Moth Protection??

**Bugbear** · 2nd January 09, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by Carolina Kiltman

There was a previous thread on this some time back (I tried to find it, but failed).

One suggestion was to keep the kilts in a deep-freeze!

There are also bags sold that are air-tight, and have a fitting that lets a vacuum cleaner suck most of the air out of them. That might also be a good idea, after you have thoroughly brushed and steamed the kilt.

No way is cold going to damage the kilt!

Aye, it is Pleater The Unmerciful who uses the freezer. Beware the carpet beatles of doome.

**Thunderbolt** · 2nd January 09, 08:41 PM

Yeah, thanks to ya'll, I spent the last 2 hours steaming my kilts...

T.

**Nick** · 3rd January 09, 03:32 AM

I prefer cedar, all my woolens are hung in a wardrobe with no bag.

I've read that keeping woolens in bags is detrimental to the garment, perhaps due to trapped moisture. Since I've never used them, is this true?

**Riverkilt** · 3rd January 09, 06:24 AM

Nick, the garment bags I get from WalMarche' have a solid, but poreous, backside that's not plastic like the other three sides. Lets the bag breathe.

Ron

**Thunderbolt** · 3rd January 09, 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by Nick

I prefer cedar, all my woolens are hung in a wardrobe with no bag.

I've read that keeping woolens in bags is detrimental to the garment, perhaps due to trapped moisture. Since I've never used them, is this true?

Originally Posted by Riverkilt

Nick, the garment bags I get from WalMarche' have a solid, but poreous, backside that's not plastic like the other three sides. Lets the bag breathe.

Ron

Not that we have a moisture problem here in AZ anyway.....!

T.

**ForresterModern** · 3rd January 09, 08:11 AM

Originally Posted by Thunderbolt

Not that we have a moisture problem here in AZ anyway.....!

T.

Having just moved from Phoenix 4 months ago I know that you absolutely do have a major problem with moisture there----A TOTAL LACK OF IT!! Only place I have ever been (save for maybe Death Valley) where the weather report regularly listed the humidity as 0%, and a 1 or 2" rain was considered a "monsoon".

**Jack Daw** · 3rd January 09, 08:29 AM

Originally Posted by Nick

I prefer cedar, all my woolens are hung in a wardrobe with no bag.

I've read that keeping woolens in bags is detrimental to the garment, perhaps due to trapped moisture. Since I've never used them, is this true?

Before I store my kilt away, I air it out overnight, then brush it. Houston is a humid place, but my air conditioning is always on.

**Ian.MacAllan** · 3rd January 09, 06:22 PM

Originally Posted by Nick the DSM

some kilts will have to be sacrificed for the greater good.

You have to destroy them to save them?

.

**Nick** · 4th January 09, 01:28 AM

Originally Posted by Ian.MacAllan

You have to destroy them to save them?

.

"I will bestow it, and will answer well
The death I gave it. So again good night.
I must be cruel only to be kind."
~Hamlet, Prince of Kilts, Act 3, scene 4.

**DWFII** · 4th January 09, 06:48 AM

I just thought I would add a note of caution...I live in what is officially known as High Desert country. It is generally dry although we do get snow and rain in the fall and winter. But bugs, in general are not really a bad problem--I've not been bitten by a mosquito for years and years.

I had a beautiful silver-grey wool coat that got chewed on even though it was prominent in my closet and constantly exposed to light and movement.

In retaliation I bought a bag of hamster litter...100% cedar shavings...and partially filled the foot section of old, snagged, women's nylons with the chips. I had several of these which I hung in the closet next to my other jacket--a beautiful whisky coloured pinstriped wool.

I could smell the cedar when I opened the closet. But I did not change the chips all that winter and again the moths got to my jacket.

The moral is that if you are going to rely on cedar planks, hangers balls, or chips...they have to be sanded or refreshed often. Once every couple of weeks wouldn't be too often.

Preventing access...by storing in a bag or a chest (with plenty of fresh cedar smell) will always be helpful. But it is interesting to note that it is the small moths that do the damage--the ones that are about a quarter inch long. Or so I've been told by a woolen expert. So airtight bags or compartments would probably be better than not.

That said, because I am using garment bags that have some small openings around the hanger, I am making sure the cedar smell is as potent as I can get it. Any moth that sticks its antennae in one of those small opening is gonna get a snootful.

I am hopeful...

PS...not only are the volatile compounds in mothballs toxic to animals and humans, it really smells a lot worse than the cedar.