today against the pest of things. But even such modern preparations in the fight against butterflies are very effectively supplemented with simple and easily accessible traditional means.
Folk remedies against moths differ depending on which pest they are used against - against clothes or against kitchen moths. At the same time, almost all folk remedies for combating moths are focused specifically on scaring away pests, but not on destroying them.
At one time, naphthalene was considered the most effective remedy against moths.
Indeed, he demonstrated the high efficiency of his work and was used so widely and everywhere that he firmly entered the number of "folk" remedies and even gave rise to the idiom "smelled of mothballs." However, later doctors discovered the carcinogenic properties of this substance and came to the conclusion that it is no less dangerous for humans than for moths. Therefore, today naphthalene is practically not used. Fortunately, he has a large number of substitutes.
orange peels
Orange peels are an old folk remedy for food moths. The strong smell of citrus fruits has a repellent effect on adult butterflies, and therefore in bedside tables and cabinets in which orange, lemon and tangerine peels are laid out, the moth does not lay its eggs. However, if eggs or moth larvae have already started somewhere in the products, orange peels will not expel or destroy them.
Rules for use: fresh peels should be laid out near food. As they dry out and lose their aroma, they need to be replaced.
Conclusion: this tool is good for preventing contamination of clean products and repelling moths from kitchen furniture in general.
Review:
“When there were little brown butterflies in the kitchen, I poisoned them with vinegar and laid out orange peels on the cabinets. It did not give a special effect until I found and threw out a bag of old peas, in which caterpillars simply swarmed. After that, I continued to keep orange peels in the nightstands, and even despite the butterflies that sometimes appeared in the kitchen, they did not infect the food. About two months ago, the mole disappeared altogether, and did not appear again.
Inga, Rostov-on-Don
Laundry soap in the closet and in clothes
Laundry soap is a universal folk remedy for protecting against moths, which is very effectively used against both kitchen and clothes moths. Its main drawback is an unpleasant smell: few people want to wear elite clothes with a frank aroma of laundry soap. The product repels adult butterflies and greatly limits the movement of caterpillars.
Rules for use: bars of soap (preferably fresh) are laid out in pockets of clothes or in kitchen furniture.
Conclusion: Laundry soap is always available and easy to use, well suited for protection against moths in pantries and closets.
Review
“When I was little, my grandmother put pieces of laundry soap in the pockets of her fur coats against moths in the closet. It seems that the moth never existed, but now, I think, this remedy should not be neglected.
Oleg, Novokuznetsk
Lavender
Of all the folk remedies against moths, perhaps the most famous is lavender. It has a strong and rather pleasant smell, does not exhale for a long time, reliably repels adult butterflies and caterpillars. Both dried lavender flowers and its essential oil are used. The latter, by the way, is part of many industrially produced moth tablets and sections.
How to use: lavender leaves in special porous bags are laid out in closets and between piles of clothes. Essential oil in open vessels is placed in cabinets and bedside tables.
Important
Do not spray lavender essential oil on clothing itself. You can never be sure of the quality of this product, and if it contains at least a small amount of sunflower or palm oil, irremovable stains will remain on clothes.The clothes themselves can be sprayed with a decoction of lavender, but this should be done regularly and often.
Review
“When we got moths, I bought a pack of lavender in the old fashioned way and put it in cups in the closet. Before that, I carefully shook out all the clothes and aired them on the street. So now everything is standing, and there are no signs of parasites.
Olga, Novosibirsk
Geranium
The fight against moths with folk remedies does not have to be active and involve the purchase or self-preparation of repellents. Sometimes it’s enough just to start a special plant at home. For example, geranium.
Its smell can not stand many insects and moths - including. At the same time, in a large apartment you need to have several geranium bushes - one in each room. Geranium well protects the apartment from both wardrobe and kitchen moths.
Rules for use: live adult geranium bushes should be kept indoors at all times. Cabinets and bedside tables once a day or two need to be opened and ventilated.
Fragrant tobacco and plain tobacco
Both of these plants are equally effective, only fragrant tobacco - in the form of a living indoor plant, and ordinary, smoking - in the form of dry crushed leaves, just like those that are present in cigarettes. It is undesirable to use ordinary tobacco to protect clothes: things that smell of it lose their attractiveness.
Rules for use: plain tobacco is used like lavender flowers - it is laid out in perforated bags inside furniture. Fragrant tobacco is simply kept at home as a houseplant, and closets with things are regularly ventilated.
By analogy with lavender, tansy, thyme, horse chestnut seeds, mint, cloves, rosemary and ginseng are also used. When using them, it is important to check from time to time whether the preparations in the cabinets have run out and, if necessary, replace them with new ones.
Similarly with lavender oil, peppermint, eucalyptus, orange and clove oils can also be used as folk remedies. They can also be replaced with fragrances, but the amount of both must be constantly monitored. It is important to remember that all of the above means will not allow you to destroy the moth already in the house - they will only scare away adult butterflies from cabinets and bedside tables.
Garlic and vinegar against moths in the kitchen
These folk remedies for moths stand apart, because they do not have the most pleasant smell. But it is thanks to him that they scare away the moth. Garlic is usually simply stored in bedside tables, kitchen cabinets and pantries along with food, and vinegar is added to water when cleaning an apartment.
Craftsmen also know some traditional methods for the direct destruction of moths.
For example, it is known that moths are afraid of both high temperatures and low ones. Even if the clothes contained eggs, larvae or female moths (males are the very winged flying butterflies), washing things at temperatures above 50 ° C or airing in frost below minus 10 ° C will destroy all insects.
It is also quite effective to air things in the direct sun on a hot summer day: both moth larvae and eggs can hardly tolerate temperatures above 30 ° C, and, moreover, they die under the influence of ultraviolet rays.
And the last thing: moth larvae and its eggs are very loosely attached to clothes. A good shake is enough to get them on the floor.That is why constantly worn clothes are rarely spoiled by moths. So wear what hangs in your closet, air it often, and moths will have almost no chance.
Useful video: how to reliably get rid of moths
Mint has been said to repel moths. But she ate it for a sweet soul and the larvae were full.
Probably kamikaze =)
Yes, but mint doesn't help.
From moths, a rag bag with cigarette butts helps, spread out for a week, and then clothes to the wind. Super remedy.
A proven remedy against moths is the common tansy herb.
My food moth ate garlic!
You won't believe it, but my moth has eaten several sacks of potatoes over the past few years. I'm stunned! This has never happened before. And then the worms devour it through and through. Each potato has a lot of moves and such obvious caterpillars. And then a mass flight of butterflies occurs from the bag ... And I can’t do anything.Buy a bag for the winter and review it every week for the appearance of passages under the skin ... Don't take it at all. And in autumn it is cheap, and towards the end of winter the price more than doubles. And what to do? You can’t saturate tubers with chemistry. And where did this come from. No overseas moth. This was not the case before in the USSR. Obviously brought from somewhere.
And three days ago I saw potatoes in the supermarket, so they sold them right there with the Colorado potato beetle as a set. The tubers were of some dubious quality. Obviously sick. And these same Colorado beetles crawled to the surface. Some kind of nightmare...