Phoenix Knitting Forums

Can someone sticky this thread when I'm done as it's very useful indeed.

Today I got some Manx fleeces from a lady via Freecycle. I was doing the flick-test (to check for weakness) when I noticed what looked like a maggot. It wasn't in fact, it was a moth larvae, then I spotted the rest of them. The moths had eaten into this bag and ruined 4 fleeces. So before I chucked them I took photos so we can recognise them easier.

All photos are clickies:

The moth reponsible:


Small larvae on my dust sheet (a good idea for sorting fleeces, it's white so easy to spot nasties)


Larger larvae on the fleece itself:


So, there you go. Paper sacks are excellent for storing fleece but check regularly for little holes where moths have been nibbling through. These 4 were stored in an old feed sack which is 2 layers of thick paper but the moths went through.

Very helpful indeed! (and scary!)

Can I add that it's very useful to also check clothes that are stored away? In summer, I keep all our wool jumpers in sealed bags, after everything has been washed, of course, and add a few repellents, like pieces of cedar wood or bags of lavender and pennyroyal. Every once in a while I check the bags for moths; it should be impossible for them to get in, but you never know.

If you have the windows open in summer, chances are you get those little moths in that fly at night. Usually they are no danger to wool and other fibres, but if you want to make sure they don't do harm, you could put up a pheromone trap. The pheromones lure the moths towards a sticky bit of paper, where they get trapped and, well, die. Must admit I feel for them (am such a softie at heart, can't even kill a fly or a spider) but perhaps it's not a bad way to go.

Thanks for the info - must admit I wouldn't ever have known what to look for!

Yikes, horror movie!

Thanks Fluzz, that's very helpful.

Does anyone have pictures of adult moths to add & would this be a good place to put moth prevention tips so everything is together ?

Thanks for the info. Isn't freecycle great, though!

Freecycle is fantastic, absolutely! The lady was very nice about it all and it was partially my fault for not fluffing them out and checking at hers first. Anyway, I took them up to the allotments with a note yesterday so they're hopefully all making liquid fertiliser as I type.

I just opened one of my plastic sacked fleeces and found moths in one, wouldn't have had a clue if it wasn't this thread so thankyou! The other fleeces seem fine

I'm now dreading delving into the fleece which is in the shed. I think I read somewhere that you can put them in bin bags in the freezer to kill any nasties. What do you think?

Koala: you're welcome

Littlemouse: don't panic! If the larvae are really tiny they probably haven't killed much fleece. They can be killed by freezer, dunno how you'd fit a whole fleece in a freezer though :s

Hmm! Need to eat what's in the freezer first.